It's a trip!: G.I. Joe is MIA

02 October 2005

G.I. Joe is MIA

My youngest has decided that he now likes G.I. Joe. Who knew? On Saturday nothing appealed to him. He didn't want to play with anything he had, and nothing would make him happy. So out of desperation, we got out some of his brother's old, beat-up G.I. Joes and vehicles, and he spent the weekend happily playing "good guy bad guy" with them.

I decided G.I. Joes would be a great thing for Santa to bring him. New G.I. Joe toys, that haven't been handed down through the evil toy-abuser that is his brother. Vehicles that still have steering wheels, and men that have a full set of clothing, not to mention all their limbs--you know what I mean. So, I got online and started searching.

I tried Amazon, etoys, wal-mart.com--and every other online toy store I could think of--I found...NOTHING. No one has the 12" action figures, not to mention jeeps. No one. There appears to be a WORLD-WIDE SHORTAGE of G.I. Joes. Wal-Mart actually had some items listed, but every single one of them was out of stock.

Even ebay was short. People are selling old, used jeeps, missing most of the pieces:

"In Played With Condition, Has Some Missing Parts; A Steering Wheel, And Tail
Gate That I Know Of. Other Items May Be Missing. One Of The Connecting Arms On The Windshield Is Broken Off. May Or May Not Be Fully Operational. "

--and other people are buying them! This one has 6 bids, and is over $20 already! There's obviously a problem here.

Do they make the action figures out of some endangered tree, and if they cut any more the rainforest will disintegrate? Has every scrap of camoflauge material been diverted to supplement the war on terror? What is going on here?

If you know where to find the 12" G.I. Joe men or large vehicles to go with them, please let me know. Santa needs your help!

posted by Julie at 8:31 PM 8 comments

8 Comments:

Renee Nefe said...: Hey Jules,
I think that if you do a search on GI Joe you'll find that they've stopped making him again.

Originally he was discontinued in the 70's due to the oil shortage and it costs too much to produce him.

Then in the 80's they came out with the little 7 inch guys with the permanent clothes...but those didn't go over too well...especially when they had to recall the shooting cannons.

Now all you can usually find are the collectable Joes. And for jeeps... you could get a used barbie and paint it for him. maybe?; Sun Oct 02, 09:22:00 PM GMT+1
Jen said...: Ah ha ha ha ha!!!!! I love it! Get some of that Barbie crap and renovate it! Seriously.

Let him storm Barbie's Dream Castle with her newly painted and outfitted Mustang Convertible. He can lead the cavalry with unlimited "Brietta the Pegasus" dolls. And there's always the pregnant tummy Barbie for after the raping and pillaging. OK, maybe that's going too far, but I say Renee has a winner of an idea for you!; Mon Oct 03, 12:00:00 AM GMT+1
eyes_only4him said...: dont tell me thee is a GI JOE shortage...my son was never eally into that..but my mother in law has all the GI JOUES her boys had..in mint condtion..that lady is crazy:); Tue Oct 04, 01:14:00 AM GMT+1
Chickie said...: I found some stuff on www.kbtoys.com

Good luck!; Wed Oct 05, 01:48:00 PM GMT+1
Chickie said...: The one I saw was called a G.I. Joe Spy Troop but it was a 12 inch tall figure.; Wed Oct 05, 01:51:00 PM GMT+1
Julie said...: Jen and Renee--great idea (man, that would be fun!!) but I got rid of all the Barbie crap years ago...

Christina, I'm thinking crazy AND smart. I bet she could sell them and make a fortune! People are buying parts for toy jeeps--mint condition toys would cause a feeding frenzy!

bonzana--no joke! Isn't it sad... :(

Chickie--thanks! I checked it out and they do have some stuff left--hooray!; Thu Oct 06, 01:30:00 PM GMT+1
Johnny Menace said...: 12 inch? those are dolls. get the small action figures unless you want your son to be gay.; Sun Oct 09, 04:15:00 PM GMT+1
Anonymous said...: Can you order from toysrus.com? They usually have the best selection. We always buy them on clearance after Christmas.; Sun Oct 09, 06:58:00 PM GMT+1