Stan Weston
Creator of the military figure that inspired Action Man
STAN WESTON, who has died aged 84, made dolls popular with millions of American boys through his design for the military action figure GI Joe; the British licensed copy, Action Man, became the must-have toy of the 1970s.
In 1963 Weston was a licensing agent for MGM and Universal Studios, charged with developing spin-off products which capitalised on the popularity of existing franchises such as Frankenstein. He was also on good terms with Elliot Handler of the toy company Mattel who, with his wife Ruth, had created a hugely successful plastic doll named after their daughter Barbara.
Observing that boys were often willing to play with Mattel’s range of Ken dolls, if not the original Barbie, Weston hit on the idea of an articulated action figure with more rugged appeal. Armed with miniature flags and paraphernalia bought from an Army-navy store, he outlined his pitch to Don Levine, chief of research and development at the toy manufacturer Hasbro.
Initially the company’s executives were hesitant, one telling Weston: “Half of the people say boys won’t play with dolls, and half think it is the greatest idea since white bread.” Weston accepted an offer of a $100,000 lump sum with no guarantee of royalties – a decision which he came to regret. Hasbro sold $7million worth of GI Joe dolls in the 12 months after the product launched in February 1964. Sales in the second year reached $28million.
In 1966 the British firm Palitoy was licensed to sell the figures internationally under the banner of Action Man. As with Mattel’s Barbie, the range soon expanded to include related (but in this case rather more macho) accessories: guns, backpacks, diecast vehicles and uniforms. Palitoy also moved away from the military concept, recasting Action Man as a mountaineer, an astronaut and an Olympic champion.
GI Joe, meanwhile, made the leap into television and print. Marvel’s animated series GI Joe: A Real American Hero (1985) ran for 90 episodes, while the comic book of the same name pitted its hero against a shadowy paramilitary organisation, Cobra. Weston’s own son, Brad, pushed for a film adaptation during his time as production president of Paramount Pictures, which made it to cinemas as GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009).
In 2015 Weston took legal action against Hasbro in an attempt to grab back the rights to the GI Joe empire, which by this time was valued at $100 million. In doing so, he laid claim to the concept of dressing action figures in “miniaturised versions of the uniforms, insignias, emblems and equipment of each of the different branches of the United States armed forces”. The case was settled out of court.
Stanley Alan Weinstein was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 1 1933, and grew up on a diet of comic books. He soon turned his obsession into a business, drawing his own comics and selling them from a milk crate outside his house. After New York University he was drafted into the US Army and posted to Hawaii, returning two years later to join an advertising agency. He changed his surname to escape anti-semitism, and in 1960 founded Weston Merchandising Corporation (later renamed Leisure Concepts).
Following the success of GI Joe, he worked with the Ideal Toy Company to create Captain Action, an attempt to challenge Hasbro’s dominance of the actionfigure market. Weston used his clout within the industry to obtain the rights to heroes such as Batman, Superman and the Lone Ranger, thus equipping Captain Action with a range of well-known costumes. Though it was, by Weston’s own admission, “never a breakaway concept”, Captain Action proved popular enough to inspire two spin-off products: the prosaically named Action Boy, and a villain, Dr Evil.
Stan Weston married twice, but both marriages ended in divorce. His three children survive him.
Stan Weston, born April 1 1933, died May 1 2017