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Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Action Figure Review: Beach Head & Quick Kick (Night Force) from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 

   As it's getting dark earlier and earlier every day it's probably time to call on Night Force again! I have absolutely loved nearly every Night Force release in Hasbro's G.I. Joe: Classified Series and it's probably my favorite subset in the line at this point. I like Tiger Force (as I had most of them as a kid) but Hasbro has really changed up the figures more for Night Force, giving us some pretty cool variants. Beach Head always seems to have great figures and this one is based on the Retro carded version which, oddly, I didn't review. Quick Kick is incredibly different, though, getting not just a cool new portrait (for him) but also a completely different outfit from the prior release that feels more fitting for an elite military unit. This set is a Walmart exclusive and is still available online as of this review being published. I think this is one of the strongest release/ variant sets in this line to date as both figures are really solid and the accessories are insane. Ready to check out Beach Head and Quick Kick? Then join me after the break...






The Facts: Beach Head

Height: 6 3/8ths inches

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

Accessories: Rifle w/ removable magazine, SMG w/ removable magazine and suppressor, pistol w/ removable suppressor, explosives bag, 2 grenades, 2 knives, crossbow, and backpack.







The Facts: Quick Kick

Height: 6 3/8ths inches

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

Accessories: 3 swappable portraits, backpack, 2 curved swords, 2 straight swords, 2 nunchaku, shuriken, 6 swappable hands, rifle w/ removable magazine, 2 thigh pouches, knife, bandanna, and 2 piece Android Tactical Assault Kit. 

Non-Scalper Price: $55 dollars




The Positives:

* Let's start with Beach Head, a figure who did have a Night Force release, though not in the vintage line. Night Force Beach Head was part of a 2004 Toys R Us exclusive 6-pack and was repacked with the Night Force Moray Hydrofoil in 2005 and as a single carded figure in 2008. That's largely what this figure is based on and Hasbro used the Retro carded Beach Head from last year versus the original 2020 "Cobra Island" release. I like the look of all of the Classified Series Beach head figures, though the mix of darker greens with black and grey is superb here. That digital camo on his pants is very cool; it's a great print. The brightest part of the figure is his red beret attached to his vest, something which does kind of continue the design element of many of the Night Force figures having one or two red details on them.



* Beach Head's portrait is reused here from both previous Classified figures but it's still a good portrait. He keeps his face covered with a ribbed balaclava, so not a whole lot to adjust here, is there? 

Honestly, some day it would be cool if Hasbro released a heads pack on Pulse for some characters we haven't received unmasked heads for: Beach Head, Barbecue, Snake Eyes, Wolf Spider, Storm Shadow, and Copperhead all come to mind as being great candidates. 


* The griffin logo has showed up on a good number of the Night Force figures and it just makes for a cool way to tie many of the figures together. I'm also digging the green and black plaid design. It's not quite plaid, but I like it all the same. Seems like it's designed to really break up Beach Head's silhouette when operating at night.








* Beach Head's articulation is excellent with the only unique things worth pointing out is that he does have a bit of a restriction in his torso due to his vest and his head is the older style that does have a hinge at the top of his neck as well. Otherwise, he's still rocking the Stalker body that's durable, pinless, and takes fantastic poses.






* Beach Head does have a ton of accessories here, though all of them have come with previous figures. He's now equipped with the Remington MSR inspired rifle that originally came with Snow Job. It's mostly black with a bit of brown paint detail in places.

* The magazine is also removable and it stays in place securely.





* Beach Head also comes with an undersized take on the Demro XF-7 Wasp that the vintage figure came packaged with. This accessory first came with the more retro inspired Firefly but was also packaged with the Retro carded Beach Head.

* There's not only a removable magazine but also a removable suppressor on the end. 






* Beach Head also comes equipped with the explosives pouch from the Retro Snake Eyes along with the two grenades. The grenades actually have a cool "NF-2" paint detail, designating their use for Night Force. That's kind of a fun little nod. They even get a red highlight across the top of the canister. 









* We've seen this pistol quite a few times in the line since it first came with Stalker back in 2022. It's a sculpt I really like though, particularly because of the big, boxy suppressor that fits on the end. 






* Both the pistol and the suppressor fit neatly into the holster on Beach Head's left hips. I really appreciate when the suppressor gets its own storage spot.





* Beach head is also toting two knives. They're different sculpts, too, and the blades get a nice silver paint hit.




* Just like on the vintage figure both knives are stored in sheaths on his right leg (well, one down by his boot). Did you ever imagine how we'd have removable pieces like this on a G.I. Joe figure? The Classified Series is such a nice melding of the creativity and characters of the ARAH line with the functionality of the traditional 1/6th scale figures.





* Lastly, Beach Head comes with his backpack and a crossbow. The backpack doesn't have any paint applications and is the same from the 2020 Cobra Island figure but it's loaded with all of the cool details like a grappling hook and extra crossbow bolts. 

* The crossbow is pretty small but it's a cool little piece that Beach Head can pull out when stealth is vital. It also fits onto the backpack very securely. 






* Let's talk about Quick Kick because, hot fudge, this guy is one of the most underrated figures of 2025 for the Classified Series. I like Quick Kick. I didn't have one as a kid because he was before my time (my first Quick Kick was probably the 25th Anniversary release from one of the DVD packs) but I always knew who he was and the vintage figure is iconic. The first Classified release is great, too, but I really liked the Pursuit of Cobra figure as he looked like he could actually be on a military operation. You know, he had shoes and a shirt. This guy goes even harder and really seems to capture that covert/ jungle operations vibe that the team from Predator had. Interestingly, there are design decisions on him that remind me of the Pursuit of Cobra Spirit, who looks like Billy (Sonny Landham) from Predator. Quick Kick is sporting black pants, a black tanktop, and one of the vests that first came with Grunt and is being used on a number of the Original 13 figures. 





* Quick Kick's portrait is the same as the basic Classified Series release though his headband is now just red. He's a pretty hard looking dude. MacArthur S. Ito might be a beloved martial arts superstar, popular stuntman, and the spokesman for the Fudgee Bar but when he goes out with the Joe team he's ready to complete his mission and bring down some Cobras. 





* Not only does he get the JoePro with a red screen but he also gets a red bandanna. It's a cool thing that I always associate with jungle commandos and such and it nicely adds more red to his black and green color scheme. 








* The second portrait is also from the previous figure, though he has the red headband now and some black camo paint swipes on his face. This portrait has Quick Kick making a facial expression that shows his focus and seems like a tribute to the great Bruce Lee, the man who seemed to inspire the character of Quick Kick. 

* The third portrait is reused from the Blue Ninjas set but, my word, is it incredible: It's an oni mask in green and red accompanied by a hood that covers Quick Kick's full head. Holy smokes, is this impressive or what? I absolutely love this. Can you imagine Quick Kick sneaking up on some Cobra operatives or some terrorist group out in the middle of nowhere and showing up wearing this? That would freaking terrify all but the stoutest of heart. Quick Kick is using fear and Beach Head is using his BO to help bring down the enemy! I didn't realize this was reused until I was working on the review as the paint is so different form the first release.


* Quick Kick's vest has the Joe-Pro device I mentioned earlier along with his name tag and rank (it says M. Ito, E-4), plenty of pouches for additional magazines or gear, and what I believe is called an Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK). It's a software system for improving the situational awareness of troops which helps with tactical information sharing among personnel. Pretty cool! It's removable and the screen folds down. What's on Quick Kick's screen? It says Fudgee Interactive! Is he playing an online game or using the Fudgee app while on a mission?





* I just love that Quick Kick has foot protection (the lower body is shared with Lowlight). I'm down with some Ninja Force, don't get me wrong, but who would go into combat in a battlefield without foot protection? He's also sporting a removable green pouch for extra gear or first aid supplies on his left hip.



* The right hip has a piece with two pouches that presumably holds extra magazines, spare gear, or maybe even some Fudgee bars.






* I love the articulation on Quick Kick. Yes, the vest does restrict his torso hinge, but everything else moves just fine. There's not a ton new I have to say about these guys: The articulation is almost always just spot on and super fun to mess around with. He looks great using firearms, melee weapons, or his bare hands. Or any combination of the three, really. 






* Quick Kick has the same multiple swappable hands as the previous figure, giving you a nice set of options. You've got a set of flat striking palms, a set of fists, and a set of pistol grips. They swap easily and all look really good.


* Beach Head came with a full arsenal of weapons and Quick Kick doesn't disappoint, either, though he has more martial arts weapons than firearms. He does come with a gun, though: A heavily modified FAMAS type rifle Dusty came with this, though Quick Kick's model doesn't have the bipod. It still has a removable magazine, a vertical forward grip, and optics, though, so it's no slouch. 







* I didn't recognize these curved blades at first but they're actually reused from Nunchuk. I guess I never reviewed Nunchuk, so it's my first time showing these off. They're excellent sculpts with silver blades and a brown wrap near the hilt.










* Quick Kick's belt can hold both blades at his sides, allowing him to easily pull them out when things get close quarters. 





* He also comes with two pair of nunchaku. These came with the standard Classified Series Quick Kick though now they get a black and red paint app for the handles. They're flexible and feel pretty sturdy, so you can definitely use them for posing without too much worry of breakage. 





* The back of Quick Kick's belt also has storage for the nunchaku. They just slide in the bottom and hang down for when Quick Kick needs them. He is fully loaded!









* He also comes with the throwing star effect, though it's a bit different from the basic figure. The shuriken is painted silver while the "motion" is kept translucent. It's neat and while this one doesn't quite capture the motion blur of the earlier accessory, I guess you could pretend he's throwing three at once.





* How many bladed weapons does this guy come with? Here's a knife. A simple, basic knife. Nothing fancy, but it's a standard issue piece we've been seeing a lot of lately.





* More swords? OK, more swords! You get a sword and you get a sword! The handles also retain the black and red color scheme. I admire someone who color coordinates their weapons.











* Besides just having a backpack for carrying important gear and extra ammo (and probably more blades, let's be honest), Quick Kick's pack has sheaths built in for sheathing his straight swords. 


* The little knife we talked about earlier? It fits in a sheath on Quick Kick's left shoulder. I'm sure you're sick of hearing it if you're a regular reader but, darn, I think shoulder knives like this are the coolest thing ever.

The Negatives:

* Unfortunately, like all the other figures that use this vest, the knife hilt blocks the smart device, or the smart device blocks the knife. 
* I didn't review the Retro carded Beach Head for some reason so here's something I would have absolutely gone on about if I had: I love that Beach Head keeps extra magazines across his chest but wouldn't it have been cool if they were removable? Even if Hasbro had cut the magazines down to two or three I would have preferred it. Removable magazines are both the bee's knees and the cat's pajamas. Hey, I'm listening to some vintage Halloween music while writing this, so I guess my 1920's slang is coming out. Want some modern 2020's slang? Six-Seven!!!




   This set is freaking Epic. I know, I know, it's a bunch of reuse, but it all works so well together. This is the superior version of Quick Kick, Beach Head is darn impressive, and you get so many weapons. It's amazing that each figure can carry all of their stuff too. These guys are armed to the teeth! Every now and then it feels like the Joe team kind of throws together a release with whatever they have laying around (like yesterday's Snake Eyes v4 review) but this one feels like it was carefully assembled to take the best of the Classified Series and offer up a sort of "greatest hits" set that improves upon everything. Amazing stuff.



For more of Wayne "Beach Head" Sneeden figure check out the Cobra Island Wayne "Beach Head" Sneeden and my guest review of the G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary Beach Head at MWCToys.com from 2007!

For more of Quick Kick/ MacArthur S. Ito check out the Classified Series Quick Kick.

For more G.I. Joe: Classified Series reviews check out the following:



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