Some figures and accessories are listed with different years of release in different sources. This page addresses the basis for these discrepancies and the reason I've categorized the toys as I have.
Toys bought in 1982 advertised the mail-in figures Cobra Commander (the one with the silver faceplate) and Major Bludd. Both were also sold as carded figures on store shelves with the 1983 assortment. Many Commanders arrived in 1982, and the offer expired in January 1983, so I have classified him as a 1982 figure. (I believe there were also straight-arm Commanders in existence, so this supports the 1982 classification.) But to get Major Bludd, buyers had to send in receipts from figures purchased in January and February 1983, so he is necessarily a 1983 figure.
Some sources list the swivel-arm re-issues of 1982 figures as 1983 figures. I prefer not to regard this construction change as denoting a separate version, since the costume design and paint schemes remained unchanged.
Duke was available by mail during the last half 1983 and was also sold as a carded figure on store shelves with the 1984 assortment. He was also introduced as a "new" figure in the 1984 CLAW/Sky Hawk commercial, along with Roadblock, Spirit, and Storm Shadow. As a result, some sources list Duke as a 1984 figure. I consider him a 1983 figure because of his mail-order availability.
The cartoon miniseries "A Real American Hero" features not only Duke but also the Baroness (in her blue comic outfit) and prototypes of the Rattler, SHARC, Water Moccasin, and Chameleon, but she and the vehicles were all released in 1984, at which time their cartoon appearances were made to conform to those of the toys. On the other hand, there are several vehicles from 1983 that did not appear in the cartoon until a year or two later. Santelmo's book lists the entire 1984 series under the heading "1983-84."
Storm Shadow appears in the 1986 catalog and was packaged with a grey filecard that year, so some sources may list him as a 1985 figure. He was, however, released with the 1984 carded assortment and appears in the 1984 catalog and commercials.
The original Dreadnoks—Buzzer, Ripper, and Torch—have the swivel-joint necks of 1982-84 figures, but they were not released as carded figures until the 1985 assortment. I was not collecting G. I. Joe at the time, but I have heard from a wide variety of second-hand sources that they were sold either singly or as a three-pack as a Sears exclusive during the 1984 Christmas season. (At least one collector claims to have gotten them that way for Christmas, but does not still have the package.) The commercial introducing the Dreadnoks also began airing in late 1984. However, although the figure Tollbooth also has the older swivel neck, and his Toss 'n Cross was likewise released as a Sears exclusive at the same time, and all resources I've seen list them in 1985. Since several recent years' first waves of toys have hit the stores around Christmas (see below), I have recently decided to make my policy more consistent by listing the original Dreadnoks in 1985.
Although Flint, Lady Jaye, Shipwreck, the Crimson Guard, and the Trubble Bubbles appear in 1984's "The Revenge of Cobra" cartoon, their toys were not available prior to the general release of the 1985 carded assortment. Santelmo's book lists the entire 1985 series under the heading "1984."
The mail-in Sergeant Slaughter was first advertised in small brochures packaged with figures around Christmas 1985, and so many sources list him as a 1985 figure. My reasons for including him in the 1986 series are (1) Most or all of the figures ordered arrived in 1986. (2) The commercial advertising the mail-in Sarge aired in 1986 and featured 1986 figures and vehicles. (3) The cartoon introduced the Sarge as joining shortly after the rest of the 1986 Joes. Santelmo's book lists the entire 1986 series under the heading "1985."
The AWE Striker driver Crankcase did not appear in the cartoon until the second season (fall 1986), and so there may be one or two diehard cartoon fans who consider him a 1986 character. But it is difficult to separate him from the AWE Striker he came with, which is a common vehicle throughout the first season. (One could also mention that Grunt does not appear on the cartoon until 1984, or Deep Six and Wild Weasel until 1985, yet their release years are firmly set by all other media.)
The Fridge's mail-in offer, like that of the Sarge, first showed up around Christmas time, so he is a 1986 figure for many collectors. But again: (1) Most or all of the figures ordered arrived in 1987. (2) The commercial advertising the Fridge aired in 1987 and featured 1987 figures and vehicles. (3) The cartoon contained no appearances of the Fridge in its 1986 season. Santelmo's book lists the entire 1987 series under the heading "1986-87."
The Battle Force 2000 figures and vehicles first appear in the 1988 catalog, and most collectors remember seeing the figure two-packs heavy on store shelves only in 1988. It is also evident from packaging that 1988's Iron Grenadiers and the BF 2000 were intended to be set against each other. But in fall/winter 1987 the BF 2000 figures were sold individually, and their 1987 filecards are slightly different from those available later. (They give shorter vehicle names.) To my knowledge, the vehicles were not available until 1988, although the commercial may have aired before Christmas 1987. (It definitely aired before the general 1988 assortment was widely available in stores.) For this reason, I have made the admittedly odd decision to classify the figures under 1987 and the vehicles under 1988.
Starduster and the Steel Brigade figure were both well available by mail in 1987, but many buyers didn't catch on to their existence until later. I know of no one who classifies Super Trooper in 1987, although his brochures began appearing around Christmas like the previous two years' offers. His commercial featured live-action Iron Grenadiers and other 1988 characters.
I first saw the Tiger Force figures and the first five vehicles (Tiger Cat, Fly, Paw, Rat, and Shark) in September 1988, well before the end of the year, and the Tiger Force commercial was being aired during the Christmas season. But they had not been in 1988's catalog and would be in 1989's, along with that year's special teams, so some sources list them in 1989. It was not until 1989 that the Tiger Fish and Tiger Sting were available. I have also seen one or two sources that place the first Night Force series in 1989. Santelmo's book lists the entire 1989 series under the heading "1988-89."
I have seen one or two sources that place the second Night Force series in 1990 instead of 1989.
Rapid-Fire and the first six Sonic Fighters began appearing in stores around November 1990, but they had the new filecard font, gimmicks, and overall neon emphasis that came to characterize the 1991 series. The Sonic Fighters were also in the 1991 catalog. They are so different in look and spirit from the general 1990 releases that I find it difficult to place them with that group.
On October 16, 1991, I walked into Children's Palace and got my first look at the long-awaited Eco-Warriors, the Super Sonic Fighters, and six more regular figures (Grunt, Mercer, Snake Eyes, Tracker, BAT, and Cobra Commander). The Eco-Warriors are obviously 1991 since prototype sketches appear in that year's catalog. The general consensus for the regular figures is that they are 1991's "Wave 2," especially since they do not appear in 1992's catalog at all. Since I've placed the Sonic Fighters in 1991, the Super Sonic Fighters move to 1992 by default—a solution that just happens to match Hasbro's catalog assignments.
In some parts of the US, the Talking Battle Commanders and Ninja Force figures may also have been available before Christmas 1991. But these also are introduced as new in 1992's catalog, and the second assortment of Ninja Force figures did not appear until early 1993. Both of these groups sport 1992's rectangular (tabless) filecards with the lines and numbers defacing the character art. Putting the Battle Commanders in 1992 also avoids having two versions of Hawk and Cobra Commander in 1991.
I bought my first Battle Corps figures on November 28, 1992, and that was in the Midwest, so I know they were available pretty much everywhere by that time. But the Battle Corps is too distinct from the general 1992 releases to slice off the first six to eighteen figures. They all belong together in 1993. This is somewhat more complicated than it seems, since some of the 1992 figures were also sold with Battle Corps packaging, presumably before their 1993 repaints were ready.
The Power Fighters appear in the 1993 catalog (with blacked-out drivers) but were not available in stores until 1994. Conversely, the Starfighter, Invader, and the entire Capcom Street Fighter II line are not introduced in the catalog until 1994, but were available in stores long before then.
The figure 2-packs and vehicles that constituted Wave 1 of G. I. Joe's return to general availability missed most of the Christmas season and did not appear on store shelves until mid-to-late December. Some areas did not see the toys until January, perhaps even overlapping Wave 2. For this reason, and because Waves 2 through 4 were 2001 releases, some sources list them all as 2001.
Production of Wave 5, which was originally to be released in November, was halted when Hasbro decided to move to a new theme and construction for the figures. To appease more traditional fans and to eliminate excess stock, Hasbro released the limited number of Wave 5 figures through Internet stores and small collector's outlets in late spring 2002. Some sources that wish to make a clear distinction between the two constructions may list Wave 5 as 2001 figures. (There may be one or two that also do this with late summer 2002's "Wave 1.5," but this would be a real stretch.)
The Reservist and Scarlett/Snake Eyes mail offers were announced in 2002, but most or all figures arrived in 2003. For this reason, I classify these offers as 2003 releases.
The Valor vs. Venom line begins with Wave 9 and the Wal-Mart-exclusive repaints, both of which were released before Christmas in 2003. As with previous years, I've listed these as 2004 releases. The difference in packaging and filecard style makes this a natural division.
Valor vs. Venom bled well into 2005, and so its sixth- and seventh-wave figures and vehicles are regarded by Yojoe.com and other resources as 2005 figures, as here—although some wave-6 toys reached stores before January.
The third wave of Direct-to-Consumer single packs and two of the Comic Packs were released right around the turn of the year. This site originally listed them as 2005 releases but has aligned itself with most other sources that give 2006 as the release year.
Waves 4 and 5 of the 25th anniversary single cards both hit stores during the second week of December. Wave 5 is nevertheless designated by Hasbro as "2008 Wave 1." To make matters more complicated, the re-releases popularly called Wave 4 appear after the Wave 5 figures on the Wave 6 cardbacks (and are absent from Wave 5 cardbacks). And so contrary to some other resources, I place both these waves in 2008.
Figures exclusive to various conventions prior to 2002 generally had only very minor differences from general-release figures. For this reason, and for their scarcity, I have chosen to regard early convention-exclusive figures as variants rather than separate versions. With the exception of the only-partially-recolored "Paratrooper Dusty" (which I count as a variant along the lines of mail-in Lifeline, "Rampage" Heavy Metal, and Convention Jinx), I have included entries for 2002 and later convention figures because these are more popular, better publicized, and widely available (though expensive), and because they have new uniforms, unique filecards, and even new identities.
There is sometimes confusion among sources as to which year certain store exclusives (such as the SMS and CAT) were available. This is primarily because they do not appear in Hasbro's catalogs that came with the toys and were usually not advertised on television. Most people do not keep the huge department store Christmas catalogs, and many collectors just didn't happen to shop at the stores that sold the exclusives. (I don't think I've ever even been to Sears, and I didn't know what Benny's was until I began this website.) I'm sure if the Internet had been as widespread in the 1980s as it is now, we'd probably be able to give "first-sighting" dates for every exclusive release.
Some sources, mostly people involved in the amateur buy/sell/trade aspect of collecting, simply classify figures by the copyright date stamped on their leg or waistpiece. The problem with this (besides the fact that a few figures have no date stamp), is that it results in recent releases getting old dates that are not representative of their actual construction. For example, the Rock 'n Roll figure released in 1997 has a date stamp of 1986 on his leg, because his legs were made from the mold of 1986's Roadblock. Likewise, Starduster has a 1984 date stamp due to his having 1984 Roadblock's legs. The late-2001 version of Leatherneck also has legs from 1984 Roadblock, but they are date stamped 2000. This would be a case of the legal copyright being slightly ahead of the actual release.
