Not that this is related to death, btu the best childhood play example I've ever heard is from our very own MacrossMaster. He told me that as a kid, he introduced Zartan in disguise as a new member of his Joe team. When the ruse was officially uncovered, he rationalized that the disguise was officially useless, and he set it aside to never use it again. I don't know why I find that so cool. I just do.

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Sounds like the early version of Kenny!

I did apocalyptic final battles all the time...and then did post-apocalyptic scenarios with the survivors. Snake-Eyes and Outback would be riding dinosaurs..I mean giant irradiated lizards and hunting for the remaining Cobras.
Everybody died, but only until the next playtime.

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Same as a lot of people. Characters died all the time, only to come back next battle or whatever. If they died behind enemy lines they might become a prisone, which is always good set-up for a POW-rescue mission.

The closest to permanent death was broken o-ring...before we learned how to fix them. Broken thumbs relegated some characters to vehicle driver/gunner status.

I didn't play with them that extensively, but to the degree that I did, I never let any of them die.

Funny thing happened when I was a kid, though, and Mego reigned supreme. I had most of the super-heroes, and my Aquaman figure broke. My grandmother, who was far more sympathetic to my hobbies than my parents, saw me put on a little play-acting where Aquaman died.

She was so upset by this, that the next time she visited, she brought me a new Aquaman figure.

for me GI Joes were the good guys (they usually got at most severly wounded and would need medical attention) and Cobras (people other then the main guys like CC, Destro, Barroness, Crimson twins, Serpentor, ect were either captured by GI Joe and that was end of the play time) or most times they were all killed because they refused surrender.

Headman and Grizzle were usually captured by the DEF.

figures whom I lost over the years (like as in forgot at Godfathers pizza or the park or other places where they couldnt/wouldnt be found again) were listed as MIA or even KIA in the files Had at least 8 of them sadly
Brandon

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same here I had a best friend down the street from me who had a large collection (bought alot of his when he decided he was no longer a Joe collector) Them were good times I missed them. We completely destroyed his house though with Joes and vehicles on every floor.

his bedroom was one base/area
the stairs going to up stairs was a cliff/waterfall
The living room by fake fireplace which acted as kind of a landing to play on (that was either an ocean part of waterfall/cliff or the major combat area of the battles)
and lastly their was the pool table was town or island of its own sometimes it was even a space ship

I miss them times great times
Brandon

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Joes were typically wounded, same with any named Cobra, nameless Cobra Troopers died horrible deaths on occasion...wait I think I killed Crystal Ball...yep...so only Crystal Ball!

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I discovered the o-ring/back screw so my broken Joes didn't die, they just changed uniforms. I actually had trouble letting the Joes that died in the comics to die even. Now some of my other toys well they didn't fare as well: Secret Wars Kang died nearly every battle, what few Sgt Rockish figures I had died as extras, my remco/corps guys that I hadn't given new ID's or I had multiples of would sometimes be casualties, and the worst one was a DC Powers Superman (the one that came with a 'kryptonite' ring) he died a brutal death that involved three blackcats and finally a M-80.

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Some survive still (Breaker, Quick Kick, etc), but the only ones to stay dead are BF2K (minus Dodger), Kwinn, and Dr. Venom.

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Death was a constant theme in my childhood Joe world. My Joe team was supplemented by a team of equally qualified characters from another unit. That unit was almost completely decimated by Cobra. From there, the units combined. Once that happened, various figures or characters would perish from time to time. I had Leatherneck die at some point and Hawk then took his weapon and used it as a homage.

On the Cobra side, the Commander eventually died. He was replaced and the new Commander wore the suit of armor to prevent getting killed like his predecessor.

As time progressed, though, the notion of inevitable death became a theme for my Joes. Slowly, they realized that their only way out of the unit was by death. Even if they retired, they would be brought back in for missions as they were needed. (See Grunt, Snake Eyes, etc.) Their skills made them so valuable that they would constantly be put into severe peril. And, it was only a matter of time before their skills would either fail them, or would deteriorate with age and that would cost them their life.

It was a sobering realization for many of the older Joes and became something that weighed on them. Some characters like Flint or Roadblock learned to accept it. Others, like Duke, let it drive them mad.

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most of them died every single day. but its ok they were stuck in the endless cycle of birth suffering and death, if it wasnt them than someone else would of had to die like the elite force or bronze bombers or something.

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My Joe play as a kid was very hard core.. I used fireworks bottle rockets flaming spray cans matches BB guns.. So yeah they took damage for real and when a figure was to nasty to use he was dead and I buried them in the sand box.. Man those rubber bands could not hold up against old school lady fingers.. Blowtorch was the biggest badass ever with his flaming spray can... Ever see a Hiss tank lit on fire filled with troops? Thank goodness BBQ was there with his giant garden hose..

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Hard too say, all I know is I didn't die (Steel Bridge). I had the Rolling Thunder and it kicked butt every day even against others things. I loved playing with the Cobra Hammerhead especially if I could get it into a big thing of water, big enough it could roll at least 20 feet any direction. My favorite Cobra with the Night Viper so he didn't die. I never had Snake Eyes nor any of the main BGs, I just really liked the Vipers and since Night Viper was my favorite he/they where the leaders of Cobra.

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Stuff like that brings back some great memories For me, Cobra always had the black couch as their base, and the Joes the gold couch. There was an immense amount of destruction in the 6 feet between the two couches



Almost the same here - except I did use the little rubber bands from my braces to fix the broken o-rings. And totally with you on broken thumbs; once that happened, the guy either becomes a lefty to hold his gun (rarely) or gets the driver/gunner status as you said. Poor Clutch, I must have let him out of the jeep just once, he breaks his thumb, and now he's never gotten out of a vehicle for 25 years (even though I have ways of fixing thumbs now, I never bothered with him!).