Well, it has been a busy weekend and it has gone way too fast. I spent a portion of it working on stuff for Ft. Thomas and I spent part of it just relaxing. I hope everyone has had a good one (short as it might have been). I am going to spend this week doing some looking back I am going to start with an event that took place in 1994 and then we will jump even further back to 1964. I recently found some pictures from the 1994 Joe Convention that took place on the USS Intrepid in New York City. I was there and though there had been Joe Conventions a plenty by 1994, there had never been one like the one in 1994 - The Thirty Year Anniversary of GI Joe.
Two years earlier, Hasbro had returned to the 12" market with the special TARGET figure Duke. They were sold out in a matter of days. As we all remember, those of us who were in the G.I. Joe hobby at the time, he wasn't much of an action figure really, but we ate it up like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I think even Hasbro was surprised at his success and it wasn't long before a whole line of REAL AMERICAN HERO figures were lining the shelves at TRU, TARGET and WAL-MART.
Yes, they were really this bad and I was buying them right along with everyone else. Two years later I was standing on the deck of the Intrepid and it had been thirty-three years since I had last stood on that deck.
The 1994 convention was special for a couple of reasons; first it was the only place to get the Anniversary collection as it was not in the stores yet, it would soon be, but for the Joe crazed faithful, it was a magical moment when we had something that no one else had. Secondly, the convention was the place where Hasbro unveiled it's newest product, Sgt. Savage and the Screaming Eagles. That of course was to have greater significance for me later on when 21st released something called a Stuart Tank, but it was fairly significant for me the night of the banquet when we saw the new product and got to meet the product artist - Joe Kubert (the man behind Sgt. Rock). We also got to hold the original Concept GI Joe, which wasn't much to look at up close and personal, but it was carefully passed from one attendee to the next. And as exciting as all that was for me, nothing compared with being on the Intrepid. The last time I had stood on the deck of that ship was 1962, when my father had set me in the cockpit of an A-4 Skyhawk.
Well, I realize that this might not be an exciting blog for most, but I felt like a walk down memory lane this week and this seemed like as good a place as any to start.
Until next time, have a good one!
Well, I realize that this might not be an exciting blog for most, but I felt like a walk down memory lane this week and this seemed like as good a place as any to start.
Until next time, have a good one!
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