# RIP Donald Levine, Creator of G.I.Joe **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-donald-levine-creator-of-g-i-joe/689376 "2014-05-27T15:38:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-donald-levine-creator-of-g-i-joe/689376/1 "2014-05-27T15:38:21Z")
> **[R.I.P. Donald Levine, The Creator Of GI Joe](https://gizmodo.com/r-i-p-donald-levine-the-creator-of-gi-joe-1581363837)** > > Donald Levine, a Hasbro executive credited as the "father" of the immensely popular GI Joe toyline, passed away this past Thursday after succumbing to cancer at the age of 86. Since GI Joe spawned the idea of and the term "action figure," Levine was... The father of the GI Joe toyline and one of the people responsible for creating “action figures” for boys. Let’s give him a 21 gun salute. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-donald-levine-creator-of-g-i-joe/689376/2 "2014-05-27T15:56:12Z")
Ironic that he passed away that close to Memorial Day. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-donald-levine-creator-of-g-i-joe/689376/3 "2014-05-27T20:16:22Z")
RIP to the Kung-Fu Grip. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-donald-levine-creator-of-g-i-joe/689376/4 "2014-06-02T02:03:51Z")
I started playing with my 12" tall G.I. Joes (with their 21 points of articulation) way way back. I remember when Kung-Fu grip was new (and found out it just meant that the fingers would soon break off). Sadly, my G.I. Joes saw lots of combat, and none of them made it through to modern times. Thank you, Don Levine, for countless hours of fun and happiness. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-donald-levine-creator-of-g-i-joe/689376/5 "2014-06-03T22:44:01Z")
“The father of the GI Joe toyline” If so he was an absentee father, because it was Larry Hama that did all the “fathering” of what is today thought of as GI Joe (aka the Real American Hero line as opposed to that generic 60’s stuff) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-donald-levine-creator-of-g-i-joe/689376/6 "2014-06-03T22:49:48Z")
Is he really dead or just knocked over? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-donald-levine-creator-of-g-i-joe/689376/7 "2014-06-03T22:53:20Z")
A real American hero. (Am I really the first to use that joke in this thread? Wow.) ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-donald-levine-creator-of-g-i-joe/689376/8 "2014-06-03T23:14:10Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > “The father of the GI Joe toyline” > > If so he was an absentee father, because it was Larry Hama that did all the “fathering” of what is today thought of as GI Joe (aka the Real American Hero line as opposed to that generic 60’s stuff) GI Joe was an adult (18 years old) when Hama first entered the picture (1982). No doubt his characters helped Hasbro expand the line, but he came into an established franchise and just used ideas he had pitched for a different franchise. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-donald-levine-creator-of-g-i-joe/689376/9 "2014-06-05T15:28:35Z")
Never mind that- who invented the lifelike hair and the kung fu grip? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-donald-levine-creator-of-g-i-joe/689376/10 "2014-06-05T19:08:40Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > GI Joe was an adult (18 years old) when Hama first entered the picture (1982). No doubt his characters helped Hasbro expand the line, but he came into an established franchise and just used ideas he had pitched for a different franchise. Not only that, but Ziff-Davis published more than 50 issues of a G.I Joe comics back in the 50s before the [del]doll[/del] action figure was even released. [http://www.comics.org/series/848/](http://www.comics.org/series/848/) ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-donald-levine-creator-of-g-i-joe/689376/11 "2014-06-05T19:11:14Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > GI Joe was an adult (18 years old) when Hama first entered the picture (1982). No doubt his characters helped Hasbro expand the line, but he came into an established franchise and just used ideas he had pitched for a different franchise. Hama still created a mythos and framework that has defined the franchise for over 30 year now (much longer than the original concept). It’s kind of like when people talk about Ray Kroc and McDonalds versus the actual McDonald brothers. Yeah, the brothers created “McDonalds” but Kroc made it what it is.