44 Fun Facts About G.I. Joe

In 1993, pranksters swapped the voice boxes of talking G.I. Joe figures with those of which toy?

Barbie: the doctored toys went back onto store shelves, so buyers found Barbies barking battle commands and Joes chirping Barbie's lines.

Which word were Hasbro's salespeople forbidden to use for G.I. Joe?

Doll: Hasbro branded Joe an 'action figure' instead, to set him apart from dolls.

Hasbro worked out the first G.I. Joe's movable joints by copying what?

An artist's mannequin: copying its joints gave the 1964 Joe 21 moving parts.

Which of the four original 1964 G.I. Joe figures represented the Air Force?

Action Pilot: like a razor that sells blades, each basic figure was the hook for the uniforms and gear Hasbro sold separately.

Which Manhattan licensing agent came up with the idea for the G.I. Joe figure in 1963?

Executive Don Levine told him 'You will make a fortune with these' and bought the whole concept for $100,000.

Which 1967 addition to the G.I. Joe line sold so poorly that Hasbro soon dropped it?

A military nurse: boys didn't want her among their Joes, and the short-lived flop is now one of the vintage figures collectors prize most.

Which facial feature did the original 1964 G.I. Joe figure have?

A scar on the right cheek: a human figure can't be trademarked, so the scar marked a genuine Hasbro Joe and helped the company pursue imitators.

What was the name of G.I. Joe's 1974 hand upgrade that let him hold objects?

Kung-Fu Grip: the softer hands took their name from the martial-arts craze of the 1970s.

What was G.I. Joe's 1976 innovation, the last for the original 12-inch line?

Eagle Eye moving eyes: a lever on his head shifted his gaze, and that year soaring plastic costs ended the original 12-inch line.

Which bionic G.I. Joe figure did Hasbro release in 1975?

Mike Power, Atomic Man: he rode the Six Million Dollar Man's bionic craze, and the flying superhero Bulletman followed in 1976.

As the Vietnam War turned buyers against war toys, what did Hasbro rename G.I. Joe's 12-inch line in 1970?

Adventure Team: instead of fighting wars, Joe went on missions like saving white tigers.

G.I. Joe's 1982 relaunch shrank the figures to the size of which rival toy line?

Star Wars: matching Kenner's 3¾-inch figures saved plastic and made a whole range of matching vehicles affordable.

Which Marvel writer came up with Cobra, the villains G.I. Joe fights?

Archie Goodwin: Hasbro had planned to launch the line with no villains at all until Marvel's team protested that the Joes needed someone to fight.

Which comic writer created most of the Real American Hero characters?

Larry Hama: after a 16-year gap he returned to write the same series again, picking it up at issue #156.

The unused Marvel pitch that became G.I. Joe was a spin-off about which character's special force?

Nick Fury: Hasbro was reviving the G.I. Joe name but lacked a story for it, so Marvel's shelved pitch was adapted.

What is the small biography insert packaged with each Real American Hero figure called?

File card: the idea grew out of the handwritten index cards the comic's writer kept to track each character.

Which publisher picked up G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero at issue #301 in 2023?

Skybound Entertainment: it kept the original series going while starting a separate G.I. Joe continuity in its shared Energon Universe, alongside Transformers.

What is unusual about Marvel's G.I. Joe issue #21?

It has no words or sound effects: Snake Eyes infiltrates a mountaintop castle to rescue a fellow Joe, told entirely in pictures.

In the 1980s G.I. Joe cartoon, what usually followed when a plane was shot down?

The pilot parachuted to safety: battles filled every episode, yet no one on either side was ever shown being killed.

Why did early G.I. Joe TV ads push the Marvel comic, not the toys?

Ad rules were laxer for a publication: toy ads could use only a few seconds of animation, while a comic ad faced no such limits.

The 1983 G.I. Joe mini-series that launched the cartoon centred on which Cobra weapon?

The M.A.S.S. Device: the five-part mini-series aired on 122 stations in September 1983 and did well enough to earn a sequel mini-series in 1984.

Which catchphrase closed the G.I. Joe cartoon's safety segments?

'And knowing is half the battle': in 2003 filmmaker Eric Fensler redubbed the segments with nonsense dialogue, and the clips became early viral videos.

Which professional wrestler was written into the G.I. Joe cartoon and toyline in 1986?

He debuted in the 'Arise, Serpentor, Arise!' mini-series and later ran the 'Slaughter House' training camp in the movie.

Which Cobra scientist genetically engineered Serpentor from the DNA of history's conquerors?

Serpentor promptly usurped Cobra Commander's leadership. The dream that inspired Mindbender was later revealed as a Cobra-La plant.

How was the 1987 animated G.I. Joe movie first released in the US?

Straight to home video: Hasbro's 1986 Transformers and My Little Pony films had done poorly in theaters, so it skipped a cinema release.

Duke's planned death in the 1987 G.I. Joe movie became a coma after which character's death upset young fans?

Optimus Prime: after parents complained about his death in The Transformers: The Movie, Hasbro had Duke's death dubbed over as a coma.

In the comics, how was Snake Eyes' face disfigured?

A helicopter explosion: he was burned trying to save a fellow Joe from the blast, which also damaged his vocal cords.

Snake Eyes trained with which ninja clan, alongside his sword brother Storm Shadow?

Arashikage: in the 2021 film the clan takes him in and trains him, until secrets from his past test his loyalty to it.

Which fellow Joe is Snake Eyes romantically involved with in most continuities?

Scarlett: in the comics, Snake Eyes was badly scarred and lost his voice while saving her life.

Why did Hasbro make its first Snake Eyes figure, in 1982, entirely black?

To save money on paint: the plain budget figure then became one of the most popular characters in the whole line.

How did Hasbro first offer its Cobra Commander figure in 1982?

As a mail-in for proofs of purchase: kids clipped Flag Points from the packages, and the flood of orders overwhelmed Hasbro.

Which flaw in G.I. Joe's hand helped Hasbro prove a rival had copied the figure?

A thumbnail on the wrong side: when a rival's Fighting Yank turned up with the same misplaced nail, a court took it as proof of copying and sided with Hasbro.

Who directed the 2009 live-action film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra?

Stephen Sommers: his $175 million film took more than $300 million worldwide, enough to earn a sequel.

Who played Duke in The Rise of Cobra?

Channing Tatum: the 2013 sequel Retaliation kills his Duke off early in the film.

Which Paris landmark do Cobra's nanomite missiles destroy in The Rise of Cobra?

The Eiffel Tower: the Joes chase the launch team across Paris in accelerator suits but fail to stop the missile, and its nanomites eat through the tower.

Which actor played Rex Lewis, who becomes Cobra Commander, in The Rise of Cobra?

Joseph Gordon-Levitt: the masked villain known only as the Doctor turns out to be Rex.

Which martial artist played Snake Eyes in the first two live-action G.I. Joe films?

Ray Park: in Retaliation his Snake Eyes fights a horde of red ninjas while swinging on cords across a Himalayan chasm.

Who directed the 2013 sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation?

Jon M. Chu: his sequel still grossed about $375 million worldwide after a nine-month delay.

Which character does Dwayne Johnson play in G.I. Joe: Retaliation?

Roadblock: after the Joes are framed and ambushed, he leads the few survivors, who re-arm from retired general Joe Colton's home arsenal.

In Retaliation, which Cobra master of disguise is impersonating the US President?

Zartan: wearing the president's face, he frames the Joes and has their base attacked, leaving only a few alive to expose him.

What reason did Paramount give for delaying G.I. Joe: Retaliation from June 2012 to March 2013?

A 3D conversion: Paramount said 3D would lift the film's overseas box office.

Who starred as the title character in the 2021 origin film Snake Eyes?

Henry Golding: the origin film fell short of its opening-weekend forecasts, taking only about $13 million in North America.

Which actress played the Baroness in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra?

Sienna Miller: her Baroness leads the raid on the warhead convoy guarded by Duke, the soldier she was once engaged to.

Which capital city does Cobra destroy in G.I. Joe: Retaliation?

London: once the impostor president has talked world leaders into disarming, Cobra wipes out the city to show them what its new weapon can do.