Fridays with Jim Korkis: GI JOE Exclusives at Walt Disney World

By Dave Shute

Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

EXCLUSIVE WALT DISEY WORLD GI JOE ACTION FIGURES

By Jim Korkis

Released in August 2001 as part of a Disney Parks worldwide exclusive were five 4.5″ sized action figures from characters featured in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark (Indiana Jones, Marion Ravenwood, German soldier, German mechanic and Cairo swordsman), and some playsets.

In 2007, a seven inch tall Indiana Jones figure was sculpted by Gentle Giant exclusive for the Disney Theme Parks in the United States. It had fourteen points of articulation: neck, two shoulders, two arms, two hands, torso, two hips, two knees and two ankles. It included the following accessories: fedora, revolver, whip, shoulder bag, sword, golden idol, poison antidote, grail diary, and a base.

All of these figures and items were based on the popular Indiana Jones adventure movies, primarily Raiders of the Lost Ark. However, there was one Indy figure that was exclusively designed for Walt Disney World.

For the 2004 Hasbro International G.I. JOE Collector’s Convention held July 3-4 at the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World, a special limited edition G.I. JOE Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! figure based on the Disney MGM (now Disney’s Hollywood Studios) attraction debuted.

The figure was twelve inches in height and fully poseable. It was available at the Fantasia shop at the Contemporary Resort and the Once Upon A Toy store at Downtown Disney Marketplace.

The convention featured a special display of historical G.I. JOE figures from the previous forty years, seminars focusing on G.I. JOE artwork, comic books and action figures, G.I. JOE merchandise sales areas, diorama-building and photography contests, a “play pit” for kids, and more. It cost nine dollars for adults and five dollars for children to attend the public events.

While Walt Disney World did not sponsor the convention, it did support the celebration with the on-property debut of the Walt Disney World themed G.I. JOE figure, priced at forty dollars.

The following month saw the debut of a limited edition G.I. JOE Mission: SPACE figure that included an astronaut spacesuit and helmet, an oxygen backpack, hoses to connect the pack to the helmet, and nine different pieces of equipment for JOE’s mission on Mars.

The gear attached to JOE’s chest featured a representation of the Mission SPACE logo, and the shoulder patch read ISTC (the International Space Training Center). The back of the box depicted the X2 rocket, the same ship from the attraction, blasting its way towards the red planet. Hasbro Inc., owner of the G.I. JOE brand, was a Corporate Alliance partner at the Walt Disney World Resort.

The Indiana Jones figure was a Classic Collection GI JOE and came in either Caucasian or African-American colors and head sculpts. The Caucasian head sculpt was the traditional WWII head with its hair in black. The African-American sculpt was a fairly new option for Hasbro.

The reason why they also released an African-American version of this figure is because one of the Indy stunt performers at the Epic Stunt Spectacular was also African-American and both Walt Disney World and Hasbro wanted to support diversity. Interestingly, the Mission: SPACE figure also came with the two different options.

The accessories for the figure included a fedora, short boots, a belt with a metal buckle, a ream-yellow shirt, a “leather” jacket, red/brown pants, a whip, green satchel with strap, a torch, a sarcophagus and mummy with raising arm (previously used in the Adventure Team Secret of the Mummy’s Tomb set), three gems (blue, red and yellow), and three black snakes.

Of particular interest, the back of the jacket had the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular logo on it.

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Thanks, Jim! And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his new books Vault of Walt: Volume 10: Final Edition,   Kungaloosh! The Mythic Jungles of Walt Disney World and Hidden Treasures of Walt Disney World Resorts: Histories, Mysteries, and Theming, much of which was first published on this site.

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