Wet-Suit — G.I. Joe Classified Series #179

Overview

Wet-Suit is figure #179 in the G.I. Joe Classified Series, retail, 2025 at $24.99. The Joe team’s Navy SEAL — introduced in 1986 alongside Leatherneck as the franchise’s commitment to joint operations representation. Wet-Suit’s Classified debut gives the aquatic programme its second named Joe team diver and completes a display that Torpedo had been anchoring alone since 2023.

File Card

Code Name: Wet-Suit Real Name: Forrest, Brian T. Primary Specialty: SEAL Secondary Specialty: Underwater Combat Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland

Brian Forrest’s Navy SEAL background creates the foundational relationship with Torpedo’s Underwater Demolition Team heritage. Both are elite Navy operatives; both specialise in underwater operations; both bring distinct personalities. The Larry Hama comics developed their relationship as the respectful friction between two elite specialists whose training overlaps but whose approaches differ — which gives their Classified display pairing narrative depth that two interchangeable operatives wouldn’t have.

SEAL vs. UDT: A Real Distinction

The distinction between Wet-Suit’s SEAL background and Torpedo’s UDT heritage is worth understanding. Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) preceded the Navy SEAL programme and specialised in beach reconnaissance, obstacle demolition, and combat swimming. SEALs expanded the mission set to include direct action, special reconnaissance, and counterterrorism with an emphasis on combined sea-air-land capability.

Both Torpedo and Wet-Suit are elite; their specific training backgrounds give them different capability emphases. Torpedo is the demolition specialist with beach clearance expertise; Wet-Suit is the direct action specialist with a broader mission set. The display distinction is subtle but real.

Leatherneck and Wet-Suit: The 1986 Service Pair

The Marine-Navy pairing was deliberate in 1986’s vintage vintage lineup. Leatherneck (#148) and Wet-Suit were designed together as complementary service branch representatives — the USMC ground combatant and the Navy SEAL underwater specialist, both arriving in the same year, both representing service branches not yet fully covered in the franchise’s roster.

Their comics dynamic — the specific institutional rivalry between Marine Corps and Navy SEALs, expressed through genuine professional respect and equally genuine competitive friction — was one of the Larry Hama run’s more specific inter-character relationships. Having both at Classified scale in the same 2025 programme window honours that pairing.

The Underwater Programme Complete

With Torpedo (#73), Cobra Eel (#81), Joe Diver vs. Cobra Diver (#169), Wet-Suit (#179), and the Hydro-Viper (#199), the Classified aquatic display is its most complete:

Joe team: Torpedo (named specialist), Wet-Suit (named specialist), Joe Diver (generic rank-and-file)
Cobra: Cobra Eel (named specialist), Cobra Diver (generic rank-and-file), Hydro-Viper (specialist infantry army builder)

Named operatives and army builders for both sides, across the full spectrum from stealth diver to assault infantry. The underwater conflict scenario is finally stageable with appropriate depth on both sides.

Display: Two Divers, Two Roles

Position Torpedo and Wet-Suit as complementary elements rather than duplicates. Torpedo’s UDT background suits placement near ordnance and demolition equipment; Wet-Suit’s SEAL direct action background suits placement in a combat assault configuration. The same underwater environment, two different operational postures, communicating the different roles their training emphasises.

Secondary Market

Standard retail at $24.99. First Classified appearance of a 1986 character with strong collector following. Secondary prices typically run $27–35.

Verdict

Wet-Suit #179 completes the Joe team’s named underwater specialist roster and activates the aquatic display scenario that Torpedo had been anchoring since 2023. Two Navy divers, two different operational backgrounds, one complete underwater conflict display. The SEAL finally arrives at the scale his training warrants.

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Part of G.I. Joe Classified Series | Retail 2025. Related: Torpedo #73 | Leatherneck #148 | Hydro-Viper #199.

Wet-Suit’s SEAL Gear at Classified Scale

The equipment details that distinguish a Navy SEAL from a generic combat diver are specific and legible at 6” scale: the SEAL’s combat diving apparatus, the weapons and tools that a maritime direct action specialist carries, the physical conditioning that elite selection produces. At Classified premium scale, Wet-Suit’s SEAL gear communicates his operational identity through design rather than through a label on the packaging.

The underwater specialist figures in the Classified programme — Torpedo, Wet-Suit, Cobra Eel — benefit specifically from the scale’s ability to render diving equipment with technical accuracy. The regulator, the dive computer, the sealed underwater weapon housing — these details are meaningful at 6” in a way they were suggestions at 3¾”.

The 1986 Service Pair Complete

With both Leatherneck (#148) and Wet-Suit (#179) in the Classified programme, the 1986 Marine-Navy pairing is complete. The display argument: the two figures together communicate their specific institutional dynamic — the Marine Corps infantry officer and the Navy SEAL, different services, different training approaches, the mutual professional respect and competitive friction that their Larry Hama comics relationship expressed.

For collectors who follow the franchise’s comics character development, this is the pairing that was worth waiting for. Both figures alone are significant 1986 character completions; both figures together tell the specific story that their shared vintage year established.

Where to Find Wet-Suit

Standard retail at $24.99. The first Classified Wet-Suit at retail pricing has the consistent demand of a 1986 character with a strong underwater specialist following. Pick it up at launch through Amazon, Entertainment Earth, or BigBadToyStore — the aquatic display has enough depth by 2025 that Wet-Suit’s arrival will be meaningfully noticed by collectors who’ve been building toward it. Wet-Suit completes the named underwater specialist roster and activates the aquatic display that Torpedo has been anchoring since 2023. The SEAL has arrived — buy it at retail, position it alongside Torpedo, and let the underwater conflict display finally have the depth both sides need.