EXCLUSIVE: Carson Mataxis on Operation: Recall Wave 3 and Year Two

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW | Serpentor’s Lair | October 10, 2026

By Serpentor’s Lair Staff

For collectors who grew up in the golden age of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, the classic 3¾-inch O-ring action figure represents more than a particular kind of toy. It represents a world of imaginative characters, ingenious accessories, beautifully illustrated cardbacks, and afternoons when an entire adventure could unfold on the living room floor. Operation: Recall is bringing that spirit into the present with all-new characters built by many of the very creators who helped define the original era.

Leading the charge is R. Carson Mataxis, the founder of 3DJoes and the driving force behind Operation: Recall. His project brings together veteran G.I. Joe creators including Ron Rudat, Mark Pennington, Kirk Bozigian, Larry Hama, Doug Hart, Bill Merklein, Mike Good, and others with original fan-submitted character concepts. The result is a line that celebrates 1980s action-figure craftsmanship without simply recreating old releases.

As Year One Wave 3 moves through engineering and production—and the Year Two crowdfunding campaign continues—Serpentor’s Lair spoke exclusively with Mataxis about the newest figures, production lessons, surprise play features, fan involvement, and the future of the Operation: Recall universe.

Editor’s note: The following responses have been lightly edited for punctuation, spelling, and clarity. Product information and production estimates reflect the time of the interview and may change. Carson’s original responses remain the basis of this Q&A.

1. From Concept Art to Engineering Pilots: What Impressed Carson Most?

Serpentor’s Lair: Now that you have the first Wave 3 engineering pilots in hand, what has surprised or impressed you most about seeing Salty Dawg, Damselfly, SHHHH, and Runback & PAC-DOG make the jump from concept art and prototypes to actual production engineering samples?

Carson Mataxis: When Ron Rudat designed Salty Dawg’s tool roll, it wasn’t exactly clear how that was going to work from an engineering standpoint. When I worked with Mark Gerwig, we came up with the connection point on the backpack, but not how it could stay rolled up without the backpack being attached to the figure and the figure itself holding the roll in place.

I was very impressed by the factory modeling team, which suggested that the handle tuck through halfway so it could be rolled up twice. Then the little knob goes through the handle and attaches to the backpack. It’s brilliant. We have been making figures at this scale for many decades, yet there are still new ways to do things and new ground to be broken.

I am really thrilled with this accessory, and I had an absolute blast showing it to people at the convention last weekend. I think they are struck by the ingenuity of it, but also by the fact that it is really small, yet still has three paint applications and a ton of sculpt detail. I feel like we are bringing modern 1:12-scale detail to the 1:18 format.” 

I was not surprised by Damselfly’s jetpack, as I had watched a video of it from the factory months prior. That said, it is incredibly fun to press that button and have those wings pop out. This is an engineering pilot, and both the project manager and I asked the factory for a stronger spring that will make the wings stand more upright or horizontal, so there’s still room to improve.

I have been incredibly happy with the response to our Year Two deco for Damselfly. That was one I got to work on personally quite a bit, so it actually has me feeling a little like a figure designer at this point. That’s fun.

I think with Wave 3, what strikes me most is how much differentiation there is between the Year One figures and the Year Two figures, with revised decos and new parts. I truly think this is what every secondary release should be like. I’ve always said I felt a little buyer’s remorse with Python Patrol, Tiger Force, and Slaughter’s Marauders, but I never had any buyer’s remorse with Sky Patrol. Just one new part and a different deco can make a huge difference!

I’m really looking forward to the community designing, printing, and selling accessories compatible with PAC-DOG. We have built a lot of versatility into this line. The PAC-DOG body can attach to the Damselfly backpack peg and serve as the base for our first aerial drone weapon. There are all kinds of ideas like that which will help bring excitement to this world.

There is a lot to love.

2. How Feedback from Waves 1 and 2 Is Improving the New Figures

Serpentor’s Lair: Have any changes been made to the Wave 3 figures based on what you learned from manufacturing and collector feedback on Waves 1 and 2—particularly regarding plastic feel, hand flexibility, joint tolerances, paint finish, or overall durability?

Carson Mataxis: The feedback for Wave 2 has been overwhelmingly positive. Other than one of the figures having a looser wrist than it should have, I feel like the execution was damn near perfect. The sculpt details were all retained by the mold cutting, and the paint applications were incredibly complex, with very few errors reported.

Wave 1 had a couple of issues: two of the figures’ hands were made in a harder plastic than they were supposed to be. This was, of course, a disappointment. It was immediately communicated to the factory, and they corrected it for Wave 2. We have not had the same issue again, so that is a relief. Also, the first wave’s level of gloss was just a touch too high, so we were able to dial that back a little for Wave 2.

Overall, I have been incredibly happy with the factory and the level of quality they are consistently producing. We have an excellent project manager who is exceedingly responsive to all communications and brings ideas to the table.

I have always said that everyone who touches these figures along the way should have autonomy and the opportunity to leave their mark by improving each figure. The credits on each cardback reflect how many people it takes to make an awesome action figure. I believe there are over a dozen for each figure, and that unfortunately doesn’t even include the names of the factory workers, who are every bit as responsible.

3. Salty Dawg: Authentic Military Roots and Classic G.I. Joe Proportions

Serpentor’s Lair: Salty Dawg has a design that immediately feels at home around classic naval vehicles and playsets. What can you tell us about the thinking behind his final design, accessories, and proportions, and was compatibility with vintage 3¾-inch O-ring vehicles and environments something you intentionally considered during development?

Carson Mataxis: This concept was submitted by an active-duty Navy Seabee. We were very excited to bring a previously unrepresented military occupational specialty to action-figure form. His father was also a Seabee. These days they do not wear that olive-drab uniform, but we selected the olive-drab uniform presented in honor of his father.

Ron Rudat has a reverence for the military and really didn’t want to stray too far from an authentic design. That said, the torn-off sleeves, untucked open shirt, and can of dip in his pocket all give him a lot of personality. I do believe this figure blends in perfectly with the early- to mid-1980s aesthetic. The metal 1993 G.I.JOE Tonka trucks will be a perfect match for this figure!.

Regarding proportions, we wanted him to have broad shoulders, to be muscular, and to be a little on the taller side. This is one of the ways we have been having fun with the line. Mark Pennington and Ron Rudat, as well as sculptor Bill Merklein, all complained that Hasbro never let them play with proportions. So we are rectifying that.

Our figures will vary from 3½ inches to 4 inches, and they will have more or less narrow shoulders. Whenever there is a height change, it is equally distributed along all parts, so one area does not simply look stretched. We have put a lot of thought into this, along with Mark Gerwig, our 3D accessory modeler.

4. Damselfly: Spring-Loaded Flight Gear and a New Year Two Look

Serpentor’s Lair: Damselfly is one of the most visually distinctive characters in Year One. What unique engineering, equipment, or design elements should collectors pay particular attention to when they finally have the finished figure in hand?

Carson Mataxis: Her rotor/jetpack and missile-launching gun are intended to feel like near-future technology. I love Ron Rudat’s design work on these accessories, and I’m very happy with Mark Gerwig’s engineering. Before we even had a spring in there, moving one wing would move the other, and that was all Gerwig.

The damselfly is a cousin to the dragonfly, so her original color palette was inspired by that insect. Her Year Two color palette, of course, is inspired by the Orthrus color palette. She looks amazing with General Mortífero and the Dark Reapers officers. The unifying color palette looks fantastic.

5. SHHHH: A Prosthetic Leg That Became Part of the Story

Serpentor’s Lair: SHHHH has one of the most unusual concepts in the entire Operation: Recall roster, including the character’s prosthetic leg. Did that feature create special engineering challenges, and how did the team balance making it visually distinctive with the articulation and durability expected from an O-ring figure?

Carson Mataxis: I was honestly quite concerned with the leg design. But I am working with professionals who know wall tolerances and durability requirements much better than I do. First, I worked with Mark Gerwig to model the leg, and then I worked with the factory to make sure it would stand up to the rigors of play.

One idea we had to let go of was the removable blade on his knee. That will be glued in place. Once the figures were scanned at the factory in China, I was able to work with James Carter on refining each figure.

At this point, I decided that for the second release, I would like to create a second leg based on one of Mark Pennington’s early designs. I was always a fan of Deathlok, and this leg reminded me of him. So we created an entirely new prosthetic leg for Year Two.

As I discussed this with the creative team, we came up with a really cool story for how he loses the first prosthetic leg and gains the second one. I hope we are able to create comics, because we have really fleshed out this universe through endless conversations over the last several years.

6. Runback & PAC-DOG: A Modular Robot with Huge Play Potential

Serpentor’s Lair: Runback & PAC-DOG may be one of the most ambitious packages in Wave 3 because of the robotic companion. How much functionality or articulation will PAC-DOG have, how does Runback interact with it, and are there any accessory-storage or play features collectors may not have noticed yet?

Carson Mataxis: PAC-DOG is just the beginning. I consider him to be the platform upon which many more exciting accessories will be built. He has four ball joints for his legs, a backpack peg on one side, and four peg holes on the other side.

The immediate next accessory we are building is a weapons crate that will come with Scrounger for Year Two. This utilizes the four peg holes. We already have working prototypes, and it looks great.

The legs have 360-degree rotation at the joint, and they also can move inward toward the middle and outward for a broad stance. In addition to that, they can rotate a bit at the shoulder, as much as 45 degrees in either direction. I was very impressed by these joints. The legs can pop off, and you can flip the base over so that whichever connection point you prefer is facing up.

We plan to distribute the footprint for this platform so that 3D designers can create, print, and sell endless accessories to work with this system. I’m looking forward to weapons, rations, medical supplies, and more being loaded out on this platform.

As I mentioned earlier, you can even take the legs off, plug in Damselfly’s backpack, and you have your first aerial drone autonomous system with optics. Just add weaponry!

7. What Accessories Are Planned for Wave 3?

Serpentor’s Lair: Can you walk us through the complete accessory loadout planned for each Wave 3 release? Were there any accessories, alternate parts, weapons, removable gear, or other features that changed significantly between the original concepts and the final production versions?

Editor’s note: A separate response to this question was not included in the interview transcript. For reference, Operation: Recall’s official character pages currently list the following accessories; these are published product descriptions, not additional quotes from Carson.

• Salty Dawg: M16A3 rifle, heavy-duty XL pipe wrench, tool roll, backpack, figure display stand.
• Damselfly: experimental ultra-light rotor/jet flight pack, Caduceus handheld missile launcher, figure display stand.
• SHHHH: hand-forged forearm blade, grappling hook with rope, R.M.B.O. lightweight archery system, backpack, hood, cloak, figure display stand.
• Runback & PAC-DOG: PAC-DOG semi-autonomous load-bearing robot, tablet, Type 89 assault rifle, bipod, backpack, tanto blade, figure display stand.

Final accessories and production features are subject to change.

8. The Fan-Creator “Brain Trust” Behind Operation: Recall

Serpentor’s Lair: One of the things that makes Operation: Recall unique is the involvement of veteran G.I. Joe creators alongside original fan-submitted concepts. For Wave 3 specifically, can you give us some insight into how those collaborations evolved and perhaps identify a design decision that came directly from that collaborative process?

Carson Mataxis: When the original 16 figures were selected, we formed a Facebook chat group, and it became the unofficial brain trust for the project. I share progress in that group weekly, and if the concept creator is active in there, I’ve shared every step of the way for their figure.

That said, beyond handing their concept off to the legendary creative team, they are not allowed or encouraged to direct that creative team. I really wanted to avoid the creators getting inundated with feedback from multiple sources, so we tried to rein that in early on. I serve as a middleman of sorts, and any good ideas they have are definitely communicated to the team.

Beyond the Year One figures, our brain trust has been almost entirely responsible for the Year Two versions of each figure. The Desert Ops deco, the various Midnight Ops decos, the new pieces and parts for each figure—some of those came from Ron and Mark’s concepts, but many of them also came from the brain trust.

We have been having a ton of fun talking toys every week, and as time has gone on, we’ve each gotten to dip our toes in the water. That is reflected by all of the awesome new presentation artwork drawn by many of the concept creators in this group. I’m very grateful not to be working on this project by myself, but instead to have a bunch of creative, energetic people at my six.

9. Production Limits, Availability, and Year Two Crowdfunding

Serpentor’s Lair: Collectors are understandably interested in availability. What is the current production and shipping outlook for Wave 3? Will individual figures remain available separately as well as through the Year One All-In option, and are production quantities expected to remain similar to the earlier waves?

Carson Mataxis: Production numbers for Year One are consistent. At this point, we have about 1,200 All-In backers and about 2,500 backers overall for Year One. Most Year One figures will be capped at 3,000 units. The Year Two version-two figures will be capped lower than that, as they are being made at the same time as the Year One version-one figures and we have already met the minimum order quantity requirements.

We are currently fundraising the additional ten all-new Year Two figures, and we will see how interest in that shapes up via Kickstarter before determining production numbers.

We have about 400 All-In seats available for Year One. I’m actually looking forward to having some product sold out because I am running out of space, and more toys are coming!

Editor’s update: A recently published Year Two campaign outline projects January 2027 fulfillment for Year One Wave 3. Estimates are not guarantees; check the official Operation: Recall site for updates.

10. Where Does Operation: Recall Go After Wave 3?

Serpentor’s Lair: Looking beyond Wave 3, what lessons from these four figures are influencing Waves 4 and 5—and eventually Year Two? Are there engineering techniques, character types, accessories, companion figures, or other ideas introduced here that represent where you would like to take Operation: Recall in the future?

Carson Mataxis: Years One and Two came from a few hundred submissions that we received over four years ago now, so we have been thinking about each of these characters for quite a long time. Years One and Two are well along the production path. It has been very interesting to see what new ideas emerge from the current ideas.

For example, one of the Year Two figures, the enemy deep-sea diver, was actually closer to the original pitch than the final product ended up for Year One. We decided to revisit the original concept and still build that out for Year Two.

I’m very excited about this character, not only because I love the deep-sea-diver look, but because we are able to add some insanely fun play value to this figure. He is going to have deep-sea-diving boots like the version-two Deep Six prototype, which can be seen in the 1989 Toy Fair catalog. These boots are going to have magnets inserted, so you can literally walk the figure along metal. That’s going to be fun.

His jetpack also has mines because he is a saboteur. These mines will also have magnets inserted so you can place them on metal surfaces. I am a sucker for play features, and I think this is going to be great.

Another idea more recently came out of the first prosthetic leg that is sacrificed so that SHHHH can accomplish his objective and escape. Since this technology is going to be confiscated, we thought it might be fun to have Orthrus reverse-engineer it and build their own similar technology.

We really are talking about these toys every week, and the ideas are coming from everywhere. Sometimes when I livestream, people will reach out and basically brainstorm with me. It is tons of fun to be a part of, and my blinders are off and my ears are open.

I appreciate everyone sharing my excitement for this project. Everyone who contributes their own ideas, concepts, energy, art, and excitement helps keep this project endlessly engaging.

A Message to Collectors—and the Future of the Line

As our conversation came to a close, Mataxis offered a heartfelt thank-you to the collectors who have helped Operation: Recall become a reality—and a glimpse of what might be possible if that support grows.

“I can’t thank you enough for helping to get the word out! If we are able to get to about 2,000 All-In backers, I think we will be able to accomplish any goals that we set for the line: be that more years of figures, vehicles, or comic books.”

— R. Carson Mataxis, Operation: Recall

There is something especially meaningful about a project that invites the artists and designers of the original G.I. Joe era to create again, while also making room for a new generation of fans and original characters. From a roll-up tool kit barely larger than a fingernail to a modular robot dog and a ninja’s story-driven prosthetic leg, these toys are being built around a simple idea: action figures should invite imagination and play.

Serpentor’s Lair sincerely thanks R. Carson Mataxis for sharing his time, his knowledge, and his passion for Operation: Recall. We also extend our thanks to the entire creative and production team—and to the collectors whose support makes these figures possible.

Follow and Support Operation: Recall

To explore the full figure lineup, see the latest official updates, and learn more about the Year Two campaign, visit OperationRecall.com.

Visit the Operation: Recall Year Two Kickstarter campaign to view available pledge options, funding information, and updates.

All character images and artwork: © Operation: Recall / Locomotion Media Group, LLC. Artwork credits appear beneath each image. Featured in conjunction with this interview and linked to the official character pages. Please visit the official site for original art and current product information.

What do you think, collectors? Which Wave 3 figure are you most excited to add to your collection: Salty Dawg, Damselfly, SHHHH, or Runback & PAC-DOG? Tell us in the comments!

After we conducted the interview Carson was kind enough to share a couple additional photos of the upcoming figures IN HAND!