Sgt. Slaughter made the transition from real-world wrestler to comic book character when his likeness joined G.I. Joe. He was heavily featured in the animated series, while only occasionally appearing in the comic book. Sgt. Slaughter was also the real-world spokesman for G.I. Joe and voiced his own animated character. Most interesting was that although, at times, he played a villain in the ring, he was a heroic leader with a can-do attitude in the G.I. Joe Universe.
Toy History
His first figure was a 1985 mail-order promotion, available via Hasbro Direct. This particular figure would be offered on and off again from 1986 to 1989. The figure’s head, arms, waist and legs were then used to create the second version of him in 1986, as the driver of the ‘Triple-T’ (Tag Team Terminator) mini-tank. The third figure of Sgt. Slaughter was released in 1988 as the driver of the Warthog A.I.F.V. It was an entirely new sculpt, looking more combat-ready and less like a wrestler. It was also the first figure to have a removable hat. The entire 1985 figure was repainted in 1989 as the leader of his Slaughter’s Marauders sub-team, with a blue, brown, green and dark green color scheme. He never got another figure until 2006, when he was made an exclusive figure for the G.I. Joe collector’s convention of that year, made up of a head retooled from the 1988 version (though the hat was non-removable) and the body of the 1992 version of Gung-Ho. His most recent figures came in 2010 as the G.I. Joe exclusive for that year’s Comic-Con International. These were done in the style of the 25th Anniversary series, with one figure done in the 1985 version’s deco (which came with a microphone, whistle, baton and championship belt), and a variant based on the 1986 version (with new legs, the 25th Anniversary Tunnel Rat’s machine gun, the 25th Anniversary Snow Job’s pistol, and his baton). Both featured newer innovations in the figure construction in the form of jointed wrists, making it easier to hold weapons in certain poses.