“GI Joe" Samuel Speers Signed Patent Application For a Toy Diver Suit

Description: Up for auction a VERY RARE! "GI Joe" Samuel Speers Hand Signed Patent Application For a Toy Diver Suit. ES-6647 Westport’s Sam Speers still surprised by fame of his landmark toy. Summer resident Samuel F. Speers always looked forward to the Friends Meetinghouse used-book sale in Westport’s Central Village, where, for nickels or dimes, he could buy old copies of National Geographic. But it wasn’t a zest for magnificent scenery or coffee-table ogling that spurred him to comb through the lush, heavily glossed pages. He was looking for adventures to adapt to his GI Joe action figures that would result in accessory sets for such undertakings as “The Secret of the Mummy’s Tomb,” and “The Capture of the Pygmy Gorilla.” While living virtually invisibly in Westport, Mr. Speers was hard at work as inventor, creator and designer of Hasbro’s landmark figure, versions of which still are being made 33 years after Joe first stormed America. “I never thought I was going to be an inventor when I was working on this,” said Mr. Speers, 71, who retired from the Pawtucket toy manufacturing company in 1980 after 20 years. “We were just making another toy, but because of its uniqueness, we were able to obtain patents on its construction.” GI Joe would be the first action figure toy for boys with movable body parts, creating a new category that remains in the center of toy culture to this day, with such figures as Batman and Superman. Mr. Speers and his wife, Arlene, have been spending summers in Westport for 47 years. They live the rest of the year in Sarasota, Fla. Both are natives of Providence. Their only son, Mark, lives in Wellesley with wife Paula, and their children Ryan, almost 8, and Ian, almost 3. (Both grandkids like to play with GI Joe, and Ian enjoys Joe’s Jeep, too.) Hard work, timing and luck all went into the creation of the inimitable GI Joe, who has become a fictional folk hero to generations of Americans. “I met men who told me, ’Mr. Speers, I appreciate what you did. I didn’t have a father, and GI Joe was my father. That is who I spent time with. These were not only white men -- they were black men,” Mr. Speers said. Baby Boomers who grew up with GI Joe have created a collectibles market for the toy, which has yielded more than $2.6 billion in sales since its introduction. To this day, there are conventions, clubs and shows devoted entirely to GI Joe. Remarkably, the toy emerged in 1964, less than a year after the concept was presented at Hasbro. A New York license broker had pitched the idea of a soldier model, based on a military figure he had seen on television. The idea had been presented to at least one other toy company that turned it down because, as Mr. Speers recalled, they felt that “boys will never play with dolls.” But Mr. Speer’s boss at Hasbro, Don Levine, had the foresight to realize its potential. He handed the idea over to his product development staff (of which Mr. Speers was assistant director) to hash out. Quickly, that group would make a decision critical to the toy’s success It would not be marketed as a doll, but as a soldier.

Price: 999.99 USD

Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

End Time: 2025-01-31T20:27:18.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD