It seems like most collectors are hitting up the modern style Joes at the retail level. That's cool, I would, too, but it's a "one-or none" thing for me. A big factor is the money supply, I don't/ shouldn't spend a ton. Unlike a lot of things that I can say "were-back-in-the-day," having a lot of cash to spend on toys wasn't one of those things. I had ample amount of free time, though.
Either way, when in 2007 I was seriously considering dropping ALL of my classic GIJoe collection to start collecting the "25th anniversary" figures. But I had to consider my "toy history." When it came to GIJoe, after it left the retail scene in 1994, there were still figures on the pegs and vehicles on the shevles in many stores. The stores sometimes seemed to take forever in clearing out their stock. Plus, the Street Fighter II line based on the classic Joes was out and about. So at that time, I was still out hunting Joes not only in the Goodwill and garage sales, but also at the retail level to see what was on sale!
It was a good time, I think I was still finding Joes here and there, but they starting disappearing later in '95 or so, and into '96 I started picking up Transformers Generation 2 stuff on clearance. I even bought a Sgt. Savage Grizzly SS-1 on sale...
Anyway I think I missed my Joes!
The '97/'98 Toys R Us exclusive were really awesome for me. I would walk from the tech. school a mile up to see what was in at the store (had no car, but had money for school and toys, go figure). I was loving it, classic vehicles I didn't have all available brand new. I bought quite a few of them. More the vehicles, than the figures, really.
These sat on the shelves in my neck of the woods into '99, but at this point I was working a job away from my toy collection, so I wouldn't have noticed what was going on most of this year in the toy world.
2000 hit, and ARAHC collection was out just about everywhere. I really liked these. More classic figures done up in similar "team" colors for the most part. And most had original accessories. Needless to say, I bought the figures but I was pick-n-choosy on these mostly. But as things went on I ended up buying most, and this was also the time I became more involved online. I think I jumped in on the old DDP comic forums in early 2001 like a part time job.
With the new re-issued figures from '97-'2002, I considered dropping all my original figures since I thought that the new ones would be better for play and display purposes. I never did, but I did trade off many more vintage figures at this time.
I did say, "NO," when it came to the 2002 "new-sculpt" figures. I bought one pack just to check out the figures, as they were the newest figures in several years. I wasn't impressed. So I made mine classic only.
I did end up with about 40-some figures from these years, however, and a ton of vehicles. Some purchases for the extra weapons, and some vehicle purchases mostly since I was influenced by what other people were showing what they got online.
Well, I was thinking a small force to work with would have been great, and the 25th line looked like it would have been a way for me to do this, but I'm sticking with my old stuff. It's me, it's what I've been doing. It's what I have. I can't afford 2 lines, which I would separate since they really are that different to me. And when most figure characters were simple format changes on the cheap, I feel like I already have these in some ways.
And it would have been too much more stuff to manage. I want to have stuff I have out so I can enjoy it. Rubber maids full of toys are not fun, take up space, and well, if I'm not using it, why do I have it?
After a death in the family, it's amazing how much stuff a person can accumulate. When I go out, I would rather anyone that knew me could say, or at least see, what I had important in life--like my GIJoe hobby! And instead of a pile of boxes full of toys, a person might see a single life-long collection of GIJoe stuff from the '80's. A little more personal statement, I guess.
One or none, is my collection statement, though. (not that I wouldn't be getting everything in multiples if I was very rich in a big house... no denying that.)
About HQ icebreaker
- icebreaker
- This is a very random bunch of thoughts based from my collecting of GIJOE: A real American hero figures and vehicles. Contained here are memories, experiences, recent thoughts, completely random thoughts, and other random things on top of that. While one company has made, and makes, our shared interests, we all add into that interest with our own creativity. You, the reader, will find many, many, excellent sites among the links to see what other GIJoe fans are doing, hit them up! For GIJOE stuff that is more random in topic, you'll find it here.