"G. I. Joe, G. I. Joe, Fight man from head to toe. On the land, on the sea, in the air." If you were a boy in the sixties, you can probably still sing that jingle! G. I. Joe, was it the first doll for boys or was it even a doll? No, it certainly wasn't a doll. It was in fact, the first action figure.
Debuting in 1964, the four different figures offered included the Action Soldier, Action Sailor, Action Marine and Action Pilot. The license has included comic books, a TV series, two movies and of course hundreds of action figures and accessories.
G.I. Joe started out in life on a Ping-Pong table in the home of Don Levine, VP of Research and Development of Hassenfeld Brothers, Inc. (Later re-named Hasbro Toys). In 2003 the prototype was purchased by Steve Geppi and now resides in the Geppi Entertainment Museum in Baltimore, MD.
G. I. Joe, "America's Movable Fight Man" was introduced in 1964 with four figures and 75 supporting products. A black soldier was introduced in 1965, with more soldiers in 1966, as well as a talking G.I. Joe a year later. But it wasn't until 1967 that a girl figure showed up as G.I. Nurse, it proved to be very unpopular, but now is one of the most sought after figures in the collectibles world.
G. I. Joe's size changed in 1977 to 8" and the entire line was discontinued in 1978.
In 1982 G. I. Joe showed up again, this time as a 3 3/4" figure.
Over the years Joe has come and gone in a variety of sets, including the return of the 12" figure and return of the 3 3/4" figure, which was originally discontinued in 1994.
What's the holy grail in G. I. Joe toys? According to Karen O'Brien, Toys and Prices 2008, the list* is as follows:
Prices are for toys in mint condition.
Miscellaneous prices from online auctions:
Hasbro revolutionized the toy industry when it introduced G.I. JOE, the world's first action figure, in 1964, and in the process, created an American icon. Generations and millions of figures later, Hasbro honored the 40th anniversary of G.I. JOE in 2004 by releasing a line of 40th a40th-anniversaryal edition figures.
The G.I. JOE Pearl Harbor Collection has figures depicting events during or after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. They include the Diamond Head Lookout Invasion Alert figure, who transmitted the first notification, the Hickam Field Army Defender, who stood in defense of the surprise Japanese bombers, and the Battleship Row Defender, who was dressed in the white uniform he wore to attend the Sunday services on deck on the day of the attack.