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Why do you collect GI JOE?

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  • Werewolf
    Inhuman
    • Jul 14, 2003
    • 14616

    Why do you collect GI JOE?

    I thought this would be fun. Talking about the experiences and fun times about what drew people to GI JOE toys.

    For me, the AT stuff sorta flew under my radar. I first really noticed GI JOE toys with the Super Joe line. I liked the sci-fi look of it and thought the monsters and aliens were really cool. I actually thought Terron was sorta cute and kinda wanted one. But it still wasn't enough for me to take the leap and bug my parents for the toys.

    That changed with the RAH figures. They were small like my SW figures and there were you know finally girls in the line. That was the hook I needed. Then everything sorta clicked when I saw the first 82 commercial. The cartoon was then the lightbulb moment where I was like okay I totally get it. This is awesome. I do have to admit as much as I liked my Scarlett figure I was disappointed she lacked the long ponytail of the animation and comic. So I was super impressed when Baroness was released. I think that was the first time I'd seen molded long hair on an action figure. Another thing I really liked was so many figures like Snake Eyes, Mutt and Shipwreck came with pets. That was big draw for me.

    It was actually my fondness for RAH that gave me an appreciation of all the previous GI JOE lines.

    This commercial is what brought me to GI JOE.

    You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...
  • palitoy
    live. laugh. lisa needs braces
    • Jun 16, 2001
    • 59204

    #2
    This viewmaster set probably has a lot to do with it, I got it when i was 3.

    Places to find PlaidStallions online: https://linktr.ee/Plaidstallions

    Buy Toy-Ventures Magazine here:
    http://www.plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop

    Comment

    • Werewolf
      Inhuman
      • Jul 14, 2003
      • 14616

      #3
      Originally posted by palitoy
      This viewmaster set probably has a lot to do with it, I got it when i was 3.
      That's neat! I really dig those old viewmaster reels. They put so much effort into them.
      You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...

      Comment

      • PNGwynne
        Master of Fowl Play
        • Jun 5, 2008
        • 19445

        #4
        Because I wanted dolls I could dress and accessorize. Interestingly, I came to Joe and Big Jim collecting as an adult. I was an all-Mego kid.
        WANTED: Dick Grayson SI trousers; gray AJ Mustang horse; vintage RC Batman (Bruce Wayne) head; minty Wolfman tights; mint Black Knight sword; minty Launcelot boots; Lion Rock (pale) Dracula & Mummy heads; Lion Rock Franky squared boots; Wayne Foundation blue furniture; Flash Gordon/Ming (10") unbroken holsters; CHiPs gloved arms; POTA T2 tan body; CTVT/vintage Friar Tuck robes, BBP TZ Burgess Meredith glasses.

        Comment

        • powersthatbe
          Persistent Member
          • Sep 27, 2010
          • 1959

          #5
          I never liked GI Joe at first I had Big Jim( my name is Jim so there's that) I had BulletMan and Mike Power(who was a fill in for a never gotten Steve Austin). My cousin in Detroit had a lot of joes that I played with like the mummy set and my older brother had the ATV and some joes but was never my thing. I did like the comic record sets a lot. So my GI JOE was ARAH. when they started advertising the comic books on TV and figures came out I was hooked. When GIJOE issue 11 came out, I never read a comic book over and over again like that one as I was so excited for new characters arriving. It was just an awesome comic and toy universe.

          Comment

          • rche
            channeling Bob Wills
            • Mar 26, 2008
            • 7383

            #6
            While I never had Joes at my house as a kid, my cousins had a bunch of them and were very much into the AT era. By the time I was really aware of what was going on in the toy world, GI Joe had passed through the shrunken stage of SuperJoe and disappeared. When RAH Joes started showing up at the stores and taking shelf space away from my beloved Star Wars toys, I was doubly affronted by the fact that they had shrunk, they were not fuzzy, and they all had pre-assigned names. So I have never really taken up the mantel of the smaller Joes, tho I do hold the big guys on the muscle bodies in high regard.

            Comment

            • thunderbolt
              Hi Ernie!!!
              • Feb 15, 2004
              • 34211

              #7
              Well we do share a first name. From my dim memories I remember having a Action Sailor early on. then into the Adventure Team. Now I do mostly 64 military stuff and more and more getting hooked on the Adventures of line from 69
              You must try to generate happiness within yourself. If you aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace. -Ernie Banks

              Comment

              • Makernaut
                Persistent Member
                • Jul 22, 2015
                • 1546

                #8
                The Adventure Team era was in full swing when I was starting school and GI JOE stuff was in all of the stores and catalogs. Also, there was still GI JOE 1969 stuff on the shelf in some places and neighborhood kids had hand-me-down 1964 figures and accessories that they got from big brothers, cousins, and uncles. I collect because I was surrounded by GI JOE at an age when it was ultra-appealing to me and it's always going to be something I dig. I collect because there has been some great re-issues in the last 20 years (the Walmart Adventure Team release of 2007...$10 a figure!....got me into collecting) and it's not too hard to pick up some original pieces for not too much scratch if you play the long game. For me, collecting GI JOE is a "Goldilocks Zone" where there is a little bit of a chase that makes it fun, but not so difficult as to get discouraged. I'm about 12 plus years along in getting figures or pieces here and there (hot streaks and cooling offs) and it's been a fun and satisfying adventure (as it were).

                Comment

                • sprytel
                  Talkative Member
                  • Jun 26, 2009
                  • 6539

                  #9
                  Originally posted by thunderbolt
                  Well we do share a first name.
                  You first name is GI ?

                  Sorry. I'll show myself out...

                  Comment

                  • palitoy
                    live. laugh. lisa needs braces
                    • Jun 16, 2001
                    • 59204

                    #10
                    Originally posted by sprytel
                    You first name is GI ?

                    Sorry. I'll show myself out...
                    Places to find PlaidStallions online: https://linktr.ee/Plaidstallions

                    Buy Toy-Ventures Magazine here:
                    http://www.plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop

                    Comment

                    • Werewolf
                      Inhuman
                      • Jul 14, 2003
                      • 14616

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Makernaut
                      I collect because there has been some great re-issues in the last 20 years (the Walmart Adventure Team release of 2007...$10 a figure!....got me into collecting)
                      I bought those too. Super nice and the price was insane. Seriously, we will never see that kind of price point for a figure like that at retail ever again.
                      You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...

                      Comment

                      • PNGwynne
                        Master of Fowl Play
                        • Jun 5, 2008
                        • 19445

                        #12
                        Those were fantastic, as were Meijer's. Using up 40th overstock was genius and reminiscent of vintage Mego's frugal inventiveness.
                        WANTED: Dick Grayson SI trousers; gray AJ Mustang horse; vintage RC Batman (Bruce Wayne) head; minty Wolfman tights; mint Black Knight sword; minty Launcelot boots; Lion Rock (pale) Dracula & Mummy heads; Lion Rock Franky squared boots; Wayne Foundation blue furniture; Flash Gordon/Ming (10") unbroken holsters; CHiPs gloved arms; POTA T2 tan body; CTVT/vintage Friar Tuck robes, BBP TZ Burgess Meredith glasses.

                        Comment

                        • rykerw1701
                          Persistent Member
                          • Aug 27, 2007
                          • 1026

                          #13
                          AT GI Joe was the first toy I can really remember playing with along with other kids. A neighbor, who's parents had a few bucks, had a good assortment of them, along with the various vehicles. I was hooked. For years at Christmas I'd paw through the Century Housewares catalog (A Western NY catalog store, long since defunct) and rank which GI Joe items I wanted. It was hell trying to rank them, I wanted all of it. Anyway, all my stuff was put away when aged out of it, and when I was in my 30's and my mother told me to get whatever I wanted out of my old closet, I recovered them and started collecting the missing pieces. Then I started getting the things I wanted but never got. Now it's stuff that I think looks fun. It's never been a collecting priority, but every year one or two things things gets added into the collection. The nostalgia factor for GI Joe and Mego is far greater than any other toy I had growing up.

                          Comment

                          • drquest
                            ~~/\~~\o/~~/\~~Shark!
                            • Apr 17, 2012
                            • 3742

                            #14
                            I only had Adventure Team as a kid, and not many of those, but did have the Troubleshooter vehicle. I guess it's just nostalgia mostly. All those years spent looking at the Wishbooks and seeing all of the cool stuff they made.

                            I started collecting the vintage stuff in the early 90's, probably 90-91 I guess and finding stuff wasn't easy. There was the Toy Shop "magazine" and I subscribed of course. Those came out every two weeks and I would dive into that quickly when it arrived to see what was for sale. I was traveling a lot in those days for work and would stop at everything little antique shop I could find and would find Joes from time to time, so even then it was the thrill of the hunt too.
                            Last edited by drquest; Mar 3, '20, 8:21 PM.
                            Danny(Drquest)
                            Captain Action HQ
                            Retro shirts and stuff
                            More retro shirts
                            Stuff For Sale

                            Comment

                            • Hedji
                              Citizen of Gotham
                              • Nov 17, 2012
                              • 7246

                              #15
                              My aunt had the space capsule and mercury astronaut in her house. It was pretty mesmerizing to a kid who grew up only with Star Wars and Mego.

                              Later, when RAH hit, my buddy had them, and so I needed them.

                              I *choke* sold them off in the 90s, and really regret it.

                              Comment

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