Tonight, we will jump back thirty years. Realizing that some of you were even born in 1964, it was still a fairly significant moment in time for Action Figures.
Yup! That is when it all started and regardless of what a lot of us think of the HASBRO of the 1990's and first decade of the new century; at that time... they were significant.
1964 saw the release of four toy soldiers that would become a toy legend; Action Soldier, Action Marine, Action Sailor and Action Pilot. Not to mention a whole lot of gear to outfit them with. The initial shipments were sold out in a matter of days. Soon though, GI JOE would have entire aisles in some stores.
1964 was significant for me as well. I was in a place called Guam. My family was stationed there between 1963 and 1965. A few months after we arrived there; President Kennedy was killed and the torch that had been passed to a new generation seemed to fade. I remember that day like it was yesterday. One of my most vivid memories from Guam was watching B-52s take off for Vietnam.
1964 was significant for me as well. I was in a place called Guam. My family was stationed there between 1963 and 1965. A few months after we arrived there; President Kennedy was killed and the torch that had been passed to a new generation seemed to fade. I remember that day like it was yesterday. One of my most vivid memories from Guam was watching B-52s take off for Vietnam.
It would be 1965 before I would have my first GI Joe. We returned to the states from Guam in 1965 and were stationed in Washington DC. It was in DC that I got my first GI Joe - Action Sailor (go figure...Navy Brat). Living in Maryland, close to the DC line, my mother would take me about once a week to a place called GEM (Government Employees Merchandise) and let me get a carded item for my Joe. It was only at Christmas time that I would get a window box set like this one, though I believe mine was the Marine version (Mom was a Marine, go figure!).
I even had one of these at one point, but for a long time, I kept Joe's gear in a cardboard box. Unlike some kids on the block, I had one Joe. We didn't have a whole lot of money, so I really didn't have much gear. Never seemed to mind though. Things were just a lot simpler in 1965.
Never had any vehicles, certainly didn't have one of these, though I would have liked to have had one. $15 is sure a good price compared to the $150 I paid in 1990 to get my hands on a mint one. Now people are paying even more than that for Jeeps that Hasbro released in 2000. It is an amazing thing to me. Someone said in the blog last night that they feared that when they were gone, no one would want this stuff. I don't know. It may be true, but even forty some years later, people are still paying premium prices to get their hands on this original stuff, even when it is in only passible condition. I kind of think that there will be an online market for action figures for sometime to come and it is even possible that if things improve economically, we might see the return of a cheap figure to the retail market. That is kind of a stretch as so many merchandisers follow an "In and out" strategy these days on just about everything. I think the days of GI Joe Aisles may be gone. Though I was surprised to find that there is still a military aisle at the local TRU. It is all little stuff that none of us wants, but it is there all the same. I remember saying to my wife one day in 1992, "you know, if I were a company like Hasbro, I think this would be a good time to put out a 12" soldier and I would give him a Desert Storm outfit." A few weeks later, Duke was sitting on the shelves of my local Target and I bought three of them. Just a coincidence I'm sure and as I was collecting vintage at the time, not a completely left field statement for me to make. It is funny how those things go though sometimes.
I only have one Joe in my collection that I owned when I was a kid and he is not my first, he was one of my last, a fuzz head. But he has been with me now for about forty years. It is hard to tell what will happen in the future as far as the hobby goes. A lot of things cycle. I sort of believe that as long as there is a Hasbro, there will always be a GI Joe in some sort of form. I don't know if we will ever see our 12 inch buddies again though.
Well, next time we will look back at DML and some of the early Dragon stuff, which will conclude my "Look Back" week. Until then, have a good one!
I only have one Joe in my collection that I owned when I was a kid and he is not my first, he was one of my last, a fuzz head. But he has been with me now for about forty years. It is hard to tell what will happen in the future as far as the hobby goes. A lot of things cycle. I sort of believe that as long as there is a Hasbro, there will always be a GI Joe in some sort of form. I don't know if we will ever see our 12 inch buddies again though.
Well, next time we will look back at DML and some of the early Dragon stuff, which will conclude my "Look Back" week. Until then, have a good one!
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