This kind of doll-like toy is marketed toward boys as actionfigurer rather than dolls. Plastic and articulating joints enable them to stand on their own. They are often articulated with moveable joints. Kids play with action figures that have stories based on comic book characters, movie characters, or real life heroes. To enhance the story, action figures are generally assigned specific roles, friends, enemies, missions, weapons, equipment, and vehicles based on the story of the struggle between good and evil.
The first action figure was G.I. Joe, which made its debut on the toy market in 1989. In 1959, Mattel introduced the Barbie doll and it was a runaway success. In his search for properties to represent, Merchandiser Stan Weston was influenced by Mattel owners Elliot and Ruth Handler. Stan’s passion for the military led him to think of toys that would promote military figures as toys for boys. At the annual Toy Fair of 1963, Don Levine, Hasbro’s Vice President of Product Development, pitched the idea to Hasbro. As a result of Stan’s idea, Hasbro paid him $100,000, and the G.I. Joe collection was introduced in 1964.
Two years after its launch, G.I. Joe sales contributed 66 percent to Hasbro’s profits. To ensure safety, durability, and cost-effective manufacturing, the patented design featured 19 points of articulation, and the product was of high quality, which led to the product’s early success. In the G.I. Joe brand, there were four characters representing the four branches of the military: Rocky the Moveable Fighting Man (Army), Skip (Navy), Ace Fighter Pilot (Air Force), and Rocky (Marine Corps). With the packaging showing additional uniforms and accessories, each nearly 12 inch figure came with basic fatigues, boots, a cap, and a dog tag.
Taking advantage of America’s fascination with the space race, Mattel entered the action figure market with Major Matt Mason in 1966. Toys in this line were based on NASA prototypes, including astronauts and playsets. The toys, instead of being made of plastic, had a wire inner frame over a rubber-coated body. As interest in real-life space adventures waned in the early 1970s, so too did interest in the Matt Mason toys.
The Ideal Toy Corporation introduced the Captain Action toy line in 1966 as well. The 12-inch tall Captain Action came with a costume, hat, sword, and gun. He could transform into Spiderman, Batman, Superman and other superheroes with costume changes. They added Action Boy as a sidekick and started fighting Dr. Evil. Ideal introduced a series of toys called Super Queens, which featured four heroines: Batgirl, Mera, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman, in response to the success of the Captain Action toy line. The line was a big success for Ideal, but interest dwindled and the line was discontinued in less than three years.
Hasbro responded to the social climate of the time by relaunching the toys in 1970 as adventurers instead of military men as a response to the decline in G.I. Joe sales during the Vietnam War years.
Figures for G.I. Joe came with lifelike hair and beards, moveable eyes, and hands with a “kung-fu” grip that enabled them to grasp objects.
Marvel Comics and DC Comics characters were licensed to Mego in 1972. Their four original characters were Superman, Batman, Robin, and Aquaman, and their 8 inch action figures were titled, The World’s Greatest Superheroes. The line was a huge success, and in the following year, Spiderman, Captain America, and Tarzan were added. Supergals and Superfoes added to the line in 1974 increased the number of characters from five to nearly 40, including Batman, Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Mr. Myx, and the Riddler.
In 1973 Mego became the first company to release action figures based on a movie series with its Planet of the Apes figures. Mego then received the license to produce Star Trek figures in 1974. Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, Mr. Scott, and the Klingon were the original five figures released. The Star Trek figures were hugely successful, and the movies based on the series continued the success of the toys. In 1975, Mego released Alien figures and the U.S.S. Enterprise playset.
Despite the company’s success with the Star Trek line of toys, Mego passed up the chance to acquire the Star Wars license. The first Star Wars movie was a huge hit when Kenner acquired the rights to the unproven project in 1977. As playsets and vehicles were difficult to scale to an 8 inch format, Kenner decided to make their action figures 3.75 inches tall. Chewbacca, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, and R2-D2 were their original action figures. The Star Wars toy line expanded with the release of more movies, and became a huge hit with its many characters, vehicles, and playsets.
As oil prices surged during this time, the increased cost of making plastic became too high to pass on to consumers for continued production of large action figures. Several toy companies have since adopted the new size due to the smaller action figures of the popular Star Wars line. Hasbro adopted the smaller size with the launch of G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero in 1982.
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