G.I. Joe's history

In 1962, inventor Stan Weston pitched a 12-inch military action figure to Hasbro, but CEO Merrill Hassenfeld immediately rejected the proposal.

The first prototype G.I. Joe action figure, hand-carved in 1963 by the designer of the famous toy, Don Levine of Providence, Rhode Island

At that time, most of the equipment issued to United States soldiers was marked "G.I." which meant that it was made from galvanized iron. It was designed and presented to the world for the first time in 1964.

Daniels had joined G.I. Joe's in 1965 at age 16, when he was hired by Edward Orkney to stock the shelves and sweep the floors of the company's original store in Portland.

A rare and ill-fated G.I. Nurse from 1967 — the earliest and least successful female G.I. Joe produced — went for more than $6,000 at auction.

In 1969 Orkney began expanding the concept, establishing additional G.I. Joe's discount stores in the Portland area.

While not the first African American G.I. Joe, 1970 sees the release of a completely redesigned version that features a completely new head sculpt.

But from 1975, Hasbro made bionic action figure "Mike Power, Atomic Man" because they could not obtain rights to the Six Million Dollar Man from Britain.

But the changes proved to be a gimmick, taken even further by Hasbro with the development of a space-traveling "Super Joe" in 1976.

The reception was lukewarm, and by 1978, Joe was retired from service entirely.

While the original G.I. Joe featured characters simply named “sailor” or “pilot,” the 1982 toy line introduced a diverse, often outlandish cast of heroes and villains.

In 1983 G.I. Joe returned, but in 3 3/4 inches size.

Most notably, Hama wrote and drew the groundbreaking “Silent Interlude” (March 1984), an issue that featured no dialogue.

The animated television series G.I. Joe premiered in 1985 and aired regularly in syndication over much of the subsequent decade.

Annual sales, which hovered above $130 million in 1990, were generated by the company's 13 stores, 12 of which were in Oregon, including six in the Portland area.

The Seattle store opened in March 1991, its debut marking a turning point in the company's history.

He was serving as vice-president of merchandising and marketing when he earned promotion to the office of president and the new title of COO in May 1992.

In 1993, Daniels announced a five-year plan to remodel and update the 14 stores in Oregon and Washington, devoting $3.5 million to the project.

Expansion plans were eventually scaled back, leading to the establishment of one new store south of Seattle before the end of the year, but in terms of significant events in 1997, the addition of a new unit to the chain ran a distant second to an agreement reached later in the year.

In another move toward expansion, the company acquired Timberline Direct in late 1998, a purchase that opened new avenues of growth.

G.I. Joe's attempted to go public in 1999, but dropped such plans when management realized it would have to sell stock at a price considered to be too low.

Company officials announced G.I. Joe's would open a new store in the Puget Sound area every 18 months, a pace of expansion that would give the company 25 stores by 2002.

By late 2004, Hasbro had sold more than 400 million G.I. Joe figures in the 40 years since the toy’s debut.

Occasionally, new versions of the iconic toy are released, with the most recent line honoring the 50th anniversary of the action figure ending in 2016.