These TV commercials for Hasbro toys’ 12″ G.I. Joe action figures date to 1966. Featured are the new U.S. Army G.I. Joes including a machine gunner and mountain ski troops. At :30 the Green Beret G.I. Joe with bazooka is shown. At :45 the G.I. Joe Army Jeep is shown complete with searchlight. At 1:09 the new G.I. Joe Navy dolls are shown including the deep sea diver and Sea Sled with frogman. At 2:11 the U.S. Marine Corps series of dolls are shown including a mine sweeper doll and footlocker. The Let’s Go Joe game is shown at 2:45. At 3:11 the new space capsule is shown along with U.S. Air Force dolls, including a firefighter and astronaut (3:45). At 3:59 a 45 rpm record player is shown playing an accompanying record of a space launch. At 4:15, a TV commercial promotes the Action Soldiers of the World including a WWII Russian infantryman, German infantryman, Imperial Japanese infantryman, French underground fighter, Australian jungle fighter, and British commando. These dolls included custom equipment for each nation’s army. At 5:11, large collections of G.I. Joe dolls are shown in diorama type settings, emphasizing the “own them all” aspect of the toys.
The G.I. Joe line of action figures was developed in 1963 by Stanley Weston, a licensing agent, who pitched the idea of a 12″ military doll to Hasbro. The initial product offering in 1964 represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier (U.S. Army), Action Sailor (U.S. Navy), Action Pilot (U.S. Air Force), Action Marine (U.S. Marine Corps) and later on, the Action Nurse.
Due to public dismay at the course that the Vietnam War was taking, G.I. Joe dolls eventually were distanced from the military, and a new “action” line introduced featuring adventurer and explorer dolls. These were sold under the moniker “The Adventures of G.I. Joe”. By 1976, with the high price of oil influencing the cost of plastic toys, and waning interest, G.I. Joe was discontinued. It would later be revived in a smaller format. The toy was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2004.
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