Tag Archives: iron grenadiers

Dec 16 2024

G. I. JOE Classified: Iron Grenadier by Hasbro

Classified has been dipping into Destro’s private army of Iron Grenadiers, and I started looking at these a few weeks back with the Iron Grenadier BATs. Well, now it’s time to check out the actual Iron Grenadier Troops! Last time I mentioned how this faction came out after I had already moved on from buying GI JOE figures as a kid, so I didn’t own any of the original RAH figures, but part of the fun of collecting Classified is getting to experience some of these characters and designs for the first time. Granted, as Classified strays into the 90’s, I’ll likely start to opt out more and more, but for now these fellas are right up my alley!

Hasbro has hit peak Classified packaging with these window box designs. You still get some character art on the side, but for the most part the box lets the figure do the talking. And with a line as fantastic as Classified, that really is the best way to go about it. I love the concept of the Iron Grenadiers, as it only makes sense that Destro would have his own private forces for when shit hits the fan or when it’s finally time to depose old Bumper Face, Cobra Commander. As a kid playing with my JOEs, I would often have Cobra Civil War break out between Serpentor backed by the Crimson Guard and Cobra Commander backed by the regular Blue Shirts and Vipers. I can only imagine the fun I could have had with a three-way Civil War, adding Destro into the mix. The poor JOEs probably would have stayed in the collector case.

Out of the package, the Iron Grenadier is looking all sorts of regal. Hasbro has been doing some wonderful extrapolations of RAH figures for this line, but this is one example where they just stole the ball and ran with it. I’m a big fan of elaborate military uniforms reminiscent of the 19th Century and this guy has got it going in spades. The black overcoat with red trimmed lapels and liner, along with the gold buttons looks, parting just below the belt to reveal his gray trousers, but continuing down below the knees at the back. The gold accents extend to the tiny skull belt buckle as well as the fixtures on his baldric that holsters one of his weapons across his back. A second holster provides access to his angled pistol at the small of his back and a sword hangs off his right hip in a black and gold scabbard. This uniform design is simply amazing and Hasbro did a wonderful job realizing it in this scale. Oh and I have to compliment the work they did on the collar and necktie peeking out from the top of the jacket. It looks great!

The head is completely covered giving him an intimidating anonymity. The combination of visor and snout over the nose and mouth gives me more than a hint of Star Wars Biker Scout helmet design. The deco for the face mask continues black, red, gold, and gray color scheme from the rest of the figure. The helmet is removable, although there isn’t much going on under it, and I dig the gold mohawk-like crest at the top.

As snazzy as he may look, a troop builder still needs to have a solid weapon layout and this guy comes fully loaded, even if it is all recycled gear. So much so, that he can’t really carry everything, unless he’s going into the fight with big guns akimbo. Normally, I really expect these figures to be able to carry their own gear, but here I think a bulky backpack with guns hanging off of it would have messed up the regal military vibe they were going for, so I guess I’m OK with it. So let’s start with what he can carry, starting with the sword. I loved this weapon on the Crimson Guard and I love seeing it again, albeit this time with a golden blade. It fits perfectly into the scabbard, which plugs into the socket on his right hip.

The holsters on his back carry the same weapon designs wielded by his boss and I think these are a great pairing to include with him. The large scoped laser pistol has a bit of gold plating on the top of the barrel and it’s just a really neat sci-fi inspired design with some excellent detail in the sculpt. This one is stored angled across the back. Meanwhile, he has the smaller pistol down on the back of his belt.

The two bigger weapons include the double-barreled AR design and the SIG 338-style light machine gun. Both of these have been around a bit, but I most recently remember them paired up with Night Force Shockwave. The AR still has the hinged foregrip, but here it’s cast in red plastic, as are the bipod and ammo box on the machine gun. Thematically the red on these weapons should work, but I think it looks kind of cheap.

All nitpicks aside, these guys turned out great. In a perfect world, I think Hasbro should bundle at least one new weapon or accessory with any non-exclusive figures, but I like that he got the Destro stuff and the rest of what he got is pretty good. I actually dig these fellas more than the IG BATs and that’s saying something because I liked them a lot. I’m really trying to curb my temptations to get more of these. I wound up with three, but I really feel like I should pick up a couple more at some point down the road.

Nov 25 2024

G. I. JOE Classified: Iron Grenadier (B.A.T.) Battle Android Trooper by Hasbro

New Classified figures arrived at my doorstep this weekend, and I’m pushing them to the head of the line. I feel terrible about this because so many of these figures have been waiting their turn for a long while. I’ve had a half-finished review of the Cobra STINGER brewing since last month, and the HasLab Dragonfly with its figures is sneering angrily at me from the other room. But, I have to go with what works and what I can budget into the time I have and so I’m rolling out Destro’s Battle Android Troopers!

I’ve mentioned a ton of times how happy I am to have Classified back in window boxes, especially since the character art on those closed boxes was so hit or miss. Plus I was always paranoid that I was tossing accessories with those tissue bags. Here you get to see the gorgeous figure and accessories before you even clip that tape. We’ve had four models of the Classified BATs so far with the regular and crimson flavors being my favorites and the Arctic BAT being a big disappointment, and forget about Python Patrol because I’m not going down that rabbit hole. So how are Destro’s personal BATs going to turn out? Let’s take a look!

Well, doesn’t this guy look gorgeous! From the neck down, the IG Bat is basically a repaint of the first model, taking the two best parts of the Arctic BAT while ignoring all the extra crap they added to him. The humanoid killing machine retains the black fatigues of the OG model, while changing the exposed arms to gold and peppering the rest of the deco with red and more gold. The result is so striking and fresh, that I had to do a close side-by-side comparison to confirm nothing had been changed in the sculpt. We finally get a proper clear chest cover, which is cool. The black ones grew on me quite a bit, but I do still like to see the circuitry displayed like on the original RAH models. The gun belt and holster are now red with a gold buckle and the backpack is recycled with a little red paint added to some of the hoses on the side. Finally, you get a nice crisp Iron Grenadiers patch printed on his left shoulder.

The head is borrowed from the Arctic BAT, which is one of the few things I liked about that figure and I’m happy to see it return. The gold and black deco looks great here, as does the shiny red cyclopean eye. You do get the option to go with a standard BAT head with the face plate painted red, and while it does look good, I’ll be sticking with the cyclops head. You also get an optional damaged chest plate, but I don’t think the damage shows up all that well with the clear plastic. I would much rather they had included a translucent red tinted cover as an option.

The other best thing about the Arctic BAT shows up here and that’s the chainsaw arm attachment. Naturally this piece gets the black and gold paint upgrade. And while the Arctic BAT was stingy and just came with the one weapon attachment, the IG BAT also comes with the full assortment from the original.

And that includes the flamethrower, claw, and drill-laser thing. As with the original, there’s room to store three of the four attachments on his backpack and I think the chainsaw looks fantastic hanging from the side. If you read my Arctic BAT review, you may remember that his chainsaw would not stay put when hung from the side of the pack, but this one does just fine.

And finally, you get the same pistol that came with the previous versions in a… you guessed it! Black and gold deco. It’s kind of funny that these guys even need a sidearm with all their weapon attachments, but I’m not going to turn my nose up at an extra gun.

By the time the Iron Grenadiers arrived on the scene in 1988, I was well out of buying toys and I wouldn’t be back into it for another 12 years. As a result, this is my first time owning any figures of Destro’s private faction and I’m glad to be experiencing it through Classified. Because I was disappointed with the Arctic BAT, I only preordered two of these guys, but I’m happy to say he turned out fantastic and I would love some more. Unfortunately, my life is all about packing things to move these days, so I may hold off on that urge for the time being. Plus, I’m really trying to get my army building compulsion under wraps. But that didn’t stop me from buying three of the Iron Grenadier soldiers, and I’ll be having a look at those here in the very near future!