G.I. Joe: America's movable fighting man
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Original action figure.
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| Type | Action Figures |
|---|---|
| Company | Hasbro |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | 1964–1969 |
| Official website | |
G.I. Joe: America's Movable Fighting Man is a line of dolls produced by Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces. The term G.I. stands, in popular usage, for Government Issue and became a generic term for U.S. soldiers (predating the action figures), especially ground forces. The term originated in WWI, when much of the government-issued equipment was stamped "G.I.", meaning that it was made from galvanized iron. The development of G.I. Joe led to the coining of the term "action figure".
The Hassenfeld Brothers (Hasbro) of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, began selling the first "action figure" targeted especially at boys in the early 1960s. The conventional marketing wisdom of the early 1960s was that boys would not play with dolls, thus the word 'Doll' was never used by Hasbro or anyone involved in the development or marketing of G.I. Joe. "Action figure" was the only acceptable term and has since become the generic description for any posable doll intended for boys. 'America's movable fighting man' is a registered trademark of Hasbro, and was prominently displayed on every boxed figure package.
The driving force behind the concept was Donald Levine, who in 1963 was creative director of Hasbro Toys. Stan Weston of Weston Merchandising Corp., a product development company, approached him with the idea of a military-based toy line that would include figures and many accessories. Stan Weston credits Larry Reiner, then head of the games division at Ideal Toys, with the notion of an articulated figure, based on conversations he had with Mr. Reiner regarding the concept. Sam Speers, then of Hasbro's product development team, is primarily credited with the specific almost 30cm (12") tall articulated figure design as produced by Hasbro; his name appears on the patent # 3,277,602 "Toy figure having movable joints", assigned on October 11, 1966. The all-important packaging graphics were sub-contracted to Thresher and Petrucci Art Studio, a company based nearby that had previously produced freelance work for Hasbro.
The Hasbro prototypes were originally named "Rocky" (marine/soldier) "Skip" (sailor) and "Ace" (pilot), before the more universal name G.I. Joe was adopted. One of the prototypes would later sell in a Heritage auction in 2003 for $200,001.
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