Hasbro, It’s Time: 10 G.I. Joe Classified Figures We NEED Revealed at NYCC 2026
New York Comic Con is only days away, and G.I. Joe collectors know exactly what they want Hasbro to pull out of the case. Here are the Classified Series reveals that would absolutely break the internet.
New York Comic Con 2026 opens October 8, and for G.I. Joe collectors, one particular event on the schedule has the potential to become one of the biggest toy stories of the weekend. The Hasbro Toy Panel – Action Brands is scheduled for Thursday evening, and the official description promises new additions to the G.I. Joe Classified Series.
Exactly who those additions will be remains a mystery.
That makes the final days before NYCC the perfect time to ask the question every collector is already thinking: If Hasbro really wants to bring the house down, who should they reveal?
The G.I. Joe Classified Series has succeeded because it does more than simply enlarge familiar 3 3/4-inch figures. At its best, the line takes the personality, colors, accessories and sometimes downright bizarre ideas of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and reinterprets them for a modern six-inch collector line. Characters who might once have seemed too obscure, too strange or too specialized now have legitimate possibilities.
Serpentor’s Lair Editorial Note: This is our NYCC 2026 wish list. These selections are not leaks or confirmed Hasbro reveals. They are ten characters we believe would make outstanding additions to the Classified Series.
10 G.I. Joe Classified Figures Hasbro Needs to Reveal at NYCC 2026
1. Retro Card Serpentor
If Hasbro wants one announcement capable of immediately dominating G.I. Joe collector conversations, Retro Card Serpentor should be standing behind the curtain.
The 1986 Cobra Emperor remains one of the most visually outrageous—and instantly recognizable—characters from the entire A Real American Hero era. Green scale armor, gold detailing, the enormous cobra headdress and flowing green cape make Serpentor look unlike anyone else in the franchise.
A Retro Cardback release would be an opportunity to lean completely into that original appearance. Forget subtlety. Give collectors the bright green and gold deco, the snake-inspired armor, a cloth cape, dagger, cobra accessory and a presentation designed to look like something that somehow survived untouched since the Reagan administration.
More importantly, Serpentor belongs on retro packaging. Few characters better represent the bombastic creativity that defined the mid-1980s G.I. Joe line.
If that oversized retro card appeared on the screen Thursday night, collectors would immediately understand the assignment.
2. Captain Grid-Iron
Captain Grid-Iron may be exactly the sort of figure the Classified Series was created to redeem.
Released in 1990, Grid-Iron was the G.I. Joe team’s hand-to-hand combat specialist and a former West Point quarterback. Hasbro made absolutely certain nobody missed the football connection. His original figure came equipped with a football-style helmet, blocking pads and even football-shaped grenades.
It was ridiculous.
It was also unmistakably G.I. Joe.
A Classified version could retain the personality of the original while transforming Grid-Iron into a convincing battlefield officer. Keep the football-inspired helmet. Keep the grenades. Keep just enough of the shoulder-pad aesthetic to make longtime collectors smile. Then surround those elements with a modern tactical vest, updated weapons and believable military equipment.
Classified has repeatedly demonstrated that an eccentric 1980s or 1990s concept does not need to be erased to make it work today. It simply needs the right design team.
Captain Grid-Iron deserves that chance.
3. Retro Card Iron Grenadier
Some designs simply do not need improvement.
The 1988 Iron Grenadier is one of them.
Destro’s elite troopers combined black uniforms, red masks, gold trim and ceremonial military styling into a design that immediately separated them from Cobra’s rank-and-file forces. They looked dangerous, expensive and just theatrical enough to belong in Destro’s private army.
For a Retro Card Iron Grenadier, Hasbro should push the figure as close to the original 1988 presentation as possible. That means an uncompromising black, red and gold color scheme, the distinctive helmet and mask, sword and scabbard, and weapons that retain the personality of the classic release.
Then put it on vintage-style Iron Grenadiers packaging.
It would appeal to nostalgia-driven collectors while also providing something the Classified Series can never have too many of: a great army builder.
One Iron Grenadier looks good next to Destro.
Six look better.
4. Rock-Viper
Rock-Viper feels almost tailor-made for Classified.
The 1990 Cobra Mountain Trooper arrived equipped for vertical warfare, complete with specialized climbing equipment, rope and grappling gear. Even before modernization, the concept already had the sort of practical specialty that translates naturally into a highly detailed six-inch figure.
A modern Rock-Viper could be spectacular.
Give him a functional-looking climbing harness, coiled rope, carabiners, grappling launcher, backpack and mountain rifle while preserving the original figure’s pale uniform, maroon armor and green visor. The finished product could look like an elite Cobra operator trained to assault positions that ordinary Vipers could never reach.
There is also enormous diorama potential. Classified collectors already build elaborate battle scenes. A Cobra troop specifically designed to scale cliffs, buildings and defensive walls would immediately offer something different from another conventional infantry figure.
Rock-Viper is obscure enough to surprise people and strong enough to sell the moment they see the render.
5. Overlord
The Classified Series does not just need more troops. It needs more personalities capable of standing near the top of Cobra’s hierarchy.
Enter Overlord.
Introduced in 1990 as the driver of the Cobra Dictator, Overlord was presented as an ambitious figure rising through Cobra’s ranks with aspirations far beyond simply following orders. Visually, he also brought something completely different to the organization. The combination of red armor, metallic accents, black boots and severe appearance made him look less like a standard Cobra soldier and more like someone who expected other Cobra soldiers to answer to him.
A Classified Overlord should embrace that presence.
Hasbro could give him his original helmet and claw accessories while upgrading the armor with more elaborate sculpted detail. The design should look aristocratic, militaristic and slightly excessive—the perfect visual language for a Cobra officer who believes he should eventually be the man sitting on the throne.
And if his release eventually opened the door to a Classified-scale reinterpretation of the Dictator?
Collectors would not complain.
6. Cesspool
There was a time when Cesspool might have seemed too strange for a premium six-inch G.I. Joe line.
That time is over.
The 1991 Eco-Warriors villain is exactly the kind of deep-cut character that could become infinitely better in Classified scale. His scarred head, metallic armor, teal and purple uniform and toxic-waste theme already provide Hasbro’s designers with everything required to produce one of the most visually interesting villains in the line.
The accessories could make him even better.
An updated version of his chemical weapon, backpack system and chainsaw would be obvious starting points, but Hasbro could take the concept further with translucent toxic-sludge effects, contaminated containers or removable environmental-hazard pieces for dioramas.
Cesspool represents the weird side of G.I. Joe—and that is precisely why he belongs.
The Classified Series should never become so serious that it forgets this franchise once created a corporate environmental supervillain with a toxic chainsaw.
7. Tollbooth
Not every member of G.I. Joe needs to be a ninja, commando or machine-gunner.
That is exactly why Tollbooth deserves a Classified figure.
The 1985 Bridge Layer driver represented one of the qualities that made the original G.I. Joe team feel like an actual military organization: specialists had jobs. Tollbooth was a combat engineer. His role was to get the team past obstacles, and his original figure reflected that working-man identity with an orange hard hat, practical clothing and his signature sledgehammer.
At six-inch scale, Hasbro could finally build out that concept.
Imagine Tollbooth with a detailed engineer’s helmet, heavy gloves, sledgehammer, tool belt, demolition gear and compact engineering tools. Rather than turning him into another infantryman, the designers could lean into the fact that his job is to build, repair, demolish and get the team where it needs to go.
He would also add something increasingly valuable to Classified: visual variety.
Tollbooth does not look like anybody else.
That alone makes him worth making.
8. Recoil
After several larger-than-life choices on this list, Recoil would bring the Classified Series straight back to the dirt.
The 1989 Long Range Recon Patrol specialist is one of those vintage designs that requires almost no explanation. His camouflage uniform, reconnaissance equipment and field gear already look like the foundation of a modern military action figure.
That makes him perfect for Classified.
A six-inch Recoil could include a large expedition backpack, radio equipment, rifle, sidearm, field case and removable reconnaissance accessories. Hasbro could retain the unusual geometric camouflage pattern of the original while giving the figure more realistic textures and layered equipment.
Recoil is not flashy. He does not need to be.
Placed between brightly colored Cobra villains and heavily armored troops, a grounded reconnaissance soldier actually makes the entire collection feel more balanced. The G.I. Joe team should look like it has specialists capable of operating in every environment and performing every mission.
Recoil fills that role beautifully.
9. Fast Draw
If the Classified design team wants an excuse to go absolutely crazy with accessories, Fast Draw is waiting.
Released in 1987, the Mobile Missile Specialist carried the FAFNIR missile system, a wonderfully elaborate collection of backpack equipment, launch components, hoses and missiles that made the original figure look like a walking anti-armor platform.
Now imagine it at six-inch scale.
A Classified Fast Draw could become one of the most impressive deluxe-style releases in the entire line. The backpack system could incorporate removable missiles, articulated control handles and flexible hoses. Add blast effects and an updated protective helmet, and Hasbro would have a figure capable of dominating a display without needing a vehicle.
Most importantly, Fast Draw has the perfect balance of realism and 1980s science-fiction excess. He still looks recognizably military, but the equipment is just futuristic enough to remind you that G.I. Joe never had any interest in being a documentary.
This is exactly the kind of figure Classified should be making.
10. Strato-Viper
There may not be a Cobra pilot more deserving of the Classified treatment than the Strato-Viper.
Originally released in 1986 with the Night Raven, Strato-Viper’s black, red and silver uniform remains one of the cleanest pilot designs from the A Real American Hero era. The helmet, reflective face protection and high-altitude flight suit made the figure look advanced without becoming overly complicated.
That look could translate almost perfectly into Classified scale.
Hasbro could add layered flight equipment, breathing apparatus, removable helmet components and a sidearm while keeping the unmistakable red-and-black silhouette of the vintage figure.
But there is another reason a Strato-Viper announcement would immediately get people talking.
The moment Hasbro reveals the pilot, collectors are going to ask the obvious question:
Does this mean a Classified Night Raven could someday happen?
Maybe it would. Maybe it wouldn’t.
Either way, the speculation alone would keep G.I. Joe social media busy for weeks.
Hasbro, The Ball Is in Your Court
The best thing about the G.I. Joe Classified Series is that its future no longer needs to revolve exclusively around the handful of characters everyone already knows.
The line has reached the point where the deep bench is the attraction.
Serpentor represents the theatrical heights of Cobra. Captain Grid-Iron represents the unapologetically strange concepts that made vintage G.I. Joe fun. Iron Grenadiers and Rock-Vipers offer army-building possibilities. Overlord and Cesspool expand the villain roster. Tollbooth and Recoil bring specialized realism. Fast Draw provides the kind of accessory-driven engineering collectors love. Strato-Viper connects the modern line to one of the greatest Cobra vehicles ever produced.
That is ten figures covering four decades of nostalgia, army building, vehicles, specialists, villains and pure G.I. Joe insanity.
Would Hasbro reveal all ten at NYCC?
Of course not.
But give us two or three and Thursday night’s panel suddenly becomes memorable.
Give us Retro Card Serpentor, Fast Draw and Strato-Viper?
Now we’re talking.
YOUR TURN: Which figure on this list should Hasbro reveal first at NYCC 2026? And who did we leave off? Sound off in the comments and share this article with your fellow G.I. Joe collectors before Thursday’s Hasbro panel.
YO JOE!
This article is an editorial wish list from Serpentor’s Lair and is not presented as a list of confirmed Hasbro products. G.I. Joe, Cobra and related characters are trademarks of their respective rights holders. Vintage figure photographs are included for editorial and historical reference; image rights remain with their respective owners and source archives.
