GI Joe 60th Anniversary Figures: Complete Guide
Complete guide to the GI Joe 60th Anniversary sub-line — all 7 figures from 2024 to 2026. The original 1964 military branches at Classified premium scale, plus police and firefighter expansions. Every figure reviewed with buying advice.
GI Joe 60th Anniversary: Complete Guide
Most collectors know GI Joe as the franchise that launched in 1982 with Snake Eyes, Cobra Commander, and the A Real American Hero line. That history is real and important — but the franchise is actually older than that by eighteen years.
The original G.I. Joe action figure launched in 1964. It was a 12-inch military doll — a term Hasbro avoided, marketing it as an “action figure” instead, coining a phrase that has defined the toy industry ever since. The 1964 G.I. Joe didn’t fight Cobra. It didn’t have a file card or a code name. It was a realistic, detailed representation of the American soldier in four service branch configurations: Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. Children could buy each branch’s figure and outfit it with authentic military equipment — a concept so commercially successful it spawned an entire category of toys that still exists today.
The GI Joe 60th Anniversary sub-line, launched in 2024, honours that original 1964 concept at Classified 6” premium scale.
What the 60th Anniversary Is
The 60th Anniversary differs from both the main Classified numbered series and the Retro Collection in a specific way: these are genuinely different figures.
The Retro Collection takes existing Classified figures and repackages them in vintage 1982 ARAH cardback presentation. The figure inside is the same.
The 60th Anniversary creates figures that don’t exist elsewhere in the Classified programme — representations of the 1964 service branch concept that have no standard Classified counterpart. There is no standard retail “Action Soldier” in the main numbered series. There is no numbered figure for the Army infantryman from 1964. The 60th Anniversary figures are their own distinct programme.
Price point: $34.99 for most figures, rising to $42.99 for the 2026 Special Forces capstone. The deluxe pricing reflects both the anniversary occasion and the expanded accessory complements that distinguish these releases from standard $24.99 retail figures.
Format: All seven figures are standard retail — no exclusives, no HasLab, no special channels required. The 60th Anniversary programme is the most accessible sub-line in the Classified catalogue.
Wave 1 (2024): The Four Original Service Branches
Wave 1 launched all four original 1964 service branches simultaneously — a structural decision that meant collectors could acquire the complete four-branch founding set from the first release rather than waiting across multiple waves.
Action Soldier - Infantry (Deluxe) — $34.99
The Army branch — and the figure that started everything in 1964. The infantry soldier in authentic US Army configuration: standard combat uniform, period-appropriate weapons loadout, and the general-purpose military identity that the original 1964 figure established as the franchise’s foundation.
At Classified 6” premium scale, the Action Soldier’s design can honour the 1964 original’s commitment to military accuracy while delivering the detail and articulation that modern collector standards require. The Army infantryman who launched sixty years of the franchise.
Who it’s for: Collectors who engage with the franchise’s full history, not just the ARAH era. Military accuracy enthusiasts. Anyone who wants to understand where Snake Eyes and Cobra Commander ultimately came from.
Action Sailor - Recon Diver (Deluxe) — $34.99
The Navy branch in underwater reconnaissance diver configuration. The 2024 design team chose the recon diver identity over surface warfare or carrier aviation — a selection that gives the Navy figure its most visually distinctive presentation and connects the 60th Anniversary directly to the franchise’s ARAH-era aquatic tradition (Torpedo, Wet-Suit, Cobra Eel).
The diving equipment at Classified premium scale can be rendered with the engineering detail that makes the underwater operational role legible: breathing apparatus, wetsuit construction, recon tools, and the Navy branch identity communicated through design.
Display note: Pairs naturally with Torpedo (#73) and Wet-Suit (#179) from the main Classified line — the 1964 foundational Navy figure alongside the ARAH-era specialists communicates the franchise’s aquatic dimension across sixty years.
Action Marine - Sniper (Deluxe) — $34.99
The Marine Corps branch in precision sniper configuration. The USMC’s storied sniper tradition — one of the US military’s most respected precision shooting programmes — provides the specific Marine Corps identity that the 60th Anniversary chose over a more generic amphibious assault presentation.
The sniper configuration creates one of the four Wave 1 figures’ most display-specific presentations. A deployed sniper figure — rifle extended, bipod engaged, position taken — communicates the patience and precision of the specialisation in a way that a standing infantry figure can’t. At Classified scale, the precision rifle and associated optics equipment can be rendered with the technical detail that communicates purpose.
Display note: Connects to Low-Light (#86) in the main Classified line — the 1964 Marine sniper alongside the ARAH-era night sniper specialist creates the programme’s most natural 60th Anniversary pairing with a numbered figure.
Action Pilot - HALO Jumper (Deluxe) — $34.99
The Air Force branch in HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) jump configuration. The Air Force’s contribution to joint special operations — precision aerial insertion from extreme altitude — provides the most dramatically dynamic Wave 1 figure.
The HALO configuration enables the 60th Anniversary’s most compelling display argument: the jumper elevated above the shelf surface on a display stand, in free-fall configuration, communicates its operational environment through posture alone. No other Wave 1 figure has this vertical display dimension.
The HALO specialisation also connects the 60th Anniversary to Rip Cord (Night Force #143) in the main Classified programme — the 1964 Air Force HALO concept alongside the ARAH-era HALO specialist forms the franchise’s most historically complete aerial insertion display.
The complete Wave 1 set: All four figures together at $139.96 retail represent the most historically significant single purchase in the Classified programme — the four branches of the original 1964 franchise at premium Classified scale.
2025 Expansion: Civilian Emergency Services
The 2025 expansion extended the 60th Anniversary programme beyond the US military’s four service branches into civilian uniformed services — a decision that reflects both the franchise’s broader “Real American Hero” concept and the original 1964 programme’s own eventual expansion beyond military figures.
Police Emergency Service Unit (ESU) — $34.99
Law enforcement tactical response — specifically modelled on the NYPD ESU model that combines patrol functions with tactical entry, search and rescue, and counter-terrorism capabilities. The ESU officer operates in the space between conventional police work and full military tactical operations.
The ESU’s inclusion in the 60th Anniversary programme extends the “Real American Hero” concept to its most logical civilian application: the law enforcement officer whose tactical training and equipment parallels the military branch identities in the Wave 1 figures. Not a soldier, but a protector — which is what the franchise has always celebrated.
The ESU connects to Shockwave #105 in the main Classified programme — the Joe team’s SWAT specialist whose civilian law enforcement background mirrors the 60th Anniversary ESU’s identity.
Search & Rescue Firefighter — $34.99
Fire and emergency rescue — the SAR firefighter whose specialisation in locating and extracting people from hazardous environments represents the fire service’s most technically demanding capability. SAR firefighters work building collapses, vehicle entrapments, and wilderness emergencies — environments where the combination of firefighting knowledge, technical rescue skills, and medical training all apply simultaneously.
The SAR Firefighter completes the 2025 expansion’s civilian emergency service pair and connects directly to Barbecue #58 in the main Classified programme — the franchise’s dedicated fire control specialist since 1985.
The 2025 pair: ESU and Firefighter together represent the programme’s “Real American Hero” concept beyond military service. Buy both or neither — displayed together they make a statement about the franchise’s scope that either alone can’t make.
2026 Capstone: Special Forces
Action Soldier - Special Forces — $42.99
The 60th Anniversary programme’s final entry is the Army branch returning in its most elite configuration — the Green Berets, whose Unconventional Warfare mission and cultural advisory capabilities represent the US Army’s most complex operational identity.
The Special Forces capstone closes a two-year narrative arc. The Wave 1 Action Soldier Infantry (2024) was the Army at its most foundational — the generic infantryman who is the ground force’s basis. The Special Forces figure is the Army at its most elite — the operator whose training makes them as much an advisor and trainer as a direct action soldier.
The Green Beret’s cultural significance to the franchise’s own launch is worth noting: the early 1960s saw massive public interest in US Army Special Forces, amplified by the Kennedy administration’s expansion of the SF programme and the subsequent media attention on Green Beret operations in Vietnam. That cultural moment — the Green Beret as America’s most romanticised soldier — directly influenced the climate in which the original 1964 G.I. Joe launched. The 60th Anniversary programme closing with a Special Forces figure honours that specific historical connection.
The complete programme at close: Army Infantry → Navy Diver → Marine Sniper → Air Force HALO → Police ESU → SAR Firefighter → Army Special Forces. Seven figures. Six years. The franchise’s sixty-year history honoured at Classified premium scale.
Is the 60th Anniversary Worth It?
For franchise history collectors: Unambiguously yes. These are the only representations of the 1964 founding concept at Classified premium scale. Nothing else in the programme covers this era.
For ARAH-focused collectors: Conditional. The 60th Anniversary figures don’t connect to ARAH characters in the way that sub-lines like Night Force or Tiger Force do. They’re a separate historical thread. Whether that thread matters to you depends on how broadly you engage with the franchise’s history.
For new collectors: Not the starting point. The 60th Anniversary is most meaningful with context — understanding what the 1964 figures were and why the anniversary matters enriches the purchase. Start with the main Classified numbered series and come back to the 60th Anniversary when you’ve built the ARAH character foundation.
The best single purchase: Wave 1’s four-branch set ($139.96) if you’re committing to the programme. The Action Marine Sniper alone if you want to try one figure first — the deployed sniper configuration makes the strongest standalone display case.
Complete Checklist
Wave 1 (2024, $34.99 each): Action Soldier Infantry | Action Sailor Recon Diver | Action Marine Sniper | Action Pilot HALO Jumper
2025 Expansion ($34.99 each): Police Emergency Service Unit | Search & Rescue Firefighter
2026 Capstone ($42.99): Action Soldier Special Forces
Part of the G.I. Joe Classified Series guide. See also: Retro Collection guide | Complete figure checklist | New collector guide.