A Toast to Toys and Bacon and GI Joes

I discovered a fantastic blog last week: www.toysandbacon.blogspot.com. It is a great assortment of posting about cooking, vintage (and new) toys, especially GI Joe : RAH and Masters of the Universe Classics (MOTUC). I have enjoyed catching up on the entire blog which has been around for a few years. It also took me down a trip on memory lane on my own collection of GI Joes. Also made me pull out the Mark Bellomo The Ultimate Guide to GI Joe 1982-1994.

The 1982 Joes came out right as I was moving away from toys and getting interested in other things. I did grab a few assorted figures and vehicles. Loved the first series. Short Fuze was my first figure because I couldn't find Stalker or Snake Eyes. Those two came next. Loved the HAL, the MOBAT, and Polar Battle Bear.

By the time the 1984 series came out, I was done collecting but still loved the look of the figures, and also kept reading the comic books. I always wanted to get that first new group - Gung-Ho, Snowjob, Airborne, and Doc when I read about them in issue 11 of the comic book.

I loved the olive drab first series. Not sure I would have kept up as uniforms and vehicles got more colorful. The olive drab vehicles also looked so real.

The three figures I did pick up - Tunnel Rat, Beachhead, and Snow Serpent - were just too cool to pass up even if I didn't collect anymore.

My wishlist that I picked up years later as an adult collector - the Wolverine and Toss n Cross (I was a combat engineer in the army). One of these days I'll grab a WHALE, Whirlwind, Dragonfly and maybe even a USS Flagg.

In honor of Toys and Bacon's 100 best GI Joe list, here is my list of 25, and I included modern versions as well.

1. Tunnel Rat
2. Beachhead
3. Snow Serpent
4. Snake Eyes
5. Stalker
6. Short Fuze
7. Courtney Krieger (Hannibal three pack)
8. Steeler
9. Mutt and Junkyard
10. Doc
11. Gung Ho
12. Airborne
13. Pilot Scarlett
14. Trip Wire
15. Firefly
16. Alpine
17. Iceberg
18. Wild Weasel - great comic issue of Wild Weasel and Ace in a dogfight
19. BBQ
20. Cobra Eels
21. Grand Slam - just because the HAL was so cool
22. Scarlett - GI Joe Renegades moden figure
23. Air Tight
24. Rock N Roll
25. Low Light

Honorary Mention - The Fridge - just because I am a Bears fan!