The image shown is of the first prototype G. I. Joe action figure, hand-carved in 1963 by the designer of the famous toy, Don Levine of Providence, Rhode Island.
While toy company Mattel could barely keep up with demand for its Barbie dolls in the early 1960s, its competitor, Hasbro, realized the market had no analogue for boys. In 1963, Hasbro began development on a military-themed line of dolls that, like Barbie, could be accessorized with different outfits and equipment. The original strategy called for a different figure for each branch of the military, but seizing on a 1945 film called The Story of G.I. Joe, the toys were eventually generalized. (The term itself comes from World War II, where it was used as a shorthand symbol for the typical service man, or “Government-Issue Joe.”)
G.I. Joe was initially a massive success and Hasbro expanded the line throughout the ’60s, reimagining Joe as an astronaut, a deep-sea diver and a Green Beret. But outcry over American involvement in Vietnam dampened enthusiasm for a camo-clad action figure, so Hasbro gave Joe an honorable discharge.
It redesigned the toys and re-launched them in 1970 as Adventures of G.I. Joe: the figure received lifelike hair, moveable eyes and a “kung-fu” grip, enabling him to hold onto objects for the first time. But the changes proved to be a gimmick, taken even further by Hasbro with the development of a space-traveling “Super Joe” in 1976. The reception was lukewarm, and by 1978, Joe was retired from service entirely.
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