GI Joe’s Creator Passes
The creator of GI Joe has died.
Donald Levine, former executive at Hasbro, died early last Thursday. He was 86.
In 1964, Levine was Hasbro’s chief of R&D. He and a team of designers came up with what would become GI Joe. It was introduced in time for the 1964 Christmas season.
The choice of clothing and accessories was indeed intentional. Levine was an Army veteran of the Korean War. Many of the personnel working at Hasbro at the time were also military veterans.
Levine’s funeral was scheduled for this morning. He is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Nan; 3 children; and 4 grandchildren.
RIP, Mr. Levine. And thanks for bringing about a bit of Americana.
Category: Blue Skies
RIP.
The family should have a closed casket funeral. Once you open the box, it loses most of its value. (I joke, I joke. I’d say the same about the creator of any collectable toy.)
docstew Donald Levine would have gotten a great laugh out of your comment. He was known to have a great sense of humor. He was a great man in my book. How many young boys played with G.I. Joe and dreamed of battles and wars and thought to themselves…”maybe someday I can be G.I. Joe!.
LOL you win the internet for the day
Rest in peace Donald Levine. Thank you for your service to our country and for a toy that brought imagination and joy to generations of kids.
G.I. Joe came along when I was 14 and past being interested in toys and 5 years later I would be a real G.I. Joe (11B2P).
My only beef is that a Company took a cherished Americanism,
G.I. Joe: a common dogface soldier from WWII, and turned the meaning into a musclebound cartoonish superhero.
Google ,”G.I Joe”, and that’s the meaning to today’s generations.
Other examples:
Medal of Honor: First person shooter game.
Airborne: A snake oil cold remedy.
Oh, I remember when they came out! A boy down the street got one for Christmas, and loved it. But, when he first took it to show it to some friends, he carried it in a box, because he was embarrassed about carrying a doll.
When my oldest son was about 5, I found some GI Joe No Tears shampoo, complete with a picture of a jungle and a fierce-looking guy with a gun on the label. My dad really got a charge out of that one. I liked it because he did not mind being soaped down with it, and so he got clean.
I think one of the original GI Joes sold for 200,000 in 2003.
My kids have never forgiven me. One Christmas the boys got nicely wrapped empty boxes. I told them “That’s the GI Joe Deserter model”.