G.I. Joe Classified Lady Jaye

By Hervé St-Louis
August 15, 2021 - 23:36

Lady Jaye’s name seems like she is called Lady G.I. Joe or Lady Joe. Her name is really based on the name of the first wife of Howard Chaykin, according to Larry Hama. That’s who she is. She is the embodiment of G.I. Joe as a woman and almost a Mary Sue. She appeared in the 1980s G.I. Joe A Real American Hero more than any other character. She is also an intelligence and infiltration expert where she covers a role naturally.

She first appeared in the second G.I. Joe mini-series, the Revenge of Cobra in 1984, a year before her action figure was released. In the comics, she appeared in G.I. Joe #32 as Scarlett’s replacement. Her first appearance there showed that she had a budding rivalry with Scarlett, but it seems that they mended things as the two vacationed with their boyfriends later in the series.

There have been several Lady Jaye action figures. The most recent has been in the G.I. Joe Retro line, released just before the G.I. Joe Classified Lady Jaye was released. Lady Jaye, of course, was released at the same time as Flint, her beau from both the comics and the cartoon. The G.I. Joe Classified Lady Jaye action figure is special because it brings in new parts for female characters and has no reused pieces. Lady Jaye has pinless articulations and many weapons.

Likeness

This figure is closer to the original Lady Jaye action figure than the cartoon series. Her uniform is the same green all over unlike the cartoon where she wore dark green pants and a lighter top. The baseball cap is taken from the 1985 action figure and not the cartoon where she never wore one.

A classic trademark of Lady Jaye is the open shirt and rolled up sleeves. While many Joes had rolled up sleeves, Lady Jaye thus far, is the only one from the released and announced figure G.I. Joe Classified who sports them. What is interesting is that on Lady Jaye’s face, she has the same cheek blush that was seen in her 1985 card art and the action figure it came with. Some collectors dislike this about Lady Jaye, not realizing how this is close to the original character.

Sculpt

Lady Jaye’s face is quite like the cartoon version of the character which was also like actress Mary McDonald Lewis who voiced the character in the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon. Lady Jaye’s face is nice but not as feminine as say the Baroness and Scarlett. Some collectors dislike that too but I don’t. She was always a tomboy in the comics and the cartoon, with a good touch of femininity.

I like the messy hair she sports and care less for the baseball hat. Of course, collectors can feature whichever version they want as the hair pieces are literal wigs that fit on a bald Lady Jaye head. This feature annoys some collectors who dislike the scalped head and who dislike how the two alternative hair pieces do not always stay on tightly on her head.

Her arms are very thin. I dislike the bulge of her shoulder on top of her biceps. It feels too muscular for her frame. Lady Jaye looks skinny and very tall, but she is quite shorter than most other G.I. Joe Classified action figures. Like all G.I. Joe Classified action figures, her suit has seams and fabric texture all over.

Paint

Hasbro favours using the base plastic instead of painting parts. I prefer that. The worst paint application is the open shirt v neck where Lady Jaye’s chest’s skin tone does not match the plastic colour. As mentioned above, Lady Jaye has blush on her cheeks that are lines on her face. Her hair has no shading, unfortunately. Lady Jaye’s belt also has coloured pieces. The front pads on Lady Jaye’s thighs also have some darker green.

Scale

Lady Jaye, like other female G.I. Joe Classified action figures, is shorter than all the guys, including Snake Eyes who is one of the shortest. However, she looks great with the rest of the crew and the other G.I. Joe Classified women. She is shorter than the Baroness who does wear high heels and a tad taller than Scarlett.

Stability

Lady Jaye is not very stable when she sports her backpack. The combination of her long harpoon weapon and her backpack makes her very unstable. I did manage to make her stand but I like posing her next to a wall as she falls often when her backpack is on.

Articulations

While Lady Jaye has novel articulations for a Hasbro female action figure, they are not useful. The elbows of Lady Jaye have double articulations with pinless technology, but I dare not bend her arms as they are thing, and the plastic seems brittle. I don’t want to break the action figure. I would have to heat up her elbows to bend them, but it needs to be planned. This is disappointing.

Lady Jaye has articulations at the neck and a separate head with a ball joint. This allows Lady Jaye to move up, down, sideways and to rock. She has a ball joint in her abdominal and another in her waist. Like all G.I. Joe Classified, she has dropdown hips that allow the action figure to pull her leg up and helps her do her Jean-Claude Van Damme split. She has thigh curls, pinless double joint knees, and shin curls.

Her ankles have rockers that allow her to be posed in many dynamic ways and to stabilize her. Her shoulders have butterfly joints and can bend and rotate.

Plastic

The plastic of her skin seems to be brittle and not PVC. Her belt, hair, and hat are in softer rubbery plastic.

Props

Lady Jaye’s props are incredible and an improvement over her original ones and what she had in the cartoon. Her backpack allows her to store the daggers that can be put on top of her two spears. Two of the daggers can fit withing the backpack. One of the spears can be stored on the side of the backpack. There are two daggers and one grenade-like top. She has two spears, which can be inserted in her gun. On top of her backpack, there is an attached and fully articulated Go camera structure that allows her to spy on Cobra. Finally, there is a knife that fits in a holster on the left thigh of the figure.

The two hair pieces are one with hair only and another with a hat.

Packaging

Lady Jaye comes in a nice package with art by Scott Fischer. The usual G.I. Joe Classified background with many of the released and future action figures is featured in the back of the box.

Cost

Lady Jaye retails for $19.99-22.99 USD or $29.99-32.99 CAD. Lady Jaye is popular but available at many retailers online or in local stores.

Availability

Lady Jaye is easily found everywhere for now and widely distributed. However, these toys are still limited and if interested, don’t wait. Get it. I like this action figure a lot even though there are a few problems with her.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12

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