GI Joe Black Adventure Team Talking Commander 1973 Hasbro

Hasbro sensed that the public was losing interest in military action figures in the late 60’s due to the Vietnam war so they transformed the GI Joe line from a military man into an adventure man, hence the Adventure team line.  Part of that line in the early 70’s was the 12″ talking Adventure Team line that included the Talking Astronaut, Talking Adventure Team Commander, and the Talking Man of Action. These figures had hard hands as opposed to the later line of Kung-Fu gripped Adventure Team GI Joe figures that had moveable grips.  The talking series was an improvement over the original line in that when you pulled a string on the back the Joe would speak. Like the original series they also had life like flocked hair.

The talking figures were made slightly differently then the non-talking versions since Hasbro had to fit the speaking device into the chest of the figure. They did have the same equipment as the non-talking line though. They were released with a uniform with insignia, boots, shoulder holster with pistol and a dog tag. Hasbro also released a number of vehicles as accessories to use with the Adventure Team line which made them very popular with kids. Many of those vehicles are very hard to find in good condition nowadays and sell for large sums of money.

This Black Adventure Team Commander figure is one of the more difficult to find in the lineup and sells for a premium if in excellent condition.  In fact a new old stock figure similar to this one that was still in the box and in essentially mint condition sold for $1500.00.  In decent condition but with some flaws they will sell for $150.00 to $600.00 if the box is included.