G.I. Joe is a line of military-themed articulated "action figures" produced by the
toy company
Hasbro.
The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the
U.S. Armed Forces with the Action Soldier (Army), Action Sailor (Navy),
Action Pilot (Air Force) and Action Marine (USMC). The term
"G.I."
incorrectly was thought to stand for "Government Issue" and became a
generic term for US soldiers, especially ground forces. The development
of G.I. Joe led to the coining of the term "action figure."
