Let’s Have a Big Hand for GI Joe

Not everyone would agree with me, but I believe the hands-on 1/6th scale figures are extremely important. I believe they absolutely are to kids and collectors, but most employees in toy companies do not understand the significance. Many times, I turned down buying figures because the hands were useless. My definition of useless in this […]

Big Jim’s Early Days of Space Exploration

When I first started working at Mattel in 1984, I poured through every toy catalog I could find. Any that I found tossed in a throw-away pile became part of my personal library. Not only was I reliving my youth seeing old toys that I played with, but I also was able to see some […]

Batteries Included – Electric GI Joes

Electronics are a typical part of modern toys and even the vintage GI Joes. There were only a few Classic Collection Joes which came with electronics such as the lights and motor sounds of the Five Star Jeep or the propeller-driven Sea Sled. Since the large GI Joes were so expensive to begin with, it […]

Robots You Will Get a Bang Out of

If you are a toy collector who focuses only on US toy lines, you may have missed out on another great 1/6th figure, Action Man. This line has always been linked with GI Joe since its release in Europe in 1966. The line was licensed by a Palitoy, a European toy company known for redistributing […]