GI Joe turned 50

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.

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.

Here are some of the cars

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

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.

Dawg

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.

Tojo72

I always like the scuba diver set with the mask and air tanks

 

 

I also have the pilot

 

 

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 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.

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?

Rex

(Semper Fi, brother Dawg)

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).

Anyhow, thanks again and have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

Well, how about some photos?

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.

Thanks for sharing and have a nice day

Paweł

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!

I always like the scuba diver set with the mask and air tanks

Well, how about some photos?

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.

Thanks for sharing and have a nice day

Paweł