However, its popularity eventually declined by the mids. Joe remained successful until America became heavily involved in the Vietnam War. Suddenly, parents were wary of allowing their sons to play with military toys. To stay on the market, Hasbro remarketed G. Joe as an adventurer, not a military action figure. He went on missions to rescue the environment and to create peace at home, not in a war. Instead of combatting wars, he was fighting wild animals.
Joe to his original size and started selling collectibles. Occasionally, new versions of the iconic toy are released, with the most recent line honoring the 50 th anniversary of the action figure ending in They chose a line based on the highway patrolmen in the show CHiPs from rival company Mego. But if the new Joes were to succeed, they needed more than just extra joints. Like the Star Wars figurines , they needed a movie or TV show to draw kids in.
The easiest way to do this would have been through commercials—to run little second cartoons that would introduce kids to the reimagined Joe and create storylines to follow. At the time, the FCC had strict limits on the amount of animation or special effects that could be used in a toy commercial: seven seconds.
But there was no such limit placed on book commercials. The solution, Hasbro realized, was to give G. Joe its own comic book. The company approached Marvel Comics, whose editor-in-chief loved the idea and handed it off to a low-level editor, Larry Hama. Joe: A Real American Hero. If Joe was going to have new cartoons, he needed a new enemy to match. In a meeting with Hasbro, Marvel editor Archie Goodwin came up with the idea for Cobra, a terrorist organization determined to rule the world and obliterate its main enemy, G.
Along with adding bad guys, Marvel also suggested that G. Joe become the name of the unit, and that the unit comprise specialists, each with their own names and characteristics, which Hama provided. This decision opened up more play opportunities for kids and the potential to make a heck of a lot more money.
During the two years of preproduction, he created detailed dossiers for each character, including biographical notes, military specialties, and psychological profiles. A combination of factors led to the relaunch being postponed for more than a year.
Just as in , an oil crisis hit, which nearly tripled the cost of making figures. To allow Joe to make the biggest impact, he would have to wait. This downtime gave Hasbro time to design a leader for Cobra. Joe figures, along with a check for 50 cents to cover the shipping. After a successful year with the figures, a second, upgraded series was introduced in The Joes now had a mid-bicep degree-swivel, allowing their arms to turn in toward their bodies for more realistic gunplay and positioning.
Years later, this became a clear delineation for collectors, between the straight-arm figures and battle grip. So many figures were produced over the coming 12 years that the Hasbro team started modeling characters after themselves. Joe, but rather a group of heroes joined under that name, fighting the evil terrorist organization called COBRA.
The show ended in but was followed by a host of G. Joe comics, books, and cartoons that overshadowed the dolls. The first live-action G. Joe movie -- G. Hasbro coined the term? The term? By World War II,? Some of the original, '60s-vintage G. Joes have fetched sizable prices. A rare and ill-fated G. Some of the earliest, rarest figures attract a similar price tag.
But what's perhaps most unique about G. Joe is his staying power. In an era when toy companies completely overhaul their product lines every few years, G. Joe has managed to avoid another hiatus. Joe: The Rise of Cobra might not set any box-office records, but it's a fair bet the movie's namesake will still be a mainstay on toy-store shelves long after the movie is forgotten.
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