Beginning in 1977, the 12 Inch GI Joe was then scaled down to 8 and a half inches. By then the Super Joe was released that would be the battle between good and evil to the stars. This figure did not last very long at all. In fact it ended only a year later in 1978.

Looking back at the history of the GI Joes, there have been a lot of modifications and different figures that have come out of the GI Joe family. Just last year in 2007, it marked the 25th anniversary of the "Real American Hero" line. Hasbro released a new sculpted 3 and ¾' figure based on the best known figures. There were improvements done to the wrist and joints for better moving parts.

Finally, the Sigma 6 was introduced from 2005 to 2007 which was scaled down to 8 inches in size. This was a totally new character to the GI Joe family and even had a television series released produced by a Japan animation studio.

The 12 inch GI Joe has definitely been a sought action figure because it is no longer being made and was retired many years ago. If you do own this action figure, it may be worth some money depending on the type of condition that it is in.

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Hasbro used the G.I. Joe trademark for two different toy lines. The original 12-inch line that began in 1964 were realistic action figures. This line was licensed to Palitoy in the United Kingdom, and was known as Action Man. In 1982, they re-launched the line in a 3 3/4-inch scale with vehicles, playsets, and a complete background story about an ongoing struggle between the G.I. Joe Team and the evil Cobra Command.

Other Highlights:
• A black G.I. Joe figure was introduced in 1965.
• Soldiers from other countries were added in 1966. A Green Beret figure from Vietnam was also added that year.
• A Project Mercury space capsule and silver-suited astronaut figure was introduced.
• Talking figures were released in 1967.
• The Action Nurse, the first female G.I. Joe, was produced in 1967. It did not catch on, and no other 12" female GI Joe would be released for 30 years.

Duke is one of the key characters of G.I. Joe and a fan-favorite. Fans generally regard him as a main character, even though he did not appear in the first issues of the comic series nor was he one of the very first wave of original toys.

Duke was featured in two series, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6, appearing in both the animated series and comic books. Duke is the code name of First Sergeant Conrad S. Hauser. He is field commander and second-in-command of the G.I. Joe Team after Hawk. He is portrayed by actor Channing Tatum in the 2009 live-action film, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

To coincide with the launch of the new movie, Hasbro will release at least two figures based on the Duke movie character. For both releases, he is listed as Conrad "Duke" Hauser.

The first, classified as Desert Ambush, features Duke in a desert camouflage uniform. The second, classified as Reactive Impact Armor, features him in the movie style black uniform.

If you've enjoyed all this brief history of an American Icon, you'll love the unique costume ideas you find at GI Joe Movie Duke Adult Muscle Costume. What guy can resist looking like a muscular military hero. Visit the GI Joe Duke Costume Why settle for the same old costumes everyone else has seen before.

Back in the late 50s and early 60s dolls were just not something that boys played with. Your typical doll, even before Barbie came out, was a baby doll, maybe with a bottle and rattle. These dolls were made specifically for girls because boys didn't play with dolls. If they did, they were looked at as sissies.

Large selection of accessories for vintage 12 inch GI Joe

So Hasbro had its work cut out for them. They already had great success with their Barbie Doll but wanted to break into the doll market for boys if it was at all possible. After a lot of thought and careful research, Hasbro decided that if they were going to make a doll for boys to play with then it was going to have to be a doll that ONLY boys would want to play with. It had to be tough and rugged, just like boys were supposed to be. So in 1964, Hasbro introduced the first doll made specifically for boys, the G.I. Joe Doll and ever since, it has been one of the most popular dolls in history.

G.I. Joe was indeed tough and rugged. The doll stood one foot high and had moveable joints so that it could be posed in a number of ways. He was a private in the United States Army and came with dog tags and boots and that was it. He was a pretty bare bones doll for boys to play with. And therein lies the genius of Hasbro's thinking.

If a boy wanted accessories for his fighting man he had to buy them separately. The doll itself sold for around $5.00. But where Hasbro really made its money was on the various accessories and uniforms that you could get for the doll.

The accessories were sold in flat packages as opposed to the dolls which were sold in boxes. The accessories usually sold for about $1.50. Some were more and some were less. They were usually sold in logical sets. For example, there was the infantry set which came with an M1 rifle, belt, helmet and hand grenades. Most accessory packages didn't contain more than 3 or 4 items in it. Some accessories, like the sandbags, came alone. Hasbro made a mint with these as there were just so many of them.

Aside from accessories, you could also buy different uniforms for G.I. Joe. You could dress him up as a Marine, Sailor or Pilot. In later years you could dress him up as an astronaut and even get a space capsule for him. The capsule was quite a piece and sold for about $10. Back then that was a lot of money.

In the late 60s, with growing outrage against the war in Vietnam, G.I. Joe became a very controversial figure. But Hasbro had won its own war. Boys were totally taken by the doll and it went on to become one of the best selling dolls of all time even though it only appealed to one segment of the child population.

Due to the popularity of G.I. Joe, the Hasbro Company that invented the action figure decided to expand the brand’s line in 1967. Hasbro introduced the Canadian Mountie set of G.I. Joes.

Five years after the original G.I. Joe Hasbro was producing all categories of the United States Armed Forces action figures as well as many foreign armed forced. It wasn’t until 1969 that “G.I. Joe” went from being the name of one specific action figure, to the name of an entire line of action figures for boys.

By the 1970s the G.I. Joe brand was doing quite well and Hasbro kept thinking of innovative ways to keep their successful brand alive. It was at this time that they started producing the G.I. Joe Adventure Team, which was comprised of a group of soldiers all committed to the same goal as G.I. Joe.

As the seventies continued to evolve, so did G.I. Joe. He was given flocked hair, and even some G.I. Joes came with a kung-fu grip. It was in the seventies that the first superhuman team member was introduced, his name was Bulletman. Other new team members introduced in the seventies included Eagle Eye and The Defenders.

G.I. Joe found a force that he could not defeat in 1978 when the price of petroleum grew so high that G.I. Joe production was suspended. It wasn’t until 1982 that the line was re-introduced in a smaller size. The smaller size action figures were created as a direct result of keeping production costs lower to accommodate the price of petroleum.

It was also in 1982 that G.I. Joe was licensed with Marvel Comics. This partnership was very lucrative for Hasbro and Marvel with $200 million in combined revenue by 1984. At the time there were uniforms, weapons, vehicles and comic books rounding out the G.I. Joe brand.

Also in the early eighties G.I. Joe found himself fighting a slew of adversaries including the Drednoks. By this time the brand had grown so large that real human characters were being incorporated into the G.I. Joe adventure team. The first was professional wrestler Sgt. Slaughter followed by Chicago Bears legend William “The Refrigerator” Perry.

Author: John Gibb is the owner of Action Figure resources , For more information on Action Figures check out http://www.Action-figures-guides1k.info