GI Joe is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro.The original product offerings represented four of the branches of the United States Armed Forces with the Action Soldier (US Army), Action Sailor (US Navy), Action Pilot (US Air Force), Action Marine (US Marine Corps), and later the Action Nurse. The name is derived from the use of "GI Joe" for the generic American soldier, itself derived from the more general term "GI".The development of GI Joe led to the creation of the term "action figure". GI Joe's appeal to children has made it an American icon among toys.
The trademark GI Joe has been used by Hasbro for several toy lines, although only two have been successful. The original 12-inch (30 cm) line introduced on February 2, 1964, centered around realistic action figures. In the UK this line was licensed to Palitoy and known as Action Man. In 1982, the line was relaunched in a 3.75-inch (9.5 cm) scale, complete with vehicles, playsets and a complex backstory about an ongoing battle between the GI Joe team and the evil Cobra Command that destroys the free world. wants to take over through terrorism. As the American line evolved into the Real American Hero series, Action Man also changed, using the same molds and being renamed Action Force. While the members of the GI Joe team are not superheroes, they all had expertise in areas such as martial arts, weapons and explosives. GI Joe was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2004 at The Strong in Rochester, New York, and into the Pop Culture Hall of Fame in 2017.
History of the 30 cm. figures Original GI Joe setup Stan Weston's Original Design (1963) The original idea for the action figure that would become GI Joe was developed in 1963 by Stanley Weston (inventor), a Manhattan licensor. Weston made rudimentary prototypes of the figure and basic marketing materials that showed the sales potential of a military action figure. Showing this material to Donald Levine, a Hasbro manager, Levine told Weston, "You'll make a fortune out of it." Weston then licensed the entire concept to Hasbro for $100,000.
America's Moveable Fighting Man (1964-1969) The conventional marketing wisdom of the early 1960s was that boys should not play with dolls and parents should not buy their son's dolls, which were traditionally a girl's toy; so the word "pop" was never used by Hasbro or anyone involved in the development or marketing of GI Joe. "Action Figure" was the only acceptable term, and has since become the general description of any poseable doll intended for boys. "America's Movable Fighting Man" is a registered trademark of Hasbro and featured prominently on each box of figures. Hasbro's prototypes were originally called "Rocky" (marine/soldier), "Skip" (sailor), and "Ace" (pilot), before adopting the more universal name GI Joe. One of the prototypes would later sell at a Heritage auction in 2003 for $200,001. An African-American figure was introduced in 1965, although it was simply the same face as the white figure, painted brown.
Aside from the obvious trademark on the right buttock, other aspects of the figure were copyrighted features that allowed Hasbro to successfully file lawsuits against producers of cheap imitations, as the human figure itself cannot be copyright or trademarked. . The scar on the right cheek was one; another, initially unintentional, was the placement of the right thumbnail on the underside of the thumb. Early trademarks, with "GI Joe™", were used sometime in 1965; the markings changed when GI Joe was a registered trademark; "GI Joe®" now appears on the first line. Subsequently, the stamped trademark was changed after the patent was granted (late 1966) and assigned a number; 3,277,602. Figures with this marking would have entered the retail market in 1967.
Adventure Team (1970-1976) By the late 1960s, in the wake of the Vietnam War, Hasbro attempted to downplay the war theme that initially defined "GI Joe". The line became known as "The Adventures of G.I. Joe". In 1970 Hasbro chose the name "Adventure Team". Highlights of the line included: To coincide with the new direction, 'Life-Like' flocked hair and beard was introduced in 1970, an innovation developed in England by Palitoy for their licensed version of Joe, Action Man. in two versions, like the others in the series, bearded or shaved. Named for the increasingly popular martial art in 1974, Hasbro introduced "Kung-Fu Grip" to the GI Joe line. This was another innovation developed in the UK for Action Man. The hands were molded in a softer plastic that allowed the fingers to grip objects in a more lifelike way. However, the polymer used quickly broke down, causing the tip of the thumb and fingertips to split off after a few weeks. Coincidentally, the deformed appendage bore a clear resemblance to the Bao Zhua hand-striking technique, and the game continued. In 1976, GI Joe had a vision of an eagle's eye; a movable eye mechanism that makes it appear that the toy is looking around when a lever is moved at the back of the head. This would be the last major innovation to the original line of 12-inch (30 cm) figures.
A shift in playing patterns For the first ten years, GI Joe was a generic soldier/adventurer with only the slightest hint of an existing team concept. In 1975, after a failed bid to buy the toy rights to the Six Million Dollar Man, Hasbro issued a bionic warrior figure: Mike Power, Atomic Man. One million copies were sold. Also added to the Adventure Team was a superhero, Bullet Man. This character had recurring enemies, The Intruders - Strongmen from Another World. In the comic books included with the characters at the time, "Eagle Eye" Joe, Atomic Man, and Bullet Man teamed up; the Adventure Team was finally a real team. The original 12-inch (30 cm) GI Joe line ended in America in 1976. At that time, Hasbro released a series of inexpensive roto-moulded mannequins in the GI Joe style called The Defenders.
International GI Joe Licensees From 1966 to 1984, Palitoy Ltd. a UK version of the 12-inch (30 cm) GI Joe line, under the Action Man name for the UK market. Initially, these were the exact same designs as the American figures, and initially the same military theme with World War II figures. The line was later expanded to include all men of action, such as football players and other sports figures. In the early 1980s, Palitoy responded to the declining sales of Action Man by launching "Action Force," a new line of smaller, military-themed figures in the style of Kenner's then-popular Star Wars line. Later, when the US Real American Hero line was released in the UK, they were released under the title 'Action Force' as the term 'GI' is not commonly used in the UK. The figures had the same appearance and code names as the American GI Joes, but their identities and histories were international rather than purely American or British. The range was later renamed GI Joe to bring it in line with international markets; however, the Action Man line kept its original name when it was revived in the early 1990s. The GI Joe line was also licensed for Germany under the name Action Team. In Spain, Geyperman was the Hasbro licensee, although the products were based more on Palitoy's line, right down to the logo design. In France the name was Action Joe, in Japan Takara and Tsukuda licensed the figures under the names "GI Joe" and "Combat Man". In Italy, Polistil licensed the figures under the name Action Team. In Australia, the line was released by Kenbrite as "GI Joe"; Palitoy also licensed their "ActionMan" line to TolToys. In Brazil, it was licensed to Brinquedos Estrela; the 12 inch (30 cm) line was called "Falcon" and the 3.75 inch (9.5 cm) figures were called "Comandos em Ação" ("Action Commandos"). In Argentina, the GI Joe figures were licensed by Veri-li corporations under the name "Joe Super Temerario" and "Los Temerarios". The GI Joe toy line was produced in India under the Funskool brand. In Mexico, GI Joe was licensed by Lili-Ledy and called "Hombres de Acción" (Men of Action).
Hall of Fame (1991-1994) Hasbro began releasing new 12-inch (30 cm) GI Joe figures in 1991. The first figure, Duke, was marketed exclusively to Target stores. Based on the Real American Hero line of toys, the Hall of Fame series featured Mission Gear outfits, vehicles, and popular characters such as Snake-Eyes, Stalker, Gung-Ho, Cobra Commander, Destro, and Storm Shadow. This was followed by an anniversary series based on the 60s line and was followed by the Hall of Fame Limited Editions, also based on releases from the 60s. Gijoeforsale
Comments