March Ramblings: Yes, I love 80’s cartoons. But even more so G.I. JOE.
I grew up in the 80s. I can’t imagine a better time to be a kid. Especially one who was creative. I used to sit in front of the TV for hours with a pencil and paper and just contently draw.
I loved waking up on Saturdays at like 6:30-7am and watching cartoons until noon. Fun fact: I used to have nightmares as a kid where I would sleep from Friday night until Saturday afternoon. I would wake up in a panic and then realize, oh it’s only Tuesday or Thursday and realize I was okay. lol.
I watched all the normal cartoons that kids watched back in the early 80s: Smurfs, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Heathcliff, Flintstones, etc. But it was not long until my taste in cartoons developed, and I was very attracted to action and adventure. Early on I became addicted to cartoons like Voltron, Battle of the Planets, Herculoids, and Robotech. Then Thundarr the Barbarian, Spiderman and his Amazing Friends, and reruns of the 60s Spiderman cartoon.
But then in the Fall of 1983 my life was changed forever. G.I. JOE premiered!
You can totally hear this picture, right? YO JOE!!!!G.I. JOE captured my full attention. The cartoons, the toys and the comics. I watched, collected, and read them all.
I am not sure why this one particular intellectual property captured my attention so well, but of all those amazing things born during my 80’s childhood, this is the one where my love and attention has never diminished.
That being said…yes, there was a time where my JOE action figures were packed up and untouched. Yes, in college I sold a bunch of them to a comic book store for some extra money. (Yuck! One of my top 10 biggest regrets!) BUT, I kept all the comics, and kept reading them over and over through the years. And I kept searching for episodes of the cartoon on TV (before the series was released on DVD). I even wanted to work on a JOE comic book from the moment I entered art school.
In my early 30s, I started displaying some of the JOE toys I kept from childhood. On my desk, in my home office, I had an open space where I wanted to place something special. I had just finished writing one of my books, and the way I decided to reward my efforts was to buy a G.I. JOE Mauler tank. The reward system for writing is very important and I will explain it in a later post.
I found a Mauler on eBay that was 99% complete. The seller was a guy who liked to piece old JOE toys back together with his grandson. He would clean them up and sell them when he was done. He was a really nice guy. I kept in contact with him for a while.
The one thing missing was the long antenna. I was fine with that, the Mauler was perfect, a true thing of beauty, and it looked great on my shelf.
Here is an old phone of when I first placed it on the shelf.I created an eBay search for the long antenna and set up notifications, but the antenna always listed for $40, $50 or even more. I was not willing to spend that. But I kept watching for it. For years. No lie. Probably like 5 years.
Life moved on. I kept writing. I kept reading my JOE comics and this one JOE reference book I loved so much called: http:// target=”_blank” href=”https://www.amazon.com/Now-You-Know-Unauthorized-Comics/dp/1570329028?&_encoding=UTF8&tag=kevinjamesbre-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=e945e8aadf373cf0c046c88913c59cb0&camp=1789&creative=9325″>Now you Know” data-type=”URL” data-id=”https://www.amazon.com/Now-You-Know-Unauthorized-Comics/dp/1570329028?&_encoding=UTF8&tag=kevinjamesbre-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=e945e8aadf373cf0c046c88913c59cb0&camp=1789&creative=9325″>Now you KnowNOW YOU KNOW: The Unauthorized Guide to G.I.JOE. This is the best book out there if you are a G.I. JOE fan! It covers the cartoons and comics and some toys too. But what makes it really great is the descriptions of all the issues and episodes. The author fills the book with tons of useful information and fun perspectives on the “Ass-whuppings,” physics, and tie-ins to other eps and comics. Not to mention the love triangles and goofs!
Anyway, years later, I wrote some JOE comic scripts and pitched them to Dark Horse Comics and IDW (both in person). I wish I could say I was chosen to write one but as it is so often in the industry…my hard work was simply overlooked. Most likely thrown into a pile with the thousands of other submissions. Oh well…
Did this change my love of G.I. JOE? Nope. I kept reading, watching, and re-collecting the figures. Then, after my mom passed, my dad started sending me all my old toys across country. He must have sent me 10-12 large priority mail boxes. I wish I could say things like my old JOE hovercraft was in there, or long-lost figures I had forgotten about. There were very few JOE things at all. Lots of Masters of the Universe, KO (knock off) figures, Playmobiles, Stompers, Rambo, Micronauts, even my entire Robo Force collection. Love them. Still do!
For a toy I got in the late 70s, he’s looking damn good! In the last or next to last box my dad sent was just a bunch of zip loc bags filled with parts. When I opened one of the bags my mom had labeled G.I. JOE I found something REALLY special. Would you believe it was the large antenna for my original owned (and long sold) Mauler? Yep! I saw the antenna and my heart dropped. I grabbed it and ran across the house to my office and put it right into the Mauler on my shelf. Perfect fit!!!
I have to say this. It felt like a miracle or my mom sending me a message from beyond. Whatever you want to call it. It was a very special moment.
My love for G.I. JOE toys took another weird turn when I opened up my retro toy art business CASTLE BROSKULL. Suddenly, people were sending me all sorts of toys to redesign, customize, basically make RAD again. It started off largely Masters of the Universe toys, but soon after there was a flood of JOES. And yes, they really reignited my desire to collect. I ended up buying a Cobra Terror Drome. I never had one of these growing up. I had tons of toys, but I guess my parents drew the line at large playsets, because I had none. No Grayskull! No JOE HQ! None! lol.
The Cobra Terror Drome sits in my home office now. And I like to add Cobra figures to it every once in a while. 
Fast forward to this February. I was playing video games one afternoon and got a message from my best friend’s widow. He had died suddenly two years ago, and his dad had passed recently. She was going through stuff at his dad’s house and found all his old toys. She sent me some pictures and asked me if anything was valuable. In those pictures was my friend’s G.I. JOE figures. This was my friend from 1981 to present. We spent those fun 80’s together. I knew he had JOES but not as many as I saw in the pictures. I instantly told her the value and offered to buy them myself. I wanted to have something that obviously meant the world to my friend and was something his parents clearly cared enough to store properly all these years. It would be greatly meaningful. But I did not know how greatly until they arrived at my house.
My friend Chris’s childhood JOE collection the day it arrived at my house.It really struck me how much my friend must have been loved. His parents were not wealthy, but they obviously bought him a lot of toys and were kind enough to store them safely. It warmed my heart and made me want to cry. I was very happy to be able to give his widow some money for her and the kids. Buying these old and broken action figures was a win-win.
I made a promise to myself. I would only sell one or two of them. Just to recoup my expenses and then I would do my best to restore his collection back to their former glory.
Within a few hours, I had replaced all the o-rings (the rubber band that held them together). Then, I went to work finding parts for the ones with missing guns, broken waists or hands. JOE figures have two stress points: thumbs and crotches. Yep. Those soldiers work and play hard! lol
I ended up buying a few parts on eBay. I spent about $100, but I was able to restore all but four of the broken figures. I still need new arms for ZAP and crotch for Duke. But yeah, those ZAP arms will cost me $50-75 right there!
Since their arrival, I cannot stop looking at them. My best buddy might be gone, but these toys he once loved are now safe and sound with me and not lost to a garage sale (which is where they were heading). I want to do more with them. Memorialize them somehow, maybe a shadow box.
Will I ever get to write a G.I. JOE book? I hope. Until then, I will remain an avid fan of this beloved 80’s intellectual property and enjoy my own…and my friend’s collection.
Side note:
Other cartoons I loved growing up: Transformers, Inhumanoids, JEM, Visionaries, X-Men, The Tick, Pirates of Dark Water, Galaxy High, Pole Position, Dungeons and Dragons, Ghostbusters and many more.
Kevin James Breaux
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