My first and only GI JOE (1964?) didn’t last long, the elastic band that held his arms in place connected thru his chest cavity broke in a few months. Never got another one. But my neighbors older brothers, Both GIs and Marines, and my cousin (Navy)who went to Vietnam over the next couple of years were my heroes, not a doll.
When I was a little kid, I thought that stuff was great. One year, for Christmas, I got the Mercury space capsule and the spacesuit. I was in 7 year old heaven!
RIP.
My Dad, a WWII Navy veteran, call them dolls for boys. Needless to say, I never had nor wanted one.
You would do well to read to the end.
“life-like hair” and “kung-fu grip”
RIP. Sorry to say as a child I never had a G.I. Joe of my own as we were too poor. But I did have friends who did. A great toy from a past patriotic time before the “anti war” crowd.
But I was into airplanes (nails and three pieces of wood, one for fuselage and the other two for the wings and elevators). I used to play “bombs over Tokoyo” in the sand pile with my friends. Mom always made me clean the rocks out of the sand pile at the end of the day which was no problem since I liked to throw rocks anyway.
Say, didn’t Bagdad Bob send us a picture of him being held after being captured during the Iraqi War?
Here is the award winning stop action animation Ode to G.I. Joe, specifically the 12 inch versions. The animator got some extremely rare Joes from Hasbro for the shoot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYI3MPVYyco