It was 1978, and I got the adventure team rescue copter for Christmas, that thing got played with literally to pieces. Then there was a pause, and for Christmas 1982, I got a RAM, Snake Eyes, and Breaker, as well as a reusable peel and stick playset, then a VAMP w/Clutch. A HISS tank followed along with a Cobra trooper, and officer. In 1984, I got a MANTA, and Zartan w/Chameleon. I acquired Duke, Grunt, and Rock n'Roll at a yard sale in 1985, and got Airtight for Christmas. The cartoon had sucked me in a that time, I didn't even know about the comic (my local bookstore never carried it). My last three acquisitions in my collection were a Skystriker and Ace (given to me by my dad's half brother, he was a Star Wars guy with no interest in GI Joe), Rock n'Roll again in 1989, and finally in 1991 Lt. Falcon, I was 18 and that was it for collecting. I joined the military, and while I was away my parents gave away my small, yet sentimental collection, as far as I know my cousin still has it, and the little bugger won't give it up, I tried.
Flash forward to 2000, I got posted to Greenwood Nova Scotia, and during that first year started a Star Trek fanclub, and one of the first to join was this kid Shane Welin, now Shane hadn't even come close to growing up (still hasn't
), and had mentioned that he had picked up a few GI Joes, now this got me interested again and I picked up most of the 2000 releases in figures. A Locust followed, and an original 82 Breaker off E-Bay. Later on, Shane discovered Joe Dios, and thanks to his friends here, his collection continued to grow, and then he showed me the site, and I picked up a few more things. Around 2007, a good buddy of mine, Shannon, noticed my paltry collection, and that got him interested again, but he took it to the next level, over two years his collection went from zero, to pretty close to almost one of everything, much to his wife and pocketbooks chagrin, but he also became a seller, and that's when my collection started to grow, now I don't have a huge collection, but I like what I have, there are still many things I still want (Cobra Troopers, Crimson Guards, FLAGG, etc.), but I keep adding to it, and eventually I'll even have a decent place to display it.