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Thread
:
Ever notice this about Cobra Commander figures???
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08-14-2008, 09:44 PM
DOC
Tri-Gate Staff
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Painting
Posts: 5,087
Quote:
Originally Posted by
neurocamerman
So, uh, whats this gijoe thing all about then?
G.I. Joe is a line of military-themed articulated "action figures" produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. Armed Forces with the Action Soldier (Army), Action Sailor (Navy), Action Pilot (Air Force) and Action Marine (USMC). The term "G.I. Joe" stood for "Government Issue Joe", signifying the universal makeup of the US forces at the time. The development of G.I. Joe led to the coining of the term "action figure."
America's Moveable Fighting Man (1964-1969)
Main article: G.I. Joe: America's movable fighting man
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 Barbie-like line with a military theme that would be marketed to boys. He presented his idea to Don Levine, the creative director of Hasbro, who saw the potential of the idea and approved. The prototypes were originally named "Rocky" (the marine/soldier) "Skip" (the sailor) and "Ace" (the pilot), before Don Levine, inspired by the 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 Willy's 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.
Adventure Team (1970-1976)
Main article: G.I. Joe Adventure Team
By 1969, in the wake of the Vietnam War, Hasbro sought to downplay the war theme that had initially defined "G.I. Joe". The line became known as "The Adventures of G.I. Joe" . In 1970, Hasbro settled on the name "Adventure Team", and relaunched G.I. Joe under the new, non-military, banner.
[edit] Highlights
* 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 Negro Adventurer was also introduced.
* In 1974, named after the increasingly popular martial art style, 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.
A Real American Hero (1982-1994)
Main article: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
1982 saw the highly successful relaunch of the G.I. Joe product line in a smaller, 3 3/4-inch scale, of the same type employed by the wildly popular Star Wars figures. The 1982 relaunch pioneered several tactics in toy marketing, combining traditional advertising with an animated television mini-series and an on-going comic book. The decision to use a smaller 3 3/4-inch scale for the figures also made it possible for Hasbro to produce a variety of matching vehicles and play sets that further expanded the appeal and commercial potential of the line.
G.I. Joe's increasing popularity supported an array of spin-off merchandising that included posters, t-shirts, video games, board games, and kites. In 1985, both Toy & Lamp and Hobby World magazines ranked G.I. Joe as the top-selling American toy.
The 3 3/4 inch line was canceled at the end of 1994. This was also the 30th Anniversary of G.I. Joe and accordingly, Hasbro released a series of 12-inch and 3 3/4 inch figures based on the Original Action Team figures from 1964. A select assortment of figures from the "Real American Hero" line were released as Toys "R" Us exclusives to celebrate the 15th anniversary. A second assortment followed in 1998.
[edit] Comics
Main article: List of G.I. Joe comics
G.I. Joe also appeared as a promotional comic book, produced by Marvel Comics. The comics were very successful, at one point becoming Marvel's top-selling book. This was due in no small part to the unique television advertising and writing talent of Larry Hama, who worked closely with Hasbro to develop a unique identity, background story, and personality for each character.
The comic series released its final issue, No 155, in December 1994, to coincide with the end of the original RAH toy line.
[edit] TV series
The basic premise of the 1985 series based on the figures is "good vs. evil". G.I. Joe is a highly capable branch of America's military whose purpose is to defend the world against enemy attack. Their main adversary is the COBRA Organization, a "ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world".
The content of the animated show, although dealing with war and fighting, was still relatively mild as characters rarely, if ever, died even in the most dangerous circumstances. When an airplane was destroyed in combat, the characters inside were invariably shown parachuting out of the wreckage in the nick of time. In addition, the show used lasers and other high tech weapons rather than bullets. However, physical fighting was shown in abundance, probably as a way of compensating for the lack of death and serious injury.
The show is remembered for its public service announcements, where one of the Joes would give an important safety lesson to a group of children engaged in risky behavior. These PSAs always ended with the famous exchange: "Now we know!" "And knowing is half the battle." Almost fifteen years after the show had ended, Eric Fensler made a well-known series of parodies based around these PSAs, and they are still circulating around the internet to this day.
In 1987, G.I. Joe: The Movie, a spinoff of the animated series, was released, but was ill-received by both critics and fans.
There You Go.
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