This month marks the fiftieth anniversary of the February 1964 debut of the Hasbro action figure G.I. Joe. The toy was the first to be called an “action figure” (never call it a “doll”). The creators at Hasbro included several military veterans, so their own experiences inspired the military-themed toy.
I can still remember when my G.I. Joes shifted from plastic molded hair to “real” hair and beards, or at least what seemed like real hair. I was lucky that my toy-playing days coincided with the full-sized 12-inch Joes. In the late 1970s, as criticism of the Vietnam War grew, Hasbro played down the military aspect of the toy, rebranding the Joes as an “Adventure Team.” The worst change came later, when in 1980, the new Joe was shrunk to the size of a Star Wars action figure, 3-3/4 inches. G.I. Joes later would get a boost in popularity with cartoons and movies.
Check out this short video about the history below and also see the story in Slate.
For fans of the cartoon, Robot Chicken did a funny parody of the G.I. Joe approach to fighting the enemy in this video, “G.I. No,” as the Joes take on the Taliban instead of their usual enemy Cobra. Check it out.
What are your memories of G.I. Joe? Leave your two cents in the comments.
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