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Research and Ideation (or Sketching)
Duke was available through a mail-in offer in 1983. In 1984, Duke was released as a carded figure with part of series 3. Duke was an incredibly economical figure for Hasbro, using very few new parts. The memo above was written, signed and dated 4/4/83 by Wayne Luther (W.L.). Here, luther indicated that Duke would come with 1982 Stalker's M-32 "Pulverizer" sub-machine gun, 1983 Airborne's assault pack, the standard G.I.JOE helmet given to most 1982 G.I.JOES, and new binoculars.
Duke's figure was economical too, sharing 1983 Doc's waist, arms and back, 1983 Gung-Ho's lower legs, and 1983 Major Bludd's upper legs. Duke's only original parts are his head and chest. The illustration above shows Ron Rudat's work to create a memorable head sculpt. Note the handwriting in the top-left corner: "Master of the Universe Char." From this we can extrapolate that Duke's head sculpt was inspired by none other than He-Man.
Ron Rudat spent quite a bit of time developing Duke's new torso too. The three illustrations above show Ron's work to create a memorable torso. The first and second were drawn in pencil and the third one was inked. Note the third one's resemblance to 1986 Hawk: G.I.JOE Commander, in both the torso and the head.
The Duke art above was signed and dated 1/31/83 by Ron Rudat, and witnessed by Wayne Luther. This is not Duke's final design, as it does not feature his signature bandolier and the binoculars have not been finalized.
The undated Duke art above features Duke's final design, with his signature bandolier and binoculars.
Color Studies
With approval of the refined concept art, it was time to begin exploring color options. Ron would make a stack of black and white copies of the refined concept art and then add color. This was done by hand, and the designer chose the medium. Popular mediums included pen, markers, or color pencils. Ron preferred to work with markers. Many different color palettes would be created.
Above you see five color studies created by Rudat for Duke. At this point the design team would review color studies for several proposed characters, determining what they liked best for each individual character, but also keeping an eye on what worked best for the line as a whole. Oftentimes they would decide to share color palettes between characters to create visual cohesion for that years releases, and to cut costs on paint for that year.
Note: the color studies show preliminary binoculars.
Above you see five color studies created by Rudat for Duke. At this point the design team would review color studies for several proposed characters, determining what they liked best for each individual character, but also keeping an eye on what worked best for the line as a whole. Oftentimes they would decide to share color palettes between characters to create visual cohesion for that years releases, and to cut costs on paint for that year.
Note: the color studies show preliminary binoculars.
Unadorned Package Art
The painting above was created by Coleman, Lipuma, Segal & Morrill, Inc. (CLS&M) with art direction by Ed Morrill and illustration by Hector Garrido. This scan is from a Kodak photo print that was distributed to licensees.
Production: 1984 Duke: First Sergeant
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Includes: binoculars, helmet, assault pack, M-32 sub-machine gun, American flag sticker (1983 mail-order version only)
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