G.I. Joe: Hall of Fame
| Type | Action Figures |
|---|---|
| Company | Hasbro |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | 1991–1994 |
| Official website | |
The Hasbro G.I. Joe Hall of Fame era of 12" action figures began in 1991, when Hasbro released the Target Exclusive Duke in response to the high demand from nostalgic collectors of the vintage era G.I. Joe action figures. Duke was the first 12" (30 cm) action figure produced in the Hasbro G.I. Joe line since 1978. During the G.I. Joe Hall of Fame era, Hasbro introduced several new products to the world of action figure collectibles. The first innovation was the limited edition, individually numbered collectible figures. These figures had collectors scrambling to find the lowest numbers which were expected to have the highest resale value. Hasbro also used variant sets (also known as chase sets) to increase demand and interest in the figures. Additionally, talking voice chips were used in some figures; and limited edition action figure sets were released for the Street Fighter II video game and movie characters, and also for the Mortal Kombat characters.
During the Hall of Fame era, Hasbro usually issued its G.I. Joe sets three times per year; with the largest amount of figures, vehicles, clothing, and gear sets being issued around October, in time for the holiday season. Then during spring and summer, smaller waves (usually mini-sets) of figures, clothing, and gear would be released. The Hall of Fame era ended in 1994 when G.I. Joe released its 30th Anniversary Commemorative sets which featured a new body style based on the Action Man sets that were being sold in Europe.
The Street Fighter, 30th Anniversary (12"), and Limited Exclusives are to be found on this page; they all share the basic figure developed as the Hall of Fame.
During the fourteen years that G.I. Joe had not existed as a 12" action figure, James DeSimone had been touring toy shows all over the United States buying and selling G.I. Joe action figures. In the mid-1980s, DeSimone created the G.I. Joe Collectors Club, which was a throw-back to the original G.I. Joe Collectors Clubs that had existed during the vintage era of the 12" figures (1964–1978). The DeSimone version of the club existed as a newsletter to which thousands of nostalgic collectors subscribed.
As a result of DeSimone's efforts to organize the G.I. Joe collectors, Hasbro licensed DeSimone's G.I. Joe Collectors Club. Hasbro also licensed DeSimone to promote official G.I. Joe Conventions during the early 1990s. After Hasbro began collaborating with DeSimone, Hasbro executives realized that there was an untapped market of nostalgic collectors who had grown up on the original G.I. Joe and who wanted more. During the 1980s, the prices of vintage toys and especially G.I. Joe had increased astronomically because the demand for vintage toys like G.I. Joe and Captain Action far outstripped the supply. Thus began Hasbro's plan to revive the 12" G.I. Joe action figure with the Hall of Fame line.
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