Come back with me if you will in the way back machine. The year is 1986 and im a boy of 5 years of age. It is any random saturday morning and i just finished watching cartoons. My mother says its time to get ready to run errands with her. My aunt and her daughter are going to pick us up to go to the local mall. My older sister(11) and me fight over something random. Such is life when you are a poor kid living in a suburb of Chicago in the 80s.
When i say we were poor i mean we were poor. We lived in a one bedroom apartment until my sister and I were old enough to live on our own. The thing was i never knew i was poor at all. Every time we went shopping my mom (a very hard working woman)would give me $2 and my aunt and older cousin would each give me a buck thus i was bankrolled!
The only destination that mattered to me was a small toy store in our shopping mall called Circus World. It had four small isles of merch but it was always overflowing with new items for a childs imagination. I would spend what felt like hours internally debating over what I would spend my "hard earned" monies on. In reality my mom probably gave me 15 minutes.
Back then there where only 3 real choices for boys action figures. Masters of the Universe, G.I.Joe, and Transformers. There where others that came and went so fast a kid could forget it ever existed. With a mighty 4 bucks in my batman wallet I would rule Transformers out without a sweat. Too rich for my blood and I didnt have time to debate. It was alright between MotU and G.I. Joe I always had plenty of options. I could go on about both forever but MotU is not what this blog is about.
Enter G.I. Joe....
Wow that cartoon hit me like a mack truck. The Joes and Cobra would go back and fourth with stories that had some pretty heavy content. This is a world where a terrorist cell called Cobra was hell bent on taking over. When I say hell bent I mean it. From mind control, creating clones, impersonating high ranking officials, using animals and even starting a rock band Cobra tried it all. The only thing in there way was a highly trained special forces unit named G.I. Joe.
The Joes were comprised of the most elite operatives in the military. They had a guy for everything sometimes two. You need a tracker? Spirits your man. You need someone in disguise Cover Girl and Lady Jaye got you covered. You need to bring in the big guns Road Block will literally do it. Hell he can pull double duty and cook too. Snake Eyes was a badass commando who turned into a ninja over night when the slot was needed.
What the best part for me was that Cobra was just as well equipped. They didnt just have a megalomaniac leader and generic troops. Well they did have that but they had so much more. Cobra was stacked to the gills with ruthless Soldiers of Fortune. When I say ruthless I mean most of these guys where never on the same page. The Cobra guys would backstab each other as much as possible. Plans that were sure fire would fall apart because Destro's ego would be hurt due to something Zartan did. Hell Cobra Commander was his own worst enemy usually rushing great plans or pushing the wrong button.
The world had every thing a kid needed. Soldiers, cool vehicles, ninja, sci-fi weaponary, complicated plots,messages about right and wrong and hell there was some stuff a kid didnt need too. A smattering of romance, chicks getting punched, awkward moments about poor kids and abuse. You can go on forever but im sure there is something for everyone in G.I. Joe.
While the show was busy whipping me into a frenzy lets not forget about the commercials. In between episodes your senses didnt get a breather. They would showcase kids having the time of there life playing with the same figures and vehicles from the show. I would day dream about battling Cobra day and night. I couldnt concentrate on anything but murdering terrorists throughout my day. Then I discovered the figures on the shelf of my Circus World. My 5 year old life would change forever.
The store stocked every figure when I first discovered them in the boys section and my brain exploded. I mean from Snake Eyes to Cobra Trooper they had em all. I had my pick and what would my initial G.I. Joe be? Duke the leader? Destro the weapons dealer? Flint? How about(ready for this) The Dreadnok.....Ripper? Thats how I know in retrospect that I was overwhelmed. What kid picks Ripper? Zartan would have made sense. They had both Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow and I chose the Dreadnok lackey. He wasnt even 2nd in command. Hell any of the Joes would have been a better pick.
Even as a kid I must have been some sort of masochist. If I remember correctly some how I wanted the guys who I was sure would be gone the next time I came. Some how Ripper was that in demand in my head. I would never see that Snake Eyes again and it took me several years to get the original Storm Shadow.
I would pick and choose my horde of soldiers as if they really were being drafted for a never ending war. I was always looking for new places to wage my private war. I would always have a Joe or two in my pockets just in case a skirmish was needed at the park or at a restaurant.
When it comes to the comics I only got a issue here or there. I liked it but it wasnt readily available to me.
Dont get me wrong I loved what I got my grubby little hands on but the cartoon was my obsession as a kid.
Fast forward to 2013 and as a 31 year old man I stumble across the G.I. Joe the Complete comic collection online. I looked around for a decent price and pulled the trigger.
I couldnt wait for the package of Vol.1 of both the Marvel and IDW runs. After one issue of the Marvel run I couldnt wipe the smile from my face. It all came back to me. I needed more and fast.
After that I was watching the original and new Renegade Joe series on Netflix. I couldnt believe how well the old series held up. Soon after my wife and I visited my Mom in the suburbs where I used to live. I asked her where my old Joes were and its been all Joe all the time since then.
The next logical (its my blog I get to say whats logical) step was to look for figures online and gauge prices. After a week or so of recon I made my first purchase of what must have been someones MOC (mint on card) collection. These werent the originals but what appears to be the 25th anniversary reissues. Ive collected random other classic remakes over the years but never after the line was already several waves in.
I didnt know where to begin. With Masters you buy He-Man and Skeletor and go from there. This was a whole different animal. These figures were also alot cheaper and my cart filled up with so many favourites.
Fast forward a week later and after I opened my first figure(Duke I did it right this time). I knew I couldnt open them all in one sitting. This nostalgia wave had to be chronicled.
Here I am starting a G.I. Joe blog about my adult adventures in Joe and COBRA!
Welcome to Cobra: Soldiers of Fortune!
Awesome! Welcome back to GI Joe!
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