World of G.I. Joe

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This Shop-Rite piece from 1976 is another wishbook image that burned right into my brain.


I managed to con my folks into Bulletman and the Capture Copter (purchased at Shop-Rite no less) that year. I was really sad to not see Joe in the catalog next year.

For more Fashion Mockery and 70's toy love visit us at Plaid Stallions.com


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[MIB41]

Love it! Yeah, GI Joe definitely took a knee long before anyone saw it coming. As much as I like the Super Joe line today, I was stunned to see it replace the old 12 inch line when this happened. It was really a shocker that only magnified my hate (at that moment) for the 3 3/4 inch nation. It was another nail in the coffin for my favorite scaled figures. The 8 and 12 inch lines were dying out.

[rykerw1701]

i was growing out of the action figure stage as the 12 inch Joe was dying out. But I distinctly remember being in a Ames department store in about 1981 and seeing the abomination, as least to me, that one of my beloved toy lines of my childhood had become. And by then Mego's where pretty much regulated to the close out bin. Welcome to adolescence!

[MIB41]

i was growing out of the action figure stage as the 12 inch Joe was dying out. But I distinctly remember being in a Ames department store in about 1981 and seeing the abomination, as least to me, that one of my beloved toy lines of my childhood had become. And by then Mego's where pretty much regulated to the close out bin. Welcome to adolescence!

Understand completely. By the time, GI Joe had become a tiny painted army man (in my book) I was a junior in high school so my venture into that realm was well behind me. But I could definitely look at those lines and see that a new generation was speaking for this license and I had no place in it. So it was easy to move on and close that chapter.

[acrovader]

This might of been a couple years before my time. I grew up with the RAH G.I. Joe. However, I wonder why the Intruder always looked like it belonged to another toy line. It almost looks like a precursor to Masters of Universe figures..

[rykerw1701]

This might of been a couple years before my time. I grew up with the RAH G.I. Joe. However, I wonder why the Intruder always looked like it belonged to another toy line. It almost looks like a precursor to Masters of Universe figures..

The 12 inch GI Joe adversaries were always an odd lot. They were undersized (Pygmy Gorilla, Hammerhead Shark, White Tiger, etc.) and often out of proportion. I think they were viewed as more an accessory than a nemesis Joe could battle. Having said that, I always thought the Intruders in particular looked weird. Budget reasons, I guess.

[PNGwynne]

^My understanding, from a discussion on The Trenches 1/6 GI Joe forum, is that Hasbro had planned to downsize Joe to 10" (my guess is due to the oil embargo) and developed the Intruders as foes in the new scale. This idea was scrapped--possibly to use up old stock?--but the Intruders were released anyway.

1976 was the last gasp for 12" domestic GI Joe; the much smaller SuperJoe line followed in '77-'78. I have to admit I love the Bulletman & Mike Power figures.

The Intruders make decent foes for Big Jim considering their size.

[Werewolf]

I really like the RAH GI JOES.

[VintageJoe70]

I am a big Adventure Team collector, but I did love the ARAH line...I collected pretty much everything from it and I loved the artwork on the cards and boxes...it's hard to believe mib and moc stuff has surpassed StarWars prices as far as value today...a lot of it anyway...

[palitoy]

I was 11 when RAH came out, so I had and enjoyed both lines. The comic had a lot to do with me getting into the toys, the cartoon show drove me away but I was also getting into that age.

[Werewolf]

I really liked that many of the RAH Joes came with pets. Mutt and Junkyard, Snake Eyes and Timber, Shipwreck and Polly and Spirit and Freedom. I just thought that was super cool.

I think the Sunbow cartoon is a lot of fun and Cobra Commander is one of the top iconic cartoon villains. The cartoon did kinda jump the shark with Cobra La and I never cared for Serpentor. But before that it was great.

[SKotK]

I was trying to figure out what "RAH" and "ARAH" was, and then it finally hit me!

The only 12" Joe I had was the astronaut and space capsule handed down from my uncle...which caused a bit of a stink with my parents due to its perceived "doll" status, but somehow I was allowed to keep it.

The later RAH Joes were a hard sell for me. I was still big into Star Wars when they came out, though I was reaching that age where I was slowing down on the toy front. My best friend jumped into it with both feet, but I really wasn't much interested - it wasn't Star Wars. Then he loaned me his GI Joe comic books (early issues 3-15 or so), and I read them...and was totally hooked. Those stories were so good, especially the Springfield town story and the relationship between Kwinn and Snake-Eyes. So of course I wanted to pick up the figures then, and I did. I never got much into the cartoon, though, because it was such a disappointment after the story level of the early comic books. Once the comics started to get more cartoonish too I finally dropped out...right around issue 50 I guess.

I haven't had much of an urge to revisit either the 12" or RAH line since, other than picking up an original H.I.S.S. tank (those were always cool) and a handful of later figures that were designed straight out of the early comic book stories. But I still have some great memories of both my space capsule and the incredible quality of the Hasbro toys and vehicles that came out during the time I was into them.

--SKot

[VintageJoe70]

I really liked that many of the RAH Joes came with pets. Mutt and Junkyard, Snake Eyes and Timber, Shipwreck and Polly and Spirit and Freedom. I just thought that was super cool.

I think the Sunbow cartoon is a lot of fun and Cobra Commander is one of the top iconic cartoon villains. The cartoon did kinda jump the shark with Cobra La and I never cared for Serpentor. But before that it was great.

I actually really liked those too...let's not forget Law & Order, oooh and Crocmaster was a cool one....you just felt like you were getting more for your money with those figures...the later issue figures that came with spring loaded gadgets or all the weapons were on plastic trees that you had to remove were such a major letdown from the earlier figures...

[tmthor]

I really liked that vehicles came with their drivers some of the Cobra drivers were some of the coolest figures

[apes3978]

That tank in the ad looks really cool... I never knew about that piece until now... I'm sure it costs a pretty penny nowadays, but it'd be a cool accessory for A/Js and the like...