The Evolution of the GI Joe "A Real American Hero" Action Figure

It all started in 1963 when Stan Weston, a toy and licensing agent for the girls because of the success of the Barbie doll. He came up with a concept that the boys could be marketed a line of Barbie-like with a military theme. Don Levine, creative director of Hasbro was then launched the idea and approved. Mr. Levine was also the name of the line, from the 1945 film "The Story of GI Joe," inspired.

The first line of GI Joe was created 1964. Hadthe same scale as Barbie dolls, 12 inches, and there was originally four figures, one for each branch of the Armed Forces.

During the following years, G.I.Joe saw a few shifts in the war theme by being re-launched as "The adventures of G.I.Joe", and later on as "Adventure Team" to try to move away from the war theme associated with the Vietnam War. The original line of 12 inches G.I.Joe ended in 1976 in America.

A Real American Hero (1982)

G.I.Joe action figures were successfully re-launched in 1982 when Hasbro produced a smaller scale line of figures to try to compete with the popular Star Wars action figures. The decision to go with a smaller scale also allowed Hasbro to produce a variety of vehicles and play sets to increase the excitement of the line with youngsters.

The smaller scale line was canceled in 1994. A small assortment of figures were released in 1998, exclusive to Toys "R" Us, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the 3 3/4 inches line.

The Return of the 3 3/4 inches G.I.Joe

It didn't take long after the last anniversary line to see the small figures make a comeback on the shelves. In 2000, Hasbro released a selection of figures and vehicles which lasted until 2002 and were sold in pack of 2. In 2002, the line was now called "G.I.Joe vs Cobra" and each collection from 2002 to 2005 was centered around a theme. After the basic edition of "G.I.Joe vs Cobra" there was "Spy Troops", and then later on the "Valor vs. Venom" theme.

After a brief hiatus in 2005, where Hasbro released another type of G.I.Joe action figures (Sigma 6, an 8-inches action figure), the 3 3/4 figure came back in the form of a direct-to-consumer line, which was available later at retail because of the success with collectors.

25th Anniversary

2007 was the year of the 25th anniversary of the "A Real American Hero" line. To commemorate the event, Hasbro released another collection of newly sculpted small scale figures based on the original designs of many of the most popular characters. The new figures replaced the classic "o-ring" waist with a swivel chest feature and many more increased articulations points.

This new line was a total success, and what was supposed to be only 2 collector set of 5 figures each became a full fledged line which is still running in 2008.