James A. Payette made an important but limited contribution to G.I. Joe.
Continue readingTag Archives: G.I. Joe presentation painting
Sgt. Slaughter by Woodbridge
In the development process at Hasbro, every G.I. Joe figure that made it to retail (and some that didn’t!) got a fancy drawing or painting whereby the higher-ups could see the character as a bold, dramatic illustration. This wasn’t the package art that we all saw on toy store shelves, but rather, internal only to Hasbro. A pencil turnaround of the figure from front, side, and rear views didn’t offer enough punch, nor did a sculpt or a casting. George Woodbridge, better known for military history books and Mad Magazine, was one of the eight or so artists who created these. (He also delineated most of the 1988 turnarounds.)
Filed under G.I. Joe Behind the Scenes, Toys and Toy Art
Ron Rudat Recondo Presentation Art
Sorry for the time off. Aaaaaand we’re back! With something simple, yet iconic, today. Ron Rudat’s presentation art for the 1984 Recondo figure, drawn in 1983. Ron designed the first seven or so years of figures, the sketches that turned into the sculpt input drawings, and for the first few years, he did the internal presentation work as well. This is a color photocopy, not the original.
Filed under G.I. Joe Behind the Scenes, Toys and Toy Art
1992 Duke alternate colors
Here’s Kurt Groen’s presentation art (marker over photocopy, not paint) for 1992 Duke in green, brown, and black, as opposed to the beige and red that made it to market.
What other colors might that trash can have been?
Filed under G.I. Joe Behind the Scenes, Toys and Toy Art
Charbroil presentation painting
To comics fans, Bart Sears means Justice League Europe, C.O.P.S., his “Brute and Babe” column for Wizard Magazine, Turok, X-O Manowar, Spider-Woman, and more recently a Legends of the Dark Knight double-sized issue and some Indiana Jones work. Sears was also at Hasbro in the late ’80s. There he briefly worked on G.I. Joe, and designed the company’s C.O.P.S. line. Here’s his presentation painting, seen internally and not part of any package design, for Charbroil. Unfortunately it’s a color photocopy, so it’s much contrastier than the original artwork.
Filed under G.I. Joe Behind the Scenes, Toys and Toy Art
A Real American Book! 
