Action Figure Overview: G.I. Joe - Snow Job (Hasbro, 1983)
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| G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero "Snow Job" action figure (Hasbro, 1983) |
Back in the 1960s and 70s, G.I. Joe was a groundbreaking 12" action figure. The toys began in 1964 as a line of military figures in the 60s and dominated the Boys Toys market. Unfortunately, the Vietnam conflict divided the country politically. Hasbro wanted to stay as far as possible from any of that drama and gave G.I. Joe a very successful face-lift in 1970 turning him into a 12" action / adventurer. This version of G.I. Joe lasted until 1976. In 1977, "Super Joe" was introduced as the new, short-lived 9" version of G.I. Joe, but the Super Joe line was cancelled in 1978.
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| (left) 1960s 12" "Painted Head" GI Joe in Ski Patrol outfit, (right) 1983 3 3/4" "Snow Job" |
After a few years with no G.I. Joe products on the shelves, Hasbro decided to give it another try. The 1982 "Real American Hero" re-launch was a huge hit! I was instantly sold on these new 3 3/4" action figures right from the beginning and picked up everything I could from Wave 1. By the time Wave 2 came out in 1983, G.I. Joe took up the majority of my playtime. There were some great figures in Wave 2 and one of my favorites was the Arctic Trooper, Code Name: Snow Job. Living in Atlanta, GA, there wasn't a lot of snow, but I was still a sucker for any of the cold weather characters. Unfortunately, in 1983 Snow Job was the only one. Since Atlanta recently had a few hours of snow on the ground, I thought it would be the perfect time to get out ol' Snow Job for his first mission in several decades!
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| Snow Job takes aim with his XMLR-A3 Laser Rifle! |
The early G.I. Joe figures didn't have as much gear as some of the later figures. However, Snow Job came with a lot of accessories for the time. He had a pair of skis and a pair of ski poles, a backpack that could hold the skis and poles, and a laser rifle (which became the standard issue gun for all of the Joes on the cartoon...despite being a completely different gun than the ones issued with most of the action figures). Also, since he was part of the second wave of figures, he came with the new "Swivel Arm Battle Grip" which allowed for much better action poses!
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| Snow Job and his gear: 2 Skis, 2 Ski Poles, 1 Backpack, 1 XMLR-A3 Laser Rifle |
Many of the early "Real American Hero" action figures were based loosely on some of the military era G.I. Joe figures from the 1960s. Laser rifle aside, Snow Job may have been one of the most obvious examples of a 3 3/4" figure based on a 12" figure. In the 1960s, the "Ski Patrol" set included a white snow parka and pants, white skis, white ski poles, white backpack, white gloves, green goggles, and a pair of black boots. Although the ski poles and boot colors weren't a match, the 12" and 3 3/4" figures share a strong resemblance.
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| G.I. Joe "Snow Job" in action (Hasbro, 1983) |
When I first read his file card as a kid, I was disappointed that he sounded like an arrogant jerk. At that point, I pretty much decided that MY Snow Job figure was not going to be this "Harlan Moore" guy, but instead, he was going to be a much cooler character from my own imagination.
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| Snow Job's file card cut from the package of my original figure in 1983! |
Even the advertising booklet for the 1983 wave of figures and vehicles seemed to segregate Snow Job to just a small patch of snow in the bottom corner of the page! Regardless, Snow Job, Airborne, Gung Ho, and Doc quickly became some of my favorite figures of the year!
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| "Hey, Snow Job! There's still a patch of snow over there. Why don't you hang out and guard it from Cobra?" |
Do you collect G.I. Joe figures? Which character is your favorite? Tell me below in the comments!
If you collect toys, you should know about Toylanta, the best toy show in the Southeastern United States held annually in Georgia. Visit Toylanta.com for more information.
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