G.I. Joe Classified Law and Order – SpartanNerd unboxing and Review

See the video review at my YouTube channel here!

As a longtime G.I. Joe fan and now the owner of a real-life German Shepherd, this Classified called my name throughout December. Between nostalgia from the G.I. Joe movie and modern Classified Series design, Law and Order was exactly what the SpartanNerd wanted with some of his Christmas money.

(What I really spent it on was Heatboys TMNT Donatello…you’ll have to wait for that review to drop…let’s just say SOLID 5/5!)


Packaging

Law and Order came in the typical GI Joe Classified Series window box. The last two Classifieds I reviewed came in that dumb windowless box. But I’m not sure they could sell this figure without such a good window where you can especially see the K9 dog.

The side has artwork similar to other GI Joe Classified series figures. I will be removing this and adding it to my diorama.

The back features a photoshop scene from the 1987 GI Joe movie. Law was one of Beach Head’s new recruits in training. Beach Head sent him in to a mockup town to find a bomb. But what Beach Head didn’t know was that Law was going to cheat, calling in Order to help. Order finds the bomb right away and brings it to Beach Head, but wants to play tug-of-war with it. Law gets it away and throws it, where it explodes away from the town. And then Beach Head says a famous line, (but doesn’t cuss this time), “I hope you both get fleas!”

Too bad the figure didn’t come with a bomb accessory. I kind of hoped that I just couldn’t see it in the package, but nope. There would be no hiding it with this window, and there was no surprise bomb this time. (Jokey Smurf reference!)

Of course, the other side of the box is useless, containing the coded bio symbols and a QR code that links to Hasbro’s main site.


What Do You Get in the Box?

  • Law action figure
  • German Shepherd K9 figure “Order”
  • Order has a K9 helmet and, collar, and harness
  • Multiple interchangeable hands
  • Alternate snarling dog head
  • Removable hat
  • Handcuffs
  • Nightstick (tonfa)
  • Uzi submachine gun
  • Pistol
  • Dagger

I mention the K9 helmet, as it wasn’t clear that it was removable. (for all we know it could be hard-sculpted on.)


Articulation

Law

Law features the standard G.I. Joe Classified articulation we’ve come to expect: excellent range of motion at the head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, torso, hips, knees, and ankles.

His removable hat fits well, and his tactical vest appears removable with some effort, but I don’t feel the need to take it off. (There might be a glued seam under one arm. Sculpted details like the flashlight and body cam add realism, making Law feel like a true modern military police officer.

Order

Order can rotate his head and has a slight up and down on his neck joint. He has jointed knees and elbows, as well as ankles on some kind of joint that can be angled in any direction. His tail is also on a ball joint. His front and back legs have “splay” and he can stand very well. There is also a mid-body articulation (do we call this a “torso” on a dog?)

The mouth does not close—Order always has his tongue out in the default head sculpt—You can swap the head for a more menacing “snarling” look.


Accessories

We have a lot of similarities…We can remove our helmets, and have large scary pets! PICTURED: Masterverse New Eternia Battle Armor Skeletor and Panthor, and GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order. Both are posing with their helmet and pet.

The Uzi machine gun is painted green-on-black, and looks like real guns I have likely seen at shows or just around my son who was in the army. I don’t know hardly anything about guns, but this one looks very realistic.

PICTURED: Law leads some NPC GI Joes and Tunnel Rat, while busting Cold Slither. Notice Zartan is escaping! All GI Joe Classified Series figures.

Be careful with these handcuffs. They are made of the thinnest plastic. Honestly they feel like that plastic that Hasbro uses to tie figures into a blister card. Flimsy stuff. There isn’t a way to unlock them…they are permanently closed. If you want to put them on a figure you have to remove their hands.

My son says he believes this pistol is not styled after a real pistol. I tend to believe him…

PICTURED: Masterverse New Eternia Man-E-Faces and GI Joe Classified Law. Both showing off their fictitious pistols.

The knightstick is a nice piece, but I wish the flashlight wasn’t permanently attached to the belt. I know some real police, and these flashlights are also meant to be used as nightsticks if necessary.

The dagger…I never could find a place on the figure where this dagger was supposed to sheath to. This was some kind of oversight at the Hasbro I believe.

Order- OK. This isn’t an accessory if you ask me.

Mythic Legions Belualyth’s Chimera is OK to take apart…but I am not showing this heroic K9 disassembled.

No problem removing his helmet. It comes right off past the ears with a little force. BUT, in order to remove the harness…this is where there is a problem. There is no buckle or snap on this harness, instead you have to remove the head and neck (the neck doesn’t come off easy), and the two back legs.

It works, but it feels wrong—especially for younger collectors or anyone sensitive to pulling apart a dog figure. But he looks great without it on, and I prefer him not to wear it, though I know he is supposed to.

PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates! Snake Eyes Timber and Order. I have nine dogs. I see this scene every day.

Order is of a similar scale to Mythic Legions Belualyth’s Chimera skeleton pet, Super7 Ultimates! Snake Eyes Timber wolf companion, GI Joe Classified Series Gnawgahyde’s Porkbelly warthog is bigger, but I believe this is accurate. (In a fight, my money is on the Warthog)

PICTURED: GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order and also Porkbelly, Gnawgahyde’s pet warthog.

SpartanNerd Rating of GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order

Such a good boy…he has Cobra Commander’s gun!

I am rating GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order a 5/5. I award points for sculpt, paint, articulation, accessories, and “feels.” The set gets all of these, especially the feels point because I also now have a German Shepherd, but also because of my love for the 1980’s GI Joe movie. I believe I will be completing the “team” of Beach Head’s recruits, because now all I need are Beach Head, Jinx, Big Lob, and Lt. Falcon.


I rate GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order a 5/5. Do you agree or disagree? Do you have a German Shepherd of your own?


Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, subscribe, and check out more GI Joe Classified Series reviews on SpartanNerd.com.

GI Joe Classified Gnawgahyde, Porkbelly, and Yobbo

Watch the video review HERE.

I was shopping after Christmas, and saw this GI Joe Classified…the coolest one I’ve ever seen!

Before this I had two GI Joe Classified figures. One Cobra Commander, and the other Sgt. Slaughter. Both of those are characters I have a connection with. But Gnawgahyde as a specific character I do not. But you knew immediately what he was about. A Dreadnok.

On the old cartoon, Dreadnoks were a group of criminals operating for Cobra under Zartan. I thought they were cool as a child…every one of them had the air of Crocodile Dundee. And they lived in the Everglades or somewhere similar. None seemed as smart as other Cobra characters, but now as an old teacher, I believe their smarts were just from a different place. Cobra troops for instance blindly follow orders. These guys were apt do do whatever they wanted in spite of orders. I didn’t get it as a kid, but as an adult they I understand them to be a group of mercenaries.

So why did I think this was the coolest GI Joe Classified I have ever seen? Keep reading!

PACKAGING

You can see clearly in the box what is here, and now you know why it caught my eye!

In most of these, you see the figure first…it is usually the most central idea…but in this product a warthog takes that real estate. The SpartanNerd has TWO pet pigs. (There’s a photo of one on this blog entry.)

Here’s a little “stream of thought”

My eye saw the pig, then I looked clockwise as one does, and saw the monkey, then the bow…my eyes jerked over and saw the man.

This window box shows everything you need to see. I guess they used more blister bubble packaging because of what they saved back when they tried the windowless packaging. This box is all black. All business.

The back gives us a photoshop of the figures and some details. Gnawgahyde stands in the rain with his pets. (I wonder if his mother took this photo)? Details pointed out are the snake tattoo on the side of his head, the nose ring on Porkbelly, and Gnawgahyde’s vest and two necklaces. Also his stats are over on the left side. (Those red triangle things). We aren’t given any other bio, however. No traditional “file card”

The side features the same stats images.

The other side gives us a nice image of all three characters. That number 125 is the character number in this series. Gnawgahyde probably won’t get one, but someone like Snake Eyes likely has five versions. Each version will have the same number.

So there is a QR code. My thought was…this will lead me to some content, probably the file card or at least some bio information. NOPE…It was a dead page.

Behind the figure is Cobra graphics, that make a nice backdrop.

FIGURE REVIEW

I used the backdrop that came with this set, and also Cobra Commander’s as the floor.

What do you get in the package?

  • Gnawgahyde figure
  • Porkbelly figure
  • Yobbo figure
  • Compound Bow
  • Quiver with one removable arrow
  • Hat
  • Sniper Rifle with case
  • Pair of daggers
  • Wearable machete

So this GI Joe classified comes with a TON of stuff!

As mentioned, the vest is removable, and he also has a removable animal tooth necklace and some dog tags.

Gnawgahyde is a tall boy compared to Cobra Commander. But…I mentioned before that maybe Cobra Commander has a Napoleon complex. (Joepedia says that Gnawgahyde is Cobra Commander’s most trusted Dreadnok).

PICTURED GI Joe Classified Series Cobra Commander and Gnawgahyde.

So much to talk about.

Gnawgahyde has a few tattoos. The aforementioned snake on the side of his head is joined by the obligatory “anarchy” symbol on one shoulder, and on the other a skull with a snake and a knife. (I like to joke with my chorus students I am going to put this image on our t-shirt. And then I saw this)! If you don’t have Gnawgahyde’s hat on his head, and you don’t look closely to know better, you might think he has scraggly remnants of hair combed over all pathetically. (I say this in jest…I am voluntarily bald because I hate my bald spot).

The two necklaces. One is something like Kraven the Hunter might wear, and could honestly go on any barbarian figure. The dog tags don’t have any paint.

The arm machete. What an impractical weapon. I guess it is more believable than the “chain sword” that Buzzer traditionally sports. (The only other Dreadnok name I can recall). If you use this to chop trees, it is just going to flop around and be less effective than a traditional machete.

PICTURED: GI Joe Classified Series Sgt. Slaughter and Gnawgahyde.

The daggers can be stored in his belt sheath behind him or on the one in his boot.

The bow is surprisingly rubbery, and joins the hosts of bows I have that can’t have a knocked arrow. It’s too floppy. This one has a plastic string molded, necessary for it to appear correctly. But pretty much Gnawgahyde has to be posed with it before or after a shot. The bow and removable arrow do have some paint. There is a removable “ballast” on the bow. ( I looked this up and still don’t know the real word. Stabilizer? Rod damper?)

The quiver is a backpack with a peg. It is molded with a curve to fit his back. It has an oversized clip to store the bow or gun case. The little loop is for that “ballast.”

The big surprise for the SpartanNerd was the details of the sniper rifle. It came with a case that has molded spots for the weapon. And the gun has four parts…the main gun, the bipod, the scope, and the noise suppressor. And each part has a spot in the case.

I don’t personally have a lot of knowledge about guns, especially of this type. But my son certainly does, and when he saw this he was completely shocked. His words…”I didn’t know they were making GI Joes now with real weapons!” He told me that this was the general sniper rifle used in the army. And immediately we found the model: Remington M2010 ESR (Enhanced Sniper Rifle).

This inspired him to go out and buy some GI Joe Classified figures of his own, and you can see those in the video I posted.

THE PETS

Are they pets? Do you really think Gnawgahyde puts out a food bowl for these guys?

Porkbelly is very nice, and is fully articulated. He is in fact more articulated than Super7 Ultmates! Snake Eye’s “Timber” wolf. (A figure that costs a lot more). Porkbelly has a torso bend on a ball joint, legs that splay out, joints on each knee and ankle, and articulated tail, two joints on his neck, and a jaw that can open!

PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates! Snake Eyes pet wolf Timber, and GI Joe Classified Series Gnawgahyde’s pet Porkbelly.

Yobbo is the exact opposite, but nicely painted anyway. He is the kind of toy you might get out of a teacher’s prize bucket. But his tail is very rubbery and can be posed any way you want just be careful not to stress it. He can sit nicely on top of Gnawgahyde’s hat or on Porkbelly’s back.

PICTURED: McFarlane’s Raw-10 Cy-Gor, Figura Obscura Sun Wu Kong The Monkey King, and GI Joe Classified Yobbo.

SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF GI JOE CLASSIFIED SERIES GNAWGAHYDE, PORKBELLY, AND YOBBO

Is there really a question? 5/5.

Great sculpt in line with other GI Joe Classified figures, and also great paint with what are probably tempo graphic tattoos.

A great set of accessories, including two animal companions.

No stupid problems. Great articulation. Looks great to pose and photograph.

The package is ok if a little bland. But you can see everything in it. It isn’t the product’s fault that the QR code didn’t work.

He adds a lot to the SpartanNerd’s collection. Especially with Porkbelly and Yobbo. They can go anywhere, with any other figure I have. It might be a little odd to have a warthog with a nose ring in the wild or a monkey with an eyepatch. But why not?

Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Do you have any GI Joe classified series? Should I review more? I have to say the allure of them as compared to Super7 Ultimates, for instance is pretty strong. They are easier to get and you get more value for your money.