Part Sgt. Rock, part Challengers of the Unknown, Charlton Comics’ Fightin’ 5 debuted the same year as our favorite Movable Fighting Man, and presaged the kind of unique unit that would later grace toy aisles as Real American Heroes. Festooned in brightly colored uniforms and made up of operatives of various backgrounds including American, French-American, Israeli and even a professional
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My first exposure to this set came in the pages of Lee’s Action Figure News and Toy Review magazine. I still have that particular issue, the first toy magazine I had seen on a newsstand–well, a comic shop stand to be exact. So is this the first example of the GI Joe line packaging a vehicle and “driver” figure together?
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One of the unique features of the 1960s boxed GI Joe sets were the photo packages. Most were also different from other offerings in that the photos pictured more contemporary subjects than the World War II and Korea era featured on much of the painted packages. I particularly enjoy the juxtaposition of the gritty photo at left with the highly
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I'm a big fan of action figure carrying cases. What seems like such a utilitarian item can be an interesting collection focus. In the heyday of the 1980s and 1990s, it seemed every toy line had its own case. These days they're just not as plentiful, at least in the plain "just a glorified box" sense of the past. GI
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Ideal’s Captain Action series of licensed super hero outfits would seem like a natural formula for success. Based on the razor and blades concept that made Barbie and GI Joe champions of the toy aisle, the Captain was a basic twelve inch doll who could be outfitted as any number of comic and/or TV heroes. The series didn’t last long,
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Yes folks, the first Hasbro GI Joe comic was released in 1964 to coincide with the new toys. What makes it Hasbro specific? Just look at that figure in the title; he looks similar in pose to the package art. Gi Joe ads can often be found advertised in DC comics of the time, and the cover also calls out
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I’ve been remiss in doing some celebrating and reflecting (beyond what I do every day) about the history of my favorite toy line. As we near the end of this 50th anniversary of the first action figure, I began to think it would be a nice thought experiment to pick out 50 of my favorite items from GI Joe’s 50
Read moreThe first time I saw the original Alley Viper was at a flea market in the early 90’s. I had been out of GI Joe collecting for a few years, and had not yet discovered the wonderful Tomart’s guide that would present me with pictures of all the Joes and Cobras I had missed. The figure was sitting in a
Read moreI thought in honor of Father’s Day, I’d cover a figure that’s not only the father of all subsequent GI Joe figures, but also the father of all toys that could be considered “action figures”. I don’t pretend to know 1/100th of what’s known of the history of the original GI Joe, but that doesn’t keep me from appreciating its
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