G.I. Joe Figures

G.I. Joe is where the twelve-inch figure began. In 1964 Hasbro released G.I. Joe, the first fully articulated action figure, an American serviceman about a foot tall, and that height became the hobby's yardstick. In 1982 Hasbro relaunched the brand as G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, shrinking the figures to 3.75 inches and giving the Joes a new enemy in Cobra. Backed by a Marvel comic and a cartoon, the team of code-named specialists became one of the most popular toy lines of the 1980s, and later reached cinemas.

The modern sixth scale story starts with [Sideshow](/manufacturer/sideshow), which brought the Real American Hero cast up to twelve inches under licence from Hasbro. Its line opened on the Cobra side and grew to cover heroes such as Flint, Stalker, General Hawk and Rock 'n' Roll, alongside villains like [Cobra Commander](/character/cobra-commander), [Destro](/character/destro), [Baroness](/character/baroness), Zartan and the Crimson Guard. [Snake Eyes](/character/snake-eyes) came with his wolf, Timber.

[Hot Toys](/manufacturer/hot-toys) turned to the films for G.I. Joe: Retaliation, with Dwayne Johnson's [Roadblock](/character/roadblock), Bruce Willis's Joe Colton and Ray Park's Snake Eyes. In 2020 [ThreeZero](/manufacturer/threezero) began a series with Hasbro of figures redesigned in its own style from the classic characters, starting with Snake Eyes and adding [Storm Shadow](/character/storm-shadow), Destro, Firefly, Roadblock, Cobra Commander and Baroness.

Collectors here split between the classic and the modern. Sideshow's figures follow the 1980s designs closely, while ThreeZero's add tactical gear and a harder edge. Either way, the masks, helmets and weapons carry the character, because most of these heroes and villains were defined by a look more than a face. The [Military](/franchise/military) shelf and the [Soldier](/character/soldier) page tell the story of the original twelve-inch serviceman.