Who Got You Started?

[Crimson Twins]

Something had to trigger it for you. Or maybe you just bought some one day and they really stuck with you. For me, I have two instances.

 

When I was maybe 4 years old. Yeah 4. It was Chritmas of 82, or maybe 83. Anyway. I remember waking up and going out to the tree. I was the first one up, naturally. I was all alone, and after waiting for, oh, about two minutes, I ripped into the first package I saw. It was the original VAMP in all its glory. My grandmother had gone all out to buy me up everything that she could that had a GIJOE logo on it. I had never owned a Joe toy before that day. I ended up with the Mobat, the Vamp, a bunch of figures, and I think I even got the HISS that day. That was the beginning of a great world for me. They took a back burner for a few years while I was big into Transformers, but I got back to my Joes just in time for the really great RAH stuff that we all loved.

 

Then, last year, I came home from another deployment, and my wife had just casually picked up some Joes that were on sale at Family Dollar. She knew I liked toys, and was essentially a big kid. Not to mention, I'm a real life G.I. Joe. She thought that was cute. Joes for a Joe. I was a bit put off by them at first, but I could never tell my wife. The O-rings were gone. They just didn't look right. But, suddenly, I noticed Joes in the stores again. It's like they just appeared that day. They had probably been there forever, but I didn't notice them until I actually had some. The rest is history. So, I guess it's been a little over a year that I've been back in the game. I'm playing major catch up, but it's fun. I thank my grandma and my wife for setting me up for some great memories.

 

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[Draven79]

Cool wife you have there CT! Make sure you get back to her safely man!

Now onto the post, great topic btw! Anyway I remember back in 83 I was 4 and my oldest brother got me 4 Joes for X-mas. Rock N Roll, Grunt, Breaker and Short Fuse. Then the next year in March on my B Day it all really started with the Mobat, Recondo, Spirit, Mutt, Destro, Cobra Commander and few Cobra grunts. Oh and Zartan. So by that point I was hooked and stayed hooked till I was i'd say 11 or 12. Then I did what most little boys do! lol But by the time I was 16 and Star Wars round two started I went crazy with them and then shortly after that old RAH Joes at Flea Marts were a big look out for me!

Draven

[Three Storms]

I just saw the Joes in a store one day in 1982, and decided that I really liked them, so my mom bought two of them (Flash and Breaker).

[jasonh]

First Joe I ever got was Stalker. I was big itno Star Wars at the time, but my friend had some Joe's. I thought it was cool that their knees could bend (I was 9 years old.) I've been hooked ever since. And Stalker is still one of my favorite Joe's.

[midnight doctor]

First Joe I ever got was Stalker. I was big itno Star Wars at the time, but my friend had some Joe's. I thought it was cool that their knees could bend (I was 9 years old.) I've been hooked ever since. And Stalker is still one of my favorite Joe's.

My first Joe was Stalker as well.At the time I was into anything StarWars.It was the summer of 1982 and like every summer i was put on a plane from sunny Florida(by my father)After that to North Carolina to spend the summer with my family.I remember seeing the commercials for the GiJoe comic book but was not aware there were toys to go along with it.One day while visiting my mother and older brother Jeff my brother had a surprise for me.He had used his allowance to buy himself and me matching Stalker figures.From that moment on I was hooked.

The second figure I bought was Flash who for years remained one of my favorite Joes.After Flash came Breaker and Snake Eyes.Then came Grunt and Short Fuze.For my birthday I received Zap,Rock N Roll,Scarlett,Cobra,and Cobra Officer.I also got the Ram,Jump,and MMS.

I am to this day a proud Joe fan.

Thanks bro.

[Snow_Serpent]

My first exposure to GI Joe came from my next door neighbor when he brought over Issue #24 of the Marvel series. I read it and was hooked. That same day I made my mom take me down to the same drug store he got his copy at. I never missed another issue until it ended at #155.

 

I don't really remember my first exposure to the toys, however.

[ransomz]

I saw the first wave of RAH in the toy store a couple of times and thought they looked cool. I went ahead and got Gung-Ho. I think he was my first. I can really remeber the faint smell of the newly opened figure. I thought they just blew all the other figs away with the detailing and posability. Of course I was like 6 and didn't know what those words meant but I knew they were better and cooler than anything I had seen.

[DOCHOLIDAY56]

A Aunt of mine---(she had kids that are old enough to be my parents)

 

She had saved all of her sons 12 inch JOES---and before '82 i had basically grew up with them ----(she was like a grandmother to me)

 

AND MY MOTHER------I was in MEIJERS lokking for my BIRTHDAY PRESENT

and i came across the NEW JOE ACTION FIGURE---

 

-I was already into STAR WARS---HEAVYILY---

 

My mom said ---those are like your AUNT GUYS ONLY SMALLER --LIKE STAR WARS!!!!!!

 

I seen BREAKER and just LOVED HIS ACCESSORIES---

 

BREAKER POPPED MY CHERRY--------THEN FLASH----THEN ROCK N ROLL

 

THEN SNAKE EYES--------I'VE BEEN A G.I. JOE WHORE--SINCE

 

Only between 1994 and 2001 did i take a break------thanks to my EX-WIFE-----DURING THAT TIME I COULDNT EVEN HAVE MY OLD COLLECTION IN THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!

 

 

And in 2001 i seen what was to be a NEWLY INSPIRED OBSESSION!!!!!

 

SNAKE EYES STORM SHADOW 2 PACK-------ITS BEEN CRAZY EVER SINCE!!!!!

 

GOOD THREAD!!!!!!

 

DOC

[Lady Jaye]

I think my very first GI JOE that I remember getting was Destro, way back when. He just stood out to me at Serivice Merchendise. And so I got him. I also ended up getting the Cobra Officer and Soldeir. But then that was it for a while. Transformers was coming out, and I fell for them. Hell I still remember the commercial of the cars coming down the mountain and then transforming!!!! I went nuts.

 

Anyhow I got a few Joes here and there, like Mutt, Shipwreck and Blowtorch at Mervyns, and others. But I think it was when I got the Ferret and the Crimson Guard at Toys R Us that I really got into them!!!!! I remember going to Wards afterwards for a bight to eat, and just sitting at the table looking at my new stuff, I loved it. From then on it was GI JOE all the way!!!

 

At least until the dark times, before the re-issues!!!

[marlinsfan81]

My first Joes were given to me in 1986. My dads company had a Christmas party and Santa's gift to me was Tomax and Xamot. I've been hooked every since then. I remember thinking how the blew away any other toy I had. They were just so poseable and had such cool accesories. They were just so much better than the Star Wars and He-Man figures I had. I collected them up until the end of the line and pretty much forgot about them. Then I remember back in the late 90's I saw the TRU releases and was hooked again.

[Brian Langlois]

I wasn't that into Joe as a kid. I had a few but He-Man and Transformers were my passions. I did watch the cartoon show regularly but it was just a warm up to Transformesr. I remember having trouble keeping all the characters straight. What I mostly liked about Joe were the vehicles. There were some that I always wanted, like the Conquest X-30, but I never got them. My real collecting began with the ARAH reissue of the Conquest. I had money now and could buy what I wanted. I started with that then picked up a few others. When JVC started I bought the Duke/Cobra Commander pack. It just snowballed from there and I am now pretty much a completist. I am also running out of room for them. Oh well.

[Tazzzman]

MY first joe was Duke from my mom, ever since then at my birthdays and christmas I would always get more and one year I even got the offical gijoe cake with HAWK and recently we remodled our kitchen and I found his face that goes one the cake @loll@. One of my highlights was the mobile command center we were going to be at my Godmothers house for christmas and they let me open up a present before we left. I natually picked the biggest box lol and to my surprise was the MCC! Other highlights include a friday night trip to TRU and looking through endless gijoes! I got a lot of them also from my brother as well. Very good thread.

[sbarrett4]

I just saw the Joes in a store one day in 1982, and decided that I really liked them, so my mom bought two of them (Flash and Breaker).

Same here. I think it was Birthday money. I planned to buy some Star Wars figures but saw these cool army guys with lots of weapons. I bought Short-fuse and Breaker and never looked back.

[Violentfix]

My Father loved GI Joes. I sometimes think that he would buy them for me so that he could play with them himself. But My Mom hated me playing with a Military toy. So my Dad would buy Joes for me on his way home from work and sneak them to me without my Mom knowing. After a few years my Mom let up and it was just in time for a big 1986 Christmas with a Terror Drome, Tomahawk and Night Raven. A lot of the other vehicles from the earlier years, I never had because of my mom, but I did get a lot of the staples like the HISS and the Hydrofoil.

[Prowl]

I saw the Revenge of Cobra when I was a kid and begged my mom to get me some Joes - my first Joe ever was Duke and then Tripwire and Flash

[DPrime]

I must have been four or five... Anyway, the first GI Joes I had were a straight-arm Cobra trooper, the HISS, and Hawk with his missile launcher. I don't remember which I got first, but my uncle gave me the HISS (and I think the Trooper as well) for Christmas, and I got Hawk and the missile launcher for a birthday from my best friend at the time. I was a BIT too young for them at the time, and was into Star Wars still, but later on I really started getting into the Joes.

[zweiman]

i had a 12" joe when i was little and one day my mom took me to the store (ben franklin) and said they had gotten new gi joes in. she took me to the toy dept. and i saw the huge aisle of joes and asked me if i was interested in getting one. i picked out flash, and the rest (as they say) is history.

[cobrasaboteur]

BREAKER POPPED MY CHERRY--------THEN FLASH----THEN ROCK N ROLL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

anyway... it was definitely my older brother. He only had about 20 joes, but it got me interested enough to build my own collection.

 

-saboteur

[Skull Leader]

The people who got me into Joes and toy collecting for that matter are my good friends Metatron 1050 and JJlecaros. Kinda sucks for me though... since I now collect toys, I don't have money for Halo 2 and all the other great games that came out this season.

[Crimson Twins]

it was just in time for a big 1986 Christmas with a Terror Drome, Tomahawk and Night Raven.

Now that is a huge Christmas. I had a similar one just as I was starting to lose interest in the line. I got a Night Raven, a Skystriker, a Mamba, and a Maggot all on the same Christmas. After that, I was hooked again.

 

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