G.I. Joe storms back into kids' hearts

By Craig Wilson
USA Today

Think it's about time for G.I. Joe to hang up his combat boots?

Think again.

"It was the No. 1 searched-for item over the Thanksgiving weekend," says Leslie Barry of BizRate.com, a comparison-shopping site on the Web. The old toy soldier even beat out this season's intense interest in digital cameras.

None of this is news to the folks at Hasbro, which makes the action figure.

"Through July, G.I. Joe sales are up by 50 percent," says Hasbro's Audrey DeSimone.

Hasbro relaunched the 37-year-old action figure this summer, targeting a new generation of American kids with a massive TV campaign. And it's working very well, as huge holiday sales are projected.

Included in the line: the G.I. Joe Search & Rescue Firefighter and the 10th Mountain Division soldier, whose real-life counterparts are serving in Afghanistan.

"What we did was refocus on the most patriotic, courageous and heroic (members) in our society," says Brian Goldner, president of Hasbro's U.S. toy group. "G.I. Joe has always stood for heroism, patriotism and courage."

The new figures were selling well before Sept. 11, but sales are getting a boost from kids' renewed fascination with rescue workers and the military.

It doesn't hurt that retailers are moving the aging warrior — resplendent in new red, white and blue packaging — to the front of the shop. FAO Schwarz, in its New York flagship store, went one better, opening its "Hall of Heroes," a large area dedicated to G.I. Joe.

Not that the guy needed much help. "Actually, G.I. Joe sales have been on an increase for the last five years," DeSimone says.