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G.I. Joe
by Hasbro
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Read memories from others. |
This memory was added on: December 25, 2004
Greetings Joe fans! This is a follow-up to my earlier post. As I mentioned in my first post my dad was quite the customizer. I'll never forget one of my birthdays - March 1968. Unwrapping the familiar shaped box I was looking at the "basic" (not window) Aussie Jungle Fighter box. I removed the lid, and pulled back the tissue paper that was the last cover for an always exciting "custom" addition to our squad of 1/6 scale figures! My dad had created a French Foreign Legionaire! Years later he explained his work - He had used a head sculpt from a broken Marx Stoney Smith and affixed it to a G.I. Joe body that was battle-damaged. The head was re-painted in great detail. Using his engineering talents he replaced the crappy Joe hands with a pair of much more "player-friendly" hands from a busted up Captain Action. Dad did some dye-work and weathering using Jungle Fighter shorts and an Ike-type jacket from the SOTW Hasbro British Commando for main uniform componants. Aussie socks and short boots were added with no modifications. To make sure this soldier was ready for sand-storms, a white scarf taken from my sister's abundant supply of Barbie items covered up the seam from mounting the Marx head to the Hasbro body. He then took a Stoney Smith garrison cap, painted the body white and the bill black, so the legionaire kepi looked authentic. This soldier was loaded for long range commando missions ~ The figure carried the Hasbro Sten sub-machine gun with a replacement scale sling, a dyed backpack that was loaded with TNT sticks, a brown Hasbro field phone was slung over one shoulder, a Joe TNT detonator box was in one hand, a handmade haversack was slung over the figure's other shoulder, and dad fashioned web gear as he often did for his custom figures. A few really cool touches were handmade scale binoculars, a wood and metal rifle with a bayonet and scale sling, a pistol and holster - the holster being sewn from uniform scraps, and he even attached a lanyard to the pistol. His final touch although "stock" was a weapon used in every desert mission - The Hasbro trench / knuckle knife. This was my favorite figure to place in my buddie's G.I. Joe desert jeep whenever we played our backyard version of "The Rat Patrol". Captain Action's Phantom set was my favorite from the Ideal series, and the Phantom was always ready to assist the allies. The Phantom working with my French soldier and the allied commando team would defeat the Germans when we took our Joes to the beach on the shores of Lake Michigan back home in Indiana. Many years later after all was lost or given away and I was somewhat older (dad's "new" enterprise was building HO train dioramas with us), I had the absolute pleasure of meeting probably Joe's biggest fan ~ Mr. Mark Cole of Indianapolis. Mark made all kinds of custom Joes, and I bought a number of his figures directly from him and from a good friend of Mark's who lives near me in Illinois. If you ever wonder what it would have been like at Hasbro if they made Joes for adult collectors in the sixties check out Mark's site. You'll love it! He even posted the pages from the Christmas catalogs we used to drool over as little tikes making out our G.I. Joe wish lists for Santa. Drop Mark a line as he loves "talking Joes" with fellow fans. As kids growing up in the sixties our favorite toys were Joes and Captain Actions. When you got over half a dozen of us together we played out battle scenes and stories with well over 100 figures! If you were a G.I. Joe fanatic as a kid I would love to hear about your adventures. Send me an email, and pictures if you have any! As they used to say in the commercials we watched on Saturday AM ~ Go Joe! The commercials along with the "Andy & George" story-lines in DC comics always had our group always anxious to add more troops to our squads! We never had enough of those awesome wood Joe lockers to stash it all! Merry Christmas!
Rick Hill
1962
This memory was added on: December 24, 2004
With some time on my hands a few days before Christmas, I found myself in a comic book store known for their expansive selection. Wandering the aisles I stumbled across a Sgt. Rock graphic novel ~ Too cool! Took me back to 1967 when I got my first "Joes" for Christmas. What a great time we had as kids. We could pick up the awesome DC Sgt Rock comic for just 12 cents (never liked the drawing treatment of Sgt. Fury), watched Combat, The Rat Patrol, Green Hornet, Batman, and about 8 of us kids would have huge battles with our Joes and Capt. Actions. Every birthday, Christmas, or special treat like when we got good grades consisted of Joe or CA toys. Tons of detailed goodies. Between the kids on my block we had tons of everything Hasbro & Ideal manufactured. We had the best play battles! We saw the classic movies like The Green Berets, The Dirty Dozen, Kelly's Heroes, and the 007 flicks which created more ideas for our scenarios. We would use Capt. Action, Action Boy, and the superhero sets from Ideal like Batman, Robin, Capt. America, Spiderman, Green Hornet, and the Phantom to assist the allied Joes consisting of fully equipped British Commandos, Aussie Jungle Fighters, French Resistance Troops, Russians, and US soldiers to defeat the very cool Ideal Dr. Evil (remember his deluxe lab set!?) who would lead the Japanese and German Soldiers in our imaginative battles where good always defeated evil. My dad was and is extremely artistic. He used to make custom figures almost 40 years ago! One of my favorites was his German sniper. Dad's custom figures would always arrive as gifts on special days. I remember tearing the wrapping paper of an aquanaut box the Christmas of 68. Removing the lid & pulling back tissue paper revealed an awesome German sniper. Dad had started with the Hasbro German, and then went to work for many hours after I feel asleep at night. I guess his intricate customizing was a type of therapy for him as dad was a workaholic. The helmet was redone w/ chicken wire, twigs, leather strap, and repainted. His rifle was not a G43 Like "Dragon" currently manufactures, but rather a re-worked sniper rifle w/ scope from the CA Phantom set. Potato masher grenades were hand-made & ultra realistic, the tunic, trousers, and back-pack were dyed & weathered, and a set of customized binoculars w/ leather strap rounded out the set. I remember many hours positioning my "Kraut sniper" just so in the trees to pick off allied forces on the move. Many other custom figures arrived on special days, and I'll share those memories soon. Does anyone remember the the color print ad Hasbro ran where there is a man and boy pictured by a super-detailed large-scale diorama, and the caption is "Great fun for father & son!"? My dad saw that add, and made me one! As a kid I thought it was an extremely limited edition item from Hasbro that dad purchased on one of his business trips. He let me believe he bought it at the Hasbro plant while on a business trip until I was a teenager. The kids on my block had hours upons hours of fun with that diorama. I would love to hear from anyone that was into G.I. Joes when he was a military toy and Captain Action. Send childhood memories of the absolute best toys ever invented to my email address if you care to. If you have any pictures, I would love to see them too! Stay tuned fans .. Same Bat-Time .. Same Bat-Channel! Merry Christmas! It's almost time to play Santa and set up the gifts for my kids!
Rick Hill
1962
This memory was added on: December 14, 2004
Me and my freinds shot our Joes up with BB guns. Now I have to pay gobbs of money to get them all back. It's a shame kids don't play with action figures anymore.
Gary
1970
This memory was added on: December 13, 2004
GI Joe--- pre-1970, he was a dedicated US serviceman, with dual enlistments in the US Army and US Navy... then suddenly he was backed by the Action Team... and then we no longer knew where the money to support his missions was coming from...
W
1964
This memory was added on: December 1, 2004
Any one remember the Sea Wolf Sub?
Micah
1967
This memory was added on: November 17, 2004
i remember rubbing that fuzzy hair on my cheek as a kid....Also remember a record storybook set I had with the cheesy 1960's music
alex
1969
This memory was added on: October 23, 2004
It was also the accumulation of other memories and events of the time period that added to the experience with the Joe's.
I can often remember Walter Cronkite nightly showing the images of helicopters, howitzers, bamboo huts on the T.V. as my family sat at the dinner table. Not to mention, Time or Life magazine showing the famous napalm strike on a young girl or even cages with rats that were put over prisoners heads.
Yes, you knew even then as a 6 - 8 year old that Joe was facing some pretty heavy shit when you set up base camp in the back yard. Thanks to John Wayne and the Green Beret movie, I now had an additional array of boobie traps for Joe to navigate through. I can remember frequently my Green Beret Joe stepping into a snare(long string) only to be pulled up by his feet upside down into a tree. Only imagining him slamming into the wall of spikes. Or even digging pits with punji spikes. Ya, unlike most of my neighbors Joes, mine all returned from the "Nam" and are still with me today enjoying their retirement in a curios case.
Joe even went "western" or sometimes "medievel" when I broke out my Marx Johnny West gear or Viking equipment. Joe on a horse with a broad-sword and winged helmet. Now thats baaaad!
Even eight ropes of danger and the deep sea adventures at our local pool kept Joe busy underwater for many hours(or at least as long as I could hold my breathe).
Finally, my brothers Joes were some of the original "right stuff" test pilots. His Joes suited up in the "Free-Fall" parachute atire and were launched into the atmosphere from our rooftop. The parachute actually opened and broke their fall........sometimes!
Lee
1960
This memory was added on: October 23, 2004
If your interested in seeing the surviving Joes I mentioned above ---- just email me and I will send you a picture of my collection. (Joes, toy soldiers, hot wheels)
go - joe
1960
This memory was added on: September 16, 2004
My friend had the Japanese one and we flung it around the back yard every day. I saw one in a collectors magazine a few years ago and was shocked at the price. I wonder if he kept it. I haven't seen him in over 30 years. I had the wooden foot locker and the scuba set also. G.I. Joe ruled!
Phil Honaker
1962
This memory was added on: August 26, 2004
O.K.! I'm REALLY stupid! I had several G.I. Joes with the "lifelike hair" and "lifelike beard". I had a couple without the "hair". I also had one with the Kung-Fu Grip. I remember having a parachute set that came with a big black rubber spider and plastic web. Joe used to beat the crap out of the spider (most of the time!). Had a cool Jeep that pulled a gun of some kind...Howitzer? My Joes would come in off patrol and happen upon my sister's Barbies. Oh, what fun they all had in Barbie's camper! (Ken always got shot or beat up real bad). What ever happened to my G.I. Joes and accessories? Well, I ended up selling all of the figures for .25 at a yardsale!!!! I thought it was a cool idea to "make all that money" at the time. I'd give anything to have that stuff back! What a dummie!
Brian
1967
This memory was added on: August 20, 2004
We didn't have much money when I was a kid. The only toy I wanted was GI JOE. His hands never could grab that pistol very good. It kind of just hung on his finger which kind of bummed me out. Then came the kung fu grip. What an advancement in technology!. Rubber hands. Was there actually a kung fu suit? Cant remember. I bought the space capsule from a freinds niegbour with my allowance money ($2.00 a week). No accesories, but it was cool. And one year I took all my Christmas money, rode my bike to the mall and bought the Headquarters with the searchlight on top, that I never had batteries for. I did get the mummy's tomb for Christmas, and a big orange, hard plastic backpack that folded out. I think it was just to carry the Joes around, but, I cant remember. I also had Mike Powers, Atomic Man. Gi joes version of The Six Million Dollar Man. I was a card holding member of the Adventure Team. I have a school picture wearing my medallion and my soup-bowl haircut with pride.
Brad
1964
This memory was added on: August 9, 2004
G i Joe, there was another good memory. I am into mechanical things, so my faves were the Pullstring talking Joes. I had 2 of them. My first was I believe 1975. It was the figure with the dog tag in the chest, you know the one. I challenge anyone to find them in mint condition. Mine just disappeared one day. No kidding. That was one I missed. Then there was the one that came out in 1976. That was wen the had skinny arms and big torsos. I got it from my friend Jay. He was missing his arm and I had my dad fix him so he talked. You may recognize the pull string in the shoulder. I don't know what that was trying to simulate, but oh well. That thing was demolished no thanks to me. Where are they today.
Larry G
1971
This memory was added on: July 20, 2004
old pube head...what a tool Joe was..I remember the day quite well...strappin' M-80's to his candyass with a baggy full of diesel fuel...what a friggin' mess when that thing went off! Holy cow!!!!!
marko
1966
This memory was added on: July 11, 2004
I remember using G.I. Joe as a boyfriend to Barbie. He was a lot better than Ken. Ken had a plastic head and plastic hair and G.I. Joe at least had a fuzz head and beard. He actually had moving joints to bend him to sit. Ken was all stiff and couldn't bend at all.
Janice Bowers
1962
This memory was added on: July 3, 2004
I used to have a big pile of Joes, almost all with kung-fu grip, and almost all of them missing their fingers. The curve of the KFG hands made them perfect for sliding down pieces of dental floss which I had strung all over my room for just that purpose, and the friction would saw the fingers off in short order, sending Joe plummeting to a painful death, dashed aganst the SST and Lego wreckage strewn about my floor.
Good times.
Dave
1966
This memory was added on: June 21, 2004
When I was 12, my brother finally gave me his entire GI Joe AT collection...I had most all of the cool pieces..tan jeep, MSV, ATV, etc...Course, I ended up destroying 99% of everything..As kids do...It was many years later..the 1990's in fact..that I started re-collecting GI JOe..Much time and money later, I have thankfully found almost all of my favorite sets again..Either in box or MIB...My most prized is a Mint in sealed box Capture Copter...Thank God Hasbro brought him back...
Matt
1968
This memory was added on: April 10, 2004
Although I had several GI Joes assessories, I was nt as into it as many friends were. I remember being given a talking GI Joe for my birthday when I was 6. The string you pulled was color coded and you used that determine what you wanted him to say. I didn't know this and thought he was broken because he kept repeating himself and saying, "I have a tough assignment" for you. Even though I was promised he would be returned te next day for a new one I still laid on the floor and cried. (What a brat.) Than my mother, studying the directions figured out he wasn't broken after all. Funny, butthe only saying I remember was that first one. My birthday was on Sunday that year, Mother's Day. I do remember getting caught trying to sneak my new GI Joe to Sunday school and church.
I wanted The Mummies Tomb for Christmas of '72 and even asked the Santa at the mall for it. Although he promised, I didn't get it. I wonder why?
Such great memories!
**Does anyone know of a site similar to these for Johnny West/Best of the West/Marx Toys?
John
1965
This memory was added on: February 7, 2004
I had several GI Joe's, but my absolute favorite was the Apollo astronaut GI Joe. I even had the Apollo space capsule and spent hours with it and Major Matt Mason. I took the capsule to my school for 1st grade show and tell, but some kid knocked it to the floor and shattered it. I never really forgave him, even after we were in high school. He died of stomach cancer before he turned 21, so I guess he really picked up some bad karma when he broke my GI Joe space capsule.
NitneLiun
1962
This memory was added on: January 20, 2004
Kuryakin speaks the truth--he is my brother. Because of my love of Super 8mm filmmaking, we are fortunate to have documented the destruction of many of our Joes and their equipment, to relive again & again.
It's time to get that stuff transferred to DVD!
Jimmy Hapgood
1961
This memory was added on: January 19, 2004
Poor Joe; the scrapes we got him into. One of our older Joes fell victim to an unfortunate cave-in of a fort we had built for them out of cinder block slabs; as if that wasn't enough, when we pulled his tangled body out of the rubble we decided he was the one who had to be dragged by the neck along a dirt road while tied to my bike by a hangman's noose(my dad had showed us how to tie one--don't ask...). The resulting spasms, cartwheels and contortions kinda looked like old Joe had "St. Vitus' Dance" disease. Then there was a fuzz head who eventually started to go bald, so we figured we'd finish the job with a motorized grinding wheel in our utility room; I guess you could say things got a little out of hand: the result was Joe losing most of his face. So, we slit what was left of his mouth open, buried him up to his neck in the back yard, put a firecracker in his mouth and lit it to see what would happen. The firecracker just did a kind of "banana peel" thing and remained stuck in his mouth. He was a lot luckier than the Mego figure we wrapped in a slab of bologna so that our dog would try and tear him up. Some of our Joes became smokers, too, with those little self-smoking cigarettes you used to get in gumball machines. One of our fuzz heads final days were spent spray painted silver as an evil robot. He did go out in a blaze of glory, though, in an 8mm film my brother made that had a mad scientists lab go up in flames with him in it. Nothing left but a flesh colored tangle of stumpy limbs and charred wires. The rest of 'em went out in another film where the Mobile Support Unit went up in zinc/sulfur explosion (mixed it up with one of those cool chemistry sets you can't get anymore, geez...). I'll never forget hitting the switch to set off the blast and seeing the bubble of the front cab completely blasted off in a huge greenish white explosion. Joe had his clothes completely burned off. And his plastic helmet melted onto his head. Nothing left to do but let the flames finish the job...
Kuryakin
1963
This memory was added on: January 7, 2004
Oh the poor things that happened to the Joes. My brother and his friends all brought one Joe and the S.W.A.T. van. They put all their joes in there with plenty of firecrackers. Doused it with gas, set it on fire and rolled it down a hill. I can still see the bouncing burning and exploding Joes. A couple of years later, my brother invented the G.I. Joe jetpack. He taped two D class model rocket engines to his back and set it off. He went about 20 feet into the air turned over and blasted into the driveway at full thrust. There were pieces of him all over the yard.
Gozer
1968
This memory was added on: January 1, 2004
My brother used to have G.I. Joe and the Bionic Man and, being the only boy in a house of three kids, my sister and I would blackmail him into playing Barbies with us before we would play any other games with him that day. My sis got G.I. Joe for her Barbie's boyfriend and my Barbie ended up with the Bionic Man. Unfortunately, the Bionic Man's leg was always falling off. Hmm...seems like my sister snowed us both.
Mare
1967
This memory was added on: December 25, 2003
My gi joe came on Christmas 1965,still have him, no telling how many playing hours he has, took him too school a few times, took him hunting with my dad, church etc, he is still right here on my desk, next to my computor, Im 45 years old, pretty sick uh ?
jesse
1958
This memory was added on: November 18, 2003
Okay, this is a little messed up: my friends and I had a "concentration"-type camp set up in one friend's unfinished basement. Essentially it was a POW camp where the various GI Joes got tortured. Some got rub-based burns on their face after having it pressed against a moving bicycle wheel. Another would be attached to a string by the neck, then be whipped around one of those foundation poles until they were hanged. I can't remember the other methods of torture, however I'm sure they were as equally inventive.
Brad M.
1967
This memory was added on: October 28, 2003
I agree with HeyJoe.
This memory was added on: October 25, 2003
O.K.......all male insecurity issues aside here...even for any of those f***ed-up dysfunctional macho fathers from back then......I'll say one thing about G.I. Joe.....this was a TRUE toy of ALL toys. Not only a trailblazer....but cool beyond belief. I had several, and if I had any sons, they would have some also. My father was a U.S. Marine, and he approved of G.I. Joe. So, I laugh at all of those alcoholic construction worker fathers that made their poor sons feel like crap for wanting a Joe figure. Hopefully they're all dead by now, and this world is moving along in a "progressive" manner, as it should.
HeyJoe
1964
This memory was added on: October 4, 2003
poor joe.
This memory was added on: October 2, 2003
Joe was such a tool...after a few brews (or 10)I remember playin' GI Joe Cliffdiver at a gravel pit with a hundred foot freakin' drop...we used to strap about 50 rockets with inter-connected fuses to his naked self (no Joe speedoes available..sorry Joe)and then place him on a metal pole...sometimes he never made it off the launch pad and we had to scatter for our lives...but the best was when he actually got air...he usually never made it very far up but the drop was enough to finish him off...when we fished his carcas out of the pond his behind was a melted mess...we'd pee our pants in laughter!!
mike
1966
This memory was added on: October 1, 2003
I had the space capsule and space suit. I loved it, but I broke off one of the nozzels when I dropped it once. Thereafter it would sink in the tub. Actually, that was kind of fun too....
Stuart
1962
This memory was added on: September 26, 2003
I wanted one but of course it was a "doll" so that was out of the question. A friend of mine had lots of them, including the Man From Uncle guys. It was okay for me to play with "army men" -- you know the little plastic figures -- but a doll with clothes and everything just wans't going to fly in my house, not with my ol man.
robert
1955
This memory was added on: September 26, 2003
gi joe was not a doll, he was an "ACTION FIGURE". dad was mortified that i wanted the gi joe "doll", but didn't think anything of it when my girl cousins wanted to play with my trucks and cars. i guess he figured that HIS son was going to be a man, but if his neices decided to become lesbians, that was their business.
1967
This memory was added on: September 15, 2003
Okay, I had to admit that originally I wanted BIG JIM, but my Grandmother bought me a GIJOE pictured above on the page. I didn't know who it was, being the only child, I never had big brothers like some friends who grew up with them. It was 1971, I was in first grade when I recieved a GI JOE. What mad me confused was Mattel called their figure BIG JIM who was actually shorter than GI JOE, stupid huh? Well eventually I played mostly with GI JOE because he had more stuff for him, then years later... 1. more JOES 2. the Headquarters 3.the training tower (bit the dust) 4.the Jeep (with the canon and morse code signal light on the trailer) 5.the Mobile Support Vehicle (the light doesn't work) 6.The secret of the mummy's tomb set (the sticker are faded) 7. the helicopter (i'm missing one rubber tip for the three bladed propeller) 8. the sea view (sorry that's gone too!!!) 9. and the various set that are missing now.
but excluding the Talking commanders I have, the rest (otherwise mentioned that bit the dust) I have all my stuff in plastic tupperware crates. I loved to keep them out, but I hate dusting!!!
I miss those days, but I plann to get the scuba outfit and "eight ropes of Danger Set" i still have the octopus!!!
Larry
Larry
1965
This memory was added on: August 21, 2003
Never got into "boy dolls" thought they were "gay".Neither were any of my friends!
hugh gerection.
1963
This memory was added on: July 8, 2003
nice toy
john
1970
This memory was added on: July 3, 2003
What was amazing about G.I.Joe was the detail. They had military uniforms from every branch and every job. Remember the international series with the German, Japanese, French & British uniforms; even their faces were different! And all those tiny accessories: plasma bottles, morse code sets, cutlery, and every weapon imaginable. Later, all of this was fazed out as the focus moved from war to "adventure". The guns and uniforms were replaced with firemen, hang gliders and big game hunters. Personally I preferred the guerrillas to gorillas!
BJF
1959
This memory was added on: July 1, 2003
This classic went through so many incarnations -- talking Joe, real-hair Joe, astronaut Joe ... then those awful miniature versions in the 80s.
Glad to see the originals are being re-issued as collectors sets. They even have the original scar on the cheek!
My sister was always swiping mine to use for Barbie's boyfriend. Ken was a wimp by comparison.
Steve
1955
This memory was added on: June 10, 2003
SEEING THIS SITE REALLY BRINGS BACK OLD MERMORIES......WHAT I REMEMBER ABOUT G.I. JOE IS THAT MY DAD, WHO PASSED AWAY WHEN I WAS YOUNG BROUGHT ME JOES......I HAD SO MANY.....THE FUZZY FACES WHERE SO KOOL AND I SPENT MANY A DAY OUTSIDE PLAYING WITH MY G.I.JOE.........WE NEED MORE TOYS LIKE THIS TODAY.......LOOK WHAT WE HAVE NOW.......SPONGEBOB SQUARE PANTS......GIVE ME A BREAK
linus snider
1969
This memory was added on: May 26, 2003
In the early '70s, kids on the block would break the ice in each others home by asking,"Do you have GI-Joes? They would then inventory each others collections and share the adventures experienced with their hero on the land, sea and air. After a few years I collected around 40 of the painted & fuzzy headed figures. I had never bought a brand new GI-Joe until the reintroduction in the early 1990's. I was sorry to see the original GI-Joes discontinued, amazed to witness the return (Masterpiece/Timeless Collection). It was like seeing an old friend from the neighborhood after many years.
Bilko
1958
This memory was added on: May 20, 2003
I remember having the "Secret of the Mummy's Tomb" playset that's displayed. The set included three plastic gems (red, yellow & blue) & I recall convincing my gullible first-grade classmates that they were REAL. Barbie's wimp boyfriend Ken didn't stand a chance against GI Joe with the kung fu grip!
Ed
1961
This memory was added on: October 18, 2002
My cousins had the Kung-Fu Grip GI Joe. When my sister and I would go to visit them we would all go into the basement and play with their toys. For some reason GI Joe was usually undressed and it became a ritual for us to chase my sister with the naked GI Joe. My cousin Mike would say to his brother Mark, "Get the naked GI Joe!" And my sister would scream and run away as we chased her around the house. As a side note, I have an adult friend who as a boy decided GI Joe's anatomy was not accurate and so he sculpted Silly Putty genitals and stuck them on.
M. St-George
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