G.I. Joe: Timeless Collection is an action figure and accessories set reproducing Hasbro G.I. Joe product themes of the late 1960s- early 1970s. The set was produced from 1998 to 2003.[1]
Introduction
In the tail end of the 1990s Hasbro built on the renewed interest in authentic reproductions of G.I. Joe established by the Masterpiece Edition reproduction book/figure set; they bought the rights to the ME figure and released a range of store exclusive reproduction figure sets, with the character of the sixties G.I. Joe boxed sets. Later issues were themed after the Adventure Team sets, with flock hair and "kung fu" gripping hands, excluding the African-American figure. By the end of the run, the product line was somewhat confused, since the Adventure Team premise was also being offered with the new 90s body, in sets such as Secret of the Mummy's Tomb, Danger of the Depths and Search for the Yeti.
The first two sets of releases (Timeless Collection I and II) consisted of four offerings from FAO Schwarz, Toys "R" Us, KayBee Toys, and Target. The contents of the store exclusive sets was determined in part by the market the particular store served, so price-wise the spread was Target, Toys, KayBee then FAO on the high end. These releases brought together figure and a complete set of related accessories that were for the most part never offered in a single package in their original 1960s versions, but would have been offered as figure/carded accessories. Some sets were available with African-American