News · 2026-07-08
Heritage's G.I. Joe Absolute auction sends 1,100+ lots, including 12 all-time grails, live July 12
Image: the 1982 carded Snake Eyes headlining the sale. Source: Heritage Auctions.
Four days from now, the deepest G.I. Joe-specific auction ever assembled goes under the hammer. Heritage Auctions’ “G.I. Joe Absolute: An American Icon” Extended Bidding Signature Auction closes Sunday, July 12, 2026, with more than 1,100 lots spanning the line’s entire history, from the 1964 originals through the modern era. Heritage has flagged at least 12 of them as all-time grails, and for once the label is not marketing.
The timing is deliberate. Heritage scheduled the sale days after the 250th anniversary of the United States, positioning the world’s first action figure as a piece of American history rather than just a toy.
01 / The collection: Derryl DePriest’s archive goes to market
The anchor of the sale is the collection of Derryl DePriest, former Vice President of Global Brand Management at Hasbro and author of The Collectible G.I. Joe. During his 2001 to 2018 tenure, DePriest helped steer collector-focused programs for both G.I. Joe and Star Wars, and he spent decades assembling what Heritage calls one of the most comprehensive and historically important G.I. Joe collections in existence: rare prototypes, production materials, original artwork, and historic toys.
He is not the only consignor. The sale also includes preproduction pieces from Hasbro’s Brian Wilk, and the catalog runs from packaged 1960s 12-inch figures and graded 1970s Adventure Team sets to hundreds of AFA-graded pieces and an extensive run of A Real American Hero figures and vehicles from 1982 to 1995.
“The depth and quality of the material represented is extraordinary, and the importance of Derryl DePriest’s collection cannot be overstated,” says Justin Caravoulias, Heritage’s Consignment Director of Action Figures and Toys. “This event offers collectors a once-in-a-generation opportunity to acquire pieces that tell the story of G.I. Joe’s evolution across more than six decades.”
02 / The grails: what actually crosses the block
Heritage highlights 12 featured grails in the catalog. These are the ones collectors will be watching.
Carded Snake Eyes, 9-back, AFA 85
Population of one at this grade, only three examples graded higher.
Bid $1,650 - Jul 8
15th Anniversary Cobra Command Team, AFA 85
Packaged approval sample with the unreleased "Pimp Daddy" Destro variation.
Bid $11,500 - Jul 8
Terror Drome with Firebat, AFA U80
Uncirculated, second-highest grade ever assigned, only one graded higher.
Bid $6,250 - Jul 8
Jeep Combat Set original package art by Sam Petrucci
Original advertising painting from the 12-inch line's formative years.
Bid $5,250 - Jul 8
Cobra Officer and Cobra Trooper cardback proof sheet
Large-format proof documenting Cobra's earliest packaging designs.
Bid $2,555 - Jul 8
Manimals Spasma unproduced prototype, AFA 80
Highest of only three graded examples of an unreleased figure.
Bid $1,050 - Jul 8
General Flagg 2-Up hand-painted prototype
Resin paint master used as the color reference for production.
Bid $575 - Jul 8
Ace 2-Up hand-painted prototype
Hand-painted paint master at roughly twice retail figure size.
Bid $4,000 - Jul 8
Wild Bill 2-Up hand-painted prototype
Hand-painted paint master at roughly twice retail figure size.
Bid $4,000 - Jul 8
Firefly 2-Up hand-painted prototype
Hand-painted paint master at roughly twice retail figure size.
Bid $8,250 - Jul 8
Operation: Deep Six insert original cover art
Original art from the ARAH insert program.
Bid $165 - Jul 8
Defiant space vehicle launch complex, AFA Q75
The playset that pushed the line into space exploration.
Bid $4,000 - Jul 8
Lot photography: Heritage Auctions.
Bids shown were captured the evening of July 8 and will keep climbing through extended bidding before the Sunday, July 12 close.
Every lot name above links to its live Heritage lot page. The full Auction #7487 catalog has the rest of the 1,100+ lots.
A few of these deserve a longer look.
The Snake Eyes is the headline act: an AFA 85 example of the 1982 straight-arm commando on a 9-back card, a population of one at that grade with only three examples graded higher anywhere. The catalog carries multiple rarer Snake Eyes variants beyond it, including a 1984 example.
The “Pimp Daddy” Destro is the hobby’s most famous what-if. Developed during production testing of the 1997 15th Anniversary Cobra Command Team and altered before release, the leopard-accented Destro survives in only a handful of packaged approval samples. This one is graded AFA 85.
The Terror Drome is a story in itself. This uncirculated example, one of only four graded of this version, arrived so untouched that Heritage itself opened it for grading, and it carries a dedication to then-Hasbro Design Director Steve Reiss. It comes with the original packaging and the Live the Adventure promo.
And the prototypes are the material you almost never see at public auction: hand-painted 2-Up paint masters of Ace, Wild Bill, and Firefly, built at roughly twice retail size as three-dimensional color references during tooling development, plus the 1992 General Flagg paint master. For vehicle collectors, the Defiant launch complex rounds out the featured list.
Heritage’s announcement does not cite pre-sale estimates, and because many of these pieces have never been offered publicly, there are few direct comparisons. Watch the live lot pages for current bids.
03 / Where the bidding stands
The grails do not have the board to themselves. These are the strongest vintage lots beyond the featured twelve, pulled from the price-sorted catalog on the evening of July 8.
The carrier at the top of that list is one of two USS Flaggs in this sale, and two Flaggs crossing the block in a single auction is an event in itself.
The 1980s prototype bench
Unproduced and pre-production pieces are where provenance collectors dig, and several are still under $500.
Flash (Straight-Arm) hand-painted concept prototypea 1997 concept built in the original 1982 straight-arm format
$240
Alongside the grail Spasma, the other two Manimals prototypes are here too, Zigzag at $1,050 and Vortex at $1,000, both from the cancelled 2001 KB Toys line, and a deep bench of 1990s cancelled-line prototypes (Ninja Commando figures, Battle Corps paint masters, Desert HQ figures) runs further down the catalog.
04 / Market context: the record book says this is the moment
The vintage G.I. Joe ceiling has been rising fast. In March 2024, the world’s highest-graded U.S.S. Flagg playset, an uncirculated AFA U85 example, sold for $41,430 at LCG Auctions, the first G.I. Joe collectible ever to clear $40,000. That surpassed the previous benchmark, a 1983 carded Cobra Commander AFA 95 that brought $37,553 in October 2021.
Both records were set by exactly the kind of material this sale is full of: uncirculated, top-of-population, AFA-graded pieces. A pop-one 1982 Snake Eyes and a second-highest-graded Terror Drome sit squarely in that tier, and the prototypes and original art have no population reports at all. Whatever happens on Sunday, the results will reset the reference prices the hobby works from.
The Flagg itself is having a moment at the other end of the market too: Hasbro’s revival of the carrier funded through HasLab earlier this year, which we covered in our Classified Series Flagg report.
05 / How to watch and bid
The full catalog is live now on Heritage’s entertainment portal as Auction #7487, including the featured-grails gallery. The sale runs in Heritage’s Extended Bidding Signature format and closes Sunday, July 12, 2026. You will need a Heritage account to place bids; lot pages show current bids and bidding status.
gijoe.army will report the results, including what the grails actually brought, once the hammer falls.
Factbox
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Auction | G.I. Joe Absolute: An American Icon |
| House | Heritage Auctions (Dallas, TX) |
| Format | Extended Bidding Signature Auction, #7487 |
| Closes | Sunday, July 12, 2026 |
| Lots | 1,100+ |
| Anchor consignor | Derryl DePriest, ex-Hasbro VP Global Brand Management |
| Also featuring | Prototypes from Hasbro’s Brian Wilk |
| Featured grails | 12 |
Sources
- ComicBook.com: Over 1,100 Iconic G.I. Joe Toys Are Heading to Auction, Including At Least 12 All-Time Grails
- Artdaily: Heritage announces G.I. Joe Absolute: An American Icon auction on July 12
- Heritage Auctions: G.I. Joe Absolute: An American Icon, Auction #7487
- Action Figure Insider: U.S.S. Flagg playset becomes first-ever G.I. Joe collectible to sell for $40,000
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