G.I. Joe
It's from 1964, before you were born.
- Maker
- Hasbro
- Type
- Action figure
- Debuted
- 1964
- Note
- Coined the term 'action figure'
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About
As of 2026, it's 62 years old.
When Hasbro launched G.I. Joe in 1964, they faced one problem: boys, it was assumed, would never play with a 'doll.' So they invented a new phrase — 'action figure' — and a category was born. The original 12-inch poseable soldier was a hit, and the term stuck for everything that followed.
G.I. Joe reinvented himself for the '80s as a smaller 3.75-inch line with an animated series, a sprawling cast, and the immortal 'and knowing is half the battle' PSAs. Real American Hero, indeed.
Poseable, rebrandable, and linguistically influential, G.I. Joe is the toy that gave the world the words 'action figure' so nobody had to admit it was a doll.
