My favorite TV program from my early childhood was "COMBAT!". So it naturally follows that my toys were militally related. I loved GI Joe as well as scale models, that was imported to Japan in those days. I desired GI Joes as a Christmas present every year, because they were too expensive to get with my pocket money. In my primary school days Takara's "New GI Joe" was on sale in Japan, but I did't like them because of their non-realistic faces. I was't so interested in their equipments too as they seemed to be fakes to me. In my college days Takara released "Combat Joe". Their faces were relatively realistic and my best favorite german soldiers were lined up, so I bought some of them. But unfortunately that series ceased before various equipments for which I hoped were supplied, because then in our country there was little demand for them. Though I'm a middle-aged man now, I'm so glad that Hasbro revived GI Joe, and I'm making a collection mainly of WW II figures. Of course I have never discarded old GI Joes which I got in my childhood. But they are seriously damaged because of being made a plaything by a rowdy boy (although by myself!!), so I'm restoring them to better condition.
Vintage GI-JOE in the 1960s