Vintage GI JOE's getting a new life - Part 1

[Myoldtoys]

I was born in the early 1970's and missed the GI JOE's from the 1960's. My brother is 4 years older than me though. So he was old enough to get 2 Adventure Team figures: Air Adventurer and the Talking Commander. These are some of the oldest toys I remember playing with (besides the Fisher Price little people, which I still have). At some point, I remember my Mother making my brother give me one of the figures. I think that coincided with us getting a outfit for each. I got the helicopter rescue and he got the dangerous mission outfit. A couple years later, I got a talking soldier and accessories at a second-hand store for $1. I also picked up the smoke jumper outfit from old stock at a hardware store. That was and is the extent of our combined GI JOE collection. I think about the movie Toy Story 3 when I see these guys. I was not age-appropriate when I played with these. They took a beating. I have kept them packed and never done much with them...just thinking that they would be too much effort to restore. Well...I'm in need of a project. So here is part 1 - restoring some vintage rifles.

Everything you see in white is plastic that I have cut and shaped to match pictures of the originals.









I ordered a bunch of repair parts for the figures. That will be part 2.

[PNGwynne]

That's terrific, very meticulous. Thanks for sharing.

[thunderbolt]

I get so many rifles with the ends broken off, this is perfect.

[sprytel]

I love your repair tips. You do excellent work.

[Myoldtoys]

I have 2 more carbines to fix. I am not sure which ones are Hasbro if any. They are marked Hong Kong but nothing else and they all look different. Different color plastic, one with wood grain, and one with a scope. I also repaired the black hunting rifle from the dangerous mission set. That was a fun one. I repaired the barrel using black plastic sprues from a model kit. I am also going to make slings for all of them.

[Myoldtoys]

I love your repair tips. You do excellent work.

Thank you very much. It was fun trying to match the blued finish on the M1. I like those challenges.

[Myoldtoys]

I get so many rifles with the ends broken off, this is perfect.

maybe I’ll start a hobby business repairing rifles. The barrel ends aren’t bad to do. The trigger and guard took some time.

[SpaceCrawler]

I believe virtually everything authentic Hasbro was marked "Hasbro". Stuff marked only "Hong Kong was very likely knock off.
Great work on the repairs.

Sean

[thunderbolt]

yeah rifles just marked Hong Kong with no Hasbro are knock offs.

[Myoldtoys]

I believe virtually everything authentic Hasbro was marked "Hasbro". Stuff marked only "Hong Kong was very likely knock off.
Great work on the repairs.

Sean

Thanks for the information. Then none of the carbines I have are Hasbro. I’m not too concerned. They are still fairly nice. The late model hunting rifle I have has no markings on it. I do know that is authentic since I had it since new.

[Myoldtoys]

Here is the hunting rifle I repaired too. I replaced the broken part of the barrel, the sight, and the rear ball that held the plastic sling. I used a pin with a black ball at the end for that. I used a pin vice to drill and reinforce all the barrel repairs.

[drquest]

Nice work for sure! Agreed with the above, it would say Hasbro.

I could probably supply you with a bunch of rifles to fix.

[Myoldtoys]

Nice work for sure! Agreed with the above, it would say Hasbro.

I could probably supply you with a bunch of rifles to fix.

If you can, send me a pic of what you have. I might consider doing some repairs.

[Myoldtoys]

Today’s “a-ha” moment: I took my daughter to Jo-Ann fabric. I wanted to get some elastic and metal rings to make some rifle slings. We walked into the elastics aisle...and there wasn’t any elastic narrower than 3/4”. Thank you COVID masks! Lol.

[PNGwynne]

^ I can sympathize, I had a difficult time finding 1/4" elastic to repair GI Joe AT backpack-accessories for similar reasons.