2026 Classified: Whistling Past the Graveyard
By Destro Designs – Viper Den Studios
This is a saying that plays well right now. I feel like I am overlooking uncertainty, but for good reason. I feel like I am looking past rising G.I.Joe Classified prices and at other lines, doing my best to see the good in some figures when I am kind of like, “Meh.”
2026 has been such a whiplash from 2025 that I feel like I am in a neck brace. I understand that there are a ton of factors playing into the state of the Classified line and Hasbro itself, some of which we are aware of and some of which we are not. And it is what we do not know that gets me: the uncertainty of the future of the figures, their prices, and the line’s lifespan.
2025 was such a high for collecting Classified. Every wave, every figure, every vehicle, was an ABSOLUTE BANGER. The figures were so close in awesomeness that its most popular figure was also said to be one of its most knocked. I am talking to you, Crystal Ball. Ultimately, Budo was named the best per the viewers of Live! From Viper Den Studios. But figures like Frag-Viper, Trench Viper, Blowtorch, Sci-Fi, Mainframe, Wet-Suit, and Pythona are not even mentioned once as Figure of the Year. We saw playsets and vehicles like the freaking S.N.A.K.E. Armor, which was an absolutely out-of-this-world creation, and even that gets lost in the mix and overlooked in conversations about the year’s releases. The A.W.E. Striker was a home run. The M.A.S.S. Device subset. A bunch of waves from 2025 would be the best wave of any year. Like, almost all of them. Matter of fact, expect a whole article on 2025. It is like combining the best years of ARAH and the impact they had.
But all that, all the blockbuster wave after wave, total blowout of vehicle after vehicle, set us up with high expectations, consciously or not. And unfortunately, 2026 has kind of tripped up on itself coming out of the gate.
To me, some of the figure choices have been tough. When 2025 could not be stopped, in 2026 we got a whole retro wave of figures people openly said they did not want.
Yo Joe June has largely sucked ass. With all due respect to the two brothers holding it down, and in their defense, Hasbro did not set them up for success, and it made some of it tough to watch. I have not been blown away by a single release in the first two weeks.
Rising costs. Seeing Dusty and Sandstorm with reused, crappy weapons stretched across the packaging at $51 is so BRUTAL to see. Mind you, a Monster Force Delta Red is $42 at BBTS and far superior in every way.
Uncertainty. Despite not truly knowing anything for certain, having the HasLab canceled and the two head honchos of the creative team walk out the door one after the other definitely has not left people filled with rainbows and hope. Yours truly is the most positive and optimistic person you know, and six months into 2026, I am exhaling loudly.
I am still all in. Collecting Classified opened a door to a whole new life for me that has led to great brotherhood and a community that is like no other. But given what I am seeing with my eyeballs, I could not just keep fist-pumping at these releases and their rising cost. Despite what Classified has done for me, I am honest above all. With the ability to judge the line against what else is out there in the militaristic 1:12 world, my views have become critical of late, and justifiably so.
But without a doubt, I am still hanging on every release. I am still preordering the cool stuff that has come out in 2026, which there has been some of. I am still hopeful for the future and look forward to what is next, like getting my Snow Cat!
With that said, I was never a guy to whistle past the graveyard, so why start now?
