With all the concern of the current virus situation, it seems appropriate to review how GI Joe has been on the front line of medical emergencies. In 1968 the vintage GI Joe had three medic sets available.
GI Joe Action Marine Medic Set
This complete gear set has a medic flag, stethoscope , crutch, IV bottle, bandages, splits, medic arm bands, folding stretcher and a medic bag. To get the helmet you needed to buy the smaller variation set.
GI Joe Action Marine First Aid Gear
GI Joe Action Marine Medic Gear
This set had the rest of the gear from the fuller medic set.
Hasbro GI Nurse
The nurse was available in 1968 with most of the same gear.
GI Joe Adventure Team Winter Rescue Action Outfit
Sadly, the closest the vintage Adventure Team came to supporting a medical emergency was this winter Rescue set. Its only medical gear was a small belt first aid kit.
GI Jane Vietnam Nurse
In the Classic Collection GI Joe set they released a third GI Jane with this one themed as a Vietnam nurse. It had similar gear to the original nurse and medic sets.
GI Joe Action Francis J Pierce
When we suggested possible recipients for the Medal of Honor figures, we wanted a medic who gave his life helping others. We did this figure in the later years of the Classic Collection when when were very focused on authentic detailing, The gear was very similar to the original sets but with better detailing..
GI Joe Collectors Club Unknown Heroes set
When the tooling was available from Francis Pierce, the Collector Club used those parts to create one of their best sets. The set contained an Army Medic and a Navy Corpsman. They included two complete sets of gear and changed the medical bag to be specifically Navy. They also included field and dress uniforms for both.
GI Joe Timeless Collection Action Marine and Medic set
For the 40th Anniversary of GI Joe there was a timeless collection set which had a reissue of the Action Marine Medic pieces. It is possible these are the same plastic parts created for Francis Pierce, but I do not have one of these sets to verify that. For those new to GI Joe, the Timeless Collection sets had a figure made with new tooling that was very close to the original vintage GI Joes
One of the projects I was handed from Hasbro was to create new concepts for the gear packs. They gave me wide parameters to explore different themes so I spread out the concepts among WWII, Real American Hero, COBRA and the Adventure Team.
One of the other starting points I would use to create new items was to set aside really cool looking parts which were existing tooling, but had not been used in the US (an international Action Man part), or was very specific and not reused on another Joe. So I assembled a unique set of parts for…
AT jungle contamination
The jumpsuit was created special for this set and was constructed with green rip-stop nylon with elastic on the cuffs and collar. The Hazmat type helmet came from an Action Man figure. The gun was created for Action Man in a water set to be a spear gun so it looks like it used compressed air to shoot with. This really helped it look like a tranquilizer gun. The contagion was a half can of toxic waste which came from a Dr. X set. Then there is the “monkey.” That was tooled to be the Pygmy Gorilla in the Classic Collection set and it was WAY too small. But it was just right for a diseased monkey.
Sadly, this set was never used, as I thought the Adventure Team was overdue for solving a medical emergency.
In between your love of GI Joe and toys, make sure to take care of yourselves and your families. I long to hear “The Adventure Team has the situation controlled.”
What is your favorite medical GI Joe themed item?