Ralph 'Steeler' Pulaski & Short-Fuze — G.I. Joe Classified Series #181

Overview

Ralph ‘Steeler’ Pulaski & Short-Fuze is figure #181 in the G.I. Joe Classified Series — Target exclusive, 2025 at $54.99. Two Original 13 founding members in a single set — Steeler the tank commander and Short-Fuze the mortar specialist — both making their first Classified appearances. For collectors building the complete 1982 founding team display, this Target two-pack is among the most historically significant releases in the programme’s history.

The Original 13 at Classified Scale

The 1982 GI Joe launch had thirteen figures: Breaker, Flash, Grunt, Rock ‘N Roll, Scarlett, Short-Fuze, Snake Eyes, Stalker, Steeler, Zap, Duke (added mid-year), Gung-Ho, and Roadblock. By the time Steeler and Short-Fuze arrive in 2025, the Classified programme has spent five years working through that foundational roster.

The founding team display is the programme’s most historically weighted collection goal — the thirteen figures that established every character type, faction relationship, and visual aesthetic the franchise would build on for forty years. Steeler and Short-Fuze aren’t glamorous names in the franchise’s pop culture legacy, but they’re founding members, and the founding team doesn’t feel complete without them.

File Card: Steeler

Code Name: Steeler Real Name: Pulaski, Ralph W. Primary Specialty: Armour Secondary Specialty: Vehicle Operations

Ralph Pulaski’s armour specialisation connects him to the Joe team’s heavy ground vehicle capability — the M.A.U.L.E.R. tank in vintage lore, and the broader armoured operations doctrine that Steeler represents in the founding team’s combined-arms structure. As a tank commander, he occupies a different operational tier from the team’s infantry specialists, and that distinction is legible at Classified display scale.

File Card: Short-Fuze

Code Name: Short-Fuze Real Name: Freistadt, Eric W. Primary Specialty: Mortar Secondary Specialty: Artillery

Eric Freistadt’s mortar specialisation gives the founding team its indirect fire capability — the ability to engage targets behind cover, over obstacles, and at distances that direct fire weapons can’t reach. The founding team’s fire support dimension was always implied; Short-Fuze makes it explicit at Classified scale.

Two-Pack Display Value

At $54.99 for two first-appearance founding team members, the Steeler & Short-Fuze set delivers straightforward value. The Target exclusive channel means acquisition requires attention at the drop, but the per-figure pricing is competitive with individual retail figures.

The two characters work well together in display: Steeler as the armoured operations specialist and Short-Fuze as the artillery support, positioned to communicate complementary heavy weapons capability rather than redundant roles.

Completing the Founding Team

With Steeler and Short-Fuze, every Original 13 member has Classified representation. That’s a programme milestone that took five years to reach — from Wave 1 Roadblock and Snake Eyes in 2020 through the last gap-fillers in 2025. The founding team display is now possible in its complete form for the first time at any premium collector scale.

Secondary Market

Target exclusivity drives secondary prices above retail. Two first-appearance founding members in a single set creates specific collector demand. Secondary prices typically run $70–100 for sealed sets.

Verdict

Steeler & Short-Fuze #181 closes the Original 13 roster at Classified scale — one of the 2025 programme’s most historically significant releases. If you’re building the founding team display, this is the Target exclusive you’ve been waiting for.

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Part of G.I. Joe Classified Series | Target Exclusive 2025. Related: Roadblock #01 | Snake Eyes #02 | Grunt #87.

Target Acquisition and the Original 13 Display

The complete Original 13 display at Classified scale is now a realistic collector goal. The founding team’s visual arrangement — 13 figures from the launch year, together for the first time at premium scale — creates one of the programme’s most historically resonant displays. Steeler at the vehicle command position, Short-Fuze with mortar deployed, the infantry arrayed across the display communicating the team’s combined-arms structure.

For collectors who’ve been building toward this display since Wave 1, the Steeler & Short-Fuze set is the completion event. Five years of systematic acquisition, from Wave 1 Roadblock and Snake Eyes through every founding team gap-filler, reaches its conclusion with this Target two-pack.

Target Exclusive Timing

Target exclusives in the 2025 Classified programme have generally been available for several weeks before selling through — the category has matured from the 2020-2021 Cobra Island sell-out panic to a more sustainable distribution. The Steeler & Short-Fuze set, at $54.99 for two founding team figures, will generate specific demand from Original 13 completionists. Monitor Target.com and physical stores at launch. The two-figure format at this price point attracts both collectors and gift buyers, which can accelerate sell-through faster than single-figure exclusives.

Quick Reference

Number: #181 | Year: 2025 | Price: $54.99 | Channel: Target exclusive | Format: Two-figure set (Steeler + Short-Fuze) | First appearances: Both | Significance: Completes Original 13 Classified roster

For collectors who’ve been tracking the Original 13 across the Classified programme since 2020, this set closes the chapter. The founding team is complete.

The Steeler and Short-Fuze two-pack closes a five-year chapter of the programme — every Original 13 founding member now has Classified scale representation. The Original 13 display is now achievable in its complete form for the first time at any premium collector scale — a milestone that the Classified programme has been building toward since Wave 1. Two Target exclusive Original 13 figures in a single purchase, both first Classified appearances — this is exactly the kind of set the programme needed to deliver before the founding team’s fifth anniversary in 2025. Classified 6” premium scale is the format these characters always warranted — and 2025 is the year they finally arrived. The G.I. Joe Classified Series is the premium format GI Joe has always warranted. Every figure in the catalogue — founding team members, HasLab unlocks, convention exclusives, and standard retail — contributes to the most complete GI Joe display ever assembled at any scale.