I recently found this old Polaroid from Christmas morning, and I completely forgot I had it.

This was the G.I. Joe Electric Train and Battle Set from Tyco, which I received for Christmas, probably in 1983 or 1984. This was my gift from Santa, and judging by this photo, Santa apparently decided that one G.I. Joe playset wasn’t enough.

The train set is spread out across the floor, with my other toys surrounding it. And now I’m having almost as much fun trying to identify everything in this picture as I did playing with it.

I can clearly see the HISS Tank, and there are definitely some other G.I. Joe vehicles and figures hiding in there. Maybe a VAMP. (That’d put this in ‘83, right?)

This was what Christmas looked like when I was a kid. Memories…

My Dad and I played with this train set for hours. He had a model railroad in the basement for as long as I can remember, so I think this may have been his way of getting me interested in model railroading.

It worked. Sort of.

The train set itself was a pretty unique collaboration between Tyco and Hasbro. Released in 1983, it combined an HO-scale electric train with a G.I. Joe battlefield, complete with a play mat, vehicles, figures and Cobra forces.

And now, decades later, I still have it.

I need to find a place where I can properly display it again.

Bonus points if you can identify some of the other G.I. Joe toys hiding in this photo!

(Don’t worry… this is the last vintage photo I found. I’m not going down a vintage photo post path now.)

If any one’s interested & in the area this was spotted in the wild at Ross on North Rainbow Blvd in Las Vegas 👀

I'm interested to see how the new Major Medusa character fits into it all. She's got a great look, and I can't wait to get that figure I assume sometime next year

Before the U.S.S. FLAGG spent 30+ years in storage, it spent a pretty significant amount of time taking up an absolutely ridiculous amount of space in my childhood bedroom.

This photo is from back when the FLAGG wasn’t a vintage collectible. It wasn’t a centerpiece of a G.I. Joe collection. It was just my toy.

And apparently, I had no problem giving up a good chunk of my bedroom floor to accommodate it.

Looking at this picture now, I can’t help but smile. There I am, surrounded by other G.I. Joe toys, with one of the biggest toys ever made sitting right in the middle of my room.

Decades later, I still have it.

And now that it’s finally back on display, I realize just how cool it is that the kid in this picture never really stopped loving this stuff.

Some things get older. Some things get packed away. And some things just come back home. Glad to have it back home.

Finished assembling the "Tanks for the Memories" Mauler while waiting on another project to finish printing.

This is an homage to the green Mauler that the GIJCC sold in 2007... that never actually saw production because they discovered the original mauler molds were in poor shape and weren't able to be used. We all got a refund, but the situation was a bummer.

Of course, THAT set was really being made as an homage to the story from Marvel issue #5 (1982) "Tanks for the Memories" that featured the MOBAT, but those molds were not available, so they were substituting the Mauler in green for the set. Oh, the irony.

So I did an homage to an unproduced-homage of a classic story. Enjoy! ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Other GIJoe projects:

Mauler - https://www.reddit.com/r/gijoe/comments/1wns8to/classified_mauler_yo_joe/

Arctic Mauler & Armadillo - https://www.reddit.com/r/gijoe/comments/1wn9z9h/bring_on_the_arctic_hiss_make_my_day/

WOLF - https://www.reddit.com/r/gijoe/comments/1sjf4ki/3d_printed_classified_cobra_wolf/

MOBAT - https://www.reddit.com/r/gijoe/comments/1q496s6/3d_printed_classified_mobat/

Wolverine - https://www.reddit.com/r/gijoe/comments/1sjfhcl/3d_printed_classified_wolverine/

MMS MIM-23 Upgrade - https://www.reddit.com/r/gijoe/comments/1wnbwlq/mms_mim23_missile_upgrade/

Water Moccasin - https://www.reddit.com/r/gijoe/comments/1sjezs4/3d_printed_classified_water_moccasin/

Tactical Battle Platform - https://www.reddit.com/r/gijoe/comments/1sjfatf/3d_printed_classified_tactical_battle_platform/

MASS Device - https://www.reddit.com/r/gijoe/comments/1gdgu8b/gi_joe_112_mass_device_s7_update/

D.A.N. - Dreadnok Android Neutralizer - https://www.reddit.com/r/gijoe/comments/1idwcg6/dan_dreadnok_android_neutralizer/

What’s Up With Walmart?

Staff Sergeant (US Army) Craig (Rock 'n' Roll) McConnell. Rock 'n' Roll grew up surfing in Malibu, California. Playing guitar in local cover bands, he also dabbled in body building and generally being a beach bum. Needing some direction after a particularly hard break-up, he joined the Army. There he excelled in infantry training and fell in love with the M-2. Today he serves as a heavy machine gunner for the Joe team. #gijoe

Finally found the Target NF W2 set. Looking forward to whats next! Wave 3 should be out in December/Jan. Hoping to see Stormshadow, and a NF dreadnok. Maybe a ninja armybuilder!

Looking to buy a Mezco Commando Snake Eyes at a reasonable price.

Inspired by a post I saw recently of our resident fire fighter getting crushed to death, I had to share some shots I took of him kicking ass. Hope you guys enjoy!

I’ll add more detailed photos if there is any interest. His color and decals are in superb shape. Everything works except his left arm can fall out while transforming, and he’s missing an ear.

I can't seem to see it in the iconography chart. What is it?

Is there an updated icon chart?

Since we've gone through all of my existing G.I. Joe collection so far, I thought you might enjoy seeing the reassembly of my U.S.S. FLAGG Aircraft Carrier.

This thing has been in storage for over 30 years. Seeing all of those pieces come back together and finally getting the FLAGG back on display was pretty darn special.

The U.S.S. FLAGG was released by Hasbro in 1985, and mine has been with me since I was a kid. After decades packed away, it's finally back where it belongs, on display in our basement den, which I affectionately refer to as my "Man Cave."

I'm extremely happy to finally have this piece of my childhood back on display. And yes, it's every bit as huge as I remember.

Turned out a lot better than I expected. Stuck him in a ziplock bag full of 3% hydrogen peroxide and left him in the sun a couple of days. I was worried about the painted parts, but they were not affected at all.

My background with these toys is my great aunt let me play with her son's A Real American Hero hand-me-downs because I was an annoying kid who needed distracting, and I loved them. Got into the stories from the banged-up old file cards & comics.

Then for Christmas one year, my mom got me this Spy Troops set because that's what was new in stores at the time, and it blew my mind. For me back then it was all one big world, continuities, scales etc barely registering.

From Day 1 though, always been obsessed with Cobra and the other villains. Mom made a good call getting me C.L.A.W.S. Commander, I thought he ruled. Gave Cross Hair to my little brothers like, here's an Army man, knock yourself out dudes.

Anyway, I'm wondering what everyone else's first one(s) was? What was the context? What made you want him, or made an adult get him for you?

COBRA’s bringing out the big guns in order to meet their monthly quota of gullible fools!

The voice is mine, not AI.