Action Figure Barbecue: Wrapping Up 2023: Dreadnok Ripper from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

Today it's time for the Dreadnok of the Year Awards here at Action Figure Barbecue. We've gone through a lot of grape soda and dozens upon dozens of little chocolate donuts, but finally we've arrived at a decision as to who is the meanest, nastiest, orneriest Dreadnok of the year. The winner is.... Ripper! Yes, Ripper (or Dreadnok Ripper, as he's know on his packaging), the meanest Tasmanian devil of them all! I never owned Ripper as a kid and didn't have a figure of him until the mid-2000s when I picked up one of the Joe vs. Cobra versions. This guy absolutely is inspired by the vintage figure but everything is just amped up here. He's reminiscent of the original figure but the details and design are expanded to make him feel fresh and new. Ready for a look at Ripper? Then join me after the break...

The Facts:

Height: 6 3/8th inches

Articulation: Swivel/ hinge ankles, boot swivels, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, ball jointed drop down hips, ball jointed waist, mid-torso hinge, butterfly pecs, swivel/hinge shoulders, bicep swivels, double hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, ball jointed neck base, and a barbell jointed head.

Accessories: Power jaws, rifle, magazine, pistol, holster, knife, arm band, wrist cuff, and necklace.

Non-Scalper Price: $25 dollars

The Positives:

* Ripper's outfit is pretty simple compared to most other Cobra agents and allies; no fancy, schmancy military gear or specially tailored costumes; just some blue jeans with cargo pockets and a camouflage tank top. It's not a belly shirt this time around, but I imagine most of us are fine with that. I'm not sure Ripper has the best hygiene, so the less shown the better. The camo print is great, though, and he's sporting cool stuff like a wallet chain, an oversized belt, and simple harness with spikes, grenades, and a sheathe for his trench knife.

* Ripper's portrait is excellent and I could go on and on about it. Something about him reminds me of Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery/ the Fake Mandarin from the MCU. He looks quite a bit like Kingsley with a very cool beard, a very pissed off expression, and some unique little details. You know, a razor blade earring, a teardrop tattoo, and a right eyeball that looks like a little smiley face. Yes, just like Mr. Benedict, the villain played by Charles Dance in the criminally underrated Last Action Hero. What a crazy little detail! Is it a contact? A glass eye? An actual weapon Cobra has hooked him up with?

* Let's talk about the hair. It's incredible. Honestly, I've actually had my hair similar to this before, though without the mohawk extending down the back of my head. It's a great look. Ripper's goes further, however, and ends up looking like a horsetail with some mulletish tendencies. I wouldn't wear that cut but it works for him. And seriously, are you going to tell Ripper that you don't like his hair? Mr. Harry Nod was kicked out of preschool for extorting candy from his classmates, so he's never been a reasonable, kind fellow.

* Ripper has removable glasses. That was my big concern with Buzzer as his didn't want to stay on properly, but guess what? They work! They look fantastic, too. They're red shield sunglasses and they definitely add a nice punch of color.

* Ripper has some excellent tattoos. On his left arm he's sporting the face of some sort of creature (maybe a very stylized Tasmanian devil?) on his bicep and a clawed paw on his forearm. His right arm is covered with a spiked bracelet and bicep strap while there's a tattoo of the Grim Reaper on his right shoulder.

* Besides having a couple grenades hands, Ripper is also wearing a necklace with razor blades on it. Yeah, that seems really safe, Harry!

* The articulation on the Classified Series figures is always pretty solid, so there are no issues with Ripper. He moves well, can take a great variety of poses, and interacts nicely with all of his accessories. These are really sturdy, durable figures that have some of the best articulation out there. He's quite fun to pose utilizing his various weapons or hoisting his power jaws towards his target, ready to cause some mayhem.

* Ripper comes with power jaws, a rake on a hydraulic rescue tool or the jaws of life. While the vintage figure had a set of jaws that attached to a backpack via a hose, the Classified Series Ripper's jaws are a newer model that is self contained with no external power or cords needed. It's a powerful looking tool that could honestly be used with Barbecue as well. Hurst, the company who makes the jaws of life, isn't far from me, so it's pretty cool to see these in figure form. It looks a lot like their product.

* The jaws open together while the handle does swivel, allowing you to get Ripper into your optimal pose.

* Interestingly, Ripper's rifle looks like a modified version of the XMLR-3A that came with Grunt. That's true of the vintage accessory too, though, so I wonder what the connection was intended to be? Ripper's rifle has a blade on the front, a scope on the top, and a hollow barrel for holding a firing effect.

* There's also a removable magazine, so you can have him lock and load in your display.

* There's a peg on the back of Ripper's harness which allows to you sling the rifle on his back. It plugs in through the trigger guard.

* Ripper's pistol is quite unusual. It looks like some sort of custom job with a knife blade under the barrel. It's a tiny barrel, too, like it's a very small caliber pistol. Something that seems more suited to plinking. Of course, that knife is pretty nasty.

* Ripper's pistol fits easily into the removable holster on his right hip.

* Check out this really cool trench knife! It doesn't have a helmet/ skull cracker but it does have one heck of a blade and a brass knuckle like grip.

* It also can slide right into the sheath on his harness. You just know how much I love knives that are worn like on on harnesses or vests, so this is a big win in my book.

Ripper is definitely the Dreadnok figure of the year in the G.I. Joe: Classified Series and one of my overall favorites. He's just a stellar figure with a great design, lots of cool, crazy details befitting a wild Tasmanian biker, some incredible weapons, and one of the best headsculpts in the line. Ripper is one of those figures that you can really hold up to show just what the Classified Series is capable of. Hasbro has an incredible team working on this line and they're constantly pushing to implement new stuff. This is an Epic figure and absolutely worth tracking down.

This is the first figure of Ripper/ Harry Nod. For more G.I. Joe: Classified Series reviews check out the following:

Agent Helix

Alley Viper

Alvin "Breaker" Kibbey
Arctic B.A.T.

Arctic Mission Storm Shadow

Baroness with Cobra C.O.I.L.
Baroness (Retro)

Baroness (Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins)

B.A.T.
B.A.T. (Python Patrol)

Blue Ninjas
Buzzer
Chuckles

Cobra Commander

Cobra Commander (Regal Variant)
Cobra Eel

Cobra Infantry
Cobra Officer