I came to collect and “play” with him a year or so later.
Over the years I used my newspaper money to buy the basic army figure, the Special Forces figure (Vietnam Green Beret), the Japanese WW2 figure, the British Commando WW2 figure, the French Resistance figure.
I own the deep sea diver costume, the Marine Dress Uniform, the Army MP uniform which has the collectible Ike Jacket.
The Astronaut.
I never could afford the Rat Patrol Jeep. Or the Bazooka. etc.
The 30 cal machine gun, radio set, I have.
Joe is a really important part of figure modeling.
GI Joe appeared in Poland in the early nineties, somebody imported a small quantity of the figures and was sellnig them for like a year, and then they disappeared again. For a short time the comics could also be had translated to Polish. It was all the GI Joe vs. Cobra variety. Some kids bought it, because it was unusual and colourful, but we didn’t really know back then what it was all about, or what exactly GI Joe means and what it does stand for. Haven’t seen those toys for a long time now.
That’s a good question, Pawel. The “GI” in GI Joe stands for “General Issue”, which is slang military jargon for all equipment that a soldier gets issued, including himself. Not sure where the “Joe” part came in, unless it was another part of the slang that came about from maybe a local of some country that the US was fighting in, who added the generic “Joe” to what they already knew about the US forces (but that’s just me guessing…). I’m pretty sure the term “GI Joe” started back during WWII, though. The term GI hasn’t been used by the US military in many, many years (I’m guessing since the early '60s). We now go by whatever branch we’re in - “Marine” for a Marine, “soldier” for Army, “airman” for Air Force, and “sailor” for Navy. I believe the Coast Guard members are called “Coasties” but I’m not sure if that’s a slang term or not. And, of course, each branch of service has slangy, slightly derogatory terms for the other branches… You should hear some of thise terms… It would make you blush and/or laugh!
Devil Dawg, thank you for taking time and writing about it! I have to tell you, since the nineties I did some research, my english is also a lot better than it used to be back then and now I have some idea what the GI Joe toys were supposed to represent. Just in the early nineties it was all abstraction for us, fresh out of socialism.
As for the derogatory terms - Hans von Hammer was good at using them, also had a few words to say about the Military Police, that was fun. We also have some die hard Marines on the forum too, not to mention the sailors. So I not so much heard but read those terms (let’s agree the rougher ones wouldn’t get through).
You know, for a Mizzen Monkey, that Gyrene, Devil Dawg ain’t half bad,from a Jarhead’s perspective, at least. (there’s four nicknames for a Marine, all in one place)
Does anyone know when GI Joe shrunk to half his height? I remember that GI Joe, the Ken doll, and Stony Mason toys were all about 12" tall in the sixties, with Stony being slightly taller and heavier, then Joe, and Ken the shortest and slimmest.
Then one day many years after I had grown up, I wondered over into the action figure aisle for some Masters of the Universe toys for my nephew,and Joe was only 6" tall !!
Was there a time that Joe was OOP, and he then came back in the new smaller size?
My three sons collected the GI Joe dolls. The dolls, the wooden foot lockers and other accessories all still packed in boxes in my barn. The boys don’t have room for them in their apartments but don’t want me to get rid of them. These are the originals larger GI Joe dolls, not the smaller ones which were issued in later years. I have idea what they are worth.
I was the second kid on the block to get GI Joe in early 1965.My dad bought me the black hair, red and blonde Joes along with the footlocker and tons of equipment. As soon as I was 13 or so I was foolish enough to sell all but the black hair Joe that I still have till this day. I always wanted the jeep but could not afford it back then. I managed to pick one up on Ebay some years back and it’s fairly complete including the trailer, light and gun for under $100. I also picked up a blonde Marine original 64 Joe and the original 64 footlocker. I have all the repro Joes that came out as a book format in the early 80’s . I remember living in Miami and going to a huge store called Masters where they had TONS of Joe stuff! Those where simpler days.
1980’s repro in book series
My original 64 Joes. The one on the left has been with me for 49 years! The boxes are repro but VERY well made
and the original 64 footlocker with original decal
The jeep, trailer and gun are packed in the garage. I will eventually display everything once I get a larger hobby room in the very near future.
My buddy was in the Air Force and he referred to the Navy guys as squids and Army guys as pickles. He said he had been called an air nut by a Marine along with other choice words. [:#]
The term GI dates to at least WWII, as does “Joe”, another term for the common soldier or guy. It was probably at that time that they were combined. “GI Joe” was a nickname in use at that time. I do recall reading about a carrier pigeon named GI Joe that was used by some cut off US unit in Europe to deliver messages and was preserved in some museum afterwards.
All that aside, I had one of the 12" figures as a kid also. A few outfit/weapon sets as well. I remember one of the neighbor kids had one of the cool ones- a pilot one, flight suit, helmet, etc. complete with parachute and harness. The figures were downsized to the 6" in the mid 80s associated with the TV cartoon series. I bought a couple of the new 21st Century Toys figures in the 90s when those came out, different WWII Paratroopers: 82nd Airborne Normandy, 101st Airborne Market/Garden, British Airborne Arnhem, and US 29th Division, Omaha Beach.
I had 3 or 4 12" figures and accessories when I was a kid. Still have well over a hundred of the smaller ones in a box right next to my original Star Wars figures in the Darth Vader display case. Which is next to the 2000 or so Hot Wheels cars in original packaging hanging on my garage walls. John
I had a couple G.I. Joe’s growing up. I even had the foot locker, jeep and the howitzer… which my sister & the cat hated equally! I guess those tiny little orange bullets might of packed a wallop!
On a side note, my Household-6 has quite a collection of those Dragon/Cyber Hobby battle Barbie’s, including Steiner (from Cross of Iron), FM E v Manstein, Wittmann, Wohl and others. I have a few, like a NYPD SWAT figure and a mini-R Lee Ermey.
I had the Jeep and trailer, Mercury capsule and astronaut, and a helicopter. I’m not sure whether the helicopter was “official” or not but since it was a very early one, I think that it probably was.
Thanks for the memories.I remember that the frogman suit was a real chore getting it on him,use to have to use talcum powder to slide it on. I liked the 12" joes,but I always liked the small plastic soldiers better they might ahave been 1/32 I can’t remember.Could make bigger scenes.I had German,Japanese,and American.I also had Fort Apache,cowboys,indians,wagons,and cannons. Man,I suppose that stuff would be worth a lot now Anthony
The original 64 Joe stuff has come down in price some but are still highly collectable specially if you have the boxes. I have seen original boxes sell for as much as $100 to $200 depending on the condition. They are hard to come by since most were thrown away after a child received America’s fighting man. Expect to pay a very high premium for a 5 Star Jeep, mint and complete in the box, cha ching…$$$$.
