Oddly the collecting bug didnt hit me until after the Army - I now have more than 100 vintage (64-76) Joes, and a ridiculous amount of uniforms, accessories and gear. Through the collector community I have made some aweome life-long friends.
Modern kid play patterns and video game dependence mean the GI Joe thing could not really happen again - even my nephew's beloved 3 3/4 Joes have largely faded away now. Too bad. Joe, Marx playsets, other toy soldiers - those were teh building blocks of my childhood dreams.
I created a GI Joe long before, when ii was about 10, say1947.i played with plastic toy soldiers for years . One day I found a doll of a man in a blue suit, tie and all. Prob 12 in with movable arms and legs. I quickly painted his suit olive from my model airplane supplies. I fashioned a helmet from medical adhesive tape and painted that olive. Not sure how long I had him but at some point buried him and never dug him up. Larry