Indie Squid Kid

If you were paying attention at the beginning of the week, you’ll remember that the world’s first action figure was Hasbro’s G.I. Joe. By the 70’s, the line had moved away from war toys and toward adventure and superheroes, and 1976 would mark the end of the original line of 12″ figures. One of the last G.I. Joe Adventure Team vehicle playsets was the “Sea Wolf Submarine,” seen here in a 1976 product catalog.

photo from www.plaidstallions.com

This working toy submarine is pretty cool in and of itself, but obviously I’m more interested in the large plastic squid that was included along with it. It is 11″ long and a sickly shade of light gray. I’m not a aware of a species of squid that looks quite like this, but considering that it’s nearly as big a G.I. Joe himself, I’d guess this was based on the Humboldt Squid.

Here’s my G.I. Joe squid, which I got off Ebay a few years ago. The right tentacle club is stamped “© 1975 Hasbro.”