Say "G.I. Joe" across our counter in Barry and you'll get one of three answers. Anyone who remembers the films thinks of Channing Tatum. Anyone over 40 says, "You mean Action Force?" And somebody's dad will explain that he had the Action Man with the moving eyes, and that it was better. All three are talking about the same family of toys, which is a fairly odd thing to be able to say about a plastic soldier.
G.I. Joe is also the toy that gave us the phrase "action figure", so it has a fair claim to being the great-grandad of half our collectibles shelves. Today it comes in two main sizes from two different companies, with a numbering system, Retro versions, Deluxe versions and, for reasons we'll come to, a polar bear. Here's what it all means, what it costs, and which figure to buy first.
G.I. Joe in 30 seconds: which range is which
Prices are Loaded Dice prices at the time of writing.
- Classified Series (Hasbro): the main collector line. Highly articulated 15cm (6-inch) figures, loaded with accessories. Older figures start at £14.99, and the newest mostly sit at £26.99 to £29.99.
- Classified Retro (Hasbro): part of the same 15cm line, but on vintage-style cardbacks with classic colours. From £14.99.
- Classified Legacy Collection (Hasbro): a tribute to the original 1964 figure, celebrating soldiers and first responders. £20.99 to £39.99.
- ReAction+ (Super7): 3.75-inch (about 10cm) figures built to look like the 1980s originals. From £12.99.
- Art Scale statues (Iron Studios): 1/10 scale resin statues for the display cabinet, not the battlefield. £144.99 to £264.99.
- HeroClix Iconix (WizKids): four-miniature sets for the tabletop. £29.99.
If you only remember one thing: Classified is the big, posable, modern one. ReAction+ is the small, cheap, 1980s one.
How an American soldier became a British story
Hasbro launched G.I. Joe in 1964 as a 12-inch posable serviceman, in four flavours: Action Soldier, Action Sailor, Action Pilot and Action Marine. The received wisdom of the day was that parents wouldn't buy dolls for their sons, so the word "doll" was banned outright and "action figure" was used instead. Every collector who has ever insisted that it's not a doll is continuing a 1964 marketing decision.
Two years later, Palitoy began making a British version under licence, and Action Man ran here from 1966 to 1984. It started out as essentially the same figure, but the ideas soon flowed the other way. Both flocked hair and the gripping hands sold in America as Kung-Fu Grip were developed in the UK for Action Man. (The soft plastic had a habit of losing its fingertips within weeks, so let's take the credit for the idea and leave the chemistry out of it.)
In 1982 Hasbro relaunched G.I. Joe at 3.75 inches, the same size as Kenner's Star Wars figures, which made vehicles and playsets far more practical. This is the version most people mean today: A Real American Hero, with named characters, the Cobra organisation, a Marvel comic and an animated series whose "knowing is half the battle" sign-offs are still being quoted. The line ran until the end of 1994.
Britain, as usual, did things differently. Palitoy had launched its own smaller range, Action Force, in the early 1980s, and when the American figures arrived here they came out under that name because "G.I." meant very little to British kids. Same figures and same code names, but with new international backstories. The range was later renamed G.I. Joe to match everywhere else. So if you remember Action Force, there's a good chance you remember these characters.
The Classified Series followed in 2020, at the same 6-inch size as Marvel Legends and Star Wars: The Black Series. Then in 2026 the story came full circle, when Hasbro added Action Man himself to the Classified line, sixty years after his British debut.
Who's who: the 60-second briefing
- G.I. Joe: the heroes, an elite special operations force. Duke leads from the front, with Flint, Scarlett and the rest of the team behind him.
- Cobra: the villains, a ruthless organisation bent on world domination, run by Cobra Commander. Its foot soldiers are the Vipers, plus the B.A.T.s (Battle Android Troopers).
- Destro and the Iron Grenadiers: the chrome-masked arms dealer and his private army. Officially an ally of Cobra. In practice, a man with his own plans.
- The Arashikage ninjas: Snake Eyes, the silent commando everyone wants, plus Storm Shadow and Jinx.
- The Dreadnoks: the disreputable end of the villains, tied to Zartan, Cobra's master of disguise.
One bit of collector slang worth knowing: army building means buying several of the same Cobra trooper, because a Cobra Commander with no army is just a man in a hood.
Classified Series: how to read the box
Classified figures are aimed squarely at collectors. Expect double-hinged elbows and knees, an ab crunch, butterfly shoulders and, on most figures, a generous pile of swappable heads, hands and weapons. The early 2020 releases took a heavily modernised, slightly sci-fi view of the characters, and later releases have leaned back towards the classic designs. Here's what the labels mean:
- The number: just the figure's place in the sequence. Duke is #208 and Mistress Armada is #210. It tells you nothing about rarity, and gaps are normal because some numbers are exclusives: #204 and #205 were San Diego Comic-Con 2026 specials.
- Retro: a modern Classified figure on a carded blister with 1980s-style artwork and classic colours. It's not a reissue of the 1982 toy. The Retro Duke (£16.99), for instance, comes with a helmet, binoculars, spare closed-fist hands, a backpack, a knife and a peg stand.
- Deluxe: usually a bigger figure or a bigger pile of kit. It's nothing to do with the Deluxe size class in our Hasbro Transformers guide. Deep Six (£39.99) is the example to look at, with a dome helmet, a harpoon launcher and some wonderfully strange gear.
- Legacy Collection: figures that carry on the 1964 idea of the everyday hero. Action Soldier: Special Forces (£25.99) comes with 16 accessory pieces, and the Search & Rescue Firefighter is £20.99.
- Ninja Force, Night Force and friends: themed sub-teams, handy if you want a shelf with a single look rather than the whole cast.
The bit that matters for your wallet: not all Classified figures cost the same. Several older singles, including Footloose and Frag-Viper, are £14.99, while the latest numbers are £29.99. Same line, same scale, twice the price. If you just want a good figure rather than the newest one, start with the older numbers.
ReAction+: the small, retro alternative
If Classified is G.I. Joe as you'd design it today, ReAction+ is G.I. Joe as you remember it. Super7 has been making G.I. Joe figures since 2021, and these are 3.75-inch figures on illustrated blister cards, built with the O-ring construction the 1980s toys used. They have 12 points of articulation, so unlike Super7's plainer five-point ReAction figures, they can actually bend their knees. Our Super7 guide covers the wider range.
The word in brackets tells you where the look comes from: Cartoon for the animated series, Comic for the 1980s comics, and Movie for 1987's G.I. Joe: The Movie.
Most of the range is excellent value. Quick Kick and Ninja Force Destro are £12.99, while Flint and Arctic Baroness are £13.99. Prices do vary by wave, though: Wave 06 and Wave 09 figures are £22.99 to £23.99, so check the price of each one rather than assuming they're all the same.
Classified or ReAction+: which should you collect?
Choose Classified if:
- You want to pose figures, build dioramas and fiddle with accessories.
- You already have a shelf of Marvel Legends or The Black Series, because they're made at the same 6-inch size.
Choose ReAction+ if:
- You grew up with the originals and want that exact feeling back.
- You want a whole team without a whole shelf, or a whole overdraft.
- You like carded figures on the wall more than loose ones on a shelf.
Whichever you choose, pick one scale and stay with it. A 15cm Duke beside a 10cm Duke looks like a man meeting his own nephew. Warhammer players will recognise the alternative: two half-finished armies and a vague sense of regret.
So what should you buy first?
If you're buying your first Classified figure
- Snake Eyes #165 (£14.99) is the obvious start, with two swords, a backpack sheath and a grappling hook. He's the most famous Joe of the lot, at the cheapest Classified price we have.
- Add a Retro B.A.T. (£14.99) for him to fight. That's £29.98 for a hero and a villain, a penny less than one new-wave figure.
If you were an Action Force kid
- The Retro Duke (£16.99) gives you the classic look with modern joints.
- If you'd rather have the real 1980s feel, try Flint (£13.99) in his cartoon look, or Flash (£12.99), one of the original 13 Joes from 1982, here from Super7's 250th wave.
If you want the most for your money
- Slice & Dice (£30.99) is two ninjas and 24 pieces of kit, which works out at about £15.50 a figure.
- The Mad Marauders 3-pack (£77.99) costs more, but you get 23 accessories and Junkyard the dog, who has swappable "good boy" and "growling" heads. We're not made of stone.
If you're building a Cobra army
- The Arctic B.A.T. (£14.99) has an alternative head and three interchangeable chest plates, so your squad won't look copied and pasted.
- The Night-Viper (£15.99) comes with an alternate helmeted head and is made for a moody corner of the shelf.
If you want a centrepiece
- Destro & Iron Grenadier Despoiler (£72.99) puts him on his own vehicle, with a softgoods cape and a family claymore, because subtlety was never the plan.
- The Cobra S.N.A.K.E. Battle Suit (£43.99) has a cockpit that takes most 15cm figures. The pilot is sold separately.
If you want the daft ones (and you should)
- Snake Eyes with Polar Bear (£38.99). There's your polar bear.
- Professor Rottclaw & Cobra Deinonychus (£48.99) is a mad scientist with a genetically engineered raptor. Nobody can accuse this line of taking itself too seriously.
If you want a statue
- Iron Studios' Art Scale range runs from Destro (£144.99) to Snake Eyes (£264.99). Our Iron Studios guide explains what you're paying for.
If you'd rather roll dice
- The HeroClix Iconix sets (£29.99 each) bring G.I. Joe to the tabletop. The Cobra set has Cobra Commander, Baroness, Destro and Storm Shadow, and there's an Elite Special Forces set to fight them.
How ordering works with us
Our G.I. Joe range is listed as pre-orders we bring in especially for you from our European distributor: you order, we order it in, and it ships to you when it lands. Each product page shows its own availability and timing, so check there rather than taking our word in a blog post. You'll find the full spread in our action figure pre-orders.
Two things worth knowing. If it's a Christmas present, check the timing before you order, because something coming in from a distributor isn't the same as something on the shelf, and we'd rather tell you that in November than on 23 December. And figures do drop out of availability when distributor stock runs dry, so don't assume that a £14.99 figure will still be around next month.
The honest bit: what we'd swerve
Paying new-wave money without a reason. Duke #208 is £29.99 and the Retro Duke is £16.99. If you specifically want the new version, lovely. If you just want a Duke, that's £13 back in your pocket.
Trying to complete the numbers. The sequence has passed #230, and some of those numbers are convention exclusives. You will not finish it. Buy the characters you like.
Ordering the wrong size by accident. Both ranges say G.I. Joe, and many of the same characters appear in both. Check for 15cm or 10cm in the title before you order, unless you enjoy surprises.
Skybound Comic Box figures at standard-figure expectations. Cobra Commander (£28.99) and Snake Eyes (£36.99) are worth it if you read Skybound's G.I. Joe comics. If you don't, a £12.99 ReAction+ will do the job at a fraction of the price.
Handing Classified to very small children. Hasbro's packaging says ages 4 and up, with a choking warning for under-3s, and those tiny knives and spare hands will vanish into a carpet at speed. These are collector figures first and toys second.
Sunny windowsills. Direct sunlight will fade a retro cardback long before anything else gets to it. If you're keeping figures carded, keep them out of the sun.
The short version
- Classified: 15cm, super-posable and full of accessories. From £14.99.
- ReAction+: 10cm, retro O-ring figures on blister cards. From £12.99.
- Best first figure: Snake Eyes #165 at £14.99.
- Best for Action Force kids: Retro Duke at £16.99.
- Best value set: Slice & Dice at £30.99.
- Biggest thing to check: 15cm or 10cm. Pick one scale and stick with it.
- How to order: most are brought in for you, so allow time if it's a present.
Browse the Classified Series in our Hasbro collection, the ReAction+ range in our Super7 collection, or everything in action figures.
Final thought: G.I. Joe began as a doll nobody was allowed to call a doll, became Action Man, became Action Force, became G.I. Joe again, and has now got Action Man back. Sixty-odd years on, it's still the same simple idea: a tiny soldier and a lot of tiny kit. Pick your scale, start with a £14.99 Snake Eyes, and remember that knowing is half the battle. The other half is explaining the polar bear.
Further reading: for the rest of the toy aisle, try our Hasbro Collectibles Guide, and for more retro cardbacks, read Super7 Figures: ReAction, Ultimates, Deluxe and Vinyl Explained.
