Action Soldier - Special Forces — G.I. Joe 60th Anniversary

Overview

The Action Soldier - Special Forces is part of the G.I. Joe 60th Anniversary sub-line, 2026 at $42.99. The final entry in the 60th Anniversary programme — the Army branch returns in Special Forces configuration to close out the sub-line that began with the Action Soldier Infantry in 2024. Two years, seven figures, the complete 60th Anniversary programme covering four military service branches, two civilian emergency services, and a Special Forces capstone that brings the Army identity to its highest operational tier.

The Special Forces Capstone

The original Wave 1 Action Soldier Infantry (2024) presented the Army in its foundational configuration — the general purpose infantry that is the foundation of any ground force. The 2026 Special Forces variant returns to the Army to present its elite operational tier: the Special Forces soldier whose training, equipment, and mission set represent the highest capability within the Army’s ground force spectrum.

This two-figure Army arc across the 60th Anniversary programme is deliberately structured. Infantry first, Special Forces last — the progression from foundational to elite mirrors the Army’s own capability tier structure and gives the anniversary programme its natural narrative arc. The sub-line begins with the most basic Army expression and closes with the most elite, bookending the 60th Anniversary programme with the service branch that gave the franchise its name: the American soldier.

Army Special Forces Identity

US Army Special Forces — the Green Berets — have a specific identity within the US military’s special operations community. Unlike the Navy SEALs’ maritime orientation or the Rangers’ airborne assault focus, the Special Forces’ primary mission is Unconventional Warfare: training, advising, and operating with indigenous forces in denied environments. The Green Beret is as much a trainer and advisor as a direct action operator, which gives the Special Forces identity a specific character that distinguishes it from other elite military specialisations.

At Classified 6” premium scale, the Special Forces configuration communicates this identity through equipment: the SF-specific loadout that differs from standard Army infantry, the cultural adaptability gear that reflects the UW mission, the overall presentation of an operator who functions across language barriers and unfamiliar environments. The design choices for the Action Soldier Special Forces at Classified scale are the design choices that communicate Special Forces identity specifically rather than generic elite soldier identity.

The Green Beret and the Franchise

The franchise has a specific relationship with Army Special Forces. The original 1964 G.I. Joe was created partly in response to public interest in Army Special Forces generated by the Kennedy administration’s expansion of the Special Forces programme and the public visibility of Green Berets in early Vietnam operations. The famous Green Beret song was a hit record in 1966; the Special Forces were a cultural moment in the early 1960s that the original GI Joe both reflected and amplified.

The 2026 Special Forces figure closes the 60th Anniversary programme with an explicit callback to the cultural context that helped launch the franchise in 1964. The Action Soldier Infantry Wave 1 was the generic soldier; the Action Soldier Special Forces is the specific elite identity that the franchise’s launch context celebrated. Closing the anniversary sub-line with this figure is a programme decision that rewards collectors who know the franchise’s history deeply.

$42.99 Price Point

The 2026 Action Soldier Special Forces arrives at $42.99 — an increase from the $34.99 that defined the earlier 60th Anniversary releases. The price adjustment reflects general market pricing trends across the 2026 Classified programme. The Special Forces configuration presumably delivers an expanded accessory complement appropriate to the elite operator identity and the programme’s closing entry status, making the premium investment reasonable for the figure’s anniversary significance.

The Complete 60th Anniversary Programme

The seven figures of the 60th Anniversary sub-line, complete:

2024 — Wave 1:

• Action Soldier Infantry (Army) — the foundational ground force
• Action Sailor Recon Diver (Navy) — the aquatic operations specialist
• Action Marine Sniper (Marines) — the USMC precision tradition
• Action Pilot HALO Jumper (Air Force) — the aerial insertion specialist

2025 — Expansion:

• Police Emergency Service Unit (law enforcement) — civilian protection
• Search & Rescue Firefighter (fire service) — civilian emergency response

2026 — Capstone:

• Action Soldier Special Forces (Army) — the elite operational tier

Four service branches, two civilian services, one elite capstone. The complete 60th Anniversary programme as a coherent collection.

Secondary Market

60th Anniversary 2026 capstone, standard retail. Secondary prices typically run $46–65, reflecting both the elevated base price and the programme-completion significance.

Verdict

Action Soldier Special Forces is the 60th Anniversary programme’s perfect closing statement — the Army branch returning in its most elite configuration to close out two years of anniversary releases. The Green Beret at Classified premium scale, honouring the cultural moment that helped launch the franchise in 1964, closing a programme that honoured sixty years of what the franchise has always been about.

This is the figure that completes something. Own it.

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Part of G.I. Joe Classified Series 60th Anniversary | 60th Anniversary 2026. Related: Action Soldier Infantry #60-001 | Action Marine Sniper #60-003 | Duke #04.

What the 60th Anniversary Programme Achieved

The G.I. Joe 60th Anniversary sub-line set out to do something specific: honour the franchise’s 1964 origins at the quality level that the modern Classified programme established as the standard. It did that across seven figures — four military service branches, two civilian emergency services, and a Special Forces capstone — in a coherent programme structure that rewards both casual and deep collector engagement.

The Action Soldier Special Forces is the programme’s final word. Two years of anniversary releases, from the Wave 1 Infantry to the 2026 Special Forces elite, create a narrative arc about the American soldier — what that concept means at its most foundational and what it means at its most elite. The franchise has been exploring that concept since 1964. The 60th Anniversary programme honoured that exploration at the Classified quality level it deserves.

Own the complete seven-figure set. It’s worth it.