@ru1977 I swear the whole reason I collect now is making up for lost time. We had a house fire that wiped out a lot of the stuff I had growing up, too, so a lot of my "gotta have everything" is "well, most of my Joes were melted to scrap in 2001..."
Cross-sell always suckered me in. Catalogs from Sears and Montgomery Ward let me know what I was missing. Those fold up catalogs that came with Transformers? Gosh, those were the best. I would dream about some of those figures, and try to figure out how to transform them just based on the photos alone.
In my adulthood, my mom started to realize/theorize that I collect the way I do now because I didn't have all those things growing up. I did have plenty, honestly. She always said that I wasn't allowed to give away or sell my toys because technically they were hers since she paid for them! (That didn't stop her from forcing me to give away my Lady Jaye, Leatherneck, Tomax, and Xamot when I was visiting cousins in the Philippines.)
I am forever grateful to my parents for buying ANY and ALL of the toys I had as a kid, but definitely once I had my own income, it was for me to decide how to fill out my collection. Now more than ever, I've gone completist, mostly for FOMO, or more specifically, it's cheaper to buy now than to pass and want it when prices have gone up.
Growing up, I don't think there was anything I really coveted or got jealous of that I didn't have. I always enjoyed the figures I had, though I generally missed out on the most popular. I never had Duke, Snake Eyes, Optimus Prime, Hot Rod. So I definitely fulfilled childhood wishes in those regards.
Ah man, you're absolutely right about those catalogs. That was brilliant marketing.
I'm content to stick with first versions we got of Bludd, Zartan, Stalker, Breaker, Cover Girl, Rock & Roll, along with the modernised Storm Shadow and Jinx, and the various troop builders. The Classic versions I wanted were CoCo, Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Duke, Outback, Gung Ho, Firefly, Beach Head, Bazooka, and Recondo, so I'm guess I'm all done once CoCo shows up.
I guess I might be tempted by Flint, Shooter and Big Ben if they ever decide to do it, not sure yet.
As to the OP's choice, I'm with you on Overkill, gimme v2 all the way. I'll take an IG Destro too but generally, I'm mostly done by the time we get to '88. Slice and Dice are the only ninjas I'll bother with, the rest can all get in the bin.
Actually, a Python Patrol Bludd could be cool, as would Verona (Daina), and the modern era Shipwreck and Quick Kick who were a little more sensibly attired, I could go for them. But in most cases, I'm fine with something near enough to the OG versions.
@revox that brings up a good question, since I actually feel like I'm already kinda seeing the end of my collecting of the line. I have a half dozen figures I need to catch up on, then only three others I'm hoping they do. Those include the IG Destro and a retro Bludd. Then, I dunno... I guess whoever looks neat but that'll do me for nostalgia.
@ru1977 Yeah, if I try and think who's left that I'd still like, while there are a bunch of folks still to do, it feels like there's fewer ahead than behind.
Finish up the Dreadnoks: Monkeywrench, Thrasher, Zanzibar, Zanya, Heartwrencher
The OG 13 14: Short Fuze, Zap, Flash, Grand Slam, Steeler (the MOBAT would be my final vehicle, I think)
Assorted classic dudes not done yet: Airtight, Ripcord, Crazy Legs, Hit & Run, Repeater, Lifeline, Blowtorch, Footloose, Iceberg, Blizzard, Mercer, Mainframe (and he has to have that ridiculous big ass laptop!), IG Destro, Voltar, Darklon, Snake Eyes v3, Slice, Dice, Skullbuster, and SCARFACE!
Various vehicle dudes: Frostbite, Thunder, Heavy Metal, Ace, Cutter, Slip-Stream, Ghost Rider, Lift-Ticket, Crankcase, Toolbooth, Deep Six (the later version that, y'know, can actually move!)
The newbies: Skip, Jammer, Gaucho, Crimson Asp, Coils O'Doom, Vorona, Stiletto, Tombstone, Lt Claymoore, Bombshell/strike, Barrel Roll, Black Out, Cross Hair, Doc v2, Freestyle, Night Stalkers Officer and troops
So yeah, still quite a few I'd be happy to see but not the end of the world if most of them never make it bar finishing the OG 14.
@revox That's still a lot! Heh. Finishing the originals would be nice. I'd love if they did Scarface, and ninja Billy. Slice and Dice would definitely be tempting. I dunno, there's quite a few I'd be tempted by, and hope they do make. But yeah, I only have a few musts now.
Right. You don't need more girlfriends, just one that cherishes you for who you are. Come on, parents!
Also younger me would have probably spent just as much money, if not more, on more girlfriends as a teen/young adult.
If I make dumb decisions with my money and toys, even today, I can only imagine how much worse it would have been if I had more women to spend my money on when I was younger. Glad I only have one to spend my money on now. And the kids of course.
@revox I'd love to see them finish out the original baker's dozen. I was reading through the ancient "GI Joe Order of Battle" book with all the bios the other day and as I was flipping through I started out thinking that they've done an EXCELLENT job with the Marvel/Sunbow era so far, but then was also like: oh, we're missing more of the original crew than I realized, lots of room there.
I'll buy any classic character, really, but i think Airtight might be just a really fun figure for this line in particular. (He was Tiger Force, too, so they could double-dip with the sculpt!).
I do wonder how they'll handle characters who were always associated with vehicles going forward since a lot of those vehicles are too big at this scale to get made. On the other hand, given that the smaller vehicles seem to sell really well, I wonder what the size limit is for what is in the running or not. Crank Case and an AWE Striker has got to be smaller than the VAMP, right? I'd love to know which (if any) of the one-person or two seater vehicle are on the drawing board for release with a figure. Something like the Battle Bear with one of the arctic troops would be a hoot.
Right. You don't need more girlfriends, just one that cherishes you for who you are. Come on, parents!
Also younger me would have probably spent just as much money, if not more, on more girlfriends as a teen/young adult.
If I make dumb decisions with my money and toys, even today, I can only imagine how much worse it would have been if I had more women to spend my money on when I was younger. Glad I only have one to spend my money on now. And the kids of course.
The irony is that I did just fine with girlfriends, although I didn’t think so at the time. I was definitely more like a modern, post-metoo guy back then, so I was worried about being a creep and didn’t want to make any girl uncomfortable by being a “player”, so I pretty much just had consecutive monogamous relationships.
But, of course, they were with “nerdy” girls who supported my interests (I had tests to make sure they were supportive before I got serious), so my mom had issues with them. She actually didn’t want me to have “more” girlfriends . . . just the “right kind”. Well, sorry mom, because trying to push me to date/marry someone like yourself definitely motivated me to find someone as NOT like you as possible. And I DID!
Although Joe is still probably the collection my wife least aligns with, but the Classified team and the pure joy put into the line has made her a fan, if not of the figures themselves per se than of the enthusiasm and fun they engender.
And she likes the weird Cobra guys, which is all I could hope for.
I'm a little late to the convo, but I went back and read everyone's responses here and I've really enjoyed everyone's contributions here and reading how collecting went for you guys over the years.
I don't think I really had much of a dark age. At least not where I purposely said 'I'm too old for this.' I always owned toys. The biggest impediment to that was in my teens and early 20s because I was just spending money on other things. I grew up middle class (the real 80's/90's middle class, not what we let rich people tell us is the middle class now when you're barely able to survive) so I had plenty of stuff. But we weren't rich enough that I could just have anything I wanted, whenever I wanted. My primary needs shifted, as with most people, from toys to clothes and music and stuff. So that's where most of the available dollars went.
The only time I didn't have toys on display in my bedroom (or later - apartment/house) was very briefly when I was around 19 and living with a roommate. All my childhood toys, and a few newer acquisitions, were in storage at my mom's place and she sold everything at a yard sale because she was moving out of state. It sucked pretty bad for me, but I hasten to point out that it wasn't intentional/malevolent. My mother just didn't realize I cared because I hadn't been all that vocal about it and we didn't actually talk very much back then.
Still... my entire childhood collections of MOTU, ARAH, TMNT, ThunderCats, LEGO, 5" Marvel and DC.... all gone.
But besides that, there was always something. Even if it was just a LEGO X-Wing and a few crazy-looking McFarlane figures before he went full statue. Absolutely not a brag, but just to point out how stupid the stereotype is: I never had any trouble getting girls. Both long-term and short-term girlfriends or romantic interests saw my stuff all the time literally from 12/13 years old and onward. I didn't hide it or make light of it or whatever. And it was definitely a bit of whiplash for some people because it seemed at odds with the long-haired rocker-goth trouble maker. But, if I say so myself, I was a pretty good looking guy and not a single girl I ever brought over to anywhere I lived seemed to care at all that I had action figures or LEGO sets.
I imagine maybe it helped that I didn't fit the 'comic book guy' stereotype.
And I never got pressure from parents to ditch my stuff. In addition to completely rebuilding a '65 Chevelle, my dad actually collected model cars (and guns, to some extent). And my mom collected hockey and music memorabilia. And stuff with tigers on it because that was very '90s, I guess. And my grandmother collected pigs. Pig magnets. Pig statues. Pig stuffies. Fuckin' pigs all other the place at her house. So I guess no one really thought it was unusual that I collected 'stuff' and they didn't really care what that stuff was.
Sometimes when Kickstarters have stupid-ass shipping rates to Canada, I still send my action figures to my mother in Florida and get her to ship them up to me. And she's still supportive of me collecting whatever the hell I want. In fact, one of the first presents I sent her after I moved out of the country was a McFarlane Bobby Orr statue for her hockey collection. So I roped her into being an action figure collector a little bit.
Star Brigade and Manimals. Those would be a easy pass for me.
Star Brigade and Manimals. Those would be a easy pass for me.
The boys would like a word with you…
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