G I Joe Action figures, the journey through History

1. G I Joe Action figures, the journey through History Introduction: Boys will be boys. They never like to identify any of the playthings as well with the girls. Girls playing with dolls are nothing new at all. However, when boys play with toys, they would not like to use the word ‘doll’ to describe their toy. We are referring to the G I Joe toys introduced by the famous toy company, Hasbro in 1964. According to the boys, ‘doll’ constitutes something feminine in nature. Hence, there was a nationwide debate in the year 1964 at the time of the introduction of the G I Joe series of toys as to what should be the acceptable name. After much consternation, they agreed on the name ‘Action figure’. From that day, the name GI Joe Action figures stuck to this line of toys. The Inspiration: The inspiration for the G I Joe toys is the comic strip by the same name. You can find these comics even today at bookshops all over the world. The other comics such as Marvel comics also had a representation known as the marvel action figures. The G I Joe: The Various improvements over time The G I Joe soldier is a 12-inch high toy representing each of the four arms of the US Armed forces. They had the names Rocky, Skip, and Ace, before the adoption of the universal name, G I Joe.

2. Since the inception of the toy line in 1964 to the year 1969, they used the nomenclature ‘America’s Movable Fighting Man’. However, in the late 1960s, in the aftermath of the US- Vietnam war, they changed the name of the toy line to ‘Adventure Team’. As the name changed, they also introduced some changes in the appearance of the hero. They included the flocked hair and bearded version to go along with the original version. The year 1974 saw the inclusion of a new feature in the toy. That was the invention of the ‘Kung-Fu Grip’. They introduced a softer plastic material to manufacture the hands that allowed the fingers to grip objects. In 1976, they introduced the ‘night vision concept’. This was a moveable eye mechanism making the toy appear to look around when you manipulate a lever in the back of the head. The international appeal: G I Joe is an American soldier. However, to have an international appeal, Hasbro licensed the sales in the UK to a toy firm known as Palitoy Ltd. They cannot use the same name. Hence, Palitoy rechristened the Action figure into Action Man. At the outset, the theme was that of a soldier of World War II. Subsequently, they expanded the idea to include other men of action such as Superman Action figures. In the 1980s, the Action Man saw a decline in the sales. At that time, the term ‘Action Force’ of the Star Wars line was more popular. Hence, the Company renamed the Action Man as Action Force. Other countries too, had their own versions of the G I Joe. In India, they introduced the G I Joe toy line under the Funskool brand. This was, in short, the journey of the G I Joe Action figures toy line.