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Issue Date: September 23, 2007
Yo, Joe! Why people love G.I Joe
After 25 years of fighting evil, military icons remain a touchstone for kids of all ages.
By Brian Truitt
Even though G.I. Joe action figures have been around since the '60s, it wasn't until 1982 that they really took off. That's the year toy giant Hasbro relaunched the product line with smaller, 3 3/4-inch toys and a comic book series. Then a cartoon series the next year proved to be a smash hit with kids.
The 2007 G.I. Joe Collector's Convention, celebrating the modern toy's 25th anniversary, will take place Sept. 27-30 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Atlanta. JoeCon will feature dealers, panels, a fan film festival, exclusive action figures and guests such as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. For more details, visit mastercollector.com.
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The franchise introduced colorful characters such as team leader Duke and the ninja-like commando Snake Eyes, who were flung into battle against Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization. Today, there are modern comics, cartoons and new 25th-anniversary figures in stores. A live-action movie is slated to start filming in February, directed by Stephen Sommers ("The Mummy") and produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura ("Transformers"). The release is set for summer 2009.
"Joe has an abundance of riches as an intellectual property, both in characters good and bad," di Bonaventura says.
For some celebrities we spoke with recently, the "Real American Hero" remains close to their hearts:
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SETH GREEN
The actor, 33, continues to play with his G.I. Joes -- albeit as co-creator of the popular stop-motion animation show "Robot Chicken," which appears on the Cartoon Network. The first G.I. Joe figure that Green acquired was Snake Eyes, and that set off a collection frenzy.
"I carried them all in a huge Ziploc bag in my backpack when I went to school," says Green, who currently is filming "Old Dogs" with John Travolta and Robin Williams. "And at one point, somebody stole my backpack. I was devastated. But somebody saw who had taken it. We had a confrontation in the principal's office, and I got my toys back. The principal told me I shouldn't be so stupid to bring all [of them] to school."
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CM PUNK
Phil Brooks, aka CM Punk of Extreme Championship Wrestling, still has all of his old G.I. Joe toys, watches the cartoons and reads the comics, but call the pro wrestler a geek at your own peril. He says his long-standing love for all things G.I. Joe reflects his individuality inside and outside the ring.
Brooks, 28, grew up in Chicago, a huge fan of the franchise, and two of his many tattoos reflect that adoration: an Arashikage ninja clan symbol on his right forearm and the very noticeable Cobra logo on his upper right arm. "I guess I gravitate more toward the evil side," the ECW grappler says. "I'm not the all-American, Captain America type."
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BRAD PAISLEY
Some parents don't let their kids play with toy guns. Brad Paisley didn't have that problem, and he turned out OK. "I haven't shot anybody in real life," jokes the country music star, who attributes his attraction to G.I. Joe partly to his father's Army background.
Paisley and his childhood friends built forts and played with the action figures in Glen Dale, W.Va. The 34-year-old can't remember which ones he had, but he couldn't pass up buying a designer G.I. Joe T-shirt recently at Saks Fifth Avenue. He has worn it on stage several times during his current tour. "It's amazing the way that you bond with kids over toys, and that's why I think the T-shirt elicits such a response," Paisley says. "I wear T-shirts all the time that say other things, but they don't get the reaction that a simple G.I. Joe one does."
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