| abstract | - The Adventure Team was introduced in 1970 as an answer to the anti-war sentiment toward Hasbro's military G.I. Joe. In 1968 sales had dropped drastically and the 1969 year introduced the "Adventures of GI Joe" series. The "Adventures of..." series stopped the downward slide and Hasbro saw a way to bring the G.I. Joe line back to the forefront. To further the break from his military past, flocked hair and beards were introduced in 1970 and the Adventure Team was born. Gone were the military dogtags, to be replaced by a round plastic tag with the Adventure Team logo. The new logo bore a strong resemblance to a peace symbol, a fact not lost on Hasbro. By 1971 the Adventure Team was a smash hit and 1972 became the biggest sales year in the history of the line. Featuring box art of the five primary members of the team, the back of the box was a quick way to introduce kids to the new team. Failing to make the cut at the time was the astronaut, who along with all of the space sets would disappear before the second series of Adventure Team toys. Evolving from the military theme that had inspired the original '60s G.I. Joe action figure and the initial "Adventures of..." releases of 1969, these figures and sets were usually dressed for adventures in the jungles, deserts, mountains, and oceans. The adversaries were ecological disasters, rather than human beings. A shift in sensibilities among parents in the US, notably caused by the Vietnam War, caused this shift from action toys to more politically sensitive ones. The "lifelike hair" flocking techniques developed by Habsro's UK licensee, Palitoy, allowed for a significant shift in identity for the toyline. Nearly every set dealt with exploring exotic locations or accomplishing dangerous environmentally sensitive missions. The Adventure Team era of G.I. Joe also featured such landmarks of action figure history as the Kung Fu Grip; the flocked hair and bearded figures; the figures with movable Eagle-Eyes; and the transparent "bionic" limbs (Mike Power, Atomic Man). The initial Adventure Team figures consisted of Talking Adventure Team Commander, Land Adventurer, Sea Adventurer, Air Adventurer, Adventurer (African-American), Man of Action, Talking Astronaut, Talking Man of Action, and Talking Adventure Team Commander (African-American). The second series of figures were re-releases of the first nine figures which now included the "Kung Fu Grip". Later figures included Mike Power, Atomic Man, and Bulletman, which were released in order to compete with the popular Six Million Dollar Man figures and Mego's line of superhero figures released at the time.
- Adventure Team was a special mission force for the United States military. Created in 1970 by US Joint Chiefs of Staff and led by Joseph Colton, Adventure Team assembled mission specialists to tackle threats anywhere from the four corners of the Earth... and beyond. Adventure Team served as the model for the later Counter-terrorist Group Delta which was named G.I. Joe in honor of Joe Colton.
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