If you're looking for me, you'd better check under the sea, 'cause that is where you'll fiiiiiind me...
Deep Six never won any awards for being friendly. Became a Navy diver so that "I could be alone." Enjoys bottlecap collecting,
solitaire and the New York Times crossword puzzles. Only 12 out of 50 Navy divers passed the strict requirements for the coveted diver position on the Joe team. Eight washed out in the practical application testing. Of the 4 finalists, Deep Six could hold his breath the longest.
I want to know more about that: what were the requirements to join the Joes, what was the practical test, and how did they fail? Presumably "not being able to hold your breath the longest" doesn't mean the other guys all drowned, because that seems more like a way Cobra would recruit than the Joes, but did they know what they were trying out for? Isn't GI Joe supposed to be a secret team? Can the position really be coveted if you have no idea it exists before you're almost drowned trying to get it?
The original Deep Six came out in 1984, and was permanently entombed inside his diving suit - it wasn't until Generation 3 that he could both wear his full suit and have a touchable head. This one continues the trend, going so far as to not have either of the included dive helmets attached in the packaging - they really want you to know he can go bareheaded! The face looks quite a lot like Tripwire's, just with different hair; bet the same person sculpted them both.
To cover that head, you get the choice of either a 1980s-style clear dome, or a more modern enclosed helmet with a clear visor area. Not to immediately name-check Tripwire again, but this is reminiscent of
the way that figure had both classic and updated looks. Both coverings fit onto the figure via notches on the collar, but it's a tight fit right out of the package - your best bet seems to be to put the tabs in as far as you can, even if it's not all the way, then push it in a little farther after the plastic has had a chance to stretch. The new helmet gives the character a much different look, but it still works for him.
The suit has been updated, but it still takes design cues from the original. Like, a light gray body with a vertical yellow stripe down the center of the chestm dark panels over the knees with yellow elements in the center, flexible black segments on the upper arms,
and two hoses running from the chest over the right shoulder and into the backpack, all of which is true here as well. The proportions don't really work, because the suit is thick enough that a human wouldn't fill it normally - think Titanium Man or Iron Monger or the Rookie, and the way their limbs would never line up with real anatomy. It's the same kind of deal. The suit either needed to be smaller, so it would line up with his limbs, or bigger, so he could fit inside the center of it. But it'll be fine if you just don't think about it too hard.
Generation 1 Deep Six was famous for being the least-articulated Joe in history: swivel shoulders and nothing else.
G3 improved that a little bit, but Classified is the first to ever be on par with the rest of his line. The big clunky suit has swivel/hinge ankles, swivels at the bottom of the shin, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, balljoint/hinge hips, a balljoint waist, balljoint chest, swivel/hinge wrists, swivel forearms, double-hinged elbows, swivel biceps (with interlocking teeth like a real diving suit would have), swivel/hinge shoulders, pectoral hinges, balljointed neck, and balljointed head - in other words, every single joint every other figure gets! How about that!
Deep Six gets a backpack, but there's really not much point in it; that is to say, there's no reason it needed to be a separate item
and not just the sculpt of the back of the figure. It, too, references the original figure, but it has black tubes that are meant to plug into the small of his back, but there's not much point: while you can plug them in, the fit is loose enough that they'll pop back out again almost immediately, and there's no visual difference between plugging them in or leaving them loose, so it's not something you'll need to worry about. His only weapon is a large harpoon gun, which can store on the side of his backpack when it's not fixed into the unobtrusive slot under his left forearm. The text printed on it identifies it as being from "Jormungandr Harpoon Systems" (yes, like the serpent in Norse mythology), and a black string attaches the yellow-tipped projectile to the grey tube.
Finally, there's one more extra, one that's mildly confusing. Take off whichever helmet you have him wearing, and you can then remove the figure's head. It pops off at the neck, and can be replaced with an alternate head showing a decaying skull. Some fans rushed to say
this was based on the famous alternate reality two-parter "Worlds Without End," but it's not: yes, that took place in a world where some of the Joes had died in battle, but it was only Clutch, Grunt, and Steeler; Deep Six has never died in the cartoon or the comics, so this doesn't make much sense. The marketing copy suggests it's "a diver not quite as skilled as Deep Six at enduring the ocean's crushing depths," but Deep Six's name is right under the logo on the backpack. Whoops! The dead head desperately needs some paint to bring out the details, since there's only the hint of shading on the bare tan plastic. At least paint all the barnacles that are growing on it! If they really wanted to include an extra head for him, they should have done the original planned mustache daddy.
One final thing Deep Six has in common with Tripwire is non-standard
icons in his stats: his Role is Naval Pilot 3, his Gear is Arrow Weapons 2, and his skill is Underwater Combat 2, all perfectly normal choices; but his Mastery (Level 4) is the same snorkel and mask Wet-Suit had as his Gear. Yes, that's easy enough to parse, but it sure would be nice if Hasbro had a website where they could show off all these things as they add new ones.
Deep Six is a deluxe figure, and so costs more than average - $42.99 retail - but you can get him for less. Heck, as we're finishing up the editing on this review, Target has him on sale for just over $25, which is an accurate price for what you're getting. (And yes, that means I'll be buying it at the new, lower price, and returning it on the old receipt.) With display options to make him look old or new, and more playability than any fully suited-up Deep Six before him, this one turned out to be quite the pleasant surprise!
-- 11/06/26
So what's with the head? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.
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