G.I. Joe Nurse: a marketing nightmare/a collector’s dream

It is getting close to Christmas, and we have suddenly seen a large increase in toys appearing on our Top Shared list and most watched items list.  A couple days ago we told you about the Six Million Dollar Action Figure, which sold for quite a bit less than six million dollars, coming in at a respectable $275.  Not bad for a toy that, in 1975 (the year it was made), retailed for $4.22!

Today’s items on the most-watched list revealed another auction of interest to collectors of vintage toys, this one a Vintage G.I. Joe 1967 NURSE:

If you were a kid growing up in the ‘60s, chances are you know of, or have played with, a G.I. Joe action figure.  In fact, the Hasbro company coined the term “action figure” when it introduced the G.I. Joe line to consumers back in 1964.  The company realized that even though boys liked to play with “dolls,” there were cultural reasons why it needed to use another name to describe the toy.  The action figure moniker was born, and has been used since for any doll-like figures specifically marketed to boys.

In today’s more politically correct environment, we don’t see a lot of kids bragging they have the latest G.I. Joe action figure, or about any action figures.  More likely, they are bragging that they somehow snuck into the movies to see G.I. Joe or another action flick on the big screen.  Like many action figures, the G.I. Joe brand made the leap to the world of cinema in 2009.  If you watch the trailer for the original movie, it is difficult to reconcile the simple action figure with the onscreen acting figures:

According to Wikipedia, the original action figures represented “four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier (U.S. Army), Action Sailor (U.S. Navy), Action Pilot (USAF), Action Marine (USMC) and later on, the Action Nurse.”  Which brings us back to today’s remarkable find.

The listing gives more information about the Action Nurse:

“1967 G.I.Joe NURSE, This is one of the rarest vintage G.I.Joe figures from the entire 1964-76 line. Great condition, looks complete, in non played with condition. No missing limbs or breaks anywhere, hair is great in original protective wrap. Uniform & accessories are in very good condition – see pics. They never made a reproduction of this so no worries on the authenticity of the figure.  In my aunts collection of dolls for over 30 years, she’s a registered nurse… Go figure!”

It seems that the action figure blurs the boundaries with doll status with this toy, but who are we to quibble?  Just as Barbie had her Ken, G.I. Joe needs his nurse.

It turns out that we’re not the only ones confused by the G.I. Joe nurse doll.  When Hasbro released the doll, store managers scratched their heads and wondered where to display it.  Some managers set the nurse alongside the G.I. Joe products, which did not fare well for the toy, while others plopped her amid the Barbie dolls.

This lack of marketability is an eBay collector’s dream.  In an article on the Denver Nursing Star website, Sharon Korbeck, an editor of Toy Shop magazine explains, “The G.I. Joe Nurse is so valuable today because it was released for only one year.”

Hence the G.I. Joe nurse falls in the category of collectible toys, something not everyone is looking for this Christmas.  When it comes to locating collectible, vintage and retro playthings amid all the trendier toys on eBay, there is an essential search tool that simplifies the process.  As we talked about in our post Find gifts with the eBay toy finder, you can now use the eBay toy finder to separate the “Kids toys” results from the “Collector & Hobbyist toys” results.  If you want to see how it works, just head over to eBay toys and try it out.