LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hasbro hopes to grab toy collectors by restoring the legendary "Kung-Fu grip" to some new GI Joe action figures, the toy company announced Wednesday.
Hasbro introduced the gimmick in 1974, to capitalize on the popularity of the martial arts craze of that era.
Kung-Fu grip was created by making the clenched hands of the soldier dolls out of soft rubber with individual fingers, which let the figures "squeeze" objects or the limbs of other toys.
The characteristic lasted only a few years before the dolls went out of production in 1978 because of an oil shortage that reduced the availability of plastic. When the dolls returned, they had the previous stiff, unyielding plastic hands.
Kung-Fu grip remained a part of the American pop-culture lexicon, inspiring a rock band name and turning up as a joking reference on "The Simpsons" and such movies as "Trading Places" and "Meet the Parents."
"The phrase, 'I've got you in my Kung-Fu grip!' was the touchstone of a generation of boys," said Derryl DePriest, a GI Joe marketing executive for Hasbro.
The first new 12-inch figure to get the Kung-Fu treatment is a scuba-diver whose rubber hand clenches a knife while the other fends off a plastic shark.