Army Builing as a Kid

[WildWeasel]

So I was thinking last night about my collection as a kid. When I think back to it (brings a tear to my eye, hold on, feeling a little verklempt), one thing I remember is not "army building" any characters.

Was it even common back then? Doesn't seem like it was. Only time I remember having multiple characters was when playing with friends.

Now out of curiosity I'm wondering did any of you guys ever "army build" as a kid?

[Golobulous]

i had tons of joes but i never heard of army building until around the time the joe vs. cobra line came out then i started army building neo vipers. now i have an army of almost every cobra soldier ever made. but before around the year 2000 i never heard of it

[COBRACOLLECTOR]

i diddnt either i just had one of evry guy my mom bought me

[Crimson Rage]

Yep.
For me here in England, GI JOE was ACTION FORCE of course. Some time in the 1980's I was at a model aeroplane display and they had a flea market there. I saw a stall with a box full of Cobra Officers on the old red, white and blue AF cards for 50 pence each. I handed my money over and ended up with 12 of them (the entire stock).
Unfortunately this meant that my officer corps outnumbered my three Corbra Troopers, but it was still an impressive army as far as I was concerned.

Regular, "full priced" army building was a bit beyond my resources back then, as there was always another new figure I had to get before picking an army builder, but I did end with two each of the Eels, Crimson Guard and Snow Serpents.

[slim19722]

I only started army building with the 25th line. I never really cared for it before then, but as I started seeing fellow Tanker's pic's of their armies, I knew I would be jumping on the "army building wagon", well in my case squad building as I get 8 of each builder(1 to keep MOC and 7 for loose display). Don't have the cash or space for anything bigger.

[Shockwave]

I started when star wars came out with super articulate clone trooper. i dont army build unless they are pretty possable.

[ceraurus]

No, I never army-built when I was a kid. Well, I did have 2 regular stormtroopers.

[Black Rose]

I never army-built until the 25th line came along. That said, as a kid I did have two Cobra troopers - I remember I use to pretend that the same trooper was a squad etc. that would attack the Joe's. Anyway it's nice to actually be able to afford to troop build & have more than one troop.

[karamazov80]

I had 2 or 3 Vipers as a kid, but I didn't "army build," I just so happened to get them at yard sales, from others, etc. I was more interested in having the major characters than the troops. I got back into collecting early last year, and even then had no interest in "army building." I just wanted 1 of each toy that I liked. Similar to others, the 25th line is the first time that I've had an interest in getting more than one of each troop, but still, 3-4 of certain troopers probably doesn't qualify as "army building". . .

[gijoevscobra4ever]

I didn't army build but I did try to get more Cobra soldiers of varying types so they could match the Joes. I usually made the bad guys stronger than the good guys while playing.

[245am]

i think of army building as more of an adult collector thing for 2 reasons; 1, I don't know about your homes, but my folks would have never understood or popped for buying 5+ of the same toy, and 2, by the time I got into joes around 84, there were like 18 figures a year, plus 10 vehicles (most w/ figs) if I was going to buy 5 figures, I had a slew of unique guys to choose from (not even counting other toy lines)

[ceraurus]

...plus 10 vehicles (most w/ figs) if I was going to buy 5 figures, I had a slew of unique guys to choose from (not even counting other toy lines)

Right. Whenever I was at TRU with my dad and he was willing to buy me a figure, there were just too many unique characters I didn't have to choose own I already owned.

[Agent-GHQ]

As a kid, the thought of army building did not even came up. I was just fortunate just to have any Joes to play with.

[Deceptichage]

I never army built any of my toys as a kid. I collected the characters I could afford and wanted. At that time, I was more into TFs and Masters of the Universe. I couldn't drive so anytime my parents would take us somewhere, I would hit up the toy aisles. The funny thing is I remember finding just about everything I wanted even if I came back a few weeks later.

Until recently, I never even came across the concept of army build. I wonder if the adult collectors back then did the same thing. The idea never crossed my mind as a kid.

[Barefoot Jedi]

As a child, at my peak, I had three COBRA Soldiers, 2 COBRA Officers, 5 Vipers, 2 BATs, 2 Eels and 4 Crimson Guards.

I was inspired to army build as a child by that commercial for the Snow Cat that shows Destro, Scrap-Iron and several COBRA Soldiers in the snow. I think I can even remember arguing with my mother over wanting to get two Vipers at the same time.

I also army built for Star Wars. I had, I think, 6-8 Stormtroopers and 6-8 Snowtroopers and 2 TIE Fighter Pilots, 2 AT-AT Drivers.

I have all of my Joe army builders from childhood still except one COBRA Soldier (and I've no idea what happened to it). The COBRA Soldiers and Officers are cannon fodder but the rest are in decent and good shape. My parents made me sell all my toys except for my Joes and Transformers that I fought them to keep. Sigh...

It was the TRU COBRA Soldier 6-packs that got me back into Joe collecting as an adult. Those were literally a childhood dream come true. Before that, I was mostly a Star Wars/Lord of the Rings collector. The ultimate achievement of my army building (what inspired me as an adult) was that Emperor's Arrival diorama that used to be at Toys 'R' Gus's site using vintage Star Wars action figures. I now have a similar display using POTF2 and beyond stuff with about 300 Imperial troops of different types.

[A.V.A.C.]

i wanted to have more cobra's as a kid, the joes always outnumbered them. i had a couple extra cobra troopers when i was young, but i was a completist, and spending $2.56 on a figure i already had was hard to do. a nameless, faceless army was beyond my reach, unlike today.:)

[Darkness2393]

Well, when I was a kid, I actually didn't like G.I. Joe! But I did love those Jurassic Park toys, so if you count legions of raptors as an army, sure.

[swafus]

The closest I came to army building was 2 vipers and 2 crimson guards. I always wanted to army build but with all the other characters to collect it seemed like a waste not to get ones that I didn't already have? I remember playing with them and I would just recycle the same 2 vipers over and over again in different spots! lol

[DarthBrett]

I never army built as a kid (still don't). I had an older brother so between both of us we had a lot of doubles of some characters like all of the Imperials from Star Wars and some Cobras from GI Joe. I suspect the real reason most of us didn't army build is because most of our parents probably wouldn't ever buy two of more than 1 figure since they'd think we'd want another character that we didn't have and they'd rather spend their money on more than just one specific figure. Also, I can imagine most kids saying to their parents, "Mom, can I get a Cobra Officer?" with mom replying back, "You already have that guy. Why don't you pick somebody else."

[Hicks_Royel]

Yep, all my various forms of Vipers had just as much personality as the true individual characters. I think I might've had three or four various colored Lampreys, only one Moray though. That was the extent of my Troop Building.

Unless you count my three Sgt. Slaughters... They were kinda an army all their own.

[WildWeasel]

Alot of what you guys are saying make sense. With so many unique characters on the "shelf" at the stores definitely made it harder to choose a duplicate figure over a NEW one you didn't have. My brother had some Joes too, but I can't recall if we every bought the same figure(s) or not.

[Amberbratt]

I dont think anyone really had the inkling to army build back in the day...

does anyone remeber the case packs?

I remeber the joes USED TO BE HUGE like 36 to a case or something kinda like the x-men from the early 1990's

I remember one or two times... seeing a full "case" of them

I also remember wanting a storm shadow Ninja guy... because Ninjas ARE COOL!

they gave it to me from the box :)

[mech-grunt]

When I was a kid I remember have about 4 of each of the no name guys (Vipers, Cobra Troopers) when we would play each one would count as 4. That way we would have 16 to play with.

[jeremywatts]

I believe that if Hasbro would start flooding the shelves with unique characters then troop building might go down. I would especially like to see more Joes coming into the 25th Modern era line. My wife thinks I'm evil (just joking) but I wouldn't blame her if she did. All I seem to get is Cobra's my table is full of them and in comparison to my measley Joe Army the Joes are dead. I have every figure for the 25th so far (except wave 4 comic packs which are on order with a bunch of other stuff) and all the vehicles. I just wish I could get some Joe love from Hasbro maybe even an all Joe wave or two with all new figs.

[Wylde Weezle]

I guess even as a kid, I knew that I wanted at least doubles of certain figures since the comic book and cartoon always showed how much manpower Cobra used for its ops.

I had small groups, not exactly a Cobra Army.
2 each of:
Snow Serpents
Alley Vipers
Televipers
STUN Drivers

3 each of:
BATS
Crimson Guards

and 4 Vipers.

All my other Cobras, I had one of each.

[gdztoyz]

I didn't "army build" per se, but I would buy up to six of each trooper when I could find them. It wasn't really for collecting/hoarding, my friends and my dad thought I was a nut, but I just couldn't have the same guy get shot and return over and over when I played GIJoe... With the 25th line, I'm kinda continuing that tradition, but now it has a cool term for it:)

[DaViper]

I concur that army building never crossed my mind as a kid. In my fantasy joe world it was always a one on one fight. No army vs. army here. Plus I was just lucky enough to get one figure let alone a army of duplicates.

To be honest, I don't know why I army build now, must be the peer preasure or something. lol You guys are bad influence on me! :D

[wraith]

When I was a kid I bought all of my own toys by working odd jobs around my neigborhood. I lived with my dad (for most of my time as a little guy) & we just didn't have the spare $ to buy toys, so if I wanted it, it was up to me to get it. That being said, I didn't have to argue with a parent about buying multipuls. I had about 6 blue shirts (officers & troopers together) as my first trip into army building. Not sure what happened to them all. (had some sticky fingered "friends" back then). I didn't army build anymore until around 87. I wanted new Joes but after I had bought everything that was in my small town, & since I didn't have a way to get to any toy stores, I got the grand idea to build an army & bought what my stores had. I had 2 Stellar Stelletos (sp?), 2 imps, 2 adders, 2maggots, 3 toxo-vipers,2 hydro-vipers, 2 IG DEMONS, & around 12 IG troops. Now this might not sound like a lot but all of this combined with my single troops, to me, as a kid, seemed like a legion! Sadly ALL of my collection from my child hood was accidentily thrown in the trash when my dad & I moved when I was around 17. I had 3 figures that survived & still have them displayed on my USS FLAGG.

[allen dane]

I had two of all cobra soldiers after 85. Then, I got an extra cobra officer and soldier when I ordered the original team mail away (anyone else remember that deal?). I got a few doubles of the drivers by mail away too. The planes and boats look great with co-pilots in the same suit. Now, I try to tell people about my collecting, the ridicule does not out way the few times someone has said "I got a few of those sitting in my folks basement collecting dust, if you want 'um you can have 'um". I troop build the Cobras, and replace any faded/scratched parts on my Joes. This worked great for me pre-Ebay!!!!!

[arashikage storm]

I never army built, as I was lucky enough to have parents who had collections, so they made sure i had one of each figure, but that was pretty much it. it wasnt til I got to Jr. High, i was talking to a buddy of mine in the lunch line about Joes, and another kid overheard me, and we ended up being friends. He was really into trading, so i would do these rediculous deals with him. i remember trading him the original Firefly for the Terror drome! But i used to get a BUNCH of troops from him, so i might have had 3 or 4 of a certain fig, but i didnt get into army building til the JVC figs, and those crappy Neo-Vipers.....now i only do 25th figures, but my army is VAST!!!

[NeilJam]

It wasn't a very big army, but I did have 4 Vipers, 2 BATs, and 2 Techno-Vipers, but absolutely no regular Cobra troopers or officers. When I fist bought some extra Vipers I remember having to explain to my dad that they were generic characters so it wasn't really more than 1 of the same guy.

[Soundwave Viper]

The main reason why kids didn't army build back then , was ofcourse because parents would know if they bought that for their kids.....and parents would'nt buy doubles of them ...

[statesofeuphoria]

I had 2 each of Cobra Officers, Soldiers, Bats, Alley Vipers, Night Vipers, and Heat Vipers.
That was the extent of my army building when I was a kid. the latter three were because I worked at a toy store in the late 80's early 90's.

[G.I. Smurf]

never did until i got into dios a few years back. back when my friends and i played we just pretended there were more troops around. if one got killed, another would take his place.

[vadersquest]

I never did army build when I was a kid. I had all the Joes from 82-88 but no dupes. Even when I started collecting as an adult I never did the army build thing. At one point I did army build star wars figures (who does not remember the great purge of 2000/01).I bought cases of storm troopers and other builders. That was fun but I was getting figures for just a few bucks. Now it is painful.

[VandalSavage]

I was always an army builder...one of the first things I told my mom when I was 7 years old is that I needed many more Stormtroopers...I didn't want the same guy coming back to life every few seconds...I told her "there were lots in the movie so I needed a lot to look like the movie" and "it's no fun using the same guy over and over again"... Since that time I built armies of many different groups of figures...

Mr. Savage

[CG76]

I remember when I started collecting I wanted one of each Cobra regular, whether it was a Trooper, Viper, Officer, Techno, Tele, CG, Night Creeper and etc. Since my resources were limited plus I collected other toys such as Transformers and Ghostbusters, I ended up not getting Astro, Toxo, Hydro, Laser, Eels, BATS, etc. But I'm trying to make up for lost time by now buying vintage.

[C.I.A.D.]

My troop building started with Star Wars. I remember getting like 4 Storm Troopers for XMas of '80 and not understanding why I got so many of the same guy.

As time progressed, I was never able to troop build the way I wanted to (you know, the same amount of troops as you would see in the cartoon).

Now, I'm happy that I'm old enough to buy what I want when I want it, so that way, if I want 45450314 figures of one character, I don't have to deal with the "but MoooooOoOooOom!" :D

[crock master]

my parents were like one of each only. then i was bummed that i got 2 shipwrecks one chrismas because i wanted more than one cobra troop

[electrikwarrior]

The dream was always there as a kid. I remember wanting to get at least 2 Flaggs and a bunch of skystrikers and a lot of shipwrecks... my parents would never go for it so i never asked. I also remember thinking we need more grunts and footlooses. My therapists says thats why i modestly army build now. ha

[Crimson Rage]

I also used to army build the old, no-neck Star Wars Stormtrooper figure. Poor articulation, the afore-mentioned lack of head swivel and yet I still had around 8 of them, along with 2 TIE pilots, 4 "Death Star Commanders" and 3 AT-AT Drivers (but never an actual AT-AT!).

I lost interest in SW toys when "Action Force" came out and so concentrated on collecting Red Shadows (I still have two of those) and Z-Force infantry. Wonderful, wonderful days they were!

[xFlintx]

The only army builder I had multiples of was the Crimson guard, and that was only becaise my brother and I both had one.

[wild weasel]

i'm 12 and i army build,i have about 10 25th vipers,tons of arah army builders,4 25th bats,4 uss flaggs and much more

[GunghosLipHair]

nope, although i had two of every figure more or less cause of my brother. But i never had an "army" i did have 5 bats, but that was just because i liked them the best. I did not think about army bulding at that time.

[slowrey]

i never thought about army building just being able to get to the store with my granpa to get the ones i needed was hard enough