I was wondering what everyones faveorite Joe items were from the 82 to current line top 10 things. They can be figures vehicles playsets comics anything I would just like to get something like this started to see how many of us Joe fans like the same things. And for those wondering yes I got the idea from Toyfare's top 20 Joes of all time list.

_________________

Toyfare is still in print? I may have to pick that up.

Kilcarr's Top Ten list
1: Outback: There was little about this figure I didn't like. I still think his gun was awful, but that aside, he was the hardest soldier in my group. Did what he had to do to survive, and kicked ass while he did it.
2: Bullhorn's Sniper Case w/ rifle: A really neat rifle that broke down. At the time it worked so well for shadow ops. Now there are better options, but this still holds a special place in my heart. This leads me to...
3: Alley Viper v1's shield: This got handed down to so many figures for a very long time because it was wicked looking. You just knew by looking at it that you were going to get messed straight up.
4: Stretcher's Sled: Even after the control stick, windshield, and individual feet broke it was still used as a hoverboard. I had so much fun playing with it.
5: Snake-Eyes v4: Goofy and paintballer looking, but when I gave him different weapons, he had more personality than his predecessors.
6: Cobra Hydrofoil: As a kid, I got a junked one at a garage sale, and it became such a centerpiece of so many of my battles. Wicked enough looking that I could still use it as a boat, or as a set piece for a crashed shoreline battle
7: Road Pig: Still one of my favorite RAH figures. So much brutish personality in that one figure. Can you imagine swinging a cinder block at the end of a handle? That's how awesome RP was.
8: VAMP: The workhorse of the Joe motorpool. I loved mine so much that when I lost it, I was never able to truly replace it. Small, but looked like it could handle anything thrown at it.
9: Barricade: He may have had a goofy head sculpt, but I loved the all over armor on this figure, and unlike the Mega Marines, colored decently.
10: Rattler: I received this for xmas as a kid, and played with it for years and years. This plane had so much personality between the damaged side panels, YTOL capability, and the rear gunner hatch. I still think it's one of the better joe planes to this date. It eclipses the Night Raven, and SkyStriker to me.

About 3/4 of the way through this, I realized these were all RAH items, but this where all my best "joe memories" come from. I like the modern stuff now, but I enjoyed the vintage line more, I guess. Warm memories.

_________________

Despite being all about the current style as an adult customizer/collector, RAH is where my mind went straight to also. Maybe it's because an overwhelming amount of Joe stuff today gets turned into non-Joe themed final products when I use them today.

1. Steeler. He was the first swivel armed joe I got, he somewhat resembled me as a kid (i.e. when I had hair...Knighthawk v.0.0 maybe?), his uniform sculpt was ultra versatile, which made him the first of my Joes to spend a lot of time in my Star Wars verse also, and I got him right at the pinnacle of my Joe heyday. The first RAH figure I re-acquired as an adult.

2. Flint. Had he been made with a removable beret (why aren't they doing this even today???) he may well have jumped ahead of Steeler for me by the time I had boxed up my Joes.

3. W.H.A.L.E. Large Star Wars vehicles of the era always seemed to be overly miniaturized versions even in the context of scale. The MF back then seemed ok at the time, but even that was a shrinky dink version. Same can be said of most Joe vehicles as well. And someone will point out that it's also true of the W.H.A.L.E. But this was the one vehicle I played with where I didn't have to suspend any disbelief to make it work. It was all there, it was huge, for what it was, and it was awesome.

4. Stalker. Was one of my older brother's favorites when he'd decide to play along with me. So that made him one of mine as well. Exuded badassery.

5. Firefly's accessories. Used most often with the more-than-just-a-tank-commander version of Steeler I had created in my mind. Had I been more in tune with the idea of part-swapping and customizing back then, the Firefly body would have become the base for a favorite figure too - I just didn't care for masked figures much then - or now.

6. R.A.M. - simple as it was, there may not have been any vehicles I played with more than that one.

7. Shipwreck's pistol, whatever the hell it was. There weren't many Joe handguns back then, and I'm not even sure this one qualifies. But it fit most hands well, was soft so it didn't cause any breakage, and it worked reasonably well as a pseudo sci-fi weapon as well.

8. Skystriker.

9. RAH #11. the first Joe comic I laid my hands on, and still my favorite to this day.

10. TIE: Ripcord and the Bivouac. They don't have anything to do with each other, except that I bought them together in what was a memorable trip as a kid. I grew up on a farm, in the country, and while we went to a number of smaller towns around us all the time, we rarely went to any big cities. I didn't even know there was such a thing as Toys R Us. These were picked up on my first trip there a long long time ago.

Honorable Mention - will say only that if I were into Joes today for the sake of them being Joes, the POC/Renegades/Resolute/ROC and some 25th figures would populate about 80% of this list.

_________________

Hmmm, this is hard. Especially since I'm a fiend for vehicles and tend to focus on those and forget other stuff.

In no particular order:
Special Missions comics. Wish this series had lasted longer. A small group of Joes doing what Joes do best? Heck yeah!

Rolling Thunder. Mobile ICBM platform with room for a ton of figures? What's not to like?

Sunbow cartoon. For a lot of kids like me who were too young for the comics' good years, this helped to introduce the characters and their
personalities. I also love the animation.

Firefly v1. Love the thought and detail put into his uniform and especially his backpack. Even now, I use his repaints as a Cobra sapper/engineer.

Rattler. Tons of ordnance, VTOL, battle damage. Probably the best Joe aircraft, and that's saying a lot.

Breaker. No other reason than he's from East Tennessee.

Downtown's mortar and shells. Not perfect, but a dang cool accessory.

Night Landing. It's small and simple, but its accessories are perfect.

File card. Without these and Larry Hama's imagination, Joes wouldn't be nearly as cool as they are.

Night Attack Chopper. Yes, it could have been executed much better, but it's still a great vehicle and one that I think is oft overlooked.


Honorable mention: Not a Joe item, but without torrents, there's no way I would be able to read all the Joe comics.

My list would also be lots ARAH goodness:

1) Hit 'n Run: From his entire body clad in green and black camo to his awesome weapon and accessories, this was one of my favorite Joe's used on nearly every mission

2) 1990 Pathfinder: I never had Recondo as a kid, so Pathfinder was my go to jungle specialist. He looked neat and had awesome accessories. I was heartbroken when one of the kids my mom babysat for stole him from me. I've gotten another since, and remains one of my favorite Joe's

3) X-16 Ghost Striker: I never had the Skystriker, or the Conquest growing up, so the X-16 was my default Joe fighter jet. It came with tons of missiles, had a crew of two, and projected targets on the wall that would blast out of the sky with the pull of a trigger. My brother and I each had one (I now have both), and we'd spend hours running around the house dog fighting one another. This vehicle also came with an awesome Ace figure.

4) Gnawgahyde: I never cared much for the Dreadnoks, except Gnawgahyde. I loved this figure. His rifle, wrist mounted machete and bow were awesome accessories.

5) 91 Cobra Commander: I may be the only person that likes this version of Cobra Commander because its not nearly as iconic as others. But this was the only Cobra Commander fig that I had for years until the 93 Version, and remains my favorite version of him as well as one of my favorite figures.

6) Red Star's AK-47: Nearly every Cobra was equipped with this rifle, its become a standard among my Cobra ranks. Right now all my Range vipers are issued one of these awesomely sculpted guns.

7) 1990 Locust: This little helicopter is probably my favorite vehicles in the entire line. Its used for everything from recon/observvation missions to close air support and rescue. Its small size lended itself well to playability, and had lots of firepower.

8) Interrogator: As much as I like army building, my favorite Cobra's are the individual characters, and this guy is right at the top. In the age of neon blindness, his colors were dark and very Cobra like. This mold was awesome as well with little details like the Trench knife. His Battle Copter on the other hand was lame.

9) Blizzard: In the midwest we typically get a lot of snow during the winter months, and the arctic Joe's always saw a lot of action from me. Blizzard was my favorite, I especially liked that he came with both snow shoes and skis, and he had the little sled he could ride.

10) HISS II: Was there anything this vehicle didn't have? Guns, missiles, driver, troop carrying abilities. This vehicle seemed to have it all, and was a nice update the iconic original.

_________________

This was my first, and still favorite, as well.

a little off topic, but do any of you comics aficionados know if there was something different about the distribution of this issue?

_________________

As much as I love the latest figures, I'll take the nostalgia road here and go with my childhood top 10.

Torpedo. From the first time I played with Joes, this figure has been among my favorite.

Flash. He lead my team for a long time and I liked his gear.

Falcon. Awesome figure, great details and cool gear.

Storm Shadow V2. Again, great sculpt and fantastic accessories.

Ace. Spend many hours having space adventures with this figure.

Hiss Driver. Begged my parents to buy me the Hiss tank so I could get this figure.

Destro. That chrome head made that figure so special. The fact that his gun fitted into his pack rocked.

Stalker's smg. Great little weapon that fits well with commando-type mission

Frostbite's M-16. Never owned it as a kid, but my buddy Phil allowed me to use it when we played at his house. Man, I loved that gun. That huge scope was so cool.

Snake Eyes V3. The gear, the sculpted weapons on the figure and the hours of night missions makes this figure a personal favorite.

_________________

1. Firefly (ver.1) - When I saw the 84 line-up, the only figure I wanted was Storm-Shadow, but Firefly was the only figure I could find on the endcap at TRU that looked ninja'ish. All the little details on that figure, with the camo, weapons, and backpack add up to an insanely awesome toy. Flash-forward to now and Firefly is probably my favourite Cobra character.

2. Storm Shadow (ver.1) - It was the 80's and ninjas were hip, so no surprise here.

3. Snake-Eyes (ver.2) - The most iconic look for Snake-Eyes and that figure went on a lot of over-night trips with me as a kid. Too bad I lost the sword, but thanks to eBay, it's presently complete.

4. Sky-Hawk - It's such a perfect sized-toy for a kid to play with.

5. GI Joe HQ (83) - The centerpiece of my toyroom as a kid. When it's fully manned and decked-out with a few smaller playsets like the Watch-Tower, Jump pad, and Checkpoint Alpha, it's a prime example of 80's perfection.

6. Tactical Battle Platform - I didn't think much of it when I was the catalogue picture, but once it was assembled, there's so much play value packed into it.

7. Dragon-Fly - Just all-out fun...working rotor blades and a rope winch. On any given day, it was an attack vehicle, or recon, or rescue, or support scenerios.

8. APC - I never cared for it until I picked up a copy of GI Joe #17 and #18. Larry Hama made everything come alive as a kid.

9. Falcon (ver.1) - One look at the figure and you know everything you need to know. Almost everything about this figure is executed perfectly.

10. Footloose (ver.1) - A fun figure that fills-out any squad and looks perfect riding shot-gun in any pre-86 vehicle.

Honestly, I love the ARAH-era, so this list is just a small sampling of why I think this toyline was one of the best ever

_________________

1. Repeater's gun but it could only be used with Repeater but he was more of the accessory.

2. Muskrat's sled--Everybody got a chance with this.

3. The Wolf's snowboards.--These along with the above got used alot. I'm not sure what kind of obsession I had with sliding down hill.

4. Skis--See above.

5. Bullhorn-- Looked like a badass and had neat accessories.

6. Buzzer-- I can still remember him as my first figure. He was used as "me" and was a good guy. Always wanted to grow a ponytail because of him. Finally got it as an adult.

7. The Night Raven--Awesome and it was the answer to my brother's Skystriker that he kept under his bed out of sight.

8. Snake-Eyes V3-- My first SE and the first one I ever saw on the shelf. Until then I thought he was unattainable. Later years saw this as "me" on night missions.

9. Good guy Storm Shadow-- Loved the hooded look and he saw lots of usage.

10. Any backpack that also held a sword. Blame the ninja explosion in eighties pop culture but every hero had a sword.

_________________

1.) Thunder. - He was the third figure I received as a kid, and came with the first vehicle I had. For whatever reason I liked him a lot more than Zap or the cobra soldier I already had. He is still my favorite with memorable bits in the comics, though almost always getting hosed, he had some really awesome save the day moments in the cartoon.

2.) The killer W.H.A.L.E - got it along with the TTBP one Christmas, both loaded with play features but the Whale edged out the TTBP due to it being a vehicle. One that I could load down with troops and send out anywhere.

3.) The A.P.C - prior to the Whale and TTBP Christmas, the A.P.C was my go to vehicle/Base. Also handy to carry troops on sleep overs.

4.) General Hawk V2 - Awesome bomber jacket that was all the rage after Top Gun came out, plus he was the "real" leader of G.I. Joe. When it was too warm out for the jacket he'd wear a T Shirt with the word Survival written on it.

5.) Lady J - Hawt. She was a badass, rough and tumble hottie with possibly the best voice a girl could have. Also, Hawks girlfriend.

6.) Skyhawk - Small vehicles where mostly all I had and until the Tommahawk this was my only Joe Aircraft, I used it like a Huey in Vietnam, inserting small teams into dangerous locations...

7.) H.A.V.O.C - pretty much took the roll of the A.P.C. with the hovercraft removed the back area became a troop transport, medical bay, and whatever.

8.) listen and Fun Trip Wire - he'd defuse bombs made out of all sorts stuff, but mostly the innards of a broken walkman. I also really liked Cobras revenge.

9.) Mainframe - Tech was the war of the future. mainframe destroyed just about any hightech weaponry the enemy could create

10.) The Tomahawk - Everything the Whale had, but it could fly.

honorable mention non joe items, CONSTRUCTS - you build, and I did. bases mobile command centers whatever I needed I'd build it. Either a secret joe instillation for COBRA to try and break into, or a COBRA super weapon for joes to destroy. Also He-Man and Ninja Turtles made up the main cast of badguys. Either extra dimensional aliens or mutated creatures for joe to fight.

_________________

No particular order, but these are the first things that came to mind when I saw the topic:

Junkyard V1 - I'm a sucker for animal pack-ins. Remembering how long I had to wait between seeing the card art and finally finding the figure. And, its a dog. All wins

Cobra Officer AK47 - Yeah, its been done better in the years (esp Marauder John's version). But, the AK has always been my favorite gun, and this one was an awesome reproduction of its full-size counterpart

Snake Eye's Uzi - My second-favorite all-time real gun, and the original one was pure sweetness.

Flash V1/Short Fuze V1 Visor - it was one thing for Joes to come with removable helmets for me, but those moveable visors were just the coolest 'ish when I got my first Joes.

MMS - Wanted one of these for years before I finally got one. Its one thing to pretend your little plastic guns are shooting something, its another to have a missile you can fly up and blow up your enemy overhead.....and spring launchers don't do it for me. The fact you have three, its trailer-mounted......sweet.

RAM - Every toy line tries to have a motorcycle for its figures to ride. Out of all of them, I can't think of any that approach how cool the RAM is. Close second is maybe the old Evil Keneival (sp?) stunt cycle

Trouble Bubble - the most ridiculous concept for a military vehicle, but I just dig it. Can't even explain why I think its cool. After all, its a flying recliner with a cover like a 1950's ladies hair dryer.

Order (2012) - If they can come up with a better version in the future of any Joe dog, I'll be happy. He doesn't have the vicious look going, but how often does even the meanest dog bark?

Any Joe Backpack - brilliant move, putting a hole in the figures back where you can have a removable backpack.

Cobra Blueshirts - You always need a cool enemy bullet catcher. These guys fit the bill perfectly

in no particular order (just trying to remember the first 10 things that come to mind that fits the bill):

* Mainframe (including the "laptop") - my very first figure... its what got me started my love for the line...
* the "pets" (especially Finback) - back in the days, me and my brother always went for the ones with pets included in their packages... always loved them... too much of them is never enough...
* D.E.F. concept - I always loved the C.O.P.S. series, and toys, but never got to collecting them... I always saw the DEF line as a port of the C.O.P.S. line, and i'm still hoping to expand my DEF team with COPS customs...

* Find Your Fate books - always loved the Choose Your Own Adventure pocketbooks... having joes in them makes them even more perfect!

* G.I.Joe the (animated) Movie - for some reason, I never get tired of the movie, even after all these years...
* Mobile Command Center - has always been the biggest vehicle I have in my small vehicles collection, and one of the very few I kept...
* YOJOE.COM and Joecustoms.com - not sure if these are considered as "items", but they're very much a big part of me enoying G.I.Joe...

* Midnight Chinese figures - gotta love them for cheap custom fodder...

* the O-Ring - always the ARAH fan and collector, I never got to liking the 25A molds, even now...

* and last, but for sure, not the least of all... CUSTOMIZING... its the fun that keeps me still going after all these years.

I'll have to use a broader range with some of my answers because it would be tough (and time consuming) to narrow it down to 10 individual figures/items, aside from those listed:

1) Zartan v1 - Color change and a disguise! Just an awesome figure

2) Destro v1 - Chrome frickin' mirrored head! Too cool

3) Snake Eyes v4 - It was the first figure I bought when I got back into Joes in 1991

4) Cartoons - both Sunbow & DiC. The scene from "Revenge of Cobra" with the Joes & Cobras playing "laser hockey" on the roof of the world for the Laser Core has been a lasting memory

5) 1991 Impel trading cards - Gave me my introduction to the comic side of Joes

6) International figures - Some really cool paint schemes and interpretations of characters

7) Pre-Production/Unreleased figures - An awesome look at what might have been. Very happy to have so many of them in my collection

8) Tiger Force - Most repaints suck. These guys don't. Especially love the International ones

9) Undertow's mask - I don't know why. I just love it, along with other similar removable headgear

10) Custom figures - I've made a few (poorly), so I'm lucky many of you out there make them (well) and are willing to sell them to me

have to say this was my first as well.....still have it even with the cover came off...

_________________

purely an uneducated guess, but since I had toys before I even knew of the comic, I wonder if by the time #11 rolled around, there had been some sort of advertising in relation to it? I don't remember ever asking for the Joe comic, or knowing about it before #11, yet I know I got it because my mom subscribed to it and Star Wars simultaneously for me. There had to be something going on to push the product for that to have happened.

_________________