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Rocky Balboa First Comic Appearance in Gi joe?
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So, creed 3 just had a new trailer and it got me again thinking of sending his first comic appearance Gi joe order of battle 2 in for grading. (Would look great on my shelf) One think that kind of surprises me is the book costs under $4.  Surprised it's not worth more. Wonder why it never went up in price?   Anyone have this book graded and does cgc list it on the case that's it's the first rocky in comics?  Thinking of sending it and some marvel transformers comics in for my collection.

 

 

 

97527.jpg

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Short of that, this is probably his first trading card. It's in the 1977 Donruss "Saturday Night Fever" set of all places. While the original "Rocky" came out in late '76, Topps didn't make a "Rocky" set until 1979 which was when "Rocky II" hit theaters, so this card beats those by about 2 years.

 

rockysnf.jpg

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On 10/22/2022 at 8:46 AM, Toz said:

I see Sgt.Slaughter but you're gonna have to point out Rocky.Any other celebs in the team?

 

I see a guy with boxing gloves on, so , yeah.

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On 10/22/2022 at 9:03 AM, Bird said:

I see a guy with boxing gloves on, so , yeah.

Apparently marvel was negotiating to include the Rocky character in GI Joe, but hadn't signed the deal yet.  Herb Trimbe drew a character similar to but not Stallone's likeness and then the deal fell through and Marvel had to retract the idea that "Rocky" was in the comic going forward.  @Buzzettayou know about this stuff 10,000x more than me.  Is there more here to it?

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Hasbro thought they fully got the rocky rights and a toy was in the works and to promote it he showed up in order of battle 2.  Oops they didn't have full toy rights.  Next issue they added a "rocky is not joining gijoe" note to keep from getting sued.  

Then a few of the toys prototype got out!  Guess how much that toy is worth today!

 

As for others who joined gijoe in the toys and comics (more the toys)--

Sgt slaughter

The fridge

Street fighter heroes (ryu, ken, etc)

Street hawk (yes the guy with the bike!)

Matt tracker from mask in fact we find out mask is part of gijoe and venom is cobra!

 

Cobra

Street fighter bad guys

Roddy piper!

 

 

Rocky2 (1).webp

Edited by comicwatch
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On 10/22/2022 at 6:33 PM, comicwatch said:

Hasbro thought they fully got the rocky rights and a toy was in the works and to promote it he showed up in order of battle 2.  Oops they didn't have full toy rights.  Next issue they added a "rocky is not joining gijoe" note to keep from getting sued.  

Then a few of the toys prototype got out!  Guess how much that toy is worth today!

 

As for others who joined gijoe in the toys and comics (more the toys)--

Sgt slaughter

The fridge

Street fighter heroes (ryu, ken, etc)

Street hawk (yes the guy with the bike!)

Matt tracker from mask in fact we find out mask is part of gijoe and venom is cobra!

 

Cobra

Street fighter bad guys

Roddy piper!

 

 

Rocky2 (1).webp

Wait, so did they or didn't they name him in the comic? Because if they didn't, then what we have is someone who just looks like Rocky, but isn't Rocky.

As for why it never took off, Rocky isn't a comic character, and I've never been aware that there are hardcore Rocky collectors, so maybe that's why?

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The story I heard was that Hasbro was negotiating for Stallone's likeness rights for the Rocky figure, then Coleco swooped in and got them for their Rambo and the Force of Freedom toyline, which made the Rocky figure a no-go. 

Here're the Rocky page from Order of Battle #2, and the full-page retraction from #3-

rocky1.jpg.8e8d7ef7c7d35e42ba7075400defe456.jpgrocky2.jpg.06f2ee6c14ccba7515fb60f686b48725.jpg

 

 

 

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Yup he was fully named in the issue and is on the cover. They had to put that note next issue to avoid getting in trouble!  Ironic again a few of the rocky protypes still got out and are worth a bunch today! Good luck finding one. Bunch of handmade versions out from fans also!

 

 

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