Tag Archives: G.I. Joe toy development

November 19, 2012 · 3:05 PM

Cobra Night Raven designs by Steve Reiss

Steve Reiss attended CCS, the College for Creative Studies, before it had that name, back when it was called Society of Arts & Crafts in Detroit. It had long been a school with a reputation for vehicle design. After Reiss joined Hasbro in 1985 he was soon designing G.I. Joe vehicles, like the stunning 1986 Cobra Night Raven, based on Lockheed’s also-stunning SR-71 “Blackbird.” For your reference, here’s the real thing:

And here are Steve Reiss’ six pages of designs, the basis for a rough, three-dimensional model.

For play value, Reiss added a one-person drone that latched onto the top of the larger jet:

And here’s the parts breakdown.

The final toy is black with opaque red accents, and the clear red cockpit windows are a lovely, extra detail. The Night Raven is also quite long, and I recall always needing two hands to support it. It’s one of the most attractive products in the entire Real American Hero product line — elegant, sleek, and aggressive.

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Tagged as Cobra Night Raven, G.I. Joe jets, G.I. Joe toy development, Night Raven, Steve Reiss

October 12, 2012 · 1:15 AM

Unproduced: Towed Artillery Missile System

Sorry for the delay in posting. School starts and trips accrue in September. To get back into it and take a break from “The Rotten Egg” and my exciting internship today we’ve got Rich Rossi’s color rendering of a vehicle concept, the Towed Artillery Missile System, which I’ll call the TAMS for short. In all honesty I don’t know anything about it, so we’ll play the reasonable assumption game.

Drawn in ’84, it would have been pitched for ’86 or ’87. But often concepts would get shot down, only to resurface later, or inspire a later idea. In 1988 a different vehicle showed up, the similarly monikered RPV, or Remote Pilot Vehicle — boy did the names not flow for these two.

I don’t wish to draw a straight line between them, that one inspired the other, but it’s safe to say they both filled a specific price point, play pattern, and concept. But notably the TAMS seats no driver and carries no figure, even by precarious foot peg. And to further differentiate it from the RPV, by ’88 scale, detailing, and concepts were getting exaggerated and moving away from strict military realism. The structure of the TAMS more resembles the detailing on earlier vehicles like the FLAK and the ASP, shown here.

There’s a stronger sense of parts and bolts and hardware, whereas the late ’80s styling smoothed out edges and surfaces. Since these catalog scans aren’t too enlightening, here are links to much nicer photos of each, from the fine folks at yojoe: the FLAK, the ASP, and the RPV.

One thing’s for sure — Real American Hero had no shortage of small artillery accessories. These were great for populating a small-scale battlefield with variety, even if they weren’t as much fun as “regular” vehicles like Jeeps and tanks, or as story-driving as a headquarters playset.

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Tagged as G.I. Joe original art, G.I. Joe toy development, Rich Rossi, TAMS, Unproduced

July 30, 2012 · 12:06 PM

Eco-Warriors Pirate Oil Baron

Before Cesspool became the lead villain for Cobra’s half of the 1991 Eco-Warriors subset, Kurt Groen pitched this unnamed character, a pirate oil baron.

I’m not sure what he’s dropping, something with a Joe logo — a pouch? Spirit’s ponytail? Later, when Groen colored this, he added a backpack with an oil-shooting weapon, looking ahead to the water-squirting weapons that each Eco-Warrior came packaged with.

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Tagged as Eco-Warriors, G.I. Joe original art, G.I. Joe toy development, Kurt Groen, Oil Baron, Unproduced

May 18, 2012 · 11:48 AM

Hit & Run’s almost-1995 transformation

In 1988 Hasbro released a stunning G.I. Joe figure called Hit & Run. Here’s a not-professional photo by me for context.

No flesh tone, just green and black camo all over — his hands, his face, and his clothing. Fun fact: Hit & Run is [EDIT: one of] the only Joe[s] with whites-of-his-eyes. All other figures 1982-1994 are flesh tone plastic with a paint detail in black, brown, blonde, or red for eyebrows and retina. [EDIT: Two others have whites-of-eyes].

Here’s his turnaround, drawn by Mark Pennington, with machine gun, duffle bag (taking the place of a backpack), and accessories.

Many Joe fans know that Real American Hero ended in 1994, and the planned 1995 line was scrapped, although images of package artwork and product samples have circulated. Did you know Hit & Run was destined, in a way, for a return?

Indeed! According to this memo from Greg Berndtson, Hit & Run, whose figure was never recolored or re-released, was going to be re-used for the ’95 line as the Stealth Tank Driver! REVELATION. Here’s his turnaround.

You’ll note it’s just a photocopy of Hit & Run’s, although a few specs have changed, which I have highlighted for clarity. This looks to be early enough in the process that our new tank driver doesn’t yet have a codename, or if he does, as of June ’94 that’s happening in Marketing and Legal and the R&D guys don’t have the final name.

So what would he have looked like? Kurt Groen’s breakdown tells us, even if it doesn’t show us:

Using these codes as a guide, I’ve taken the liberty of coloring that sculpt input myself. So here for the first time ever is what the unnamed Phantom X5-3 Stealth Tank driver would have looked like:

I’ve taken a small liberty here. For clarity I used a dark grey rather than black, and I’m approximating “LT YELLOW GRN.” “IVY,” as well, but that’s less up to guessing. After the sidetracks and excesses of ’91 – ’93, the ’94 line was getting back to basics and ’95 would have only continued the trend. That it never happened has always been a little sad, although the Real American Hero line certainly surpassed all expectations by lasting twelve years. I hope you’ve enjoy this look behind the curtain at what may have been.

Fun fact: Hit & Run is the only Joe [EDIT: one of only two] with an ampersand in his name that doesn’t denote an animal companion. Law & Order was Law, the MP, and his K-9, Order. Spearhead and Max is the point man named Spearhead and his bobcat, Max. Well, that’s the word “and” rather than an ampersand, but you get my drift. Hit & Run is this guy’s whole name, ampersand-ed idiom and all.

[EDIT: Thanks to Tolan, who caught my two errors, as noted in the comments below. -Tim]

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Tagged as G.I. Joe 1995 line, G.I. Joe toy development, G.I. Joe turnarounds, Greg Berndtson, Hit & Run, Mark Pennington

May 7, 2012 · 11:32 AM

Zartan’s Chameleon

…And we’re back. Sorry for the radio silence. Thanks to visitors who keep clicking over here.

Today’s post features Zartan’s swamp skier, the Chameleon. No one ever called it by name in the TV show, and offhand I don’t recall it appearing in the comic, though if it did, it would have been around issue #25, and I don’t think anyone called it by name. Here’s Wayne Luther’s design art for it, dated September 13, 1983.

Here also is a photocopy of a photocopy of an early sample of the Chameleon. That figure looks like the HISS Driver, but I’m unsure.

Why the HISS Driver, you ask? This photo must predate any production samples of Zartan back from China, and likely any handmade samples, so for reference, any figure was placed on the vehicle. HISS Driver debuted a year before Zartan, so one was on hand. (Or whoever it is.) These photos were sent to the TV producers, writers, and artists, and probably also the Marvel offices for comic book reference.

The water cannon was used in episode #6 of G.I. Joe, but I don’t recall ever “using” it when I played with my G.I. Joe action figures. As the Chameleon was not a robust construction, and was always falling apart, I stopped including it in my G.I. Joe games soon after getting it.

There were two TV ads for Zartan and the Chameleon. One for issue #25, all animation. Here’s the toy one, which uses some of that animation:

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Tagged as Chameleon, Dreadnoks, G.I. Joe toy development, HISS Driver, Wayne Luther, Zartan

March 9, 2012 · 10:23 AM

Budo 1988 turnaround

Having a ninja commando on the team was just the start. In 1988, G.I. Joe got a real-life samurai in the form of Budo. Here’s his action figure sculpt input sheet.

Figure art, above, by George Woodbridge. Accessory art, below, by Mark Pennington.

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Tagged as Budo, G.I. Joe samuari, G.I. Joe toy development, G.I. Joe turnarounds, George Woodbridge, Mark Pennington

November 7, 2011 · 12:37 PM

Cobra Commander’s lost gun!

1982 Cobra Commander photo by Wes Rollend

I’m pretty sure this hasn’t surfaced previously. Commonplace is Cobra Commander’s weird blow dryer/flashlight/laser pistol-thing.

1982 Cobra Commander photo by Wes Rollend

It came with his 1982 straight-arm figure, and the 1983 swivel-arm retool, and the 1984 mail-in hooded version of the character. (Embarrassing trivia: My brother and I never knew the gun fit into CC’s back! I figured this out in 2008, meaning I should probably call off this whole book thing.)

1982 Cobra Commander photo by Wes Rollend

From 1981, here’s Greg Berndtson’s control art for the weapon in question. This was drawn concurrently with Ron Rudat’s figure turnaround.

And here’s Cobra Commander’s other weapon, the one that wasn’t ever produced and did not come packed with the Cobra Commander action figures!

Know of any other designed-but-scrapped weapons?

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Filed under Book Behind the Scenes, Photography, Toys and Toy Art

Tagged as Cobra Commander, G.I. Joe toy development, G.I. Joe toy photography, Greg Berndtson, Unproduced, Wes Rollend

October 24, 2011 · 12:35 PM

Behind the Scenes of G.I. Joe – Cobra concept art, 1990

For every figure that made it into the line, dozens were proposed as concepts and sketches. Here’s a color marker comp (ink on a photocopy of pencil art) by Kurt Groen of an unproduced Cobra soldier — likely some kind of Viper — from spring of 1990. I’m not sure if this character made it into three dimensions, but I doubt it. Click for a slightly larger image:

Subtly refining the art and adding a touch of detail, Groen redrew this as a finished color presentation “painting,” but by the time he was involved with the brand the toy development process dictated the internal presentation paintings no longer be painted. The final art, not pictured, looks just about the same as the rough, above.

Presumably this character was initially pitched for the 1992 product line.

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Tagged as Concept Art, G.I. Joe original art, G.I. Joe toy development, Kurt Groen, Unproduced

July 26, 2011 · 2:08 PM

Behind the scenes of G.I. Joe – Hydro-Viper

Today’s art post is the complete sculpt input (i.e. “turnaround”) for the 1988 Hydro-Viper. Again for casual or non-fans, let’s start with a photo (by me, not my fancy book photographer) of the production figure for a baseline comparison.

Here’s George Woodbridge’s turnaround. Such a crisp and clean line, and a deft spotting of blacks.

Note that the figure is referred to as “Cobra Frogman,” so “Hydro-Viper” hadn’t yet cleared Legal.

Woodbridge’s association with G.I. Joe is limited. He drew most of the ’88 inputs, and did many of the Hasbro-internal figure presentation paintings that Dave Dorman and Bart Sears didn’t around 1988. Writer Mark Evanier wrote a short biography of Woodbridge in 2004 when the artist passed away. You can find it here, but if you want a shorter version, I’ll just throw out the terms “Mad Magazine” and “military and historical illustration.” In the near future I’ll show a few more pieces like this here, and in the not-near future I’ll have Woodbridge’s Crazylegs (a Joe paratrooper) color piece in my book.

Here are three sheets of the Hydro-Viper’s accessories, drawn by Bart Sears. In toys, Sears is known for designing Hasbro’s C.O.P.S. In comics, Sears drew Justice League Europe and has recently penciled some Conan and Indiana Jones for Dark Horse. Of note here is the ray, the most bizarre of all animals that any G.I. Joe figure came packaged with.

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Tagged as Bart Sears, Behind the scenes, Dave Dorman, G.I. Joe sculpt input sheets, G.I. Joe toy development, G.I. Joe turnarounds, George Woodbridge, Hydro-Viper, Mad Magazine

July 11, 2011 · 1:55 PM

Behind the scenes of G.I. Joe – Rock-Viper

Today’s post reveals some development artwork for the 1990 Cobra Rock-Viper. First, a not-great photo by me of the production toy to serve as a baseline for all you casual fans.

Interesting to note this Cobra soldier, of which there were many (rather than a specific individual like Destro or Gristle) has a moustache. So I guess graduates from training school had a facial hair requirement?

First up is Dave Hasle’s sculpt input drawing for the Rock-Viper’s backpack:

A black and white photocopy (probably of a color photocopy and not a chrome) of Dave Dorman’s internal presentation painting:

Note above and below there’s no moustache. Here’s the pencil sketch of what will become the final package painting. I’m attributing this to Hector Garrido:

Here’s the almost complete layout of the cart front and back, in b+w photocopy form, with Garrido’s drawing now a finished painting:

I don’t have a color copy of the painting or a full blister card (any readers want to help?) so this cropped close-up from my dossier and the tiny back-of-package thumbnail of Garrido’s final painting will have to do for comparison.