Digging through my old stuff

[Felix]

I opened my Joe bin to look for some parts and it's been a while since I looked at my old figures. There were some 25th anniversary ones mixed in, except for a few, they didn't look as good to me as the originals. There's something very special to me about those 80's figures. I do like a lot of the newer designs, but over time I don't think they will be anywhere near as cool as the originals. I know, there are some exceptionally excellent newer figures. It's all those loose parts and that exposed articulated mid torso that doesn't seem to do anything. Not trying to rant about the newer figures, it was just something I noticed.
Brought back a lot of memories looking at the oldies :-)

[Zarana-X]

I feel pretty much the same way. The new figures aren't being played with, fighting in the backyard making memories.
Toys made after the early 90's when things started to get bought up and kept MOC will never have the nostalgia, or value of these old toylines.
I think after GI Joe, the last great toyline to run its course was the original TMNT. Tons of figures, vehicles and playsets with a cartoon and comic book lines. There hasn't been anything close since.
Maybe Pokemon and all the imposters. Pokemon is still going strong, but it's not the same as a full on action figure line with vehicles and playsets to mess with.

[Felix]

Who doesn't like turtles, ninjas, and pizza
You forgot to mention movies too.
The "Foot" clan seemed like Cobra to me.
The whole thing was just fun and IMO, great for kids. I wasn't collecting toys at the time, but I would have loved "The Tick" toys. That cartoon was epic.

It's weird, I like the features of the newer figures like the tons of articulation, but at the same time it seems like a lot of detail is lost with all of this removable gear. Once you take that stuff off and every figure looks like crap. The original Joe's, you take off the backpack and the gun and the figure still looks like it should. That's part of what I see down the road, all the gear the newer figures come with will get lost or misplaced.

[Bravo]

People collecting today are mostly collecting collectibles, not toys. Rare RAH items are rare by accident or due to being store exclusives (but still made for kids), not made that way on purpose.

Even the current toys aimed at kids usually consist of 90% versions of the lead character(s). I guess I understand why, but that's not like any toy line I remember liking. Even Masters of the Universe had just one new version of He-Man or Skeletor a year. And I had no great love for either character, actually. (Skeletor grew on me. But I only ever had the basic He-Man.)

Anyway, I've tried to get into Modern/25th stuff. There's neat stuff there, but the scale, the price, distribution and exclusives are good reasons that I'm glad my days of truly collecting GI JOE at retail are over.

That's part of what I see down the road, all the gear the newer figures come with will get lost or misplaced.

Yeah, basically, any of these figures that see excessive kid use will have all their gear missing, maybe their head and hands and feet, too. I see this in Star Wars lots on ebay.

[Swindle]

I'll be the contrarian.

I was sorting some of my vintage joes the other day and they just seem stunted. Sort of like those people who were srunk to midjet size in the Innerspace movie.

[Felix]

I can respect that. They do look that way when you compare the two different eras...especially the older ones or vehicle drivers. The thing I like about the newer figures is the articulation. Particularly the wrists and ankles.

My main gripes are the really long legs and short torsos, they seem oddly proportioned. And the hands...if they would just include a set of fists to switch out, that would be a huge improvement. They look so weird if they aren't holding something.

[Bravo]

I think they could've fix propotions without having to make them taller than 3 3/4". (Obvious some characters would be taller).

Anyway, yesterday I found Renegades Duke at Target for $3.28 and bought him. At that pice I'd collect.

[Zarana-X]

I keep them seperated. The 01-06 Joes can kinda intermingle with either group, but they seperated, too.