[Dusty Ayers]

Cobra-La and neon.

[SmokeBellew]

I wonder now how much my own end had to do with just simply "growing up." I mean, did the toys really get stupid and uninteresting, or did the simple fact I was growing older make them stupid and uninteresting? Was the later stuff really that shitty or would I have suddenly found them shity even if they had stayed the ARAH course, avoiding day-glo and Ninja Force and BF2000 and Star Brigade and Toxo-bullshit? Hard to say. I know folks who were in the prime of their childhood during those later years who absolutely love that stuff.

What I do know is that 1988 was definitely my last year when I purchased Shockwave and the Phantom X-19, but I was already outgrowing them in 1987 when I bought Outback, Law & Order, Chuckles, Marine Dress GH and 2 BF2000 vehicles. I remember thinking at the time that they were all really cool, but it wasn't the same anymore. And that was before things got super-goofy with all the sub-teams. So, most likely, I just stopped caring about toys the way I used to.

[MadGecko]

I was 10 in 1988 and I got Astro, Toxo & Hydro Vipers, IG & Voltar. The only vehicle I got was the Cobra Battle Barge. At that point I was collecting baseball cards quite a bit and had moved on to Sky Commanders that year.

[Dusty Ayers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phightower

When did the ARAH era start to lose you?

Not based on your age but interest in the figures from design and concept.

For me, it started very specifically in 1991.

That was the year the neons and fluorescents took center stage. Although there were a few solid figures like Big Ben, Red Star and Heavy Duty, for the most part the brand began a running start on its way to jumping the shark.

Fingers crossed... the few throwback designs they are still trying out (Iceberg, Saw Viper, Frag Viper Commander) will not start a trend in the wrong direction.

I agree. I was heading into high school around that time so it was the perfect storm to stop collecting. Funny thing though, I like a lot of those figs now. I have this ridiculous love of the Headman figure. I thought it was moronic then but I kind of dig it now. I think it's because I grew up during the height of ARAH Joe. The later stuff was fairly unfamiliar to me like the Retaliator. I had no idea what the Retaliator was and had to Google it. I love that chopper!

[Mr Hebime]

September 1984 when I started high school. Top heavy Catholic school girls with snug sweaters was a good enough reason to stop at the time...

[ALTY66]

1988 for me. Similar story to everyone else, just grew out of them due to other interests. Little brother took up the slack and collected at least some Joes up until the end of the line in 94. I got the remnants of our Joes and there's a Battle Corps Viper amongst the leftovers.

[threash]

A 12 year toy line is definitely going to age out early adopters no matter what they do. I did not get into Joes until 86 (had a single 85 figure) so my addiction was still in full swing in the early 90s. 87 and 88 were bad years for sure but from 89 to 92 everything was great. Some of the best troop builders of the line came out in 89 (night viper, annihilator, frag viper, heat viper, even targat although that one not so much) the joe line up was great (apart from scoop :P ) and it just got better in 90. The only sucky figures from the 90s line were rapid fire and grid iron and that goofy sonic fighter dodger. 91 was pretty good too, there still wasn't that much neon (apart from incinerators, and i can forgive the bright colors on a flame thrower trooper). Everyone dumps on the eco warriors, but i always felt they were a valid sub team that had a perfectly good play reason for existing and even justified their neon colored outfits, it WAS very dumb not to include airtight on the team though. Super sonic falcon, bludd, zap and psyche out are the best versions of those characters IMO, but road pig should've stayed away from the self tanner. 92 was pretty great too, i LOVED DEF and like eco warriors i felt they had a perfectly good reason for existing and gave me plenty of ideas for play sessions that i would otherwise not had thought of. Also as a late entry into joes i loved getting new versions of characters i missed out on. 92 gung ho is my gung ho, ditto wild bill, duke, destro, firefly, roadblock, wet suit, cutter and mutt. The headhunters are amazing, their backpack/sawed off combo is one if not the best accessory of any figure. Headman is a worthy villain that easily belongs next to Destro and CC.

That said, this is when mistakes started to get made. There is a reason kids in the 90s did not love GI Joe as much as we did in the 80s and the line died. You can start with all the gimmicks (ninja force sucked, kids loved ninjas but we basically got worse toys than the regular joes) talking commandos were dumb as hell, there is no reason those backpacks should have been attached to the figures and they ruined what could have been some very strong additions to the line up. Too many accessories on everyone, and worst just repeating the same ones over and over again. Those accessory trees were just lame, so was giving every single character a missile launcher (wasn't this supposed to be a vehicle toy line? way to make every tank obsolete) and then freaking sticking missile launchers into helmets was the final straw. Armored brigade, freaking play doh, aliens, dinosaurs, transparent figures... at that point they were just throwing things at the wall and hoping something stuck. The one thing that might have was too late to save the line. Even at the end there some gems though, Alley viper v2 is the best version, heat viper v2 is also an improvement, and the headhunter stormtrooper is probably the best figure in the entire line. The megamarines were for the most part cool figures (apart from the stupid monsters and their play doh armor gimmick) and so were the non armored or alien star brigade.

[ranquet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusty Ayers

Cobra-La and neon.

Yup (plus the Catholic school girls once I hit 11 or 12)

[Dusty Ayers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by poddie

I distinctly remember not seeing the great figures from '87 or so onwards... it wasn't that I had lost interest so much as I couldn't find the ones I wanted. One fateful trip to a local hobby store netted me both Storm Shadow and Ninja Snake Eyes. I never saw either again, and never saw most of the other figures that would have interested me from then on.

Once all the neon and Eco-Warriors and Cobra-La came out I really hated them. I also really didn't like when the characters I knew and loved "changed outfits". So the new Stalker, Roadblock, BAT, etc bothered me as a child.

The funny thing is, now as an adult I actually LOVE the neon and wackier concepts. They are kind of like "lost Joes" to me... things I never had as a kid that are fascinating to me. I'm much less concerned about realism now.

Now Eco-Warriors and Cobra-La are some of my absolute favorites, and I would kill for modern versions of them. I am also obsessed with the '91 BAT now and really want an ME version of it. PLEASE HASBRO MAKE THIS FIGURE AND MAKE IT GREAT!

I'm 100% with you.

[Zartan1011]

1987 was the beginning of the end for me. The Joe movie and the change of direction to more silly neon colors was the beginning of the end. In 1989, I pretty much bought my last Joe figures. A few years later (early 90's) I saw some Joes & Transformers at Kay Bee toys and thought they looked terrible.It wasn't until 1997 with the TRU 15th anniversary releases that I got back to collecting Joe. And I haven't stopped since