 The hooded Cobra Commander YouTube channel is proud to bring you a review of G.I. Joe, not a G.I. Joe, but the G.I. Joe, also known as Joe Colton. I'm here. Hi. I'm Joe Colton. How did you get on the show? I am Joe Colton. We're reviewing a Joe Colton figure. But I'm Joe Colton. I'm supposed to be doing the review. At least I think I'm supposed to be doing the review. Who is better qualified to do the review than me? I'm Joe Colton. I don't know how people keep hacking into the super secret G.I. Joe communications network, but never mind that. I'm glad you're here. I can't talk about Joe Colton without talking about Joe Khan. And that's something you can help with. Joe, is that you? Beachhead Mike? Brian, what are you doing here? What the hell is happening here? I've lost control of my own show. How did you get on the super secret comms network? How did I get on it? Gary and Greg invented the G.I. Joe communications network before I was even a part of what's on Joe's mind. How did you get on it? Ah, I just saw it lying around. Didn't see anyone using it at the time. Well, fine. Just don't break it. I need to check these channels more often. Joe, for the thousandth time, please remind everybody what podcast you're a regular host on. Plug the Damn Show. Okay, okay, Mike. I will plug the damn show. I do plug the damn show. If you want to listen in to Mike making fun of me, me making fun of Mike, or our guests, no, we don't want you to make fun of us. Guess make fun of us. Ah, we review Joe's figures, vehicles, make fun of each other, little banter. You want to listen in? Listen into what's on Joe's mind. Commander 788 here. It's time for a special vintage G.I. Joe toy review. When is an action figure more than an action figure? When it represents a convergence of nearly every branch of G.I. Joe history, including the toys, the company that produced them, and the community of fans that emerged around them. This episode is more than a review of an action figure. It's also a brief history of the G.I. Joe fan community and the annual International G.I. Joe convention, commonly known as JoeCon. I'm proud to have two guests who have a greater perspective on that history than I do, Joe Colton, a cosplayer and a leader in our fan community, and Mike Irizari, host of the long running podcast, What's on Joe Minds. They will share their JoeCon memories later in this video. G.I. Joe has been around for 50 years. That's a lot of ground to cover, so let's get started. HCC 788 presents Joe Colton, also known as G.I. Joe. This is G.I. Joe. G.I. Joe's G.I. Joe from 1994. This figure was available only in 1994. 1994 was the final year of the vintage G.I. Joe toy line. It was the first three and three-quarter inch figure to be named G.I. Joe. Collectors often identify him as Joe Colton. I have the figure both loose and in the original mail-away polybag. The bagged figure was sent to me by Jeff Adams. Thank you very much, Jeff. This figure was available two ways. One as a mail-away offer, and two as a convention exclusive for the 1994 G.I. Joe convention. The mail-away offer was redeemable through one of these catalogs that was included with some 1994 G.I. Joe action figures. The figure was available in two scales in the three and three-quarter inch scale as seen here, and you can see he was advertised as coming with a different accessory than what was packaged with the figure. It was also available in 12 inch scale like the classic G.I. Joe from the 1960s and 70s. This is for serious G.I. Joe collectors only, so anyone having fun can just back off. The three and three-quarter inch figure required five UPC proofs of purchase plus a dollar shipping and handling. The 12 inch figure required 20 proofs of purchase and a dollar shipping and handling. The figure is meant to embody the full history of G.I. Joe, including his origin in the 1960s. There is more history in this one figure than in any other figure in any era. The style and name of the figure is an allusion to the first G.I. Joe when introduced as 12 inch poseable toy soldiers, they were all called G.I. Joe. They weren't given individual names and backgrounds until the relaunch of the line in 1982 as G.I. Joe a real American hero. Four basic G.I. Joe figures were released in 1964, the action soldier, the action sailor, the action marine and the action pilot. The toy line was a big hit and continued producing figures, accessories and vehicles deep into the 1970s. The line ran out of steam and was canceled in 1976. There was an attempt to revitalize the line with Super Joe, but it failed to renew interest. Joe Colton's uniform is meant to look like the 1964 action soldier with the beret that was included in the 1966 Green Beret and Special Forces sets. This Joe Colton G.I. Joe figure was part of the 30th anniversary celebration of G.I. Joe from 1964 to 1994. In 1994, Hasbro released a set of special 30th anniversary boxed figures to commemorate the 1964 series. It included three and three quarter inch versions of the action soldier, action marine, action sailor and action pilot in a variety of different uniforms. 1994 was a milestone year for G.I. Joe. It was a year of beginnings and endings. It was the 30th anniversary of G.I. Joe, which Hasbro celebrated with its 30th salute. The celebration included a G.I. Joe convention, which we have come to call Joe Con. It was not the first G.I. Joe convention. In a letter to the G.I. Joe Collector's Club of Members by James Desimone, he notes that there were seven consecutive conventions up to that year, with the first one being in Dallas. Incidentally, my first Joe Con was in Dallas in 2014. The 1994 Joe Con was held aboard the USS Intrepid, a decommissioned U.S. Navy aircraft carrier that has been converted into a museum docked in New York City. The Intrepid was the inspiration for the USS flag, G.I. Joe's legendary toy aircraft carrier from 1985. Tullmart's action figure digest issues 19 and 20 have coverage of that convention, including the convention program and photos. That Joe Con celebrated the history of G.I. Joe with guests that included Don Levine, who showed off the original prototypes for 12 inch G.I. Joe. Convention exclusives included a 12 inch MP, a 12 inch action pilot, and of course a three and three quarter inch Joe Colton. The G.I. Joe's of my generation, the small Joe's, were present at the convention, but the focus was clearly on the collectors of classic 12 inch figures. Fans of G.I. Joe, a real American hero, got some shattering news at that convention. That's when they learned that their line was going away. It was to be replaced by something new, Sergeant Savage. I have covered Sergeant Savage before on this show. I don't have any problem with Sergeant Savage toys. I like them. I think they're fine. The storyline for Sergeant Savage has some serious problems, but the toys are good. For G.I. Joe fans in the 1990s, this was a shock. Sergeant Savage, for all its merits, wasn't a continuation of our beloved toy line. It was a break and a new start. It was in a different scale. It was in a different style. There were some attempts to connect it to a real American hero, but it still went in a very different direction. That direction apparently didn't resonate with kids and collectors because Sergeant Savage didn't last long. It was quickly replaced by G.I. Joe Extreme, which was also canceled. Soon, G.I. Joe in any form would be off the shelves. That's a very familiar feeling for today's G.I. Joe fans. But the annual G.I. Joe convention continued. Fun Publications was the official Hasbro licensee for the convention and the collectors club. The chain was unbroken until Hasbro decided not to renew the license with Fun Publications and discontinue the show. Hasbro was launching its own all-inclusive Hascon, and the individual brand conventions didn't fit in the equation. We expected the convention to end in 2016, but Hasbro extended the license to more years. The final Joe Con was in Chattanooga, Tennessee in June 2018. Please welcome Joe Colton, the real Joe Colton, as she shares her Joe Con experiences. It's Joe Con cosplay. I have been asked by Brian to say a few words about Joe Con and what it means to me or what it meant to me. My first Joe Con was Rhode Island. I was so nervous to go. It was wonderful. It was exhilarating. I was very excited, but I was also nervous because back then I didn't know that there were a lot of female collectors and I didn't know a lot of girls would dress up. And I didn't know what to expect, but that Con probably opened up my world. So I think I have a lot of thanks. Thanks to the club. I got to meet Ron Rudat. I got to meet Larry Hamma. I made lifelong friends and then that I still have today. And at every Joe Con that I would go to, I would meet more and more people each year. And eventually, thought of everybody as family, got to see everybody once or twice a year, and kept up with them on Facebook. And then years later, I got to meet Gary and Mike and I joined the cast of What's on Joe Mind. And then again, my world changed and I got to be a podcaster. And drink wine, of course. One of my most memorable interviews was with Mark Weber and Daryl DePriest. And all I could think of is, oh my God, they've heard the show and I am drinking wine on it and saying ridiculous things. And Mark Weber called me out and I will never forget my face turned beet red and I was like, okay, they listen to the show. That is so cool. Those two guys really supported the community more than many of you will probably ever know. And I told Ryan I was going to tear up. The club tried a lot and did a lot for our community, but Daryl and Mark are some of the best men I know. Other things that I remember of Joe Kahn were the panels that I got to do and the cosplays that I got to create and see fans of the line enjoy and then get in the spirit of doing as well. And just becoming a family and we came together as a community all the time. When it was announced that there would be no Joe Kahn anymore, my heart sank. And we got to do a petition and our voices were heard and we got two more years. And Hasbro and the club gave the fans two more years. And I thank both of them for that because we got to see each other regularly again for two more years. And then that was a lot of emotions. When Joe Kahn finally ended and the club asked me to say a few words, it was really difficult because how do you put a decade of memories and friendships and family into a few words? Because you can't. I guess it's possible, but for me it's a feeling and it's inexplainable. How welcoming, how caring, how we come together, how our love of a line connects us. And for so many years like we've seen people get married, have children, those children grow up and us growing old. More Mike than anybody else. But that convention was a place for us to have basically a family reunion. And that feeling was not explainable. We went for, we all came together and each year I think we started coming in a day or two even earlier than the Kahn started. We had to hang out and have drinks and catch up and trade toys and talk about what we liked and didn't like and how people's families were and how they were. So it was fun. It was a lot of fun. Joe Kahn was also a place where we got to grow the finest. Because without the community we could not have helped so many vets and without the club and Hasbro supporting us we couldn't collect money at the Kahn and do the calendars and give back to a community who does so much for us as people. Also it gave the finest an opportunity to help create an environment of fun and nostalgia of our childhood. And that's what I take from Joe Kahn and yeah I miss it but I also get to have lifelong friends that I wouldn't have had otherwise. So thank you to everybody and I'm hoping that I will see everybody at Joe Fest. And we continue the tradition of having a family come together and hang out and do drinks and talk about our kids or your kids or family or friends or the line or toys, new sculpts, new vehicles, old vehicles, anything. So I look forward to seeing you all. I love you guys. Bye. Now I turn it over to Mike Irizieri also known as Beachhead Mike also known as Free Trip Mike and possibly other aliases as he shares his Joe Kahn memories. Hey everybody and you'll have to excuse the faint hum in the background tonight. It's a much nicer night recording this segment than when we were doing our scripted ones a few days ago. Most of you in the Midwest I'm sure have been dealing with the same heat that I was and that finally broke today in St. Louis, Missouri. So the windows are open and the fans are on and I'm just not undoing that because it's the first day out. Of a long and hot summer and so you have to excuse any background noise that might be in this part of the recording. But Brian asked to share some memories on Joe Kahn and it's difficult to do that and keep it in, you know, under three, four minutes. I got to seven of them, all told. The first one was in Atlanta in 2007. It was in a car with Scott McAllister, Fred Meyer and Eric Brackert and it was like your classic road trip. We were so fired up coming out of there that we hit every stop back from Atlanta to Indianapolis. Looking for what was at the time was wave two of the 25th anniversary line. So we were that fired up after five days of being in nothing but G.I. Joe to stop at every Walmart and Target we could find off at a highway and look for some more. After that came a string of I went to five in a row from it would have been from 12 to 16. And really the best parts of those were we're getting out and we were doing the show by that point we're doing what's on Joe mine. And we would meet fans of the program who would recognize me and Justin and Gary just from our voices. And you could see them they turn around real quick and and they try to listen again and put the voice they were hearing to the face that they could see saying those same words. And so it was always kind of entertaining to to spot the super fans before they spotted us. It was it was really neat and it was always very flattering. You know we don't you don't do a G.I. Joe podcast expecting to be you know the idol of millions or anything like that. But just to get a few kind words from people who listen and enjoy the effort that you put into it is really it helps make it all worth it. It was a lot of fun being involved with panels at Joe con. We got to share the stage with some some other great podcasts we got to do one year with the regular Joe's and we regularly had our friends from the full force on stage with us. And those were always it was always neat to be a part of it and always have a great deal of gratitude for for Brian and Lanny and the rest of the club. That's valuable time for their biggest event of the year and they certainly didn't have to share it with us. We weren't really making them any money so we really appreciated the time and the platform and and it was fun sharing the stage with them too. They were always in on the joke and I remember in 2016 when the announcement came through that there would be two more Joe cons. I got to crack with them on stage at the stupid club couldn't even get the last Joe con right. And so that was a joke that I borrowed from from a friend Tom and but but a wonderful one just to get the looks on their faces after it was said that one would win over pretty good. And again I'm trying to keep this under three four five minutes. So really the best thing I can tell you is there isn't an official GI Joe con anymore. And that's really too bad because there aren't too many fandoms that get out and support official conventions like that. So what I would say is get out to your your local show your regional show whether that's the so Cal Joe show whether it's Joe Fest whether it's coil con whether it's the one they have in Dallas every year whether it's Joe Lanta. There's any number of regional shows and you're going to be close to one of them. And if none of those ring a bell there's going to be some kind of local collector group around you. Connect up with them and maybe get something together on your own even if it's just a bunch of guys having a little swap meet in the in the back room of a restaurant sometime. And because community is one of the great things about our hobby and that's been proven time and time again. So long live Joe con. Sorry to see it go. Looking forward to what comes next for us. And by all means get out and and support the hobby support your brand show your love for for GI Joe. It's been good to me and I hope to see it some of these shows later on. You have a good rest of the night. Thank you Joe and Mike. I don't have as much experience with Joe con as either of you but I can share some of my memories. It was my privilege to attend five Joe cons starting in 2014. I regret missing the earlier ones. I missed out on a lot of history and a lot of opportunities to make friends with people who shared this hobby. I learned about Joe con because form BX 257 put a little tag about it at the end of one of his reviews. I didn't even know the thing was going on. And it was in Dallas, Texas. That's what then driving distance of where I lived. So I decided to go and I didn't miss a single one after that. The 2014 convention was another milestone. It was the 50th anniversary of GI Joe and it was in Dallas, Texas. The city where James de Simone said the very first convention was held. It's also where I became aware of a podcast called Watson Joe mind. I attended a panel they did with the hosts of another podcast, regular Joe's. As soon as I got home, I looked up the podcast and I started listening. I listened to every single episode. It opened me up to a fan community that I didn't know about. I learned there are a lot of people all around the world who share the same enthusiasm for GI Joe that I do. And I wanted to be in that community and maybe contribute something. For that, I will always feel indebted to Watson Joe mind and Joe con. Let's take a brief look at the bagged figure. This is the male away figure as seen in the catalog. It included in the poly bag, the figure, the weapon and the file card. The file card is read on the back and the figure was placed in the bag behind the file card. The figure is inside an unsealed bag inside the sealed bag printed on the outline. Outside of the poly bag is a choking hazard warning and the country of origin made in China. When you open that bag, this is what you would get, your figure, his weapon and the file card. Let's look at GI Joe's accessory, his only accessory, which is an M60 machine gun. It is in black plastic. It is a reasonable representation of an M60, not perfect. It is also very oversized for the figure. As we saw in the catalog, it looks like he was originally intended to come with an M16 accessory, but at some point they changed it to this oversized M60. This same accessory was included with Gung Ho version 3 and version 4 from 1992 and 1993. So already we have some of Hasbro's famous frugality with a commemorative figure that includes a reissued older accessory. If Hasbro wanted to reuse an old accessory, there was a better M60 to use. 1990's Sub-Zero had an M60 accessory and it was much nicer than the one that comes with Joe Colton here. It's well detailed, probably the best M60 they did in the entire line, and it is in scale. Let's take a look at the articulation on GI Joe. He had the articulation that was standard for GI Joe figures well before 1994. So he had a ball-jointed neck. He could turn his head from left to right and look up and down. He could swing his arm up the shoulder and swivel at the shoulder all the way around. He had a hinge at the elbow that allowed him to bend his arm at the elbow about 90 degrees. He had a swivel at the bicep that allowed him to swivel his arm all the way around. The figure was held together with a rubber O-ring that looped around the inside. That allowed him to move at the torso a bit. He could move his legs apart about so far. He could bend his leg at the hip about 90 degrees and bend at the knee about 90 degrees. Let's look at the sculpt design and color of GI Joe and this figure continues Hasbro's tradition of reusing parts for different GI Joe figures. In this case it is the action marine from the commemorative figure line. If we open this panel up and look at the figure he has the same torso and arms as GI Joe. On his head he has a green beret. He has black hair. He has a Caucasian skin tone. That hair has no detail at all. It is just paint on smooth plastic. A little more effort would have been welcome. There was some effort on the eyes though. He has black eyebrows and brown eyes. Normally those would both be painted the same color. He has a scar on his right cheek and this is a throwback to the old 12 inch GI Joe from the 60s and 70s which also had a scar on his right cheek. This was actually an effort by Hasbro to protect their intellectual property. I like the beret. I'm a fan of green berets but unfortunately it does not have the red beret flash as seen on the file card. On his chest he has a camouflage undershirt or bandana that can be seen just behind his collar. It looks like a tiger stripe camouflage with brown over light green. On his chest and back he has a green fatigue shirt with pockets and a collar and epaulets. It is otherwise pretty plain. There is no rank and signia on the shoulder and that kind of detail would have been welcome. On his arms he has long green sleeves. They are pretty plain. No patches or anything like that. He has bare hands and on his right hand he has an extended index finger and that's a bit different. We did not get that on standard GI Joe figures. I have a problem with this figure related to the arms. The arms connect too low on the torso. The hinge is well below the shoulder closer to where his rib cage would be. This happened on some other 1990s GI Joe figures like 1993 Ninja Force Snake Eyes. But Ninja Force Snake Eyes had an action feature and the chest had to accommodate that so the proportions were a little wonky. There is no action feature on Joe Colton. Some of the other 30th anniversary commemorative figures had the same problem but the action soldier was better. Proportion more like a normal GI Joe figure. He also had a more detailed chest so it would have been a nice one to use for this figure. On his waist piece he has a brown belt with some pouches on the sides and some silver pineapple grenades. It's enough detail without being exceptional. On his legs he has plain green trousers with a black pistol holster on his right leg and a thin black strap that goes around the leg. The holster does not connect to the belt so that little black strap is the only thing holding this thing on his leg. His left leg is plain and we seem to have a bit of errant paint here. There is a strip of brown paint on his left knee. That's not supposed to be there. That's a quality control issue. We finish up with a pair of tall brown boots. These brown boots are sculpted to look like the brown boots that came with early 1960s GI Joe figures and that's a great callback. The boots themselves are not detailed but that is a great attention to detail. The figure is admittedly very plain but I think that was the point. The original 1964 action soldier figure included the uniform and not much else. This probably would have felt familiar to Joe fans from the 60s. The 12 inch Joe probably would have wanted to see dog tags. That was a hallmark of 12 inch GI Joe in the 60s and 70s. Sculpted silver dog tags would have made this figure complete. I don't usually cover modern figures but it's worth noting Joe Colton did appear in the modern era. Version 2 was introduced in 2006 as part of the Viper Lockdown set. In the movie GI Joe Retaliation, Joe Colton was portrayed by Bruce Willis as the original GI Joe. An action figure of the character was produced in Bruce Willis' likeness. It looks nothing like the vintage 1994 figure. There was a fourth version of the figure that was a 2014 convention exclusive and that was done in the style of Joe as he appeared in the GI Joe comic book. Comparing this GI Joe figure to another one of GI Joe's Green Berets Falcon from 1987, there is no comparison. Falcon has more accessories, better accessories, more detail, more paint. It's a beautiful figure. The style of this GI Joe figure reminds me more of Sergeant Savage Hasbro's attempt to reboot GI Joe in 1994. And like on the Joe Colton figure, Sergeant Savage's details are softer, they are adequate without being exceptional. Let's look at GI Joe's file card. This file card is not cut out. This is exactly as it would have come out of the polybag. It is read on the back as mail away file cards often were. The dotted line for the cut out section is in a file folder shape and that is in the style of 1980s GI Joe file cards. By the 1990s, file cards had just become rectangular with rounded corners. And even in 1994, they had started issuing some file cards that were baseball card size. It has his faction as GI Joe and they made sure to include a real American hero in fine print. There is a portrait of GI Joe here and in the artwork it does have an M16 and not an M60, a plain white background. Up at the top in bold letters it just says GI Joe. That's what you call them, just call them GI Joe. Copyright 1993 Hasbro, I'm sure they were planning this figure in 1993 but it was not released until 1994. His file name is Joseph B. Colton. His birthplace is Central Falls, Rhode Island. Hasbro's headquarters is in Rhode Island so I think this is a reference to Hasbro's home base. His grade was 02 First Lieutenant in 1964. His current grade is 010 Four Star General. A Four Star General also called a Full General is the highest achievable rank in the U.S. Army except under special circumstances in times of war. The rank of General of the Army or Five Star General is reserved for wartime purposes and is not currently in use. Wait, I'm confused about something. Is this figure supposed to represent young Lieutenant Joe Colton or old General Joe Colton? Because by 1994 this guy is at least in his 60s. I'm not going to guess at what all of this serial number is a reference to but HAS 93, Hasbro 1993, I think that's easy enough to figure out. Primary military specialty is GI Joe XO. In parentheses executive officer. Secondary military specialty is combat infantry. In parentheses training and intelligence. We have a quote, duty, honor, country. Not just words, a way to live your life. Duty, honor, country is taken from a speech by General Douglas MacArthur at West Point in 1962. It echoes GI Joe's motto, which is honor, duty, courage, as seen on GI Joe's coat of arms. This very dense paragraph says GI Joe in parentheses, a.k.a. Joseph B Colton, graduated in 1960 from the United States Military Academy at West Point, receiving the Academy's highest possible honors. An expert marksman, he is proficient with all military weaponry, from M60 machine guns to attack helicopters to laws in parentheses, light armored weapons. Recruited by special forces, Colton was destined for military glory, quickly distinguishing himself as an outstanding Green Beret. In 1963, after participating in ultra top secret combat operations, not your garden variety top secret operations, but ultra top secret operations and extensive tours of duty and trouble spots around the world, first Lieutenant Joseph B Colton became the most decorated and most feared battlefield soldier the world has ever known. Without mentioning it by name, this has to be referring to the Vietnam conflict. The Vietnam conflict had intensified by 1963, the year Joseph Colton became GI Joe. In July 1958, the first two Americans were killed in Vietnam. Based on the file card, Colton must have been involved in the conflict since 1960 when he graduated West Point. He would have been a U.S. advisor to South Vietnam. In 1962, Operation Ranch Hand had begun. It involved spraying a chemical called Agent Orange to defoliate the jungles of Vietnam. It was not a shining moment in U.S. history. The Battle of Op Bac occurred in January 1963. Americans were still advisors at that point, but they were caught up in the battle in which Viet Cong Gorillas defeated a South Vietnamese Army contingent. In November 1963, South Vietnamese President Diem was overthrown and assassinated. That was the environment in which Joseph Colton became, quote, the most decorated and most feared battle soldier the world has ever known. Recognizing Colton's innate combat skills and his warrior heart pumping courage through his veins, very subtle. Then President John F. Kennedy secretly selected him to create and command the ultimate all-caps freedom fighting force. Higher ranking soldiers had been passed over for this elite presidential appointment. Colton was given his name GI Joe and began building his team with the toughest men the armed forces could muster. From there, GI Joe would change the course of military history and redefine the word hero. And they don't even mention his legendary modesty. He was recruited by John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in November 1963. Based on the timeline, Kennedy's selection of Joseph Colton as GI Joe was one of his last acts as president. Colton built his team, which evolved into the GI Joe we knew from the 1980s and 90s, which would be led by another legendary general, Hawk. This file card is replete with history, real world references, and GI Joe lore. It tries to tie together two distinct eras of GI Joe, the classic 12 inch toys and the real American hero toys. It is hagiographic, which I understand. This is the GI Joe. He has to be the best of the best. But I don't think it was written by Larry Hama. Larry tended to be a bit more subtle and didn't usually deify military glory. Looking at how Joe Colton was used in GI Joe media, he was never animated, no appearances in the cartoon series. In the comic book series published by Marvel Comics, Joe Colton first appeared in issue number 86. He referred to himself as just another guy named Joe. At the end of the issue, it is revealed that he was the original GI Joe. He was retired and had gotten a doctorate in physics. He was bearded, looking more like 1970s adventure team GI Joe. Notably, the issue marks 1963 as the origin year for GI Joe, the same year noted on the file card. In 1963, the concept that would eventually become GI Joe was pitched by Stan Weston to Hasbro. It was further developed and given a name by Hasbro executive Donald Levine. The figures hit the market in 1964. He reappeared in issue number 127 and his background was filled in a bit more. The characters history tracks the history of the GI Joe toy line. He says, I was an adventurer for a while back when the army was out of vogue. Obviously a reference to the adventure team of the 1970s. His final appearance was in issue number 152. That issue was a tie-in with the 30th anniversary salute. In a flashback, it told the story of GI Joe more or less as described on the file card. We see Joe as a blood and guts soldier in Vietnam. We are there when President Kennedy gives him the code name GI Joe. The president is interrupted by an aide who tells him they have a busy schedule in Dallas. It's one week before Thanksgiving 1963. Kennedy was killed on November 27th. Thanksgiving was November 28th. His very last official act is to create GI Joe. It is a charming alternative history. It links GI Joe to an important moment in history. It also links two different eras of GI Joe. I have to say, I think Phil Gossier's artwork does not do the story justice. It doesn't convey the gravity and seriousness of the subject matter. The GI Joe comic book would be canceled three issues later. Looking at GI Joe overall, this toy is virtually review proof. The figure itself is kind of plain with a single accessory. It isn't especially rare except in the convention box. It doesn't really matter how I rate it because it's more than an action figure. This is a simulacrum of the spirit of GI Joe. This figure represents the beginning of GI Joe, a throwback to the action soldier of 1964. It represents the end of GI Joe when the line was canceled and replaced with Sergeant Savage. It represents GI Joe before it was a toy. American infantry soldiers were called GI Joe long before that name was given to toys. It represents the early days of JoeCon, the annual convention where GI Joe fans would get together and form friendships and bonds and share experiences. If a figure represents all of that, does the physical form it takes really matter? All of the historical connections make this figure special. And I'm proud to have it in my collection. And I'm proud to be a part of the GI Joe fan community. That was my review of Joe Colton. Thank you Joe Colton and Mike Irizieri for helping with this video. Please support what these guys do. They do so much for the GI Joe community. They deserve to be recognized for that. As for what I do, I make videos like this every week. If you like this video, please give it a thumbs up on YouTube, subscribe to the YouTube channel, hit the notification bell and share it with your friends. You can find me on social media, on Facebook and Twitter and I have a website, hcc788.com. These videos are made possible by supporters on Patreon. All these names you see on the screen right now. If you like these videos and you'd like to help me make more of these videos, please consider supporting the channel on Patreon. You can get some special perks and even find out how to decode the secret messages you see in these videos. I'll be back next week with another vintage GI Joe toy review and until then remember, only Joseph B Colton is Joseph B Colton. Plug the dam.