The driving force behind the concept was Don Levine, who in 1963 was creative director of Hasbro Toys. Stan Weston of Weston Merchandising Corp., a product development company, approached him with the idea of a military-based toy line that would include figures and many accessories. Stan Weston credits Larry Reiner, then head of the games division at Ideal Toys, with the notion of an articulated figure, based on conversations he had with Mr. Reiner regarding the concept. Sam Speers, then of Hasbro's product development team, is primarily credited with the specific 30 cm tall articulated figure design as produced by Hasbro; his name appears on the patent assigned on October 11, 1966. The all-important packaging graphics were sub-contracted to Thresher and Petrucci Art Studio, a company base