GI Joes Short-Fuze - Takin’ You Back to 1982

Posted on August 28th, 2008 by Cole

Another one of the cooler 1982 version of the GI Joes was Short-Fuze. This was one of the very first GI Joes to hit the market and unfortunately, I never owned this one. I can remember countless times trying to trade a neighborhood friend out of GI Joes Short-Fuze with every offer I could muster. No luck.

Why did they call this GI Joes original Short-Fuze? Well, I guess for several reasons. Short-Fuze was renowned amongst the other GI Joes to literally have a short fuse, or a bad temper. But, being that this GI Joes mortar-man was an explosives and mortar expert, his temper was forgiveable.

GI Joes Short-Fuze was great with figuring mortar azimuths. I guess a GI Joe would have to be if he were going to be the mortar expert. As all of you 11C Army types know, mortar work requires a bit of math and a good memory for formulas and figures. Short-Fuze was known to be expert at it.

The GI Joes comic book genius, Larry Hama, states on Short-Fuze’s file card that he is a “fastidious dresser who maintains an unusually high level of personal discipline”. I’ve known a few real-world mortar folks, and I don’t recall any of them being “fastidious dressers”. I guess the GI Joes universe varies slightly from ours.

GI Joes Short-Fuze Fact

Short-Fuze came with three different versions of the mortar. This was odd when it came to Hasbro’s GI Joes in the 1982 time period because of the cost of remaking the molds for the figures.

Type 1 GI Joes mortar had a closed thin handle.
The type 2 GI Joes mortar had an open thin handle.
The type 3 GI Joes mortar had 3 had an open thicker handle.

The type 1 and 2 GI Joes Short-Fuze mortars came with the straight arm action figure and the type 3 came with the swivel arm version.

The mint condition GI Joes Short Fuze on the card values at about $125 depending on the mortar variation. The mint and loose Short-Fuze action figure goes for around $15.