Returning/New Collector Questions

Hey, I'm new here and while I've been contemplating selling off my collection of mostly 82-85 joes, the more pics I see and threads I read, the more I think it would be fun to get back in to the whole collecting thing- cheaper than my current hobby (cars) & my wifs is on board with the Joes too! (so that's a plus)... Anyway, I've been perusing some threads and there's tons of abbreviations and all these "new" versions of joes that I have absolutely no idea about.

I'm wondering, if I were to go to the store today. What figures are the holy grail stuff? I'd hate to think I'm walking by the "rare" or hard to find figures that might really give me a jump start in building a nice collection.

So, this is what I'm looking for:
1. If you guys can clarify some of the abbreviations
2. Can anyone post names of what "who" I should be looking for
3. Can anyone post the pics of what I'd be looking for

GI Joe Retaliation figures should be out in stores in the next couple of months. Right now it's mostly onesies and twosies at Walgreens and Dollar General. Wal-Mart doesn't carry much until probably Retaliation. Toys R US might have more stuff from the last year or two. Most people are just shopping online right now. I don't sugest driving from town to town looking for nothing, not right now anyway. Just shop local or online.

25th anniversary came out in 2007, 30th came out late 2011, ROC stands for Rise of Cobra from the 2009 movie. POC stands for Pursuit of Cobra. The best ones to collect are 30th, POC and 25th has a lot of the originals, and so does 30th of course. 2007 and newer are the best GI Joe lines to collect on top of the 82-94 group of figures.

Thanks for the quick response.
How many different versions/variations are out now?

Also, I forgot to ask, what are the "grail" figures/vehicles I should be looking for in the older stuff?

I have a few momc figures but I've always preferred the loose ones. Just curious to know what I should be on the lookout for.

Also ROC, the Rise of Cobra movie figures, some are cool, but there are some crappy ones as well. Just do some research on them.

Ack... I was too slow typing... Seems like there are tons of variations. I think my head might start hurting... LOL

These are the G.I. Joe lines that have come out in the modern era aka ME. 25th anniversary, Pursuit of Cobra aka POC, 30th anniversary, Renegades aka Ren., Dollar General exclusive line aka DG Joes, and Retaliation which was put on hold after the first wave released due to the movie being pushed back. Figures you might actually be able to find in a store somewhere and should not pass up are Renegades Storm Shadow, POC Shock Trooper, and POC Shadow Tracker, Retaliation G. I. Joe trooper. There are more figures to keep an eye out for but these are the only ones I know off the top of my head.



Hahaha, I completely forgot about Rise of Cobra.

They have some convention exclusives, but they are expensive. Those consist of SGT Slaughter, Jinx, Footloose, Zatana. I would just start with 25th, POC and 30th. They have a lot of awesome figures.

In Walgreens and CVS you can find Pursuit of Cobra Jungle BATs, General Hawk, Cobra Trooper, Shadow Tracker, and Steel Brigade(the one with the black mortars on his pack). Those have been the ones that are pulling more money from bidders on ebay. So I'm guessing those are in higher demand. I know I'm forgetting some, so anyone, add more.

Would anyone happen to have some pics of the packaging? With so many variations, I doubt I'd know what I'm looking at...