In 1963, noting the commercial success of the Barbie doll for girls, Stan Weston, a toy creator and licensing agent, came up with the idea of a line of Barbie-sized dolls with a military theme that would be marketed to boys.
Weston presented his idea to Don Levine, the creative director of toy manufacturer Hasbro, who saw the potential of the idea and approved development.
The prototypes were originally named "Rocky" (army soldier), "Skip" (the sailor), and "Ace" (the pilot), before Don Levine, inspired by the popular 1945 film The Story of G.I. Joe, decided on the generic name "G.I. Joe."
GI Joe was launched on February 2, 1964, with a World War II theme (although some of the clothes and other items were actually of Korean-war vintage). The G.I. Joe figures were approximately the same physical scale as Barbie dolls — 12 inches, or 305 mm, tall.
Highlights
* In 1965, a black G.I. Joe figure was introduced in select markets.
* In 1966, soldiers from other countries (France, Germany and the UK) joined the G.I. Joe line up. A Project Mercury-like space capsule and silver-suited astronaut figure was also added to the series.
* In 1967, Talking figures were introduced.
* The first female G.I. Joe, the Action Nurse, was produced in 1967. It was a commercial failure, and another 12" female would not be released for 30 years.
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