Pilot Dress Uniform
The Action Pilot Dress Uniform (7803) makes GI Joe an Air Force Captain. Despite the glorious history of the USAF, when I was a kid it made me think of Major Nelson from I Dream of Jeannie.
The dress uniform was a also available as a set of three tough to find small cards, 7804, 7805, & 7806. Images of small cards courtesy of Vectis Auctions Ltd.
Above, note the slit pocket on the back of the dress pants. The dress shirt, left, features a single pointed pocket on the breast. Don't mistake it for a Sailor fatigue shirt. Below, a close up of the wings and bars that came with the Dress Uniform. Below, a mystery variation from the collection of Jeff Dilbert. Found with a group of early salesman's samples, this pilot dress uniform has oak leaves instead of the usual bars. I know of no other example of this rarity, so it is hard to say that this is definitely a Hasbro prototype, but the provenance is very good. Does anyone else out there have one, or any information on it? If you do, contact me!
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There has been a suggestion that the oak leaves on the figure below may have been taken off the oak leaf clusters on actual military medals and added to the uniform. It's an interesting question whether this was done by a kid as an early customization, or by designers looking for a quick scale stand-in until the bars were produced.