When Hasbro introduced G.I. Joe action figures in 1964, the company was gambling on the possibility that boys would play with dolls as long as they weren’t called dolls. Fortunately, the gamble paid off.
Unlike the tiny, green plastic “army men” boys had long played with, and unlike cast-metal soldiers their fathers and grandfathers had marched across bedspreads and tabletops, G.I. Joe was big and accessorizable, the rugged, gun-toting adventurer Barbie’s Ken only dreamed of being.
The 12-inch plastic figures with 21 movable parts, clothed in highly realistic uniforms and carrying miniature but otherwise lethal-looking weapons, were a big hit with their largely male owners.
G.I. Joe, accessorized to the max.
The original Joe was soon joined by representatives of the U.S. army, navy, marines, and air force, then by increasingly specialized Joes. Hasbro issues new models every year, retiring earlier ones.
There have been painted-hair Joes and fuzzy-haired Joes, bearded Joes and bionic Joes, Joes of foreign extraction, Joes with Kung Fu grips, and Joes that talk (“Enemy planes — hit the dirt!”) when you pull their dogtags.
A Green Beret Joe, a Blue Angel Joe, a space shuttle Joe, a George Washington Joe, a General Omar Bradley Joe, a Secret Service Joe, Desert Storm Joes, a female helicopter pilot Joe named Jane, and even a Bob Hope Joe have all had their moment in the sun.
For a man on the move, Joe doesn’t exactly travel light. He has footlockers and cartridge belts, grenade launchers and bayonets, all-terrain vehicles and helicopters, as well as camouflage clothing for every possible circumstance.
Joe has come in several sizes over the years, as have his accessories, but the 12-inch model remains the most popular.
Toys have a tendency to get played with, of course, making early, unused Joes still in their boxes, guns and ammo intact, highly valuable. The seemingly endless variety of new Joes and accessories and their relatively short period of availability gives collectors much to hanker after, and armchair warriors a safe outlet for righteous urges.
He may have painted-on hair, but this vintage G.I. Joe is all man.
What are this year’s “hot” collectibles? We’re not fortune-tellers by any means, but we are always interested in tracking trends. And the trend that we expect to continue is the demand for ‘boomerabilia’.
What’s that? Well, it’s a term that’s applied to everything from classic toys, like erector sets, to classic cars, like those old Thunderbirds with the great big fins.
It’s amazing that these relics from childhood have become such coveted collectibles.
For instance, young girls treasured their collection of Barbie dolls. Their brothers though, played with G.I. Joes. Their “America’s Movable Fighting Men” would wreak havoc in our playroom.
Not too long ago, a rare G.I. Joe collector’s edition created to celebrate the doll’s 30th anniversary came up at auction at Christie’s in New York. It was an exact replica of the first G.I. Joe made. There was a lot of buzz about how much he would fetch.
After all, an original sold new for $4. Today they’re selling on eBay for hundreds of dollars.
Because of boys like my brothers, the G.I. Joe craze started almost immediately after the first four dolls were introduced in early 1964, one each representing the four branches of the military.
Of course, you couldn’t really call them dolls.
G.I. Joe was so popular among the latter-half of the boomer generation because it was a first.
Prior to G.I. Joe there wasn’t any real ‘action figure’ for boys — that’s how new it was.
These 12-inch-tall Army, Marine, Navy, and Air Force men came complete in perfectly scaled down fatigues, dog tags, jump boots, and insignia chevrons. There was even a Field Training Manual.
By the end of that first year the G.I. Joe fan club not only started, but had 150,000 members. (They’re probably all collectors today!)
G.I. Joe collecting, like lots of hobbies, is a mania, complete with international conventions, thick guides to pricing, and scads of web sites.
You’d think that there’d be enough to go around, with more than 250 million G.I. Joes in existence.
But collectors prize G.I. Joes that have been kept in their original packaging, with their perfectly designed versions of military uniforms and hardware untainted, the colors on the box unfaded by sunlight, the cellophane untorn, and all of G.I. Joe’s 21 movable parts still moving perfectly.
And that’s the problem. Most originals were bought with playing in mind — and not collecting. Generations of boys (and some girls, too) fought the good fight with their G.I. Joes — in mud, puddles, and grass in the backyard.
Like soldiers everywhere, most G.I. Joes are scuffed, banged up, and a little worse for wear. It turns out that even 250 million G.I. Joes aren’t enough.
Remember that 30th anniversary collector’s G.I. Joe? Well, it must have been pretty perfect. It sold for $5,570.
Now that’s a boom!
1964 talking G.I. Joe
Read our hilarious story about the Barbie® goes plastic-free with MyCelia™ EcoWarrior climate activist edition and the Barbie Liberation Organisation’s prank on talking GI Joe
Further Reading:
The Official 30th Anniversary Salute to GI Joe 1964-1994 by Vincent Santelmo
Balsamic Dreams: A Short But Self-important History of the Baby Boomer Generation by Joe Queenan
Longevity Revolution: As Boomers Become Elders by Theodore Roszak
The new official identification guide to GI Joe and accessories, 1964-1978
by James DeSimone
The Complete Encyclopedia to GI Joe by Vincent Santelmo
GI Joe: Official Identification and Price Guide 1964-1999 by Vincent Santelmo
GI Joe: The Complete Story of America’s Favorite Man of Action by John Michlig, Don Levine
Also in our series on collectibles dolls:
