Why We Love G.I.Joe (Op-Ed)
Whey do we love G.I.Joe? I think everyone has their own story. G.I.Joe has been part of my life for over 20 years. It seems like a there are a lot of ‘fans’ who have jumped on the ‘bandwagon’ so to speak, with the recent resurgence of 1980’s pop culture. But those of us who really ‘love’ G.I.Joe, who hold a special place in their heart for it, really don’t care if there is a ‘new item’ at retail to pick up every week, or a new movie or cartoon series. We don’t care if Hasbro makes another product in the G.I.Joe line. No, G.I.Joe is ingrained in our lives and it will always be a part of us.
My story starts in 1988, when i started getting G.I.Joe’s as gifts and by trading with friends. It was a great time. I quickly learned what makes G.I.Joe Timeless. It is escapism. It is the ability to take your fully poseable modern army figure and create your own little world for him to live in. His mission is whatever you make it. Your favorite characters can always be the winner. When life was difficult as a kid, you could always get your G.I.Joe figures out, and go on whatever mission you wanted. In 1989 i started buying my own new G.I.Joefigures and vehicles. It was not about the most expensive items for me either. My first G.I.Joe vehicle was the F.A.N.G. 2. I spent so many hours with that vehicle. That is something you don’t see now days. Kids spend their days in a ‘pre-created’ video game platform. What makes G.I.Joe timeless, is there is no ‘pre-created’ world. It is your world, your dreams, your reality.
Why do we still love G.I.Joe now 30 years later? It is partially for the same reasons we loved it when we were kids, and partially for some new reasons. As adults we make ‘dios’ or ‘customs’. We create scenes for our action figures and take photography of them. We still have our favorite characters and we still can make their missions exactly what we want. And thanks to the internet and ebay, we will always have G.I.Joe with us. We can go online with the click of a button and get whatever G.I.Joe figure or vehicle we want. Then, when we want to de-stress, or get away from the grind of ‘being an adult’ we can get out our G.I.Joe’s and create our own reality without a boss, without bills, without the world crumbling around us. Just sit back and create. Because that is why we love G.I.Joe, it is timeless and it will always be with us!
Make the JUMP and share with us why You love G.I.Joe!
