GI Joe: A Real American Hero

G.I Joe : A Real American Hero is a military-themed line of action figures and toys. Produced by Hasbro, the toyline lasted from 1982 to 1994, producing well over 500 figures and 250 vehicles and playsets. The line reappeared in 1997 and has continued in one form or another to the present day. It was supported by two animated series as well as a major comic series published by Marvel Comics.

'A Real American Hero' was a revival of the original 12" G.I. Joe brand of the 1960's and 70's. After the 12" figure had been absent from toy shelves for a few years, G.I. Joe was re-introduced in a 3-3/4" action figure format following the success of the Star Wars and Micronauts toylines of a similar smaller size. It went on to become one of the most memorable icons of the 1980's and even surpassed its classic 12" predecessor in popularity.

G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero figures were 9.5cm tall, at roughly 1:18th scale. Throughout the original toy line production from 1982 through 1994, figure construction remained relatively the same. The most notable changes were the second series' addition of "swivel-arm" articulation in 1983 (initial figures had "straight arms"), and the fourth series' ball joints replacing the former swivel necks, both dramatically increasing a figures poseability.

Likely inspired by the success of Kenner's Star Wars line of action figures, Hasbro designed vehicles and playsets to be used with the figures. They were likely influenced by theoretical or real military technologies that were being developed during the 1980s, or actually existed at some point in time. Some examples are the G.I. Joe Sky Striker fighter plane based on the F-14 Tomcat, the Cobra Rattler, similar to the A-10 Thunderbolt II, and the Dragonfly, modeled on the Bell AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter. Examples of similar army equipment include the MOBAT tank, which resembled the M1 Abrams series of U.S. battle tanks and the Mobile Missile System (MMS), which was a carbon copy of the HAWK surface-to-air (SAM) missile system.

It should also be noted that there was also a distinct science-fiction element to the line, which seemed to increase as the line went on, with toys like the Battleforce 2000 and the Star Brigade series. Fans have debated the impact of this trend on the line's declining popularity and eventual cancellation in 1994, but other contributing factors, such as the lack of a television series and competition from popular new toylines likely had a more drastic effect.

In 1994, Hasbro shifted its G.I. Joe brand to the newly acquired Kenner division, which made drastic design and theme changes. Almost every aspect of the A Real American Hero toy line disappeared, and a whole new toy line theme of Sgt. Savage and His Screaming Eagles was produced in a larger size.

Prior to G.I. Joe's relaunch in 1982, Larry Hama was developing an idea for a new comic book (to be called Fury Force) which he was hoping would be an ongoing series for Marvel Comics. The original premise had the son of S.H.I.E.L.D director Nick Fury assembling a team of elite commandos to battle neo-Nazi terrorists HYDRA. The idea was nixed, but Hama was able to use the basic premise when he learned of Hasbro's plans to resurrect the G.I. Joe toyline. Each G.I. Joe figure included a character biography, called a 'file card.' Hama was responsible for writing these file cards, especially for the first ten years. When developing many of the characters, he drew much from his own experiences in the US military.

The toy line was appropriately supported by a Marvel comic book series, also written by Hama, which gave him the chance to flesh out the characters even further. The 155-issue comic book series is one of the longest running comic tie-ins to a toyline. Sunbow's animated promotions for the comic paved the way for the ongoing cartoon series, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, that ran in the 1980s, as well as a gamut of merchandising tie-ins. The overall premise for both the comic and cartoon storylines revolved around an elite counter-terrorist team, whose main purpose is to defend human freedom from Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world. The comic series tried to feature threats and situations other than Cobra, especially in the secondary G.I. Joe title, Special Missions. However, in all incarnations Cobra has remained the primary adversary of the G.I. Joe team.

Although the original line ended in 1994, several Toys 'R' Us exclusive figures and vehicles were released as part of a 15th anniversary line in 1997 and 1998, and the line was again revived as the Real American Hero Collection in 2000 to the mass market. In both cases, previous molds were reused and some characters had to be renamed due to copyright issues. Another relaunch was made in 2002 under the theme "G.I. Joe vs. Cobra" and new designs and characters were introduced. It should be noted that the collector community does not usually refer to new-sculpt figures as Real American Hero or RAH figures in order to differentiate them from the older method of construction used during the 1980's.