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The Hasbro G.I. Joe Hall of Fame era of 12″ action figures began in 1991, when Hasbro released the Target Exclusive Duke in response to the high demand from nostalgic collectors of the vintage era G.I. Joe action figures. Duke was the first 12″ (30 cm) action figure produced in the Hasbro G.I. Joe line since 1978.
During the fourteen years that G.I. Joe had not existed as a 12″ action figure, James DeSimone had been touring toy shows all over the United States buying and selling G.I. Joe action figures. In the mid-1980s, DeSimone created the G.I. Joe Collectors Club, which was a throw-back to the original G.I. Joe Collectors Clubs that had existed during the vintage era of the 12″ figures (1964–1978). The DeSimone version of the club existed as a newsletter to which thousands of nostalgic collectors subscribed.
As a result of DeSimone’s efforts to organize the G.I. Joe collectors, Hasbro licensed DeSimone’s G.I. Joe Collectors Club. Hasbro also licensed DeSimone to promote official G.I. Joe Conventions during the early 1990s. After Hasbro began collaborating with DeSimone, Hasbro executives realized that there was an untapped market of nostalgic collectors who had grown up on the original G.I. Joe and who wanted more. During the 1980s, the prices of vintage toys and especially G.I. Joe had increased astronomically because the demand for vintage toys like G.I. Joe and Captain Action far outstripped the supply. Thus began Hasbro’s plan to revive the 12″ G.I. Joe action figure with the Hall of Fame line.
Hasbro honored DeSimone’s contributions by acknowledging his assistance on the back cover of every Hall of Fame G.I. Joe’s box. The back covers of each box also included a file card for each figure (just as the 3.75″ line did) and a photo of the new figure along with the photo of a similar figure from DeSimone’s collection of the vintage era of G.I. Joe (1964–1978).
The first 12″ Duke was a Target Stores exclusive. The popularity of the figure convinced Hasbro to unleash a new series of 12″ G.I. Joe action figures, known as the Hall of Fame series. These new 12″ figures were based on the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series of 3.75″ action figure characters that had represented the spirit of G.I. Joe since they were introduced in 1982.
The Real American Hero series had spawned comic books and cartoons, and Hasbro hoped that the Hall of Fame line would have crossover appeal to the collectors of the 3.75″ figures, and also the nostalgia appeal to the earlier generations that had grown up on the original G.I. Joe and the G.I. Joe Adventure Team. To accentuate that this figure would have a high collectible value, Hasbro introduced a gold seal over the end flaps of the boxes. Each figure was also individually numbered on their backs by computer scanning. The individual numbering created a buying frenzy among collectors who erroneously believed that finding figures with the lowest numbers would make them more valuable.
The Target Exclusive Duke had a headsculpt that was never used again for any other G.I. Joe figure. The Target Duke was dressed for Desert Storm combat, and he included a backpack, commemorative stand, a light-up weapon with sound effects, dog tags, a knife with sheath, and a 9 mm handgun with holster.
During the G.I. Joe Hall of Fame era, Hasbro introduced several new products to the world of action figure collectibles. During the Hall of Fame era, Hasbro usually issued its G.I. Joe sets three times per year; with the largest amount of figures, vehicles, clothing, and gear sets being issued around October, in time for the holiday season. Then during spring and summer, smaller waves (usually mini-sets) of figures, clothing, and gear would be released.