GI Joe Documentary: The Story Of America's Movable Fighting Man

[@MrThearmydude]

I started collecting when I was five, 22 years later I have almost a hundred dating from 1964 all the way to 1994. GI Joe is a very big part of my life and they're not going anywhere. It is honestly amazing what you can do with a few hours of your time and a few or more than a few GI joes. If I could personally thank everybody at Hasbrol I would all shake their hands and say thank you for such an amazing concept. GO JOE!

[@pedromunozdones7869]

A most beautiful journey visiting with an old friend, a real brother in arms... GI Joe, thanks Mate for all of your inspiration, role modelling, and true camaraderie. You live in my heart always. You were with me everywhere I have been in and out of uniform.

[@Yubl10]

Im glad that someone uploaded this because this DVD seems to be pretty rare. I really hope that Hasbro doesn't try to copyright strike this video because I wouldn't put it past them now days. I got the early 2000s action soldier figure for Christmas a few years ago. I wish that the 30th anniversary classic collection figures and accessories would get reissued for the 60th, but I know that will never happen.

[@crypto6ix9ine50]

I have it on dvd, excellent ondition, will be listing it on eBay soon

[@Sctvita]

Happy 60th Anniversary of GI Joe in 1964-2024!

[@astolatpere11]

I turned 8 in 1964 and GI Joe was my favorite toy for a few years. This was a fantastic documentary. Well made and brought back lots of memories.

[@richardf.3154]

Had every GI Joe possible in 64-68 as a 9-13 year old.. Ended up retiring from the US Army as a Colonel in 2014. Thanks for the inspiration, Joe!

[@ChasingHanSolo]

That’s great. My older brother had the ‘64 to ‘68 ones as well. The Adventure Team was my line. My brother became a Green Beret (like our father).

[@TheDuck632]

I was an MS/CS 2 and ran an ward room in the Navy following my grandfathers and a great uncle. I just got my first Shipwreck

[@RockandrollNegro]

I owned the entire GI Joe Eco Warriors line in 1991, and I ended up retiring from the local junkyard in 2021. Thanks for the inspiration, Joe!

[@stephenthomas1492]

Thank you for your service! You must have come from a good home, my parents showered me with a lot GI JOE back in the 80s.

[@GIDOJO]

How have I not seen this? Absolutely amazing!!! Blows “the toys that made us” out of the water!!

[@ChasingHanSolo]

Yeah, not a fan of the snarky "toys that made us" series. I'd forgotten I had this on DVD and then started getting back into Joe when I remembered it.

[@lazaro6314]

I got the 1994 30th anniversary lt Joe Colton 12 inch figures blond and brunette. All the 12 inch 90s hall of gamers both dukes target exclusive and ain't Duke. Lots of a real American hetos 80s figs too

[@GIDOJO]

@@lazaro6314​​⁠yes the commemorative collection was pretty cool. I just uploaded a video about one of the collection. Lots of other G.I. Joe stuff on my channel also 😁

[@straightouttacomicbook]

I grew up in the 2000’s and GI Joe’s were a huge part of my childhood, I’m 28 now and just started collecting them again.

[@madelief47]

I am from the Netherlands, and my best friend had an Action Man, somewhere around 1975. And I played with a much cheaper and less moveble figure. Lot's of fun. The hands were good too. Not only for holding pistols and an MP40, but also to get grip on a rope, for we used to climb down and up from the balcony. My friends mother was less enthousiastic. The Action Man did also bounced several times against the kitchen window, were his mother was.... Anyway, my friend went to become a professional soldier, like his father. I went for nursing in a hospital. The good memories stayed.

[@Maine307]

the biggest Armed Service Recuiting tool ever.. I was born in 75.. raised on Gi Joe, and i ended up doing 20 yrs in the Marines.. many many of my fellow buddies at that time, did the same.. it just really got you dreaming of being a soldier and traveling and fighting etc.. those were the biggest recruiting tools for soo many of us at such an early age.. all iwante dto be was that. the thing is.. u actually could be..it wasnt a un reachable goalo.. u could grow up and be gi joe.. that was what made it special

[@alancranford3398]

Thaks for restoring this documentary. I got my first GI Joe on Christmas 1965. A decade later, GI Joe was at MCRD San Diego as a first aid manikin in Third Phase for the Marine Corps battery of practical tests -- we recruits had to demonstrate our skills and knowledge at several stations. Being stationed in West Berlin introduced me to Action Man. Then at an air show held at a California Marine Corps air station (was "Santa Ana" back then, now it's the closed Tustin Marine Corps Air Station) GI Joe showed up again. I used GI Joe as a training aid for National Guard--because that was the right size to teach about 40 Guardsmen at a time. I deployed to Kuwait for OIF II in 2004 and was able to attend the GI Joe Collector's Convention held at the Contemporary Resort in Walt Disney World--there I met many of the people in this video and heard their stories first-hand. GI Joe never really left. When I was taking Marketing on my way to a BS in Business Management, GI Joe was the centerpiece of my research paper. GI Joe stormed the boys' toy aisle, established a beachhead, and eventually redeployed in 1977--but never really left. The 3-3/4" figures were an amazing success built upon marketing synergy--action figures and vehicles/play sets, a comic book series, a television series (derided as nothing more than a toy commercial), and each figure was a personality with its own biography on an index card. The cartoon became live action. How long did it take Barbie to bring out people of color? G I Joe was integrated like the real-world military with an African-American edition in 1965 (improved over the years) and with Soldiers of the World. It appeared that the failed GI Joe nurse was resurrected in some of the off-shore action figure sets--the Indian woman, for example. How long did it take for Barbie to get her own TV show after GI Joe got his? The live-action Barbie movie premiered in 2023--but Rise of Cobra premiered in 2009. Too bad that Hasbro is in dire financial straits at the moment. There is still potential. The successes were from engaging children in imaginative play. What sort of imaginative play can Hasbro offer today?

[@rjwalker4153]

I'm the kid at 1:04:51 holding the Russian Joe. That clip was taken in 1968. Joe was a big part of my childhood.

[@ChasingHanSolo]

That is crazy cool!

[@rjwalker4153]

@gHanSolo I was out playing in the yard with my GI Joe and my brothers, when my mom came out with her camera. My younger brother was also playing soldier. If you look closely you can see in the background he was wearing my fathers Marine dress blues jacket ! Way too big for him but he wore it. I wish I had posed for my mom longer but I was a playful kid and so shoved the Joe into her camera ! Lol.

[@TheDuck632]

This is such a great documentary like it's choked me up a little. I'm from Texas and live in Louisiana but my company has me working off the coast of Rhode Island so one day in port I'm in downtown Providence when I see the Hasbro sign on the office building and the was so cool for a kid who grew up with G I Joe and Transformers and all the fun stuff from the 80's and 90's

[@ChasingHanSolo]

Yeah, definitely a big piece of my childhood!

[@davidneal9368]

3 days ago I called into a vintage toy store here in England thinking I get one action man came back with 2. A 1973 Action man Field commander and field radio boxed. And a 1992 G. I. Joe. Duke. US army soldier unboxed priced at £20. The lady let me have for £10. So I bought an army uniform bagged. The shop manager said You caught the bug. They should have never stopped manufacturing these figures

[@ChasingHanSolo]

That’s a great haul. Congratulations!

[@davidneal9368]

@@ChasingHanSolo The action man Field commander and field radio reduced from £195 to £155 and G. I Joe. Duke priced at £20 She let me have for £10. So bought spare army uniform for the price. I definitely be calling in there again. I saw a Canadian Mountie uniform bagged and they've got the action man skier figure I'm thinking about ringing the store up to see if they can put them aside for me till next month. One of the things she asked me was. Have I caught the bug

[@ChasingHanSolo]

@@davidneal9368 beware the bug! Or, as I call it, falling down the rabbit hole.

[@quasar8898]

My God- back when Hasbro was actually concerned about more than money.

[@BrianTenBeers]

The best Christmas ever was when I found Mercury astronaut Joe with his capsule under the tree. The capsule is a bit worse for wear but I still have it.

[@Exar_Kun]

Have you seen Tony from Analog Toys Action Man documentary? It’s amazing and a great companion piece to this documentary!

[@ChasingHanSolo]

I have. Great work on that one as well. They make nice companion pieces.

[@williamwallin-noyes4380]

Great video! Thank you for sharing. It really brings happy memories 😃

[@RRL110]

Awesome stuff. Born in the mid 60s these were a big part of my life. I hated when they shrunk them to little plastic figures.

[@zachlusk798]

Dude walked out of a meeting like "that's my kinda idea"

[@stephenparkins3552]

I got 2 GI Joe Tussagie Airmen sets for my Top Flight giant scale P-47 Rc plane. The figures were a little to big so I put uniforms on a Ken Doll. Worked and looked great.

[@kellyscott2421]

THANK YOU so much for this! I watched another just like this but less info. This is Amazing!!!! ❤

[@VermillionRacing]

I thought I dreamed watching this years ago. Im so glad you uplaoded it! I cant find the DVD at all

[@cyberfrank-bx2nv]

excellent work men!

[@ospuluquesa6083]

um dos melhores documentário já feitos fantástico

[@Dendood]

My buddy Chris loves retelling this story: It's 1969. His dad, who loved to play the ponies must have hit it big and told his wife to take the kids to the store and buy them anything they wanted. Chris' sister wanted a bike and Chris' dad assumed Chris would do the same. So when they got home and his dad asked what Chris got himself, he showed him his new GI Joe action figure. At which point hid dad screamed out in angry, dismissive ire "YOU BOUGHT A DOLL?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "I CAN"T BELIEVE YOU BOUGHT A DOLL!!!!"

[@charlesforbin6937]

FANTASTIC DOCUMENTRY......TOUCHED MY HEART.....

[@ProfessorxVile]

I am writing a paper on G.I. Joe for a university course, and this looks like a great resource. Thank you!

[@michaeldriggers474]

That was awesome never knew the history of GI Joe

[@scottrr67]

My friend, Mitch, produced and directed this. Rest in Peace, Buddy.

[@ChasingHanSolo]

Yeah, thanks for that info and sorry for your loss. I tried looking for him online before posting this and couldn’t find any recent activity from him. Definitely did great work on this.

[@scottrr67]

Mitch passed away in May, 2021. He loved GI Joe. He sent me an autographed print of the cover art that he commissioned Sam Petrucci to create not too long before he passed. The print is signed by Sam. I have 4 of Mitch’s Joes and his boxed display of the four Major Matt Mason figures. They are all stunning condition as he collected only the best. I am proud to be the caretaker for the figures until I am forced to pass them along as he did to me. He was a good guy.

[@ChasingHanSolo]

@@scottrr67 if you don’t Mind, I’d love to see pictures of those figures. Especially the Matt Mason ones.

[@reginaldsawyer2945]

iam looking for a copy of this documentary on dvd.if anyone can help me find a copy of this dvd documentary please let me know.

[@ChasingHanSolo]

Good luck!

[@crypto6ix9ine50]

I have it on dvd, excellent condition

[@cesarc.4230]

19:21 they outsourced it? A WW2 American soldier figure to Japan? WOW!

[@robertgagne2388]

wow, great documentary on Joe. Semper Fi

[@arthurdrew4933]

GI JOE,GI JOE FIGHTING MAN WITH A GUN.....🪖🇺🇲 I REMEMBER MOST OF THE TOYS COMMERCIAL THEME SONG& PLAYING WITH ABOUT 2 OR 3 JOES- TERRIFIC FANTASY TOY!!😮😊

[@davidtucker3008]

10 stars for this video! Go Joe!

[@edgarcia4794]

When I was a kid at a swap meet I picked up a Malibu Barbie who I outfitted in the French resistance fighters sweater and gear with the M-3 grease gun. and I snagged my older sisters 1962 short red haired bubble cut Barbie and put her in the frogman top with go go boots shorts and a Joe spear gun and made them part of my Joe team.. My sister thought I was demented but I could see it in my mind as a fantastic tv series. Thank you G.I.Joe for all the adventures.

[@ChasingHanSolo]

Great memories!

[@crypto6ix9ine50]

I have it listed on eBay, still in original shrink wrap, brand new 2002

[@MrThearmydude]

I will gladly buy it from you right now haha 😅

[@crypto6ix9ine50]

@@MrThearmydude i have it listed on ebay

[@tyrooneyfromdababooney7585]

Where did this come from? Great Stuff.👍👍👍

[@ChasingHanSolo]

Thanks. I got it on DVD 20 years ago.

[@4speedpony]

Those were the good ol days, heck you couldn't get within 100 miles to an Armory or NASA for that kind of equipment request today lol

[@andysott]

what a coincidence, the star of the film , The story of GI Joe was robert mitchum, and the head that was created by the sculpture looks exactly like mitchum....I guess they didnt want to pay him.....

[@randywatson8347]

The general was a very kind person/enabler! But it is almost not a toy because of the accuracy, more like scale models.

[@jayjay-bz3rr]

The astronaut was my favorite

[@P_hilly]

So the idea was stolen from Stan?

[@jasonself783]

Not stolen, he sold the rights for $100 k, w/o any points or royalties. In a sense he lost out on billions in sales over the years , levin and the hassenfelds got over on Weston . He went to ideal toys and created captain action , but really got stiffed by Hasbro . The real “ crime” is levin claiming to be the creator of Joe ….

[@brianblackwell5989]

Stan Weston sold the G.I. Joe concept to Hasbro for $100,000 (approx 1 million dollars after inflation).

[@John-x9x2q]

I was into.the adventure team Era.. and it was no guilt .James bond adventure really

[@davidneal9368]

Bring back G. I Joe and Action man dolls back to our toy stores. And design female army figures for girls. What about an R.A.F and Army female doll complete headphone microphone with miniature airplanes and board for planning air raids. Seeing that metal figure. How about using that silver design to create an android doll and a UFO set?

[@ChasingHanSolo]

All sounds good to me!

[@ducomaritiem7160]

Ok, I got the descent, Action man. Same stuff. I'm 60 yo now, still have them al still colecting.l

[@gavinmarks2302]

Surely, the US military must have got some kind royalty or residual payment for allowing Hasbro to use their weapons to make into toys.. and uniforms..

[@Redwhiteblue-gr5em]

No they didn’t. The Rhode Island National Guard provided a lot of the weapons and equipment to Hasbro for free. NASA even loaned to them a Mercury Astronaut suit for free.

[@davidneal9368]

Bring the 12" figures back. How about a G.I Joe Builder dressed in hard hat goggles complete with cement mixer pick axe ⛏️ shovel

[@snakes3425]

YO JOE!!!

[@StealthMockingbird]

Some factual misinformation/omissions but not bad.

[@fatal-vice8145]

I thought the same. That aside,this was still worth the watch.

[@nickburse]

King Bong 🦍

[@Kneon_Knight]

The real pity is that the size of the figure limited the choice of vehicles available - the Jeep ( which is a CJ -2A) was viable, however the requisite tank and jairplane were cost and space prohibitive. My personal choice for the tank would have been the M24 "Chaffee" but as far as the plane I am at a loss. In the end, the Pilot got a space capsule. The Marine tanker is forever doomed to stand around with a weird tripod mounted radio, and no armor in sight. And no, the vastly underscaled Panther Jet, and not equivalent to a tank Armored Car (both not Hasbro products) are not acceptable.

[@Kneon_Knight]

Point of fact: Barbie (Mattel) actually had the flocked hair head. Palitoy claimes it was an innovation, when the Ken DOLL was flocked in 1962 . Action Man fans, SUCK. IT. DRY. No wonder Toy Polloi calls them "dolls"