The second greatest toy of all time is actually a tie because I played with both toys at the same time. Johnny West and G.I. Joe.
(Don’t forget to click on the G.I. Joe and Johnny West tags in the tag cloud for more articles and pictures.)
My Johnny West collection consisted of:
- Johnny West (Had several of these)
- Geronimo (couple of these)
- Jamie West
- Josie West
- Sam Cobra with the Quick Draw
- Sir Gordon
- General Custer
- Lots of horses
and my G.I. Joe collection:
- Had the really old one that was hard plastic with legs that did not move.
- Had a couple with “real” hair.
- Had a couple of the pull string talking ones.
These toys got hours of playtime almost daily. They were good for indoor rainy day playtime as well as outdoor adventures in all seasons. (Though many accessories seem to vanish in the snow!) And for the most part they took a beating. We had many instances of broken Johnny West trigger fingers and springs. (Used rubber bands to replace broken springs.) G.I. Joe held up a lot better since they were a harder plastic, but the real hair did start to bald.
I remember, as a kid, seeing all the G.I. Joe commercials while watching Saturday morning cartoons. There was a lot of things I wanted, like the Secret of the Mummy’s Tomb. Of course as a child you want it all and I am guessing that the sets were pretty costly.
Amazingly I still have most of these toys in an old wood toy box at my parents house.
Don’t forget to click on the G.I. Joe and Johnny West tags in the tag cloud for more articles and pictures.
