A History of G. I. Joe: A Real American Hero. G. I. Joe was the codename for America’s daring, highly trained special missions force. Its purpose was to defend human freedom against Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world. Hasbro Official website for all of your favorite Hasbro toys. From Transformers to Star Wars to The Avengers, you can find them all here!From 1. 98. 2 until 1. Hasbro’s G. I. Joe: A Real American Hero was one of the driving forces in kid’s entertainment, conquering the worlds of comic books, animated television, and tiny toy action figures. With so many facets to the fandom, we thought it was time to fill you in on the history of this influential media monster. THE ORIGINS OF A HEROG. I. Joe began life as a nearly 1. Mattel’s Barbie doll in popularity. Sales began to slip over time, so, in 1. Hasbro changed Joe from a soldier to an “action hero,” trading his tanks and jeeps for inflatable rafts and a patented “kung fu grip.” By the time the line was cancelled in 1. Joe had become something of a superhero, incorporating fantastic elements like the chrome- plated Bulletman and the bionic limbs of Atomic Man, who battled The Intruders, a group of cavemen from outer space. An Uphill Battle. By 1. 97. 9, Hasbro’s Head of Boy’s Toys, Bob Prupis, was ready to bring Joe back. Prupis’ secret plan for the G. I. Joe reboot, code named “Operation: Blast Off” on internal memos, was a Mission: Impossible- style toy line that had one foot in the future, with the other grounded in contemporary military technology. It would feature science fiction- inspired weapons like laser artillery and jet packs, next to realistic depictions of tanks, rocket launchers, and submachine guns. However, his idea was met with resistance from Hasbro executives. One of the first hurdles Prupis had to clear was the price of petroleum. Middle East oil suppliers had cut production, causing the cost of petroleum to jump from $1. The increased expense of this raw material for plastic would have to be passed on to the consumer, meaning the retail price of new 1. What do the members of G.I. Joe and Cobra do for fun? Joename origin As far back as World War II, "G.I. Joe" (for Government Issue Joe) was slang for an American rank-and-file soldier. There was even. Joe: A Real American Hero (also known as G.I. Joe or A Real American Hero) is a comic book that was published by Marvel Comics from 1982 to 1994. G. I. Joe figures and vehicles would be too high for the average household. So Prupis took inspiration from the “little green army men” he used to play with as a child, as well as from the popular Star Wars line of action figures produced by rival toy company, Kenner, and sized Joe down to 3 3/4- inches high to save on plastic. But even the smaller Joe concept was turned down by management, simply because it “wasn’t exciting enough.” For the next two years, Prupis kept going back to the drawing board to try to find some new hook that would make Hasbro bite, but he was rebuffed every time. 2000-2015, 2016 & 2017 G.I. Joe Real American Hero Convention Exclusive Toy Action Figures. 2000-2016 Real American Hero Convention Exclusives. 2017 GI JOE JOECON. LATEST HEADLINES Public Service Announcements were shown as short animated clips at the end of each G.I. A comprehensive resource from 1982 to the present with focus on the 3 3/4" line. Two- Week Notice. Then, in 1. 98. 1, after yet another failed attempt to get Blast Off off the ground, Prupis was told that he had one more shot with Joe, or else he needed to move on to other ideas. Prupis would be given two weeks with Griffin- Bacal, the marketing firm that managed Hasbro’s advertising, to see if he could come up with something to get kids excited about G. I. Prupis pulled together a team, including Kirk Bozigian from marketing and toy designers Ron Rudat and Greg Bernstein, to brainstorm product and promotional ideas. Although they came up with a lot of fun concepts, they faced a big marketing stumbling block—there was no G. I. Joe movie to tie into like Kenner had with Star Wars. Instead, it was suggested that a comic book might work just as well. Marvel- ous Assist. Just how Marvel Comics and Hasbro came together is a mix of legend, reality, and fuzzy memories from nearly 4. One version of the story states that the CEO of Hasbro and the president of Marvel met in the men’s room at a charity function, where the two got to talking shop. However, Hasbro’s. Bozigian says that it was Griffin- Bacal that contacted Marvel to discuss working on G. I. Whatever the case, Marvel was willing to help, and the relationship between the two companies was born. Marvel took a special interest in G. I. Joe, because Griffin- Bacal wanted to try something new for the comic book—television advertising. There were government regulations required for toy commercials, including: restrictions on runtime; the ad had to show kids playing with the actual toys; and animation was limited to only a few seconds. However, there were no such rules regarding advertising for comic books, because it had simply never been done before. Griffin- Bacal took the risky move of dedicating $3 million to create a series of 3. Marvel G. I. Joe comic book. Naturally, the comic featured all the action figures and vehicles from the toyline. Fury Force. After seeing the G. I. Joe concept, Marvel Editor- in- Chief Jim Shooter realized it was similar to something that writer/artist Larry Hama had been developing, called Fury Force. Fury Force was a series starring the son of Marvel’s spy extraordinaire Nick Fury as the leader of a seven- member paramilitary strike team. Hama had drawn character designs and basic biographies, but the series hadn’t been picked up by Marvel, so he set it aside. But instead of letting Hama’s hard work collect dust, Shooter suggested adapting his ideas to fit G. I. Joe instead. And just like that, Hama was in charge of the comic book series that would one day define his career. Enter Cobra. Because enemy toys had never sold well in the past, Hasbro hadn’t even considered a foil for G. I. But Hama insisted that “these guys can’t just march around and go on maneuvers or whatnot, they have to be battling some things, some threat..” It was Marvel writer Archie Goodwin that suggested a terrorist organization named Cobra. Inspired by the name, Ron Rudat developed the design for the enemy’s now- iconic logo. Birth of the File Cards. Hama kept a series of handwritten index cards to keep all of the characters and vehicles for the comic book straight. On each card he would write a few details, including biographical notes and military specialties. Hasbro had already considered including trading cards with the toys, but they liked Hama’s index cards so much they asked him to write more so they could be included on the back of the figure packaging for kids to cut out and collect. These “file cards” became a key aspect of the Joe toyline and nearly all of them were written by Hama. Blast Off Blasts Off. With exciting new figure and vehicles designs, interesting characters, and innovative advertising ideas, Bob Prupis approached Hasbro executives once again to reboot G. I. It’s been said that CEO Stephen Hassenfeld was so excited by the presentation, that when it was over he had tears in his eyes. The initial line of 3 3/4- inch G. I. Joe: A Real American Hero action figures debuted in the summer of 1. Nine Joes—Breaker, Flash, Grunt, Rock . An additional four Joes—Clutch, Grand Slam, Hawk, and Steeler—were included with some of the seven vehicles that made up the original toy line. Two Cobra figures—a Cobra soldier and a Cobra officer—were also released on carded packages. The first year sales projections for the new line of G. I. Joe toys was $1. The line wound up selling over $5. Christmas. Evolution of the Toys. After its phenomenal first year, Bozigian says the G. I. Joe line was given carte blanche to do whatever they wanted with the second series of toys. Vehicle designer Greg Bernstein ramped up the detail and the ambition on the second line of vehicles. Similarly, Ron Rudat, who designed every action figure from 1. But the biggest change for the line was in poseability. From the beginning, G. I. Joe figures featured more articulation than the competing Star Wars figures. Whereas Star Wars figures had five points of movement (arms, legs, and head), G. I. Joes had 1. 0 points: arms, legs, elbows, knees, torso, and head. However, in order to make the second wave of Joes even better, two swivel joints were added at the character’s bicep, allowing the arms to turn in towards the body to let the figures hold their rifles more realistically. This “Swivel- Arm Battle Grip” was clearly the future of the franchise, so the original figures were re- released, creating a definitive line between the original figures—now known as “straight- arm figures”—and the rest of the toys going forward. Flag Points. Because Cobra was more of an afterthought for Hasbro, they didn’t have the design for the Cobra Leader, better known as Cobra Commander, done in time for the line’s launch. So instead, they implemented another idea from that early brainstorming meeting: mail- away exclusives. Kids needed to collect proofs of purchase, known as “Flag Points,” found on every package, and send them, along with a check for 5. Cobra Commander figure. On the What’s On Joe Mind podcast, Bozigian said that Hasbro expected about 5. January 2 and March 3. The popularity of the mail- in offer spawned a new program for the company called Hasbro Direct, which gave kids the opportunity to buy overstocked, hard- to- find, and exclusive figures and vehicles. Foreign Duty. G. I. Joe might have been a real American hero, but he was popular all over the world, with figures and vehicles available in countries as diverse as Japan, India, Brazil, Canada, Italy, China, and many more. There wasn't a lot of continuity between the American and foreign lines, as many toys had different codenames, file cards, paint schemes, and could even be on a different side in the battle between G. I. Joe and Cobra. For example, in Britain, where the figures were called Action Force: International Heroes, Cobra’s black H. I. S. S. Tank, was the crimson red “Hyena,” and was driven by a repainted Destro known as “Red Jackal.” In Spain, the laser infantryman, Sci- Fi, was known as “Sargento L. It’s an inside joke with the Joe collector community that the file cards were written correctly, but then a mischievous cleaning lady at the Hasbro Iberia office would edit them overnight, so they would be a mess before they were sent to the printer the next morning. Some of the most sought- after foreign Joes were those manufactured in Argentina by toy company Plastirama. The Ballad of G. I. Joe from Cha- Ching Pictures, Olivia Wilde, Zach. Starring. Laz Alonso as Doc. Alexis Bledel as Lady Jaye. Billy Crudup as Zartan. Zach Galifiankais as Snow Job. Tony Hale as Dr. Mindbender. Vinnie Jones as Destro. Joey Kern as Tomax. Joey Kern as Xamot. Chuck Liddell as Gung Ho. Julianne Moore as Scarlett. Henry Rollins as Duke. Alan Tudyk as Shipwreck. Olivia Wilde as The Baronessand. Sgt. Slaughter as Himself. Also featuring Jamin Fite as Cobra Commander. Frankie Kang as Storm Shadow. Geoff Mann as Buzzer. Andreas Owald as Snake Eyes. Daniel Strange as Torch. Kevin Umbricht as Ripper. Written by Daniel Strange & Kevin Umbricht. Directed by Daniel Strange. Produced by Kevin Umbricht, Josh Simpson, and Mike Farah. Grips: Will Hines, Matthew Weir, Paul Nadjmabadi. Production Assistants: Sean Boyle, Kevin F. Kearns, Kat O'Connor and Carly Rhodes. Cinematography: Maarten de Boer. Makeup: Kat Bardot. Vinnie Jones Makeup: Alexei O’Brien. Billy Crudup Makeup: Joanna Stewart. Julianne Moore Makeup: Susan Lehane. Costuming by: Kevin Umbricht, Shanna Knecht, Adam Doyle. Animation: Pal Moore. Music produced, arranged, recorded and performed by Geoff Mann. Lead Vocals: Kevin Umbricht. Clarinet: Matt Moon. Additional recording Nicholas Sevilla and Matt Moon Mastered by Scott Craggs at Old Colony. Special Thanks: UCB Theater in New York, John Frusciante, Maureen Grosser, Paul Kuhn, Tom Spriggs, Robbie Kass, Ian Cohen, Martin Torres, Brad Marks, Geoff Barnett, Daisy Wu, Kevin Kay, Paul Incerto, Nick Nacca, Nick Nacca Studios, Alan J. Kirby, All- Pro Media Burlington, Adam Doyle, Drew Antzis, Lenvil King Jr., Brad Schulz.
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