The year 1997 was the fifteenth anniversary of the 3 3/4-inch line, as well as the tenth anniversary of G. I. Joe: The Movie. The rise of the Internet among college students and other young adults had ignited fan fervor for everything 1980s. Three of the largest G.I. Joe fan sites merged that year to form Yojoe.com, a massive site which today is considered the definitive on-line source for 3 3/4-inch G.I. Joe history. From the beginning, there was a mailing list, a page for each figure, and photos of most of the filecards were available as well. The three most prominent names associated with the site were Eugene Son, Corey Stinson, and Conor Malone. The Star Wars: Special Edition releases fueled interest in toy collecting in general, so a number of G.I. Joe price guides were released this year.
Nostalgia turned to elation when Hasbro-Kenner announced plans to release 3 3/4-inch figures that summer in honor of the line's fifteenth anniversary. The original idea was to produce three boxed sets of four figures, repaints from the early days. The planned sets were repaints of (1) 1984 Roadblock, 1982 Scarlett, 1985 Snake Eyes (with Timber), and Grunt; (2) 1983 Duke, 1983 Gung-Ho, 1984 Roadblock (again), and Lady Jaye; and (3) 1982 Cobra Commander, 1984 Firefly, 1986 Viper, and Alley Viper. Character art for Short-Fuze and Footloose would have been recycled and modified for Roadblock and Grunt.
Unfortunately, the release was delayed until fall, and the production ran into problems. Some fans began to wonder if the figures would be released at all. First, the boxed set idea was scrapped in favor of 3-packs and vehicles, plus an 8-figure set of the surviving original team members. Because most collectors were interested in figures, no vehicle would be sold without one. Second, many of the older molds could not be located or else were unusable. Cards, boxes, filecards, and related art were all completed before the mold problem became evident. As a result of the mold problem, Flash had to be removed from the 8-figure set and replaced with Breaker (who had died in the comic), and then Breaker and Rock 'n Roll had to be "Frankensteined" from other figures. Snake Eyes, Cobra Commander, Destro, and parts of Alley Viper had to be made from other molds, and the new Blizzard would actually be a repaint of 1993's Frostbite. Fortunately, the vehicles could be released as planned, and the line was released in Toys 'R Us stores in October. While the line was not perfect, it was a return to what many considered the "good ol' days" of G.I. Joe, without neon colors, spring-loaded weapons, monsters, or aliens.
The Stars & Stripes Forever figure set was the showpiece of the year, and at the time was thought to a bookend-style finish to the toy line. The differences between these figures and the prototypes are explored in detail here.
Probably to the astonishment of Joe's creators, fan reaction to 1997's revival of 3 3/4-inch figures was generally negative. While Hasbro-Kenner had brought back the beloved line, they did so poorly, according to most buyers and collectors. The mold problems, and especially the replacement molds chosen, spoiled the expectations of many. The new, complex paint schemes were interesting, but there were several questionable choices, such as the lime-green Duke and the purple-and-orange Scarlett. Some of the accessories included with the Stars & Stripes Forever set made little sense, and the helmets didn't fit. The set's US flag had 56 stars on it. The greatest criticism was the quality of the plastic. It was much softer and fit badly so that many figures could not stand properly. Fans of the comic were also disappointed that Larry Hama had not been asked to continue as filecard writer; the filecards were written by respected fan/collector Thomas Wheeler. (David Lane would assist him on 1998's cards.) Nevertheless, they bought the toys, so the revival was a success from a marketing standpoint.
Hasbro-Kenner heard the complaints and vowed to do better. Also, in response to countless requests, the next year's releases (still Toys 'R Us exclusives) would include Oktober Guard figures. The quality of the 1998 figures was at least close to that of the original line, and the 1998 vehicles have been hailed as even better looking than their originals. One other change was that, for the first time, most packages and filecards did not have character art for each figure, but rather a generic background. Three-packs had camo or flat colors with dogtags, and vehicles had an orange flame explosion with a helicopter in the corner. A new difficulty surfaced this year and was, like the mold problem, the effect of time and neglect: copyrights were beginning to expire. Some products would have to be renamed, and Hasbro-Kenner's first solution would be to use copyright-intact names from other Joe products. The only item affected this year was the Stinger, renamed the Rattler; but more would come in 2000. (The renaming of 1997's Zap as "Sergeant Zap" may actually have been the first such forced change.) The toys appeared first in Canada in October, then in the states by mid-November.
Hasbro-Kenner, always tight-lipped about upcoming projects, ended 1998 with no announced plans for more G.I. Joe toys. Early on, there was mention that if the 1998 series performed well, the next year they might put the line into general release. A new G.I. Joe comic book series was also discussed. For a number of reasons, both ideas fell through, and perhaps this was fortuitous: on May 3, 1999, the toy world was taken by storm with the release of Star Wars: Episode I merchandise (much of it produced by Hasbro-Kenner). The new Star Wars movie was in theatres all summer and was re-released just before Christmas, so other toy lines had little opportunity to compete. (The 12-inch Joes were targeted at adults, so their sales did not suffer.) By spring 2000, however, the fever had passed, and the overproduced Star Wars toys were soon sitting on clearance racks. That summer, Hasbro-Kenner announced plans to release G.I. Joe figure two-packs and a few vehicles. This time, the toys would not be Toys 'R Us exclusives, and they were more specifically targeted at collectors; a "Special Collector's Edition" seal appeared on the new packaging.
The first wave of what was dubbed the Real American Hero Collection, ten new figures began appearing in October/November, but the vehicles did not show up in some areas until after Christmas. Four more waves would follow: three in 2001, and the last in 2002 as a limited release. This year's figures and vehicles were again repaints, with two new characters, Chameleon and Rip It. The MOBAT sold in 1998 was re-released unchanged but with the new 2000 packaging. Due to expired copyrights, Hawk was renamed Tomahawk, and the Dragonfly was dubbed the Locust. Some collectors speculated that Chameleon's story indicated a copyright problem with the Baroness character, but if so, it was quickly resolved since Baroness figures were released frequently from 2002 onward. The innovation this year was to use paint wiping, a process in which a painted figure is dipped in a different colored paint (usually black); the new paint is quickly wiped off, but traces remain on the figure. Filecards also got a new look, with character art replaced by a photo of the figure. Fan reaction to these releases was very positive, and many were impressed with the attention to detail, especially to vehicles and packaging. However, the paint wipes ignited a controversy when they proved unpopular with many collectors—most prominently Thomas Wheeler, who had helped revive the Joe line in 1997.
Image Comics was founded in 1992 and quickly joined DC, Marvel, and Dark Horse as one of America's largest comic book publishers. The company was perhaps best known for Todd McFarlane's Spawn title. Image subsidiary Devil's Due Studios, which would turn independent in 2005, acquired the rights to produce a new G.I. Joe comic series, the first two issues of which would be released in September and October 2001. This comic would follow its own storyline, separate from the themes on figure packaging and later animated specials, focusing on classic characters regardless of their availability in stores and for the most part ignoring new entries in the toy line. Outfits and vehicle designs were updated in a sleek, stylized form. The story took place in the same continuity as the Marvel series, set some years after Marvel #155 and featuring occasional cameos of Marvel-exclusive characters, as well as frequent nods to the Sunbow cartoon series (such as Roadblock's penchant for rhyming).
Due to the late release of the previous year's vehicles, the releases of 2000 and 2001 actually overlapped in some regions of the country, and a few 2001 two-packs were sighted in stores before Christmas 2000. From here on out, Joe releases would come in waves rather than yearly series. The late 2000 figures were designated Wave 1 of the Real American Hero Colection, and the early 2001 packs were Wave 2. By the end of January, a new black AWE Striker was available.
Notable among these releases were repaints identified as new characters. A Snow Job figure was now Whiteout, and Ambush's likeness was used for Side Track. As rights to character code names expired, this may have been a cost-saving measure as opposed to an actual inability to reacquire those rights. Or, perhaps more likely and more of a cost-saver, Hasbro wanted new characters without spending money on new molds. (The next Ambush figure would have its name altered in 2004, and Snow Job would not resurface until 2008.) One other new trend was that nearly every new Joe from this year forward would be named after an employee of Hasbro or another Joe-related company.
In February 2001, three of the Manimals originally designed for 1994/95 were released as Kay-Bee Toys exclusives at $10 apiece. But without the context of Star Brigade, the overpriced space aliens sat on shelves until they went on clearance the following year. A planned second wave consisting of Spasma, Vortex, and Zigzag, was canceled. (It is unknown whether repaints were ever considered for the other six Manimal concepts: Arkanoid, Dragonlord, Eyeclops, Mantizoid, Tarantulus, and Vax.)
As the Joe releases continued to receive positive reaction from collectors online, a larger third wave appeared in stores in July. The trend of releasing repaints as new characters continued, although Crossfire and Sure Fire had brand-new heads. Wet Down stood in for Torpedo and Double Blast for Roadblock; the latter would even have his identity attached to the Roadblock code name in a 2002 release. Cobra received some celebrated new troops in this wave. The Sub-Viper in particular was an improvement on the paint scheme of the Sludge Viper mold. Cutter's NLC, based on the Quest Wave Ranger from Galoob's Jonny Quest line, was the first of several Joe vehicles based on products from other Hasbro toy lines. (Galoob had been acquired by Hasbro in 1998.)
The fourth and last general-release wave of RAHC figures was in most stores by September. In contrast to the previous waves, this was somewhat of a disappointment. The most significant Wave 4 figure was Big Brawler, who would receive three more versions in the years to come. In November, Hasbro took the bold step of releasing a high-cost item, a brown repaint of 1992's Headquarters, as a Toys 'R Us exclusive. This Christmastime release came with a lackluster repaint of 1994's Flint curiously labeled as Rock 'n Roll. The figure would be re-identified (but unchanged) as Flint in 2002 shippings.
Formed in 2009, the Archive Team (not to be confused with the archive.org Archive-It Team) is a rogue archivist collective dedicated to saving copies of rapidly dying or deleted websites for the sake of history and digital heritage. The group is 100% composed of volunteers and interested parties, and has expanded into a large amount of related projects for saving online and digital history.
