Most Expensive Action Figure

Well known for their popularity in the 1970s and their resurgence in the late 80s and early 90s, G.I.Joe has long been a fixture of the American toy market. Originally issued as large 12” figures that featured posable arms, the G.I.Joe series has since been continuously expanded upon. The toy line branched out to include a wide assortment of characters, vehicles and reissues with updated features including the fabled “kung-fu grip”. Despite the broad range the G.I.Joe series expanded over, and as in many other fields, the first is still the best, and the original G.I.Joe prototype was sold in the summer of 2003 for $200,000 USD by collector Steve Geppi. It is currently housed at the Geppi Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.
G.I.Joe, created as a masculine entrant into the children’s toy and doll market, was but one of a number of military-themed toy lines being issued at its inception in 1964. Developed by Hassenfeld Brothers, later Hasbro, Inc. The G.I.Joe line was shrunk from it’s original 12” figure to a smaller 5 3/4” line. This in turn saw a variety of redevelopments, as a science fiction related line, and a later retooling that resulted in the still widely known 3 3/4” lines of the 1980s. These toys were developed in close conjunction with Marvel Comics artist and writer Larry Hama, who penned a long running comic series based around the eccentricities of the toy line and his own broad influences. The 1980s also saw a significant cartoon series based on G.I.Joe that served as both a 22-minute advertisement for the toy line and a vehicle for positive public service announcements for young people (“Knowing is half the battle!”). If you haven’t watched the dubbed over G.I.Joe PSAs, they are hilarious.
While the initial toys were important, it was this drawn out marketing campaign and its wide variety of licensing that has given G.I.Joe its prime market value. Few other toy series have managed to capture a public product awareness over 40 years in the way this Hasbro product has. Certainly not at the top of its field now, for a long running line G.I.Joe has earned its keep, and continues to see reissues, anniversary collections and even new cartoons and comic book series. So dig through your uncle’s attic and see if you can find one of the original models. You may not get $200,000 for it, but they still fetch a pretty penny regularly on Ebay and through other resellers.

Steve Geppi still loves playing with action figures! (at $200,000 he better be careful!)