ABSTRACT
G. I. Joe, an 11 1/2-inch-high doll launched in 1963 by Hassenfeld Bros, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, proved the exception to the rule. His face, a composite of 20 Congressional Medal of Honor winners, was a fixture in some ten million homes by that time. The original G. I. Joe has become very desirable to doll and toy collectors. Prices in the collector market will vary according to condition, originality, and rarity, particularly in the Southeast where G. I. Joe is especially sought after. Despite the competition of similar dolls-Stone Burke, paratrooper, James Bond, Iliya Kuryakin, Captain Action, G. I. Joe remained the best-selling single new toy around. Following a lull in the late 1960s and early 1970s in which Joe's military instincts were submerged so as to retain public favor, he emerged in his entire warlike splendor during the belligerent Reagan years. Attempting to capitalize on the Gulf War merchandizing bonanza, Impel produced a trading card set devoted to the character in mid-1991.
