G.I. Joe: The Original Action Figure - Flash Back Friday
What can you say about a toy that has been in almost continuous production since 1964? A toy that coined the term "action figure"? A toy that is the single most popular boys toy license ever?
well, quite a bit actually. Let's look at a little bit of the history of G.I. Joe in celebration of the new movie, and new toys from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
From Wikipedia:
"In 1963, noting the commercial success of the Barbie doll for girls, Stan Weston, a toy creator and licensing agent, came up with the idea of a line of Barbie-sized dolls with a military theme that would be marketed to boys. He presented his idea to Don Levine, the creative director of toy manufacturer Hasbro, who saw the potential of the idea and approved development. The prototypes were originally named "Rocky" (army soldier), "Skip" (the sailor), and "Ace" (the pilot), before Don Levine, inspired by the popular 1945 film The Story of G.I. Joe, decided on the generic name "G.I. Joe."
The line was launched on February 2, 1964, with a World War II theme (although some of the clothes and other items, such as the Willys Jeep, were actually of Korean-war vintage). The G.I. Joe figures were approximately the same physical scale as Barbie dolls — 12 inches, or 305 mm, tall. There were originally four figures, one to represent each branch of the Armed Forces. Accessory packs (often called "blades" in the toy industry — the "razor" was the action figure and the "blades" were the accessory cards) containing additional gear and clothing were also released."
Also from Wikipedia, some fun G.I. Joe facts and time line:
- In 1965, a black G.I. Joe figure was introduced in select markets.
- In 1966, soldiers from other countries (France, Germany and the UK) joined the G.I. Joe line up. A Project Mercury-like space capsule and silver-suited astronaut figure was also added to the series.
- In 1967, Talking figures were introduced.
- The first female G.I. Joe, the Action Nurse, was produced in 1967. It was a commercial failure, and another 12" female would not be released for 30 years.
- To coincide with the new direction, "Life-Like" flocked hair and beard, an innovation developed in England by Palitoy for their licensed version of Joe, Action Man, is introduced in 1970. A retooled African American Adventurer was also introduced, which came in two versions as the others in the series, bearded or shaven.
- In 1974, named after the increasingly popular martial art, Hasbro introduced "Kung-Fu Grip" to the G.I. Joe line. This was another innovation that had been developed in the UK for Action Man. The hands were sculpted in a softer plastic that allowed the fingers to grip objects in a more lifelike fashion.
- In 1976, G.I. Joe was given eagle eye vision; a movable eye mechanism to allow the toy to appear to be looking around when a lever in the back of the head was moved. This would be the last major innovation for the original line of 12-inch figures.
You can read more about G.I. Joe in a great article on ToyNfo.com : The Vintage Toy Encyclopedia.
And finally, some classic commercials for your viewing pleasure:
From the 80's:
From the 90's:
2009 shows us a whole new Joe. The toys are new but the great action is the same. You can also see the G.I. Joe:Rise of Cobra toys here on the Amazon.com store. They have some really cool toys coming out for collectors, but also for kids. I especially love the 12 in figures for the retro quality. Check them all out here. Also you can read some more about the new toys on MTV.com here.
--Laura McMullan
Ken Mitchell on July 11, 2009 at 01:31 PM
You are missing an important element of G.I. Joe trivia; some of the figures were modeled after real heroes. The Marine G.I. Joe was made in the likeness of Medal of Honor recipient Mitchell Paige, who single-handedly repelled an entire Japanese regiment on Guadalcanal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Paige
http://www.homeofheroes.com/mitch/index.html
Bob on July 11, 2009 at 05:05 PM
The Mitchell Paige GI Joe figure was a special figure released in 1998.
All regular GI Joe Action Sailor/Soldier/Marine/Pilots had the same face sculpt, known as the Colton head.
Tom Casey on July 11, 2009 at 07:44 PM
Met Col. Mitchell Paige and heard him speak about he experiences sometime around 1998 at which time he had one of the figures with him...
I have seen the crown jewels of England and Paige's Medal of Honor. The Medal is MUCH more impressive.
Charles on July 12, 2009 at 05:53 AM
A friend was given a GI Joe for Christmas of 1965. He was really too old for the toy and gave it to his little sister.
Little sister quickly discovered that GI Joe fit in Barbie's clothes.
GI Joe as cross dresser?
Erik S on July 12, 2009 at 05:36 PM
"The hands were sculpted in a softer plastic that allowed the fingers to grip objects in a more lifelike fashion."
I had a rabbit when I was a kid who got a hold of G.I. Joe, and chewed off his fingers. G.I. Joe looked a lot less impressive after that…
submandave on July 13, 2009 at 02:47 PM
One of the best things about GIJoe was his removable lower limbs and extremities. We had hours of fun simulating mine field casualties and such. Best was when we discovered that replacing the lower leg of one Joe with the lower arm of another allowed us to use a night stick in the hand hole to give him a "peg leg".
computer zubehor on September 24, 2009 at 06:17 AM
Storm Shadow version 2 is a very cool addition to any collectors GI Joe Collection.
While Storm Shadow does not have all of the same equipment as his original Version 2 (all weapons are recycled from previous 25th Ann Storm Shadows) it does not take away from the grandness of this figure.
Buy it if you're a fan of the character. You'll like it.