G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero

Origin

"A Real American Hero" was created as a revival of the original 12 in (30 cm) G.I. Joe brand of the 1960s and 1970s. After the 12" figure had been absent from toy shelves for a few years, G.I. Joe was re-introduced in a 3+3⁄4 in (9.52 cm) action figure format following the success of the Star Wars and Micronauts 33⁄4″ scale toylines.

The genesis of the toy line came about from a chance meeting in a men's room. According to Jim Shooter, then editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics:

The President or CEO of Hasbro was at a charity event that Marvel's President was also at. They ended up in the men's room, standing next to each other peeing, and I think that's how they met. They were talking about each other's respective businesses, and it came up that Hasbro wanted to reactivate the trademark on G.I. Joe, but they were trying to come up with a new approach. [Marvel's guy] was like "We have the best creative people in the world! Let me bring in this Editor-in-Chief of mine and we'll fix it for you!"

Prior to G.I. Joe's relaunch in 1982, Larry Hama was developing an idea for a new comic book called Fury Force, which he was hoping would be an ongoing series for Marvel Comics. The original premise had the son of S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury assembling a team of elite commandos to battle neo-Nazi terrorists HYDRA. Shooter approached Hama about the Joe project due to Hama's military background, and the Fury concept was adapted for the project. Shooter suggested to Hasbro that "G.I. Joe" should be the team name and that they should fight terrorists, while Archie Goodwin invented Cobra and the Cobra Commander; everything else was created by Hama. Hasbro was initially uncertain about making villain toys, believing this would not sell. Marvel would also suggest the inclusion of female Joes in the toyline, and to include them with the vehicles (as Hasbro again worried they would not sell on their own).

It was decided that the comic book series itself would be advertised on television first, as opposed to advertising the toys directly for the time being. This was because television advertising for toys were subject to strict regulations such as to how long an advertisement could depict a toy in animation. By contrast, the regulations for a literary creation were much more lax, allowing them to depict animation for the entire advertisement.

Each G.I. Joe figure included a character biography, called a "file card". Hama was largely responsible for writing these file cards, especially for the first ten years. When developing many of the characters, he drew much from his own experiences in the US military. The overall premise for the toyline revolves around an elite counter-terrorist team code-named G.I. Joe, whose main purpose is "to defend human freedom against Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world," to quote the voiceover on the animated series' introductory segment.

Every year, Hasbro and Marvel would meet up to discuss the upcoming toys and marketing. Larry Hama was given free rein by Marvel's editors. Both the toys and the comics would become a great success, the comics being Marvel's most subscribed title at one point, but Jim Shooter has said sister company Marvel Productions, who handled the cartoon, overspent on production and had "a critical success but a financial disaster" with the show.

In 1994, Hasbro transferred control of the G.I. Joe toyline and brand name to the newly acquired Kenner division, who promptly cancelled the A Real American Hero toyline and replaced it with G.I. Joe Extreme. After brief revivals in 1997 and 1998, the toyline was revived as the "Real American Hero Collection" in 2000 to the mass market. In both cases, previous molds were reused and some characters had to be renamed due to trademark issues. Another relaunch was made in 2002 under the theme "G.I. Joe vs. Cobra" and new designs and characters were introduced.

Hasbro.com officially announced a new line of "25th Anniversary" 4″ G.I. Joe figures on January 18, 2007. The line is primarily based on the characters and designs from the early part of the Real American Hero line.

Toyline

The action figures were 3+3⁄4 in (9.52 cm) tall, at roughly 1:18 scale. Throughout the original toyline production from 1982 through 1994, figure construction remained relatively the same. The most notable changes were the second series' addition of "swivel-arm" articulation in 1983 which allowed the forearm to rotate above the elbow (initial figures could only bend at the elbow), and the fourth series' ball joints replacing the former swivel necks, both dramatically increasing a figures poseability.

Hasbro also released various vehicles and playsets to be used with the figures. Many of the vehicles and playsets were based on, or influenced by, real or experimental military technologies that were deployed or being developed during the 1980s. Some examples of this among the vehicles released were the G.I. Joe Skystriker XP-14F fighter plane based on the F-14 Tomcat; the Cobra Rattler, which has similarities to the A-10 Thunderbolt II; the Dragonfly attack helicopter which was nearly identical to the Bell AH-1 Cobra; the Cobra Night Raven S3P inspired by the Blackbird SR-71; and the M.O.B.A.T. tank which was modeled after the MBT-70. The Mobile Missile System (M.M.S.) playset was also strikingly similar to the MIM-23 Hawk surface-to-air (SAM) missile system, while the V.A.M.P. and its Cobra counterpart, the Stinger, were based on the FMC XR311 prototype combat vehicle and its derivative, the Lamborghini Cheetah. However, other toys were completely original and in-story incorporated technologies that were unavailable at the time such as the H.A.L. artillery laser, and J.U.M.P. jet pack.

File card

A file card is cardboard packaging with profile information, that accompanies most G.I. Joe or Cobra action figures. The owner of the action figure is encouraged to cut out the file card and save it. Over the years, the file card has evolved, but they generally contain the following information:

A picture

Indication of allegiance

Code name of the character

Function

File name – the real name of the character

SN, his/her serial number

Primary military specialty

Secondary military specialty

Birthplace

Rank grade

A paragraph detailing the background of the character such as his/her education, upbringing, training

A quote from an unidentified source, usually giving the owner an idea of the character's personality

For the enemy characters, most of the details are dispensed with, usually leaving only the picture, code name, function, descriptive paragraph and the quote.

The file cards for the first eight or so years were primarily written by comic book writer Larry Hama. Originally, Hama created "dossiers" as a way to keep track of the characters he would be writing. Representatives from Hasbro saw these "dossiers", and figured they would be an additional attraction to the action figures' blister packs.

They were known for giving much needed details about the characters, such as their specialties, education and training. So detailed were the file cards, that they even mention the military schools the G.I. Joe characters attended. The 1982 to 1984 file cards contained information on weapons specialties, but this was later removed over concerns that children were being given knowledge on firearms and also that a character would be limited in his weaponry.

Line history

The first eleven characters were introduced in carded packs while four others were bundled with vehicles. The first series of action figures had straight arms with elbow joints. While it is common for many characters to share the same mold for producing a body part, it was much more noticeable in the first year as for the original thirteen G.I. Joe figure, only six head molds were created. Three unique molds were assigned to Stalker, Snake-Eyes and Scarlett, while the other ten characters utilized one of three generic heads. Despite these limitations, the new toyline was a success.

With the success of the first line of toys, Hasbro expanded the line the next year with new characters and more original body part designs. In 1983, "swivel-arm battle grip" articulation and some extra tweaks were added to the new characters and the existing figures in order to make them more poseable. In 1985, the base of the action figures' heads were given a ball joint which gave the figures' heads the ability to look up and down. Unlike the change to the arms, older figures were not rereleased with the new neck articulation.

The years from 1983 to 1985 are considered by many to be the golden years of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero as many of the most popular characters were introduced around this time. Vehicles and playsets became bigger and seemed to top the design of the previous year, culminating in 1985's impressive USS Flagg playset, an aircraft carrier that measured 7+1⁄2 ft (2.3 m) long.

Like Hasbro's other main franchise at the time, Transformers, G.I. Joe saw its popularity peak around this time. This year is also notable for the overhauling of toy packaging, which the background artwork being changed from the familiar explosion background to a pixilated pattern of a red, yellow, and white explosion.

In toy stores, two of the largest playsets of the entire line were introduced: the G.I. Joe Defiant space shuttle and the Mobile Command Center. Before the end of the year, the G.I. Joe special team Battleforce 2000 was introduced in time for Christmas.

The toyline continued to sell well, despite its lack of media support. A new enemy, Destro's Iron Grenadiers, was introduced. The new Cobra line-up was composed mainly of Viper-type henchmen. Issue #86 of the comic series celebrated the 25th anniversary of the G.I. Joe toyline in general. Another G.I. Joe sub-group, Tiger Force, a line of classic characters and vehicles re-colored with tiger-striped camouflage patterns, was introduced before the year's end.

Animated series

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1983 TV series) – a 95-episode animated series, produced by Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions to follow the success of the toyline by Hasbro. The cartoon ran in syndication from 1983 to 1986. It included a short public service announcement cartoon at the end of every episode, in which a few of the G.I. Joes would instruct children on good behavior or how to be safe and ended with the catch-phrase: ... And knowing is half the battle!

G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987) – an animated film created at the height of the G.I. Joe craze in the 1980s. In the film, it is revealed that Cobra was created by Golobulus, the ruler of an ancient race of part human/part snake/part insectoid people who were the rulers of the Earth before humanity, but their culture was all but wiped out by the ice age, and they fled to the Himalayas as humanity evolved and developed its own technology. Biding his time to retake the Earth, Golobulus sent a Cobra-La citizen, who turns out to be Cobra Commander, to go out and destroy humanity. When Cobra Commander fails, he is de-evolved into a snake in favor of Serpentor; it is also revealed that Golobulus implanted the inspiration to create Serpentor into Dr. Mindbender's brain with a small creature called a Psychic Motivator. The other Cobra heads, Destro, Baroness, Dr. Mindbender and the Dreadnoks agree along with Serpentor to help Golobulus take over the world in exchange for their preserved humanity. Golobulus wants the human race's Broadcast Energy Transmitter (or BET) so that he can accelerate the maturity of his space spores, which will shower the human race upon ripening and turn them into mindless animals, while all those in Cobra-La are protected by the Ice Dome. Only G.I. Joe stands in their way.

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1989 TV series) – a 44-episode animated series, produced by DIC Entertainment, and serves as a follow up to the 1985 series. The cartoon ran in syndication from 1989 to 1992. Although not as successful as the first series, it still ran for 2 seasons.

Comic books

In 1982 when Hasbro relaunched their G.I. Joe franchise with G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero it was supported by a Marvel Comics series. The comic book history of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero has seen three separate publishers and four main-title series, all of which have been based on the Hasbro toy line of the same name. The first series was produced by Marvel Comics between 1982 and 1994, running for 155 issues and spawning several spin-off titles throughout the course of its run. The second and third series, published by Devil's Due Productions from 2001 to 2008, totaled 80 issues and included several spin-off titles as well. The G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series was revived as an ongoing in May 2010 by IDW Publishing, with #155 ½ and followed by #156 onwards in July 2010, picking up from the end of the Marvel Comics series, and written by original G.I. Joe writer Larry Hama.

Action Stars Cereal

In 1985, a cereal based on G.I. Joe was released called Action Stars Cereal. There were multiple variations of the cereal box, each featuring a different character from the G.I. Joe collection drawn in an action pose. Among the characters pictured were Duke, Gung-Ho, Shipwreck, and Quick Kick. The cereal itself was a collection of oat / grain pieces shaped like hollowed-out stars. The cereal was said to have tasted like Cap'n Crunch.

A television commercial for the cereal depicted a boy making his way to a bowl of cereal led by the character Duke. After eating the cereal, the boy flies into the air following another G.I. Joe character named Starduster. Of interesting note to G.I. Joe fans and collectors, this was the only time that the action-figure Starduster appeared in animated form. He was never part of the cartoon television series. Starduster was also featured in three out-of-continuity mini-comics packaged in Action Stars Cereal.

Legacy

In 1989, the last wish of a West Virginia boy dying from brain cancer was to be a "G.I. Joe" for a day.

The G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero TV show and toy commercials were parodied in the Community episode "G.I. Jeff".