GI Joe...Made In Japan more valuable??

[Blue Meanie]

Going through a lot of stuff to bring to Mego Meet and I have gotten to some of my Joe stuff. Looks like there are 3 different labels on the stuff I have. Some outfits say "Made In Hong Kong", some say "Made In Taiwan", and some say "Made In Japan" Here's my breakdown of the labels from what I've learned over the years dealing in action figures:

"Made In Hong Kong" labels are most likely from the late 60's through to about mid 70's

"Made In Taiwan" would probably be from Mid 70's through to about early 80's...if GI Joe stuff was still being made in the Early 80's (Vintage 12 inch GI Joe and not RAH)

"Made In Japan" would be from the 1st run Joes??

Any help from GI Joe guys here on the museum would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[drquest]

You'll find Hong Kong being some of the earliest 60's stuff, with Japan right in there too around 1965 or so. All of those you can find from the 1964-1969'ish time frame. Taiwan tags would be the later issue Kung Fu grip and Defenders, after 1975 or so(clothes would be thinner and have less detail and less buttons etc...) but even then the Hong Kong tags could be there. You'll also find some tags with Okinawa on them, and those are 60's era and collectors like those, and then you'll find some with no country of origin and collectors like those too.

Hasbro tended to use a lot of suppliers so even when they are tagged the same, the clothes might be different, different colors, different cuts and different snaps etc...

So I guess it really gets down to condition and exactly what you have that determines when it was made and what it might be worth.

[Blue Meanie]

One of the Japan outfits I have is a Snow outfit. With what looks like a bear batch. I thing one of the others is a camoflage outfit.

[drquest]

One of the Japan outfits I have is a Snow outfit. With what looks like a bear batch. I thing one of the others is a camoflage outfit.

That would be the ski patrol set, it might also come with a white helmet with a bear logo on it. The camo could either be just a Marine uniform, or possibly a sabotage set, but most likely it a Marine.

[convoy357]

I think the tags were in this order:

1. GI Joe TM No Country of Origin
2. GI Joe TM Hong Kong
3. GI Joe TM Japan
4. GI Joe R Japan
5. GI Joe R Hong Kong
6. GI Joe R Taiwan
7. GI Joe R Hong Kong (nylon tag)

Somewhere between #1 and #3 there was a GI Joe TM Okinawa tag, but those are quite rare.

[Den82]

What about marked boots? I've had a lot of Joe boots over the years, but recently was the first time I found one that was marked Hasbro.

[convoy357]

Short black boots marked "Hasbro Japan" are from the Ski Patrol, French Resistance, or Deep Sea Diver sets. Low cut dress shoes are marked "Hasbro Hong Kong". Theres also alot of boots marked "1 & 2". I've been told that most of these are Canadian issue.