While Hasbro was considering a return of G.I.Joe in the early 1980s, the two main forces at Hasbro behind creating the 3 3/4" line were Bob Prupis and Kirk Bozigian. The figures themselves were designed by Hasbro's artists and creators. Lastly, Larry Hama was the writer of the Marvel Comics G.I.Joe comic book for its entire 12 year run, wrote many of the filecards that accompanied the figures, and had a huge influence on the success of G.I.Joe.
At its peak, the G.I.Joe logo could be found on everything - school supplies, several video games, an electric train set, a card game, many lunch boxes, board games, puzzles, several sets of trading cards, several lines of comic books by two different companies, posters, party supplies, two separate cartoons done by two different companies, and a motion picture.
When the 3 3/4" G.I.Joe toy line was cancelled in 1994, it was generally assumed that it was due to waning interest and poor sales. The official reason given by Hasbro was due to loss of market share to other "tougher" toys like X-Men and Power Rangers.
However, in recent years, more stories have come out that the decision to cancel the 3 3/4" G.I.Joe line was a direct result of the 1994 merger between longtime rivals, Hasbro and Kenner. While the exact story is unclear, it is speculated that the merger resulted in a power struggle within the company between former Hasbro execs and former Kenner execs. The end result was the cancellation of the 3 3/4" line - which had been a thorn in Kenner's side for over a decade.
Larry Hama played a North Korean soldier in an episode of M.A.S.H. He and another Korean stole a jeep that Major Burns was riding in. Oh yeah. And he was the writer who wrote almost the entire 155 issue, twelve-year run of G.I.Joe. His superb sense of action and humor, along with his incredible military expertise gave the comic book - and the entire G.I.Joe line itself - an essential sense of reality. When Larry wrote battle scenes, we believed it. And when it came down to mixing in Japanese mysticism and ninjas into the storylines without being corny, he was second to none.
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