February 1st Is ‘National G.I. Joe Day’ and Wyoming Character Has a New Toy
Exactly fifty-nine years ago, on February 1st, 1964, the first G.I. Joe action figure was introduced to the world. Luckily, one of the iconic characters is from right here in the Cowboy State.
The toys have since become very popular over the almost sixty years of being on the market. G.I. Joe has also spawned several animated cartoon series, with the first airing in 1983, a plethora of video games, multiple comic book series, and three live action films.
Because of their popularity, all of the Joes (slang for the individual characters), have a back story. One of the said Joes is from Big Piney, Wyoming and that character is name is Stuart R. Selkirk, codename: Outback.
Fitting for a character that was born in Wyoming, the toy's file card listed Outback as a survivalist and an instructor at the both Army Survival School and the Jungle Warfare Training Center.
A few years back we did an entire feature on the history of the character (which you can check out here), but recently, Outback got a brand new action figure in the G.I. Joe Classified Series.
Personally, I grew up on the original 1985 G.I Joe cartoon series and action figures, and although I give much of the credit to the reason I joined the Marine Corps straight out of high school to seeing the original Top Gun movie at age eleven, I'd be lying if I said the Joes didn't play a significant role in that decision as well.
So happy National G.I. Joe Day! Yo Joe!