FUN FACTS, HISTORY, ATTRIBUTES (ie size, year of production, color,scarcity, etc) WHAT FOLLOWS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING SPECIFIC in this listing.
GI Joe 1964 1966 SOTW #8300 GERMAN STORM
TROOPER EARLY PRODUCTION Belt
The original GI Joe American soldier was unique in appearance - and
showed the "hard life" he lived with the large visible scar that was
featured prominently on his cheek. When Hasbro came out with the
"soldiers of the world" line, they probably wanted to distinguish these
foreign soldiers easily and left the scar of the face (in addition the
face is a different sculpt). There were 6 soldiers released - still
not sure exactly what went into their final decision process in how they
chose the particular 6). The soldiers included: German
Stormtrooper, Japanese fighter (with a unique Asian head sculpt), Russian,
French Resistance fighter, British fighter, and Australian Jungle
fighter. The Soldiers of the World were marketed in two main ways -
you could buy the figure with no accessories (small window box) and then
the weapons (small card)...or the figure and accessories were available in
a large window box.
This listing is for a rare German pre-production belt. It it
distinguishable from the standard production belt by the circular clasp that
hooks to the belt buckle. Note image of this buckle still on an early
production card (image provided by Duane Smailus - Thanks, Duane!):