My parents challenged me to make the honor every reporting period for the whole school year to get the Flagg. I had the Flagg on one side of my room and the Terror Drome on the other. Still have it dismantled in the box.
‘85 was also a great year because Hasbro introduced the swiveling head on the figures. I was so excited to see the heads move in different directions than just left and right. And my favorites that year were Tomax & Xamot and of course, Snake Eyes!
Personally, I have to put '84 at the top of my list, if for no other reason than the introduction of Spirit and Storm Shadow. I share your thoughts on the ninja craze. Even as a kid, I thought that the rivalry of Spirit vs Storm shadow in the Revenge of Cobra cartoon miniseries was *WAY* more interesting than Snake-Eyes vs Storm Shadow. (Side note: I always saw Snake-Eyes Ninja as a retcon to his original concept as a commando).
Agreed. I prefer Snake as a commando with ninja training, rather than a ninja. The fact that he was a ninja with an Uzi made him much more interesting. There's not much more badass than a "Commando" anyway
The mid 80's were great but I think 87 is my favorite year because my grandfather got me my very first figure which was Big Boa. I stayed with Joe's all the way up to Sgt Savage but when they got to GI Joe extreme is when I checked out.
1982 was it for me. I got the tank the jeep and Snake Eyes for Christmas that year, so this is when the magic of Gi-Joe was for me. I still love other years of the line, but the Army green started it for me & the dark blue & red of Cobra, Yo! Joe!!
There is something very cool about how semi-real the first year was. Also, for nostalgia sake, 82 is number one for me. It wa more mysterious then, and I'll remember grabbing my first figures
My first Joes toys were Flash and the RAM motorcycle. I think my favorite vehicles are the RAM, VAMP, Wolverine, Whirlwind (towed behind the Woverine), the Mountain Howitzer (towed behind the VAMP), Armadillo, and the Dragonfly..
Firefly, Storm Shadow, Zartan, Mutt and Junkyard, and the Killer Whale make 84 the best year IMO. The Flagg was cool and everyone wanted it, but no one could afford it!
This video was fantastic!!! My dad sold all my Joes at a garage sale and I was crushed. Replacing them as the Classified line keeps rolling out is filling that void.
I'd checked out in 1986 . Walking through the local department store in my town in the early 90s here in the UK , wondering why everything like Action Force/GI Joe , Transformers etc were all friggin NEON lol 🤣
Man, my parents split and I never got a damn Flagg...I'm with you up until your top 5. I'm so nostalgic for the original 13 that I want to put 82 higher. So I'd have to go 86, 82, 85, 83, 84. But trying to rank 83,84,85 is almost impossible.
You had to work that "I'm really sad about you and mom splitting up" angle. Then pit them against each other, like Destro selling weapons to both sides
The last GIJOE toy I bought was Sgt Slaughters Warthog. I remember my Dad saying I was a little too old to be buying toys but I had earned some money working that summer and I couldn't resist a new toy.
1986 is my personal favorite year, since Iceberg was the first G.I. Joe action figure I owned as a kid. Plus, many of the other figures produced this year really caught my attention like Hawk version 2, Low Light, Dial Tone, Mainframe, Wet Suit and more. On the Cobra side, we got the Viper, Zandar, Zarana, Monkeywrench and Trasher, the B.A.T. and the A.V.A.C. Additionally, the vehicle assortment was really amazing with the Tomahawk helicopter (always wanted one but did not get one until my adulthood) HAVOC, Conquest X-30, Devilfish, Thunder machine, and Nightraven jet.
I remember being so excited when arise serpentor arise first aired. Seeing these new Joes like beachhead, hawk, and hearing Flint put Beachhead in his place with the ranks. When I went to Toys R Us to see the new Joes, fogetaboutit.. I saw the carded figure display with eyes wide open and searched through those racks like a kid in a candy store! Went home with wet suit, lifeline, and dial-tone.
Toss up between 83 and 84. This was all before they got too crazy with the ninja and sci-fi stuff. Coolest vehicles and bases. Introduction of most iconic characters. 82 had some of those too.
It's crazy to me much GI Joe has meant to me but how concentrated it was basically over three main years. One of my top 3 GI Joe memories will be opening that Moray on Christmas!! I was so damn happy that day.
I really loved ‘92 with the Ninja Force with Storm Shadow, Slice the Orange version, & Zartan would be #5 for me, I had only two vehicles for’94 of Space Brigade which were the Starfighter and Invader which would of been #4, Defiant was the one shuttle with Launch Pad that I wanted but never got from ‘87 would be #3, next Cobra Night Raven would one of the greatest jets that resembles the Blackbird SR-7 from ‘87 was #2, and my best year would be Cobra Iron Grenadiers with Destro leading the battle instead of Cobra Commander, with the iconic A.R.C. which was really cool since it could hover from ‘88 was #1.
It was cool that Destro finally got tired of Cobra Commander and did his own thing. It opened up the whole Cobra civil War idea that was fun. 92 Ninja Force was okay, the 93 version they lost me.
Hard to argue your list. It’s pretty spot-on. I was big into Joe in ‘86 through ‘89. I missed the the three years prior and would have loved to have those figures and vehicles.
I know what you mean. Here in NZ we never got the 82-85 figures. It was 1987 when G.I.Joe finally hit shelves here, and my brothers and I collected nearly all of them. I mostly regret missing out on the 85 wave. I could live without most of the 82-84 figures. The best thing about the first few years was the vehicles.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions, of course. But 1993 “a horrible year” is absurd. It was the second biggest year of GI JOE as an IP ever. You could take every year of Classified and triple it and not make as much as ‘93 did. Plus we got the perfect Ghoststriker X-16 and Ace V3 that year.
1993ish was probably peak joe for me, I loved the crazy colors and stuff. That shot of zartan bought it all back lol. I had the bright orange Parasite vehicle that was awesome. I also had an astro bot from the next year (I might still have hawk in storage but the rest is gone) I was bummed that our country didnt seem to get the weird mutants and monsters lol.
I agree with 85. Tons of characters, including my personal favorite Flint. Like you, I used him as my leader. And the Hydrofoil. Still one of the best vehicles in the line. Very fun list.
Myself it’s 84 or 85 , imma collector of anything 82 thru SOME of 87 … it got silly after Cobra La. You missed one of my favorites, the Water Moccasin. Great video anyhow.
I think at the end Hasbro realized that the G.I. Joe IP was on the way out and they were simply trying to squeeze every penny out of it before it died.
The first 4 years are hard to beat. When I was a kid, my favorite Special Missions lineup was: Beach Head, Low-Lite, Snake Eyes w/ Timber, Roadblock, Hawk, and Flint in the A.W.E. Striker vs. all of COBRAAAA! The Joes won every time.
Great video! When I saw 1986 at #4 I was like whaaaat? Because I always felt that was the peak. But you convinced me. We couldn't have the greatness of '86 without the brilliance of the prior three years.
I was born in 81 so my favorite Christmas was the year i got a ton of the tiger force line. I finally had some of the classic characters and vehicles in my collection that i had missed out on from the early waves. Got the tiger fly and recondo, the tiger shark, tiger cat and tiger paw plus Duke, Roadblock, Tripwire and Dusty. That was a memorable morning!
This a greatly put together video. My first time checking you out- now I’ll have to look at some of your other vids. I really liked the Scarface yejo analogy depicting the fall lol!
Wow. Awesome video. I’m now subscribed. I loved every minute of this. As a diehard Transformers kid, GI Joe was always in the background for me. I loved the show and had a few toys here and there but my knowledge (back then and now) is pretty thin. This ranking list really helped clarity and anchor so many memories. I’m currently collecting Classified and this history lesson only adds to my appreciation. Awesome stuff, man.
2023 has revitalized GI Joe like never before. It may not live up to those inception years, and we will never see most of those 80s vehicles ever again, but this just reminded me how many more amazing things the future may hold for our modern Classified series.
25th is wildly underrated, aside from the outdated head sculpts by today's standard, we had almost every figure and a good chunk of the classic vehicles.
Caught the tail end and watching the start now… brutal on 94🤣😂😅 but I have to say there is a lot to like about it that you don’t mention… that being said can’t wait to watch the rest🫵👍💪 thanks for the vid!!!
Amazing recount of the toy line. 1984-1985 were the years for me,. However, I had to go back in 87 briefly just to get Hawk, wet suit low light and croc master. Great memories.
87 was a phenomenal year. But still heartbreaking how very few of those figures made it into the cartoons. I wanted to see a dark psychological episode with Crystal Ball and Slaughter fighting with either Big Boa or Croc Master. Outback and Crazy Legs became my favorites out of the whole lot.
IDW comics have a great version of Crystal Ball in the COBRA series by Mike Costa. He's a creepy mystic. Its probably the only good version of Crystal Ball I've seen.
@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal ill take a look at that. I haven't delved much into gi joe comics outside of the reborn series. But im curious about the civil war stuff
Ah this really took me back. Those early years were just so full of amazing characters and bad ass vehicles. Just simply one of the best toy lines of all time.
I was born in 84 and by the time I was into figures, Ninja Turtles had shifted toys from realistic to wacky and fanciful. I didn't create that change, but I sure bought into it. I just absolutely loved the 90's Joe's colors, gimmicks and spring-loaded everything. Sorry 🤷🏼♂️
@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal and I also get why collectors from the early years would be angry that they kept changing the line into something virtually unrecognizable. But the later years is all I knew.
I stopped with the toys around 1986. At first, the comics and the toys complimented each other, as did the early cartoons (somewhat). But by 1986, I hit the ninth grade, and coincidentally the toys and cartoons had begun to move apart from the spirit and themes of the comic books. They got silly. But then towards the 1990s even the comics began to get silly with the ninjas, the space crap, the eco crap, etc.
Yeah, at first Larry Hama refused to incorporate the silly shit into the comics. That's why there is no Cobra La or Refrigerator Perry, but towards the end I think he got tired of writing it and gave in
@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal Yeah, it seemed like something had drastically changed in the attitude. Instead of new storylines, they just attached long-existing characters into what had long run its course. It was disheartening. It wrecked the title. G.I. Joe got me into appreciating comics well before even Batman. And then it was over, some 50 issues before Issue 155.
1985 by all means! All the amazing figures, and definitely the FLAGG‼️ My parents were still together at the time, but my families involvement in the military goes back a looong! My brother and I convinced my parents to let us share a bedroom, so there was room for it. Also got 5 Shipwrecks that Christmas!
I will say, 1993 was the worst year for me as opposed to 1994. While the oversized Star Brigade figures of ‘94 were ridiculous, I did enjoy the white Armor Bot, white Starfighter repaint of the Stellar Stiletto, and the Joe Colton mail-away was a nice way to close out the line.
'82-'86 best and original era. once 87 hits, it started getting weirder and suddenly everyone had side rockets and neon colors. '82-'86 is where its at with series 3 and 4 possibly being the greatest run of characters for the line. EDIT. I wrote this before watching and whaddya know...you say '87 is the weirdo year too. That was my final year, I finished the POW storyline with Outback in the comics and that was pretty much it.
I wonder if the ‘92 line had dinosaurs due to the upcoming blockbuster of “Jurassic Park.” The idea of world-building is rather hilarious though. I mean, Serpentor? The crocodile man? That Globulous dude? Totally believable! The military troop utilizing a mute ninja? Who has an arctic wolf as a companion? Sadly, ‘Nam was totally hot, hence the US’ failure there. Worthless nitpicking aside, great video. Loved the trip down memory lane. I loved the Rolling Thunder growing up, along with the black jet from that year(?). And I seem to remember another space shuttle type vehicle, though that could be 30 years of cobwebs in my mind.
it doesn't have to be 100% believable, just believable within the rules it sets for itself. They start off with lasers and JUmp packs, so we know we're not in the real military-- and Serpentor was a stretch, but I could go with it--but the Bio-Vipers and mega marines crap breaks the rules it sets for itself. In my opinion anyway. Yeah, I think they released the top part of the Defiant as its own thing and they also had a few more space vehicles. Cobra had some too. The early cobra shuttle was pretty cool
as a kid of the 90's its kinda sad to see all the hate for the 90's figures....most of the time ive noticed the collectors that hate the 90s are ones that are too old to remember these figures or just never gave them a chance 1993 was the best selling year for gi joe in the entire og run...beating out every other year that says something right there
Agreed! And if you were a 10 or 11 year old in 92-93 like me not only were these years great but the nostalgia is there for us now as 40+ year olds. I do like how he gives props to the cobra earthquake and the DEF line in this video.
Hey, also want to say, anybody who has that much love for the brand--even 1994, 1993--is pretty awesome. So even if we disagree on the years, love that you care so much about it
Good choices. I love all the years, even the 90s but in 85 they really were firing on all cylinders. Sunbow cartoon was awesome and I think it was Marvel’s best selling title that year. I mean GI Joe beat Spider-Man. That’s crazy.
Thanks for this video, I really enjoy it. In Italy Joes arived with a big delay (maybe '87), series was mixed and not all the figures and vehicles were imported. First time I saw it was in a little toy shop near Venice: there was the Flagg displayed over the entire shop window. My mom bought me my first figure: Shipwreck.
I think '87 was the last good year. I was pretty much done with toy collecting at that point. Everything after this just looks weird to me...Python Patrol etc. For me '83 and '85 were my favorites! However '82 will always have special spot since I got my 1st joe, Short-Fuze. Plus they gave us Snake Eyes.
21:30 Me as a kid, if I'm being true to my heart, would say '87 was the best. It was the first year I was able to actually get everything I wanted at the time. I loved the early weird stuff, like Croc Master, because they were just cool toys. I mostly played with my Joes as cool action figures and made up all of their characterizations myself, without regard for the fiction in the comics and cartoons. Best toy line of all time and, with the current popularity of video games, I doubt we will see anything like it again.
Yes, 87 is a really amazing year. The Defiant alone makes it high on the list. Some people don't like the weird stuff, but I love Raptor and Croc Master & Crystal Ball
@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal I enjoy your videos because you honestly acknowledge what you liked when you were a kid. For some reason, there are a bunch of forty-something UA-camrs who think it makes them cool today to pretend that they only ever loved the original OD Joes ... and maybe Beachhead and Flint. As if they never ran around their gramma's dining room table swooshing a Raptor doll around! 😏
Agree on the worst years no question. I was more a fan of the traditional military guys and not so much the Knocks ( but still have most of them ) Really well done video .
1984......Best details on vehicles and the Cartoon was most believable. I was in middle school in 1982. I still have most of my file cards. That was pure magic, especially having a parent who was in the military. The worst year I would agree was 94 but it to me really started before then when they started doing the tiger Force I was done. When they released storm shadow and zartan it was unbelievable. I saved my newspaper money and bought them immediately. The cobra rattler having dog fights with the sky striker.... By the way, which spawned one of the coolest GI Joe comics of all time. Also you left out in the comics the g.I Joe yearbook which was a big deal. It let you knew what figures and toys would be coming out for the next year. Last thing I'd say is I agree with Firefly being the boba Fett of g.I. Joe. I got him for Christmas, He was just cool as hell looking and I loved his equipment. Didn't have too many lines in the cartoon which made his character as you said more mysterious.
I really enjoy your videos. I am a G.I. Joe fan from way back in the beginning in 82 as a kid. I agree that the early years were the best when the Joes were only a little sci-fi and more military-themed. I lost interest in the late 80s when the Joes started to become too weird. I do hope that Hasbro will give us all the original 13 Joes in the the Classified line. I would love to see a more deluxe version of Breaker with more accessories, even though the RAM mototcycle is cool as hell. My favorites Joes are Airborne (Franklin W. Talltree), Doc, Ripcord, Wild Bill, Grandslam (Not sure why, maybe because he is always kind of forgotten), and Topside (He was more of a simple character that I liked).
Airborne (Franklin W. Talltree) was always my favorite Joe. His figure was so detailed, in my opinion. The picture on his filecard was awesome. I was annoyed when the Sky Patrol figures were released in 1990 and they re-used the Airborne code-name for a completely new figure. I guess that I am just picky.
I'm leaving this comment before I watch the video, so I'm not influenced by it. I think the best year was 1987 because that was when Croc Master, my favorite figure came out. But also it had other Cobra individuals that were interesting and after that, they started making a lot of generic Cobra "suits" -- the nameless soldiers usually called "something-vipers". I think the first year, 1982, will be a year that people either love or hate depending on if you like the more realistic uniforms. Okay, now I'll watch the video.
@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal I think 86-87 were the best years. It was a happy medium between regular military and sci-fi bonkers. It had both and stuff in-between.
Love the video brother! Please make more " ranked" videos. Well for me it's 85/ 86 Gi Joe's especially 86. Because me and moms would go to the thrift store whenever she could and next door was a small toy store and they sold Gi Joe's and moms would get one for me every time, the good ol days YO JOE!!!! Edit: i subscribed to your channel
It looks like we may be getting zartans swamp sled after they release the ferret, if you look at the seat it can be cut in half. And Using just the top half and make a mold for the bottom. Fingers crossed 🤞. Ahree with your rankings.
I really miss my GIJoe figures. As a young adult I got back in to Transformers and have been collecting them on and off for the last 25 years but I really miss having GIJoe figures. I had a small collection of joes as a kid, maybe 15 figures and the only vehicle I had was the Sky Striker but I would build my pwn vehicles out of lego. I would use the Snow Speeder from starwars as a Shark, and I had some other toys I adapted. As an adult I would love to get my old figrues back, especially Lowlight, Dusty, and SnakeEyes V2. So many hours spent playing
Hey I respect that., we all have different opinions and eras we love. They probably were fun, especially if you had them as a kid. I was getting pretty old by then, so they were not what I was looking for. I did buy one thing -- the big Mech robot. It was badass enough that it became the last thing I bought
You may be joking, but there was still a bunch of solid figures in those final years. The last figures I bought were '92 Destro V3 (excellent figure), Wild Bill and Dice.
92 was when toy stores were pullinng all realistic toy guns off the shelves - you might not have been watching the news around then - thus the color change and a move towards non military "combat "
1986 was my favorite year. it was a great balance between military and scify. It had just enough insanity to make it interesting without chasing fads like ninjas or eco stuff. Also no reprints. And the Bat is my favorite figure of all time and the switch to Vipers rather than blue berries was good too.
Great list! For me, strong start in 82. 83 amazing. Peak at 84. 85, nearly right there. Shift in tone with 86; slight dip. I do say 85 was the best year to be into joe though. Stores were filled with 84-85 toys and the cartoon was on. Huge year! Then, each year slowly less good. Still pretty great through 88, maybe 89 though.
Remember getting rolling thunder and mean dog vehicles in 88 which i thought were awesome. Too bad hasbro doesnt look like they intend to do any of the crazier vehicle designs for classified/haslab but just the more basic (and likely cheaper to produce) tank/plane/boat variations.
I can't imagine what they would charge for a Haslab Rolling Thunder. There are people 3D printing these things though. I'd consider buying them, but there's no way I have room for that
That was a very hard list to make, I might have changed around #1 through 4 a little. But like I said it’s a hard list. You did a great job. Earned a sub. Have you talked about the comic packs yet? I need that snake eyes storm shadow and stalker in Vietnam
This is a fun presentation that brings back memories of my history with G.I.Joe. My favorite year goes to 1983 where Hasbro upped their game not only with more animated spots but Destro who I'm also a fan of and the first Joe Miniseries. 93 was the worst and it's no wonder why Hasbro canceled the line.
@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal I was hoping out of curiosity you would mention Battle Force 2000 during your 87' segment. While I disagree with repaints like Tiger and Night Force, Maurauders didn't make the cut for me. Happy 2024!
Not Gonna lie I agree with this list 100% ... I truthfully was checked out by 1989 late .... The Raven My fav cobra plane ..... in 1988 I remeber one called the Phanton or host Sorta Sci fi looking jet also had it ..Tomahawk.... omg i can go for days lol and yes also had the Flagg last figure i ever bought was the 3rd re incarnation on snake eyes ... so so many memories ..
Very fun idea for a video and you made a compelling case for your selections even if we disagree. My ranking would go 1. and 1a/2. 1984 and 1983 are so close together in my estimation that they could flip positions depending on the hour and how I'm feeling. Right now I would say 1984 is the best year because it was by far the best year for Cobra: the introduction of Baroness (in the toys at least), Storm Shadow, Zartan, and the hooded Cobra Commander, plus fan favorites like Firefly and my two personal favorites Copperhead and Wild Weasel and their iconic vehicles. Then on the Joes you've got Duke (in store, not mail-away), Roadblock, Spirit, and Mutt & Junkyard, plus Cutter and the Killer W.H.A.L.E. On the other hand, 1983 was my personal favorite year for the heroic Joes, introducing Torpedo, Gung Ho, Snow Job, Doc, and Tripwire, who are all in or close to my Top 10 favorites. Then the three vehicle drivers--Wild Bill, Cover Girl, and Ace are all awesome! On the Cobra side you have your namesake, the dreaded Destro and Major Bludd. Plus the H.I.S.S.!!! Amazing stuff. 3. 1985, if I'm being objective, was probably the peak year and I totally understand why it was your #1. For me, what knocks it down is that some of the most popular characters from the cartoon (Shipwreck, Bazooka, and the Crimson Twins)... honestly, I always found them more obnoxious because of the cartoon. I never liked Shipwreck or Bazooka until the Classified line; their new figures are awesome! But as you said, this year introduced a ton of greatness like Flint and Lady Jaye! The A.W.E. Striker! The first ninja version of Snake Eyes! And Cobra troop-builders that can never be topped in the Crimson Guards, Eels, and Snow Serpents. Plus the Dreadnoks! I never had the U.S.S. Flagg (my folks are still married after 51 years), but I did have the Tactical Battle Platform and that remains my favorite G.I. Joe vehicle/playset. 4. 1988. The first year where the toys weren't really supported by the cartoon, so I remember everything about this wave felt like a new revelation. Shockwave, Hit & Run, Repeater, Hardball, and... Storm Shadow was a good guy now?!?!?! Plus Destro went rogue and started his own faction called the Iron Grenadiers?!! Wow! And the demonic Hydro-Viper. And Toxo-Viper... yay, now Airtight has someone to fight!!! 5. 1989 is the second best year for Cobra troop-builders with Alley-Viper, Frag-Viper, H.E.A.T.-Viper, and Night-Viper. How awesome was that lineup? Plus on Destro's team you had T.A.R.G.A.T. and Annihilator with their gonzo flying packs. On the G.I.Joe side you had new versions of old favorites with Stalker version 2, Rock n' Roll version 2, Snake Eyes version 3, and Deep Six version 2. Okay, maybe Deep Six was nobody's favorite but look, now his legs could move!!! I always found the inclusion of Downtown and Back-Blast weird; I remain convinced to this day that those were supposed to be new versions of Short-Fuze and Zap, who also debuted in the first year with Stalker, Snake Eyes, and Rock 'n Roll, but maybe the names had to be changed because of trademark issues or whatever. I also liked Countdown, the astronaut because I never had Payload with the Defiant. 6. Speaking of 1982, the year that launched the whole line gets points for starting it all and introducing lasting favorites like Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Stalker, Rock 'n Roll, and Cobra Commander. It loses points because of the comparative limited articulation in the arms and heads, the overall blandness in the body parts and re-use in head sculpts. Frankly, it's no wonder most of these guys were forgotten, but imagine if the characters had been re-designed in 1985 and 1986 instead of just their military specialties. 7. For some collectors 1987 was the year G.I.Joe got weird. That, in itself, never bothered me. I think this was overall an incredibly strong year for Cobra. Big Boa, Croc Master, Raptor, Crystal Ball... I used to joke that these were rejected concepts from the canceled Kenner Super Powers line, but that wasn't meant as an insult. These guys were crazy in a fun way. I also thought Cobra-La was whacky fun! I may not like Cobra Commander's armored look as much as other fans, but I don't see anything wrong with it. Where the line falls shorter for me is in the design and execution of some of the Joes. Falcon, Outback, Tunnel Rat, and Jinx were awesome, and I love me some animals so Law & Order are a big win. But Psyche-Out, Crazy-Legs, and Sneak-Peek... interesting ideas but weird executions. To read his file card, you'd think Sneak-Peek should look like Hit & Run meets Beach Head, but instead he looks like an overweight radar operator on the Flagg. And making Gung Ho in his dress blues... I just never understood why they did that. Bonus points for two ginormous play sets, the Mobile Command Center (which I had), and the Defiant Space Complex (which I stole ... long story). 8. 1986. I know I'm in the minority but one of the most popular years for G.I. Joe is underwhelming to me. The big hurdle with this one is that the year was largely built around the iconic figures of Sgt. Slaughter and Serpentor, and... I don't really care for either of them. I didn't need Doctor Mindbender as Cobra's mad scientist... I thought that was Destro's job. And the new round of Joes were taking the jobs of characters I already liked Lifeline, Leatherneck, Wetsuit, and Dial-Tone could never replace Doc, Torpedo, Gung Ho, and Breaker for me. I don't trash the '90s, but I also don't have the energy to rank them. I know Hasbro was doing everything they could, chasing every possible trend to keep the line alive, and it worked for part of the time. I collected G.I.Joe right up until I saw Ice Cream Soldier on the shelf at Walmart... I picked him up, put him back down, and thought to myself, "I think I'm done with G.I.Joe"... I had no idea that the entire collecting community was having virtually the same experience that that the toys would be cancelled thereafter. Anyway, fun video. I liked your ranking even though mine was different. Good work!
86 was the last great year. 86 and before were all heavily influenced by Vietnam, and I think that is what made it work. From 87 and beyond they went overboard with hi-technology.
1988 was my last year getting G.I. Joe when I was a kid. I am the same, I never liked (and still don't) the Tiger Force, Python Patrol, and Slaughter's Marauders line. And from what I see in stores near me, it does not look like those lines are too popular here either. The Classified line rarely ever sat on the shelf until those lines came out, now they are the vast majority of the line that sits on the shelf. Outback and Recondo are the only 2 Tiger Force figures I have liked so far.
You had me laughing about Zartan's disguise. My definitive Joes n Cobras are from batch '82 - '86. I'm not a completist but for my Classified collection, I stick to these batches.
Thanks! Yeah I don't need to complete either, No need for the crappy first two Roadblocks or the fifty repaints. I just get what I like, which unfortunately for my wallet, is alot.
Like most of us, i "checked out" in 90' but i should've stayed with the line cause you showed alot of cool figures, i would even say that almost all the 3.75 Joes look awesome.... obviously i didn't have the same opinion back in the day!!.... and did you "bad mouth" Corey Feldman!!?? i hope you didn't cuz this dude is a legend!!!
@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal not the 1st time someone talks about this dude but tbh i thought he was an inside joke in the joe community but actually seeing him.... whats not love ;)
My parents challenged me to make the honor every reporting period for the whole school year to get the Flagg. I had the Flagg on one side of my room and the Terror Drome on the other. Still have it dismantled in the box.
The box is a gold mine today. I tried to save mine but mom threw it away while I was at school. I knew I should’ve dropped out
Yea, I still have mine too, but it's hard to keep it out somewhere. the thing is bigger than most rooms in my house
I have the same problem.@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal
You must have had a big bedroom!
‘85 was also a great year because Hasbro introduced the swiveling head on the figures. I was so excited to see the heads move in different directions than just left and right. And my favorites that year were Tomax & Xamot and of course, Snake Eyes!
Personally, I have to put '84 at the top of my list, if for no other reason than the introduction of Spirit and Storm Shadow.
I share your thoughts on the ninja craze. Even as a kid, I thought that the rivalry of Spirit vs Storm shadow in the Revenge of Cobra cartoon miniseries was *WAY* more interesting than Snake-Eyes vs Storm Shadow. (Side note: I always saw Snake-Eyes Ninja as a retcon to his original concept as a commando).
Agreed. I prefer Snake as a commando with ninja training, rather than a ninja. The fact that he was a ninja with an Uzi made him much more interesting. There's not much more badass than a "Commando" anyway
The mid 80's were great but I think 87 is my favorite year because my grandfather got me my very first figure which was Big Boa. I stayed with Joe's all the way up to Sgt Savage but when they got to GI Joe extreme is when I checked out.
Sgt Savage had a cool look, especially the package art. If I were to rank lines/ iterations of GI Joe --Extreme would be the worst
GI Joe was such a big part of our lives. It’s fun to watch videos like this. Get others perspective and stories from their pasts
Thanks! Yes. it's always been my number 1 obsession (as far as story worlds)
1982 was it for me. I got the tank the jeep and Snake Eyes for Christmas that year, so this is when the magic of Gi-Joe was for me. I still love other years of the line, but the Army green started it for me & the dark blue & red of Cobra, Yo! Joe!!
There is something very cool about how semi-real the first year was. Also, for nostalgia sake, 82 is number one for me. It wa more mysterious then, and I'll remember grabbing my first figures
My first Joes toys were Flash and the RAM motorcycle. I think my favorite vehicles are the RAM, VAMP, Wolverine, Whirlwind (towed behind the Woverine), the Mountain Howitzer (towed behind the VAMP), Armadillo, and the Dragonfly..
Wow! That's Awesome! Sounds like a great setup. So many good memories, Yo! Joe!@@ericbieze5971
Firefly, Storm Shadow, Zartan, Mutt and Junkyard, and the Killer Whale make 84 the best year IMO. The Flagg was cool and everyone wanted it, but no one could afford it!
That is a pretty good lineup.
Zartan for my birthday was my favorite birthday present ever as a kid
Zartan is one of the best
I got Zartan for my birthday from my parents and also from one of my buddies at my birthday party. Two Zartans, two swamp speeders baby!
@@buzzbomb6650 lucky!!!
Mark - we need a video for which Joe would have been the better European traveller.
@vermontmike9800 oh. I can see bazooka going around europe like joey in friends or homer going to england 😀
This video was fantastic!!! My dad sold all my Joes at a garage sale and I was crushed. Replacing them as the Classified line keeps rolling out is filling that void.
Ouch, that hurts, My family knew not to do that. I'da lost my shit
Had something similar happen bud, I feel your pain
I'd checked out in 1986 .
Walking through the local department store in my town in the early 90s here in the UK , wondering why everything like Action Force/GI Joe , Transformers etc were all friggin NEON lol 🤣
Right? It's like they forgot what made it so successful
Man, my parents split and I never got a damn Flagg...I'm with you up until your top 5. I'm so nostalgic for the original 13 that I want to put 82 higher. So I'd have to go 86, 82, 85, 83, 84. But trying to rank 83,84,85 is almost impossible.
You had to work that "I'm really sad about you and mom splitting up" angle. Then pit them against each other, like Destro selling weapons to both sides
The last GIJOE toy I bought was Sgt Slaughters Warthog. I remember my Dad saying I was a little too old to be buying toys but I had earned some money working that summer and I couldn't resist a new toy.
Oh yeah, I was way too old when I was buying them. But my mom just looked the other way. Nowadays, it's only 40-50 year old men buying toys
Loved the Warthog, crammed so many figures into that troop carrier. Also, that was the only Sarge I owned as a kid.
I’m 49. Was out in 1986. Had C-64 games copied on 5-1/4 floppy disks and girls to keep me busy
1986 is my personal favorite year, since Iceberg was the first G.I. Joe action figure I owned as a kid. Plus, many of the other figures produced this year really caught my attention like Hawk version 2, Low Light, Dial Tone, Mainframe, Wet Suit and more. On the Cobra side, we got the Viper, Zandar, Zarana, Monkeywrench and Trasher, the B.A.T. and the A.V.A.C. Additionally, the vehicle assortment was really amazing with the Tomahawk helicopter (always wanted one but did not get one until my adulthood) HAVOC, Conquest X-30, Devilfish, Thunder machine, and Nightraven jet.
Plus the terrordrome
I remember being so excited when arise serpentor arise first aired. Seeing these new Joes like beachhead, hawk, and hearing Flint put Beachhead in his place with the ranks. When I went to Toys R Us to see the new Joes, fogetaboutit.. I saw the carded figure display with eyes wide open and searched through those racks like a kid in a candy store! Went home with wet suit, lifeline, and dial-tone.
That was a great line up
Remember 85 also had the head and neck movement and 83 had the SWIVEL ARM BATTLE GRIP !
Man this was a fantastic video. It's strange I completely cut all ties with g I joe in 88. I went to junior high and that was it.
Good year to stop. All downhill frrom there. (with some good stuff thrown in here and there)
Me too. 48 lol
Toss up between 83 and 84. This was all before they got too crazy with the ninja and sci-fi stuff. Coolest vehicles and bases. Introduction of most iconic characters. 82 had some of those too.
My folks bought me a lot of the Ghostbusters toys when they split just after Christmas. I thought something was off.
Asking me to rank GI joe years is like asking what Kid I love the most haha 91 had some misses but there were hits there too
91 does have cool stuff. I like the international soldiers being brought in
It's crazy to me much GI Joe has meant to me but how concentrated it was basically over three main years. One of my top 3 GI Joe memories will be opening that Moray on Christmas!! I was so damn happy that day.
Yeah, it feels like most of the icons were in the first few years. Love the moray
I really loved ‘92 with the Ninja Force with Storm Shadow, Slice the Orange version, & Zartan would be #5 for me, I had only two vehicles for’94 of Space Brigade which were the Starfighter and Invader which would of been #4, Defiant was the one shuttle with Launch Pad that I wanted but never got from ‘87 would be #3, next Cobra Night Raven would one of the greatest jets that resembles the Blackbird SR-7 from ‘87 was #2, and my best year would be Cobra Iron Grenadiers with Destro leading the battle instead of Cobra Commander, with the iconic A.R.C. which was really cool since it could hover from ‘88 was #1.
It was cool that Destro finally got tired of Cobra Commander and did his own thing. It opened up the whole Cobra civil War idea that was fun. 92 Ninja Force was okay, the 93 version they lost me.
Hard to argue your list. It’s pretty spot-on. I was big into Joe in ‘86 through ‘89. I missed the the three years prior and would have loved to have those figures and vehicles.
I know what you mean. Here in NZ we never got the 82-85 figures. It was 1987 when G.I.Joe finally hit shelves here, and my brothers and I collected nearly all of them. I mostly regret missing out on the 85 wave. I could live without most of the 82-84 figures. The best thing about the first few years was the vehicles.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions, of course. But 1993 “a horrible year” is absurd. It was the second biggest year of GI JOE as an IP ever. You could take every year of Classified and triple it and not make as much as ‘93 did. Plus we got the perfect Ghoststriker X-16 and Ace V3 that year.
Right. Just my opinion. But the year produced no new memorable characters, was garishly colorful, added monsters and aliens. It was not for me.
Totally agree Chad
1993ish was probably peak joe for me, I loved the crazy colors and stuff. That shot of zartan bought it all back lol. I had the bright orange Parasite vehicle that was awesome. I also had an astro bot from the next year (I might still have hawk in storage but the rest is gone) I was bummed that our country didnt seem to get the weird mutants and monsters lol.
I agree with 85. Tons of characters, including my personal favorite Flint. Like you, I used him as my leader. And the Hydrofoil. Still one of the best vehicles in the line. Very fun list.
Thanks. Yeah, Flint is great
Probably the prime of GIJoe was from 82 until 87. If we have to choose one year, it would have to be a tossup between 84 and 85.
Agreed, although I think 88 is still pretty great. Then it's downhill,
1988 was solid after that down hill.@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal
Myself it’s 84 or 85 , imma collector of anything 82 thru SOME of 87 … it got silly after Cobra La. You missed one of my favorites, the Water Moccasin. Great video anyhow.
Thanks. yes, Water Mocassin is great. I brought into my blowup pool this summer so my kids can play with it. and it floats
@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal lol, yes it does. I had plenty pool runs with it myself back in the day
I think at the end Hasbro realized that the G.I. Joe IP was on the way out and they were simply trying to squeeze every penny out of it before it died.
The first 4 years are hard to beat. When I was a kid, my favorite Special Missions lineup was: Beach Head,
Low-Lite,
Snake Eyes w/ Timber,
Roadblock,
Hawk, and Flint in the A.W.E. Striker vs. all of COBRAAAA!
The Joes won every time.
Great video! When I saw 1986 at #4 I was like whaaaat? Because I always felt that was the peak. But you convinced me. We couldn't have the greatness of '86 without the brilliance of the prior three years.
I was born in 81 so my favorite Christmas was the year i got a ton of the tiger force line. I finally had some of the classic characters and vehicles in my collection that i had missed out on from the early waves. Got the tiger fly and recondo, the tiger shark, tiger cat and tiger paw plus Duke, Roadblock, Tripwire and Dusty. That was a memorable morning!
Introduction of Timber and Snake Eyes’s iconic new outfit. 85 rules!
This a greatly put together video. My first time checking you out- now I’ll have to look at some of your other vids. I really liked the Scarface yejo analogy depicting the fall lol!
Thanks a lot! Cocaine is the only possible explanation for Ice Cream Soldier
Wow. Awesome video. I’m now subscribed.
I loved every minute of this. As a diehard Transformers kid, GI Joe was always in the background for me. I loved the show and had a few toys here and there but my knowledge (back then and now) is pretty thin. This ranking list really helped clarity and anchor so many memories. I’m currently collecting Classified and this history lesson only adds to my appreciation. Awesome stuff, man.
Thanks! Much appreciated
2023 has revitalized GI Joe like never before. It may not live up to those inception years, and we will never see most of those 80s vehicles ever again, but this just reminded me how many more amazing things the future may hold for our modern Classified series.
Mabey. But GI Joe 25th, 30th 50th, POC, ROC, Retaliation were a blast to collect.
25th is wildly underrated, aside from the outdated head sculpts by today's standard, we had almost every figure and a good chunk of the classic vehicles.
Love the Pursuit of Cobra line. So much good stuff there.
The comicbook build more lore. 😂 and better lore than the cartoon. 😂 but that’s me. Best year 1983… all the 82 figs with upgrades and new figures.
Agreed. I'm comic book all the way. The cartoon is hilarious though
Caught the tail end and watching the start now… brutal on 94🤣😂😅 but I have to say there is a lot to like about it that you don’t mention… that being said can’t wait to watch the rest🫵👍💪 thanks for the vid!!!
Amazing recount of the toy line.
1984-1985 were the years for me,. However, I had to go back in 87 briefly just to get Hawk, wet suit low light and croc master. Great memories.
Merry Xmas homie, nice Dudikoff refrence. Love your channel, do u have merch???
Thanks! No merch yet. Haven't quite got there
Your perspective and takes are both off and relatable . . . and I’m here for it.
Thank you for doing this!
Thanks!
36:15 "You should take your clothes off, maybe put on a business suit, if you're gonna wear that face." 😂
87 was a phenomenal year. But still heartbreaking how very few of those figures made it into the cartoons. I wanted to see a dark psychological episode with Crystal Ball and Slaughter fighting with either Big Boa or Croc Master. Outback and Crazy Legs became my favorites out of the whole lot.
IDW comics have a great version of Crystal Ball in the COBRA series by Mike Costa. He's a creepy mystic. Its probably the only good version of Crystal Ball I've seen.
@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal ill take a look at that. I haven't delved much into gi joe comics outside of the reborn series. But im curious about the civil war stuff
Ah this really took me back. Those early years were just so full of amazing characters and bad ass vehicles. Just simply one of the best toy lines of all time.
I was born in 84 and by the time I was into figures, Ninja Turtles had shifted toys from realistic to wacky and fanciful. I didn't create that change, but I sure bought into it. I just absolutely loved the 90's Joe's colors, gimmicks and spring-loaded everything. Sorry 🤷🏼♂️
I get it. To each his own
@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal and I also get why collectors from the early years would be angry that they kept changing the line into something virtually unrecognizable. But the later years is all I knew.
Awesome. Thanks for the little peek. I love stuff like this. The memories man… *stareslonginglyintothedistance*
Thanks!
I stopped with the toys around 1986. At first, the comics and the toys complimented each other, as did the early cartoons (somewhat). But by 1986, I hit the ninth grade, and coincidentally the toys and cartoons had begun to move apart from the spirit and themes of the comic books. They got silly. But then towards the 1990s even the comics began to get silly with the ninjas, the space crap, the eco crap, etc.
Yeah, at first Larry Hama refused to incorporate the silly shit into the comics. That's why there is no Cobra La or Refrigerator Perry, but towards the end I think he got tired of writing it and gave in
@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal Yeah, it seemed like something had drastically changed in the attitude. Instead of new storylines, they just attached long-existing characters into what had long run its course. It was disheartening. It wrecked the title. G.I. Joe got me into appreciating comics well before even Batman. And then it was over, some 50 issues before Issue 155.
I wouldn't mind having the DinoHunters mint in box.
That dinosaur is calling to you, huh?
1985 by all means! All the amazing figures, and definitely the FLAGG‼️ My parents were still together at the time, but my families involvement in the military goes back a looong! My brother and I convinced my parents to let us share a bedroom, so there was room for it. Also got 5 Shipwrecks that Christmas!
I will say, 1993 was the worst year for me as opposed to 1994. While the oversized Star Brigade figures of ‘94 were ridiculous, I did enjoy the white Armor Bot, white Starfighter repaint of the Stellar Stiletto, and the Joe Colton mail-away was a nice way to close out the line.
The white armor bot is one of the few things I bought. It's pretty badass, but doesn't fit the line.
'82-'86 best and original era. once 87 hits, it started getting weirder and suddenly everyone had side rockets and neon colors. '82-'86 is where its at with series 3 and 4 possibly being the greatest run of characters for the line. EDIT. I wrote this before watching and whaddya know...you say '87 is the weirdo year too. That was my final year, I finished the POW storyline with Outback in the comics and that was pretty much it.
Yeah, I do love the weird. Raptor, Crystal Ball, Croc Master are all fun characters, but after that it does go downhill
I wonder if the ‘92 line had dinosaurs due to the upcoming blockbuster of “Jurassic Park.”
The idea of world-building is rather hilarious though. I mean, Serpentor? The crocodile man? That Globulous dude? Totally believable! The military troop utilizing a mute ninja? Who has an arctic wolf as a companion? Sadly, ‘Nam was totally hot, hence the US’ failure there.
Worthless nitpicking aside, great video. Loved the trip down memory lane. I loved the Rolling Thunder growing up, along with the black jet from that year(?). And I seem to remember another space shuttle type vehicle, though that could be 30 years of cobwebs in my mind.
it doesn't have to be 100% believable, just believable within the rules it sets for itself. They start off with lasers and JUmp packs, so we know we're not in the real military-- and Serpentor was a stretch, but I could go with it--but the Bio-Vipers and mega marines crap breaks the rules it sets for itself. In my opinion anyway.
Yeah, I think they released the top part of the Defiant as its own thing and they also had a few more space vehicles. Cobra had some too. The early cobra shuttle was pretty cool
Yea 85 was the first year I became aware of Gijoe. Since then I was hooked. Quik Kick was my guy. Then all the ninjas. Yo Joe!
What a flashback!! Thanks for the video!
Thanks!
1982 will always be my favorite mostly for nostalgia, but 85 was probably the peak for GI Joe.
Didn't know about all those years! Thanks for the video.
Yeah, the damn thing kept going way past its expiration date
as a kid of the 90's its kinda sad to see all the hate for the 90's figures....most of the time ive noticed the collectors that hate the 90s are ones that are too old to remember these figures or just never gave them a chance 1993 was the best selling year for gi joe in the entire og run...beating out every other year that says something right there
Agreed! And if you were a 10 or 11 year old in 92-93 like me not only were these years great but the nostalgia is there for us now as 40+ year olds. I do like how he gives props to the cobra earthquake and the DEF line in this video.
@@Spring_Loaded_GIJOE yeah thats about the only thing good in the video was def and the earthquake
@@GIJoe90sHeadquarters yeah I didn’t like how he stomped all over the cobra Detonator lol 😂
@@Spring_Loaded_GIJOE agree the detonator was awesome
Hey, also want to say, anybody who has that much love for the brand--even 1994, 1993--is pretty awesome. So even if we disagree on the years, love that you care so much about it
Good choices. I love all the years, even the 90s but in 85 they really were firing on all cylinders. Sunbow cartoon was awesome and I think it was Marvel’s best selling title that year. I mean GI Joe beat Spider-Man. That’s crazy.
Yeah, the comic book is incredible. And the cartoon holds up. I've been rewatching it
Thanks for this video, I really enjoy it. In Italy Joes arived with a big delay (maybe '87), series was mixed and not all the figures and vehicles were imported. First time I saw it was in a little toy shop near Venice: there was the Flagg displayed over the entire shop window. My mom bought me my first figure: Shipwreck.
Great video! I appreciate how you put gave some positive points to the lowest years as well. Really balanced. Thanks for the hard work!
Thanks! Yeah, there's almost always something good
You are right, Zartan was one of the ultimate bad ass of the 80's
He stands out as really incredible character with a great story
You had me at “I liked Flint better than Duke”.
Yeah, I'm not a Duke fan. He's too bland
I think '87 was the last good year. I was pretty much done with toy collecting at that point. Everything after this just looks weird to me...Python Patrol etc. For me '83 and '85 were my favorites! However '82 will always have special spot since I got my 1st joe, Short-Fuze. Plus they gave us Snake Eyes.
Yeah, it gets more colorful and dumber after 87.
21:30 Me as a kid, if I'm being true to my heart, would say '87 was the best. It was the first year I was able to actually get everything I wanted at the time. I loved the early weird stuff, like Croc Master, because they were just cool toys. I mostly played with my Joes as cool action figures and made up all of their characterizations myself, without regard for the fiction in the comics and cartoons. Best toy line of all time and, with the current popularity of video games, I doubt we will see anything like it again.
Yes, 87 is a really amazing year. The Defiant alone makes it high on the list. Some people don't like the weird stuff, but I love Raptor and Croc Master & Crystal Ball
@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal I enjoy your videos because you honestly acknowledge what you liked when you were a kid. For some reason, there are a bunch of forty-something UA-camrs who think it makes them cool today to pretend that they only ever loved the original OD Joes ... and maybe Beachhead and Flint. As if they never ran around their gramma's dining room table swooshing a Raptor doll around! 😏
The second wave hit that sweet spot as far as the comic book story arcs go.
Agree on the worst years no question. I was more a fan of the traditional military guys and not so much the Knocks ( but still have most of them ) Really well done video .
Thanks
Great review on all this and I love how genuine you are on this review!
Thanks alot. Very kind comment
@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal No problema man! Alot of people out there just promoting BS. You have a genuine love for vintage collection.
That was an excellent watch for me. You are 100% on your list. Thanks for putting this up. Great memories for me.
Thanks a lot!
1984......Best details on vehicles and the Cartoon was most believable. I was in middle school in 1982. I still have most of my file cards. That was pure magic, especially having a parent who was in the military. The worst year I would agree was 94 but it to me really started before then when they started doing the tiger Force I was done.
When they released storm shadow and zartan it was unbelievable. I saved my newspaper money and bought them immediately. The cobra rattler having dog fights with the sky striker.... By the way, which spawned one of the coolest GI Joe comics of all time. Also you left out in the comics the g.I Joe yearbook which was a big deal. It let you knew what figures and toys would be coming out for the next year.
Last thing I'd say is I agree with Firefly being the boba Fett of g.I. Joe. I got him for Christmas, He was just cool as hell looking and I loved his equipment. Didn't have too many lines in the cartoon which made his character as you said more mysterious.
I really enjoy your videos. I am a G.I. Joe fan from way back in the beginning in 82 as a kid. I agree that the early years were the best when the Joes were only a little sci-fi and more military-themed. I lost interest in the late 80s when the Joes started to become too weird. I do hope that Hasbro will give us all the original 13 Joes in the the Classified line. I would love to see a more deluxe version of Breaker with more accessories, even though the RAM mototcycle is cool as hell. My favorites Joes are Airborne (Franklin W. Talltree), Doc, Ripcord, Wild Bill, Grandslam (Not sure why, maybe because he is always kind of forgotten), and Topside (He was more of a simple character that I liked).
Thanks! Yes, can't wait to have the Original 13
Airborne (Franklin W. Talltree) was always my favorite Joe. His figure was so detailed, in my opinion. The picture on his filecard was awesome. I was annoyed when the Sky Patrol figures were released in 1990 and they re-used the Airborne code-name for a completely new figure. I guess that I am just picky.
I wonder what kind of load-out Hasbro Pulse will give to Grand-Slam?@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal
I'm leaving this comment before I watch the video, so I'm not influenced by it. I think the best year was 1987 because that was when Croc Master, my favorite figure came out. But also it had other Cobra individuals that were interesting and after that, they started making a lot of generic Cobra "suits" -- the nameless soldiers usually called "something-vipers". I think the first year, 1982, will be a year that people either love or hate depending on if you like the more realistic uniforms. Okay, now I'll watch the video.
87? so, you like it weird huh?
@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal I think 86-87 were the best years. It was a happy medium between regular military and sci-fi bonkers. It had both and stuff in-between.
I'd say it's a toss-up between 84 and 85 for me. 82 and 83 were great too, but 84/85 was the apex of the line.
Love the video brother! Please make more " ranked" videos. Well for me it's 85/ 86 Gi Joe's especially 86. Because me and moms would go to the thrift store whenever she could and next door was a small toy store and they sold Gi Joe's and moms would get one for me every time, the good ol days
YO JOE!!!!
Edit: i subscribed to your channel
Definitely will make more. Next topic will be the women of GI Joe and Cobra
@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal Can't wait!
Subscribed! A lot of love and honesty went into this video. 84 for the WIN! Salute!
Thanks!
I love the humor. Keep up the great work!
Thanks, will do!
It looks like we may be getting zartans swamp sled after they release the ferret, if you look at the seat it can be cut in half. And Using just the top half and make a mold for the bottom. Fingers crossed 🤞. Ahree with your rankings.
That would be awesome.
I really miss my GIJoe figures. As a young adult I got back in to Transformers and have been collecting them on and off for the last 25 years but I really miss having GIJoe figures. I had a small collection of joes as a kid, maybe 15 figures and the only vehicle I had was the Sky Striker but I would build my pwn vehicles out of lego. I would use the Snow Speeder from starwars as a Shark, and I had some other toys I adapted. As an adult I would love to get my old figrues back, especially Lowlight, Dusty, and SnakeEyes V2. So many hours spent playing
i can only do the years i collected and it goes 83-88 and then 82. high quality figures throughout and great accessories
Oh yeah, you stopped exactly when it began to go downhill.
Defending not being spoiled because you had the Flagg is a tough sell buddy.
My mom was broke. But I was spoiled. That divorce thing really works out on the gifts
Aw, maaaan... 1990-94 are my favorite years by far, in all their goofy, neon glory.
Hey I respect that., we all have different opinions and eras we love. They probably were fun, especially if you had them as a kid. I was getting pretty old by then, so they were not what I was looking for. I did buy one thing -- the big Mech robot. It was badass enough that it became the last thing I bought
You may be joking, but there was still a bunch of solid figures in those final years.
The last figures I bought were '92 Destro V3 (excellent figure), Wild Bill and Dice.
92 was when toy stores were pullinng all realistic toy guns off the shelves - you might not have been watching the news around then - thus the color change and a move towards non military "combat "
Yes, They also moved away from military entirely which explains the aliens and monsters
I don't know the 90s figure but for the 80s off the top of my head 1.85 2.84 3.86 4.82 5.83 6.88 7.87 8.89
1986 was my favorite year. it was a great balance between military and scify. It had just enough insanity to make it interesting without chasing fads like ninjas or eco stuff. Also no reprints. And the Bat is my favorite figure of all time and the switch to Vipers rather than blue berries was good too.
Cobra always had the best character designs. Especially loved the Python Patrol
Great list!
For me, strong start in 82. 83 amazing. Peak at 84. 85, nearly right there. Shift in tone with 86; slight dip.
I do say 85 was the best year to be into joe though. Stores were filled with 84-85 toys and the cartoon was on. Huge year!
Then, each year slowly less good. Still pretty great through 88, maybe 89 though.
Agreed. After 88 it goes downhill. There are some good things all the way to the end-not much good about 94 (in my opinion)
Remember getting rolling thunder and mean dog vehicles in 88 which i thought were awesome. Too bad hasbro doesnt look like they intend to do any of the crazier vehicle designs for classified/haslab but just the more basic (and likely cheaper to produce) tank/plane/boat variations.
I can't imagine what they would charge for a Haslab Rolling Thunder. There are people 3D printing these things though. I'd consider buying them, but there's no way I have room for that
Soon as I seen the thumbnail and title of this video in my feed I said to myself, "1985". Good stuff.
Yup. That year was incredible.
Enjoyed this, good work! 1983 will always be number 1 for me.
That was a very hard list to make, I might have changed around #1 through 4 a little. But like I said it’s a hard list. You did a great job. Earned a sub. Have you talked about the comic packs yet? I need that snake eyes storm shadow and stalker in Vietnam
Thanks! I;m working on a video ranking every version of GI Joe, including the Comic Book packs. I love those things
This is a fun presentation that brings back memories of my history with G.I.Joe. My favorite year goes to 1983 where Hasbro upped their game not only with more animated spots but Destro who I'm also a fan of and the first Joe Miniseries. 93 was the worst and it's no wonder why Hasbro canceled the line.
Yup.I am obviously Destro obsessed, so I can't argue with that
@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal I was hoping out of curiosity you would mention Battle Force 2000 during your 87' segment. While I disagree with repaints like Tiger and Night Force, Maurauders didn't make the cut for me. Happy 2024!
Not Gonna lie I agree with this list 100% ... I truthfully was checked out by 1989 late .... The Raven My fav cobra plane ..... in 1988 I remeber one called the Phanton or host Sorta Sci fi looking jet also had it ..Tomahawk.... omg i can go for days lol and yes also had the Flagg last figure i ever bought was the 3rd re incarnation on snake eyes ... so so many memories ..
Loved the third Snake Eyes. he had those great three-pronged nunchuks
The first years saw a real lack of facial features and hair styles but I’d take them over the final year’s characters
Yeah, they only had three faces: Receding hairline monkeyface, pointy soy face & Beard
Very fun idea for a video and you made a compelling case for your selections even if we disagree.
My ranking would go
1. and 1a/2. 1984 and 1983 are so close together in my estimation that they could flip positions depending on the hour and how I'm feeling. Right now I would say 1984 is the best year because it was by far the best year for Cobra: the introduction of Baroness (in the toys at least), Storm Shadow, Zartan, and the hooded Cobra Commander, plus fan favorites like Firefly and my two personal favorites Copperhead and Wild Weasel and their iconic vehicles. Then on the Joes you've got Duke (in store, not mail-away), Roadblock, Spirit, and Mutt & Junkyard, plus Cutter and the Killer W.H.A.L.E. On the other hand, 1983 was my personal favorite year for the heroic Joes, introducing Torpedo, Gung Ho, Snow Job, Doc, and Tripwire, who are all in or close to my Top 10 favorites. Then the three vehicle drivers--Wild Bill, Cover Girl, and Ace are all awesome! On the Cobra side you have your namesake, the dreaded Destro and Major Bludd. Plus the H.I.S.S.!!! Amazing stuff.
3. 1985, if I'm being objective, was probably the peak year and I totally understand why it was your #1. For me, what knocks it down is that some of the most popular characters from the cartoon (Shipwreck, Bazooka, and the Crimson Twins)... honestly, I always found them more obnoxious because of the cartoon. I never liked Shipwreck or Bazooka until the Classified line; their new figures are awesome! But as you said, this year introduced a ton of greatness like Flint and Lady Jaye! The A.W.E. Striker! The first ninja version of Snake Eyes! And Cobra troop-builders that can never be topped in the Crimson Guards, Eels, and Snow Serpents. Plus the Dreadnoks! I never had the U.S.S. Flagg (my folks are still married after 51 years), but I did have the Tactical Battle Platform and that remains my favorite G.I. Joe vehicle/playset.
4. 1988. The first year where the toys weren't really supported by the cartoon, so I remember everything about this wave felt like a new revelation. Shockwave, Hit & Run, Repeater, Hardball, and... Storm Shadow was a good guy now?!?!?! Plus Destro went rogue and started his own faction called the Iron Grenadiers?!! Wow! And the demonic Hydro-Viper. And Toxo-Viper... yay, now Airtight has someone to fight!!!
5. 1989 is the second best year for Cobra troop-builders with Alley-Viper, Frag-Viper, H.E.A.T.-Viper, and Night-Viper. How awesome was that lineup? Plus on Destro's team you had T.A.R.G.A.T. and Annihilator with their gonzo flying packs. On the G.I.Joe side you had new versions of old favorites with Stalker version 2, Rock n' Roll version 2, Snake Eyes version 3, and Deep Six version 2. Okay, maybe Deep Six was nobody's favorite but look, now his legs could move!!! I always found the inclusion of Downtown and Back-Blast weird; I remain convinced to this day that those were supposed to be new versions of Short-Fuze and Zap, who also debuted in the first year with Stalker, Snake Eyes, and Rock 'n Roll, but maybe the names had to be changed because of trademark issues or whatever. I also liked Countdown, the astronaut because I never had Payload with the Defiant.
6. Speaking of 1982, the year that launched the whole line gets points for starting it all and introducing lasting favorites like Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Stalker, Rock 'n Roll, and Cobra Commander. It loses points because of the comparative limited articulation in the arms and heads, the overall blandness in the body parts and re-use in head sculpts. Frankly, it's no wonder most of these guys were forgotten, but imagine if the characters had been re-designed in 1985 and 1986 instead of just their military specialties.
7. For some collectors 1987 was the year G.I.Joe got weird. That, in itself, never bothered me. I think this was overall an incredibly strong year for Cobra. Big Boa, Croc Master, Raptor, Crystal Ball... I used to joke that these were rejected concepts from the canceled Kenner Super Powers line, but that wasn't meant as an insult. These guys were crazy in a fun way. I also thought Cobra-La was whacky fun! I may not like Cobra Commander's armored look as much as other fans, but I don't see anything wrong with it. Where the line falls shorter for me is in the design and execution of some of the Joes. Falcon, Outback, Tunnel Rat, and Jinx were awesome, and I love me some animals so Law & Order are a big win. But Psyche-Out, Crazy-Legs, and Sneak-Peek... interesting ideas but weird executions. To read his file card, you'd think Sneak-Peek should look like Hit & Run meets Beach Head, but instead he looks like an overweight radar operator on the Flagg. And making Gung Ho in his dress blues... I just never understood why they did that. Bonus points for two ginormous play sets, the Mobile Command Center (which I had), and the Defiant Space Complex (which I stole ... long story).
8. 1986. I know I'm in the minority but one of the most popular years for G.I. Joe is underwhelming to me. The big hurdle with this one is that the year was largely built around the iconic figures of Sgt. Slaughter and Serpentor, and... I don't really care for either of them. I didn't need Doctor Mindbender as Cobra's mad scientist... I thought that was Destro's job. And the new round of Joes were taking the jobs of characters I already liked Lifeline, Leatherneck, Wetsuit, and Dial-Tone could never replace Doc, Torpedo, Gung Ho, and Breaker for me.
I don't trash the '90s, but I also don't have the energy to rank them. I know Hasbro was doing everything they could, chasing every possible trend to keep the line alive, and it worked for part of the time. I collected G.I.Joe right up until I saw Ice Cream Soldier on the shelf at Walmart... I picked him up, put him back down, and thought to myself, "I think I'm done with G.I.Joe"... I had no idea that the entire collecting community was having virtually the same experience that that the toys would be cancelled thereafter.
Anyway, fun video. I liked your ranking even though mine was different. Good work!
Okay, I want to hear how you stole the Defiant!
I stopped collecting Joe's around '87 when they introduced the Cobra la. Croc master was a stretch for me.
I knew it was time to move on from toys to girls when I was debating which female figure was the hottest 😂
What did you decide on? I'm gonna go Baroness, or maybe Zarana.
Definitely, cobra-la was a terrible storyline. It was way too weird for me. Sucks, Hasbro is bringing it to classified.
Awesome video! Loved the breakdowns.
86 was the last great year. 86 and before were all heavily influenced by Vietnam, and I think that is what made it work. From 87 and beyond they went overboard with hi-technology.
Yes. It did get silly. Sometimes fun-silly. Sometimes dumb silly
1988 was my last year getting G.I. Joe when I was a kid. I am the same, I never liked (and still don't) the Tiger Force, Python Patrol, and Slaughter's Marauders line. And from what I see in stores near me, it does not look like those lines are too popular here either. The Classified line rarely ever sat on the shelf until those lines came out, now they are the vast majority of the line that sits on the shelf. Outback and Recondo are the only 2 Tiger Force figures I have liked so far.
GREAT FUN, EDUCATIONAL, AND INFORMATIVE VIDEO FAM
Much appreciated
Your Flagg trade off…. LOL. Great video. Thanks.
Thanks!
You had me laughing about Zartan's disguise. My definitive Joes n Cobras are from batch '82 - '86. I'm not a completist but for my Classified collection, I stick to these batches.
Thanks! Yeah I don't need to complete either, No need for the crappy first two Roadblocks or the fifty repaints. I just get what I like, which unfortunately for my wallet, is alot.
No mention of the GI Joe Headquarters in 1983? Come on man, at the time it was epic. Shoot, it's still epic.
Good point. Video was getting long though
Like most of us, i "checked out" in 90' but i should've stayed with the line cause you showed alot of cool figures, i would even say that almost all the 3.75 Joes look awesome.... obviously i didn't have the same opinion back in the day!!.... and did you "bad mouth" Corey Feldman!!?? i hope you didn't cuz this dude is a legend!!!
Even Ice Cream soldier?
@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal not the 1st time someone talks about this dude but tbh i thought he was an inside joke in the joe community but actually seeing him.... whats not love ;)