Unlike Cobra characters, G.I. Joes nearly all had real names on their file cards in the back of the figure packaging. Great for reminding incognito, eh? The exception to the rule always being Snake Eyes and maybe one or two others. 

I digress.

This is Sneak Peek. According to his file card on the back of his figure packaging, his real name is Owen King and his birthplace is Bangor, Maine and his SN has a 77 in the middle of it (see below).

As it turns out, Owen King is a real person who was born in Bangor, Maine, in 1977 (77 noted above). He is the son of famed horror author Stephen King and was a diehard G.I. Joe fan as a kid. So much so that his dad worked with Hasbro to create a character in his son’s likeness. Yes, the face in the file card above is actually supposed to be an estimation of what Owen would look like as an adult using his appearance as a kid back in the 1980s. 

It doesn’t end there, Stephen King also helped Hasbro create a sort of sorcerer/magician character for the Cobra squad named Crystal Ball. He helped develop the look of the character, his name, his skills, and even write the text for the file card. But, unlike a Joe, the character’s real name did not appear on the file card because he didn’t have one. That we knew of. Although it does claim he has a mon from Bangor, Maine.

That has since changed.

The current line of G.I. Joe figures, known as G.I. Joe Classified, has rectified the naming situation on Crystal Ball with their recently announced remake of the figure, due out in April. Now, Crystal Ball’s real name is Richard King. Why Richard? Well, Stephen King would be way too obvious and Richard is the first name of one of King’s most famous pen names Richard Bachman, used to write The Running Man, Thinner, The Regulators, and four more, between 1977 and 2007, after which he retired the name completely, it would seem.

People have known Bachman’s true identity when it was figured out by astute readers in 1984. Even I knew it. And I was a kid who had never even read his books (I was nine years old), but was familiar with the covers from frequenting bookstores. I had heard the rumors. 

Likewise, now, people know that Crystal Ball and Sneak Peek are Stephen King creations and named for himself and his younger son.

Maybe it’s just me, but I find that pretty cool.