G.i. Joe Classified # 173 Sgt. Slaughter and Mercer
A ridiculous amount of gear is included with this set.
Sgt. Slaughter
Sgt. Slaughter serves as a special drill instructor for G.I. Joe. Renowned for his unmatched physical strength and determined iron will. His battlefield feats have become legendary, earning him a reputation as one of the finest in the organization. Demanding excellence at every turn, he is driven by a single mission: to forge his recruits into elite soldiers and ensure they possess the discipline, resilience, and skill required to stand among the ranks of G.I. Joe.
The figure reuses the same headsculpt for Sarge as the previous releases.
For added variety and more value for this set, they included an alternate “whistle blowing” head for Sgt. Slaughter. You’ll have to transfer the shades between the two heads, though.
“Keep doing those push ups, maggot!”
Sarge also comes with the standard issue “swagger stick” used by every military drill instructor.
It seems Sarge is also fashionable, as he comes with not one, but two alternate hats to wear!
For some reason, the ankle joints on my copy are a bit loose, so Sarge tends to tip over more easily than most figures. Sigh..
Do note that the fist pegs are different for Sarge and Mercer. You can’t swap them around, or else you might break the pegs. So be mindful of this.
Sarge also comes with a saluting right hand.
The saluting hand can also be a “back-handed slapping” hand. Lol.. Time to “smack the Cobra” outta Mercer.
For weaponry, Sarge comes with a big Magnum that can be holstered on his right leg, and a big knife that can be sheathed on his left thigh.
Sgt. Slaughter also comes with a whole bunch of grenades on the small of his back. Too bad they’re not removeable.
For heavier firepower, the set includes a lot of big rifles for Sgt. Slaughter. Starting with this grenade launcher.
Next there’s this rifle.
Removable ammo drum.
Lastly, Sarge comes with M-16 rifle, a standard marine staple.
Removable ammo clip
Mercer
A former Cobra Viper who has seen the light, Felix P. Stratton originally joined Cobra for the money and adventure, but later grew disillusioned with the organization and escaped Cobra Island. He signed up to be on Sgt. Slaughter’s Renegades team soon after, mostly due to the unofficial nature of the sub team that grants it autonomy.
Naturally, as Mercer is an ex-Cobra Viper, his legs reuse the Cobra Viper parts.
Mercer comes with an “angry” alternate head.
He comes with a sidearm that can be holstered on his vest, as well as a knife that can sheathed on his left leg.
You can also attach a silencer to his sidearm.
Do note, similar to Monkeywrench, getting Mercer to hold his guns can be a pain, due to the very stiff nature of his hands for some reason.
The knife sheath tends to slip down too easily.
Mercer comes with a backpack. It’s big and I was hoping one could fit some weapons or something in there. No such luck…
For heavier firepower, Mercer comes with a submachine gun.
Oh yeah, the set comes with some really cool eye protector gear for Mercer. I think these are the same as the one we got with Leatherneck?
You can also attach a different silencer to this submachine gun as well.
Removable ammo clip.
Lastly, Mercer comes with this really cool-looking pulse rifle.
The Renegades so far…
Overall, whoa! I am really blown away at how much gear is included with this 2-pack! It’s really, really impressive to see and I wish Hasbro did this for their Marvel and Star Wars lines too. There’s just so much stuff in this set, it’s insane!
Sarge looks really good and I am glad they didn’t just redeco the same body type for the character.
Mercer isn’t too shabby either, but I do wish they didn’t make his hands too stiff and that they did the head sculpt a bit better, but it could’ve been worse.
My only real complaint would probably the lack of effects parts for the crazy amount of guns that comes with this set, but it is what it is.
I hope the upcoming Red Dog and Taurus 2-pack comes with this much crazy gear too.
Hasbro’s internal oddball codename for pre-orders for this set is “TT Brainchild”.
Gold
