Hasbro’s fantastic G.I. Joe Classified series has been going strong for a few years now, bringing a 21st century upgrade to the classic G.I. Joe toys of the ’80s. These upgrades include a 6-inch scale, more articulation, and significantly improved details and accessories. Naturally, fans have been wondering when they would add a figure of WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter to the lineup from Day 1, and we finally have an answer. Following an official reveal back in April, Hasbro has opened up pre-orders for the G.I. Joe Classified Series figure of Sgt. Slaughter as part of their San Diego Comic-Con 2022 festivities. You can reserve one here at Entertainment Earth for $33.99 (free US shipping on orders $39+ using the code SUNFREE22 at checkout).
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The figure is base on Sarge’s appearance in the G.I. Joe animated series, and comes complete with multiple points of articulation and 14 character-inspired accessories like his signature drill sergeant hat, sunglasses, whistle, instructor baton, 8 interchangeable hands, weapons, and a footlocker to stow it all. He even comes with a miniature carded Sgt Slaughter action figure of his own! The package features custom artwork by Adam Riches that highlights “his media-spanning career in the Joe universe”. You can check out Sgt. Slaughter’s original announcement for the figure in the tweet below.
ComicBook.com recently had the chance to speak to Hasbro Associate Brand Manager Emily Bader and Lead Designer of the G.I. Joe Classified series Lenny Panzica about the new Sgt. Slaughter’s figure, including the biggest challenge in capturing the icon in figure form:
“Regarding what the most challenging aspect of development was, it was just capturing someone as iconic as Sgt. Slaughter and capturing the feel and vibe of the cartoon. “The hardest part from a design standpoint was getting him right. There are other Slaughters out there, but there are no Real American Slaughters out there. So we wanted to make the Real American Slaughter,” Panzica said. “And if you notice in the design, I tried to make him feel like he was coming out of the cartoon. I wanted him to… I mentioned he was like, ‘you guys are eating bonbons and playing video games.’ In that episode, he comes walking in and beats the crap out of everybody, and everybody’s doing pushups because they’re afraid of him.”
