RANKING EVERY YEAR OF GI JOE

[@MopBucket1014]

GI Joe was such a big part of our lives. It’s fun to watch videos like this. Get others perspective and stories from their pasts

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks! Yes. it's always been my number 1 obsession (as far as story worlds)

[@thebowtiechaplain3399]

I will never forget going to K-Mart or some other store in the 80's and 90's and immediately asking my mom if I could go to the toy section then spending hours pouring over the G.I. joes, ninja turtles, MUSCLE men, etc on the shelves...what a great time to be a kid!!!

[@OfSoulAndSin]

It was a great time to be a kid. BTW, I still go down the toy aisle. 🤘

[@ajTed-m5n]

My parents challenged me to make the honor every reporting period for the whole school year to get the Flagg. I had the Flagg on one side of my room and the Terror Drome on the other. Still have it dismantled in the box.

[@MopBucket1014]

The box is a gold mine today. I tried to save mine but mom threw it away while I was at school. I knew I should’ve dropped out

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Yea, I still have mine too, but it's hard to keep it out somewhere. the thing is bigger than most rooms in my house

[@bookguy2025]

I have the same problem.@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal

[@ForburyLion]

You must have had a big bedroom!

[@xancypillosi9497]

I got the sail barge - Haslab. Thing is a size of a sofa

[@woltersworld]

Zartan for my birthday was my favorite birthday present ever as a kid

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Zartan is one of the best

[@buzzbomb6650]

I got Zartan for my birthday from my parents and also from one of my buddies at my birthday party. Two Zartans, two swamp speeders baby!

[@woltersworld]

@@buzzbomb6650 lucky!!!

[@vermontmike9800]

Mark - we need a video for which Joe would have been the better European traveller.

[@woltersworld]

@vermontmike9800 oh. I can see bazooka going around europe like joey in friends or homer going to england 😀

[@wildturkey9275]

Firefly, Storm Shadow, Zartan, Mutt and Junkyard, and the Killer Whale make 84 the best year IMO. The Flagg was cool and everyone wanted it, but no one could afford it!

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

That is a pretty good lineup.

[@mk-421]

Firefly, man, I remember wanting that figure so badly, but they had stopped making him years ago. Then in 1988 I found him inside one of those old heaters with the vents at my school! His heel was a little melted, but I didn't care! One of my favorite GI-Joes ever!!

[@jaysonbrown2153]

‘85 was also a great year because Hasbro introduced the swiveling head on the figures. I was so excited to see the heads move in different directions than just left and right. And my favorites that year were Tomax & Xamot and of course, Snake Eyes!

[@StageRight123]

They also introduced the swivel elbows too. Prior to '85, the elbows were just hinged.

[@darthg6505]

1982 was it for me. I got the tank the jeep and Snake Eyes for Christmas that year, so this is when the magic of Gi-Joe was for me. I still love other years of the line, but the Army green started it for me & the dark blue & red of Cobra, Yo! Joe!!

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

There is something very cool about how semi-real the first year was. Also, for nostalgia sake, 82 is number one for me. It wa more mysterious then, and I'll remember grabbing my first figures

[@bookguy2025]

My first Joes toys were Flash and the RAM motorcycle. I think my favorite vehicles are the RAM, VAMP, Wolverine, Whirlwind (towed behind the Woverine), the Mountain Howitzer (towed behind the VAMP), Armadillo, and the Dragonfly..

[@darthg6505]

Wow! That's Awesome! Sounds like a great setup. So many good memories, Yo! Joe!@@bookguy2025

[@italjahcorntrashroller]

Retired. Recollecting my 80s toys...like 35 % of what i had back now. We all stopped playing with toys in the early 90s. All the toy lines started to get to cartoonish anyway...everything had to have brihght colors.

[@tubernery]

I remember being so excited when arise serpentor arise first aired. Seeing these new Joes like beachhead, hawk, and hearing Flint put Beachhead in his place with the ranks. When I went to Toys R Us to see the new Joes, fogetaboutit.. I saw the carded figure display with eyes wide open and searched through those racks like a kid in a candy store! Went home with wet suit, lifeline, and dial-tone.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

That was a great line up

[@philhatfield2282]

I'm of the belief that 1984 was the best year for the G.I. Joe toy line. So many good things that year! I loved the Rattler, the Hooded Cobra Commander, Storm Shadow (all white...so intimidating and with the best equipment) and Firefly!

[@bobbywold2311]

The mid 80's were great but I think 87 is my favorite year because my grandfather got me my very first figure which was Big Boa. I stayed with Joe's all the way up to Sgt Savage but when they got to GI Joe extreme is when I checked out.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Sgt Savage had a cool look, especially the package art. If I were to rank lines/ iterations of GI Joe --Extreme would be the worst

[@Adino1]

Agreed. 1987 was the best imo as well.

[@CapitanJusticia]

1987 marked the fall of G.IJoe. G.I.JOE: The Movie came out the year marking the end of the very popular cartoon and the toy line got too saturated by then.

[@Adino1]

@@CapitanJusticia I prefer to call it the Peak

[@jeremyshelton1079]

The last GIJOE toy I bought was Sgt Slaughters Warthog. I remember my Dad saying I was a little too old to be buying toys but I had earned some money working that summer and I couldn't resist a new toy.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Oh yeah, I was way too old when I was buying them. But my mom just looked the other way. Nowadays, it's only 40-50 year old men buying toys

[@michaeljfoley1]

Loved the Warthog, crammed so many figures into that troop carrier. Also, that was the only Sarge I owned as a kid.

[@76highjinks]

I'd checked out in 1986 . Walking through the local department store in my town in the early 90s here in the UK , wondering why everything like Action Force/GI Joe , Transformers etc were all friggin NEON lol 🤣

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Right? It's like they forgot what made it so successful

[@johna4371]

Man, my parents split and I never got a damn Flagg...I'm with you up until your top 5. I'm so nostalgic for the original 13 that I want to put 82 higher. So I'd have to go 86, 82, 85, 83, 84. But trying to rank 83,84,85 is almost impossible.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

You had to work that "I'm really sad about you and mom splitting up" angle. Then pit them against each other, like Destro selling weapons to both sides

[@JoeUzzolino]

I’m 49. Was out in 1986. Had C-64 games copied on 5-1/4 floppy disks and girls to keep me busy

[@SpookyFow]

Same for me. '86 I found girls, music, skateboards and BMX. So long toys.

[@davidhooper259]

This how cool HASBRO is. I was 9 years old. All of the toy and department stores (when they had toy departments) never had Snow Job nor Snake Eyes in stock. So I wrote them asking where could I buy either one since I couldn’t find anywhere. A few go by and they send me bother for FREE! Little did I know they were discontinued 3 years earlier. Now that’s a cool company

[@kurtsimonson6157]

Personally, I have to put '84 at the top of my list, if for no other reason than the introduction of Spirit and Storm Shadow. I share your thoughts on the ninja craze. Even as a kid, I thought that the rivalry of Spirit vs Storm shadow in the Revenge of Cobra cartoon miniseries was *WAY* more interesting than Snake-Eyes vs Storm Shadow. (Side note: I always saw Snake-Eyes Ninja as a retcon to his original concept as a commando).

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Agreed. I prefer Snake as a commando with ninja training, rather than a ninja. The fact that he was a ninja with an Uzi made him much more interesting. There's not much more badass than a "Commando" anyway

[@Trip_Gambello]

Introduction of Timber and Snake Eyes’s iconic new outfit. 85 rules!

[@ChattanoogaEd]

Man this was a fantastic video. It's strange I completely cut all ties with g I joe in 88. I went to junior high and that was it.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Good year to stop. All downhill frrom there. (with some good stuff thrown in here and there)

[@Supreme36074]

Me too. 48 lol

[@allluckyseven]

They just went crazy with colors everywhere in the 90s.

[@user-si9fx4xb6v]

1986 is my personal favorite year, since Iceberg was the first G.I. Joe action figure I owned as a kid. Plus, many of the other figures produced this year really caught my attention like Hawk version 2, Low Light, Dial Tone, Mainframe, Wet Suit and more. On the Cobra side, we got the Viper, Zandar, Zarana, Monkeywrench and Trasher, the B.A.T. and the A.V.A.C. Additionally, the vehicle assortment was really amazing with the Tomahawk helicopter (always wanted one but did not get one until my adulthood) HAVOC, Conquest X-30, Devilfish, Thunder machine, and Nightraven jet.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Plus the terrordrome

[@JonHoche]

This video was fantastic!!! My dad sold all my Joes at a garage sale and I was crushed. Replacing them as the Classified line keeps rolling out is filling that void.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Ouch, that hurts, My family knew not to do that. I'da lost my shit

[@MrSampson795]

Had something similar happen bud, I feel your pain

[@crypticjim]

I kept giving my stuff away, the old "I'm two old for toys" line of thinking. Of course then you spend a small fortune on ebay trying to rebuild your collection when you come to your senses

[@jeenkzk5919]

Probably the prime of GIJoe was from 82 until 87. If we have to choose one year, it would have to be a tossup between 84 and 85.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Agreed, although I think 88 is still pretty great. Then it's downhill,

[@Christian-xc9bh]

1988 was solid after that down hill.​@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal

[@JoePal-c3n]

One thing most of us really enjoy is having a uniformed unit. So a night force or tiger force or battle force made for cool figures. Plus it also gave a lot of other people a chance to have an action figure they never got if they missed out on the first few waves or years or action figures. Since back then we really didn’t have the internet just flea markets.

[@nelsonl.8344]

For me, when you talk G.I. Joe you're talking about the best years of my childhood. From collecting the figures/toys with my then best friend Alex Lee, to running home to watch the latest episode of the original series. That was from about 1982 to 1987. Sadly though, the summer of 1987 is when all of that would have to be put up. That was the summer of transition from 8th grade middle school to freshman year of high school. My friend Alex whom I had known all through elementary and middle school lost interest in both me and the toy line, and so I guess it was time to move on and "grow up". But I will always look back on those carefree days fondly. Trading figures, talking relentlessly about the show and hanging out and playing with my buddy Alex. Good times.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Ha! yes, most kids stopped playing. with toys in high School. I did not stop. But those were the best times. Thanks for the comment

[@Supreme36074]

Myself it’s 84 or 85 , imma collector of anything 82 thru SOME of 87 … it got silly after Cobra La. You missed one of my favorites, the Water Moccasin. Great video anyhow.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks. yes, Water Mocassin is great. I brought into my blowup pool this summer so my kids can play with it. and it floats

[@Supreme36074]

@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal lol, yes it does. I had plenty pool runs with it myself back in the day

[@andystandys]

I'm realizing, after watching this video, that most of the figures I owned came from the '84, '85 era. After that, I have no idea about any of them. I had "grown out" of the line by then, and had stopped playing with toys. By 1994 I was graduating high school, so I wouldn't have even realized they were still making JOEs at that point.

[@leeshakiesmith8768]

I lived with my grandmother as a kid. We would visit garage sales often and that's when I would pick up most GI Joe vehicles. I got that hovercraft and USS Flag at a garage sale. I got the best vehicle ever, the Tomahawk, as a christmas present. My parents to this day, remind me of how they drove all over the city looking for it.

[@halojon3909]

Remember 85 also had the head and neck movement and 83 had the SWIVEL ARM BATTLE GRIP !

[@johncarlson3061]

In 82, when GI Joe was relaunched, I was 7yrs old. I still have my M.O.B.A.T.,which was one of my absolute favorite vehicles. Heck I even still have my Sky Striker F-14!

[@DougtheBugGuy]

Toss up between 83 and 84. This was all before they got too crazy with the ninja and sci-fi stuff. Coolest vehicles and bases. Introduction of most iconic characters. 82 had some of those too.

[@kcnoise]

Hard to argue your list. It’s pretty spot-on. I was big into Joe in ‘86 through ‘89. I missed the the three years prior and would have loved to have those figures and vehicles.

[@drewlovelyhell4892]

I know what you mean. Here in NZ we never got the 82-85 figures. It was 1987 when G.I.Joe finally hit shelves here, and my brothers and I collected nearly all of them. I mostly regret missing out on the 85 wave. I could live without most of the 82-84 figures. The best thing about the first few years was the vehicles.

[@Its.Chad.]

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, of course. But 1993 “a horrible year” is absurd. It was the second biggest year of GI JOE as an IP ever. You could take every year of Classified and triple it and not make as much as ‘93 did. Plus we got the perfect Ghoststriker X-16 and Ace V3 that year.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Right. Just my opinion. But the year produced no new memorable characters, was garishly colorful, added monsters and aliens. It was not for me.

[@GIJoe90sHeadquarters]

Totally agree Chad

[@JuniperMe]

1993ish was probably peak joe for me, I loved the crazy colors and stuff. That shot of zartan bought it all back lol. I had the bright orange Parasite vehicle that was awesome. I also had an astro bot from the next year (I might still have hawk in storage but the rest is gone) I was bummed that our country didnt seem to get the weird mutants and monsters lol.

[@qjinx1]

'82-'86 best and original era. once 87 hits, it started getting weirder and suddenly everyone had side rockets and neon colors. '82-'86 is where its at with series 3 and 4 possibly being the greatest run of characters for the line. EDIT. I wrote this before watching and whaddya know...you say '87 is the weirdo year too. That was my final year, I finished the POW storyline with Outback in the comics and that was pretty much it.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Yeah, I do love the weird. Raptor, Crystal Ball, Croc Master are all fun characters, but after that it does go downhill

[@Blitz0065]

It's crazy to me much GI Joe has meant to me but how concentrated it was basically over three main years. One of my top 3 GI Joe memories will be opening that Moray on Christmas!! I was so damn happy that day.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Yeah, it feels like most of the icons were in the first few years. Love the moray

[@sobdjs]

I'm a little younger. My peak GI Joe toy years were 88-92. 89' was definitely a great year in my opinion. I remember getting the GI Joe space shuttle for Christmas that year.

[@MOCTurtle4911]

I agree with 85. Tons of characters, including my personal favorite Flint. Like you, I used him as my leader. And the Hydrofoil. Still one of the best vehicles in the line. Very fun list.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks. Yeah, Flint is great

[@josta59]

Great video! When I saw 1986 at #4 I was like whaaaat? Because I always felt that was the peak. But you convinced me. We couldn't have the greatness of '86 without the brilliance of the prior three years.

[@toothpastehombre]

What a trip down memory lane...I loved this - thank you. 85' and 86' were my years, took over my imagination. I loved the Havoc and the H.I.S.S mostly because it was the biggest vehicles my family could ever afford. Flint and Beachhead were top characters. I think I still have Snow job with his skis

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks! Yes great memories

[@DamonCzanik]

My favorite toy, by far was the Night Raven. Yes, it's basically the SR-71, but I had never seen the plane before that (maybe, I was very young), and I fell in love with the design. It managed to improve on the beautiful Blackbird. I just always liked the designs of the bad guys better. So, most of my stuff was Cobra. I never knew anyone who had a Flagg. I don't know where I could put that thing. My biggest toy was an AT-AT. I was a Star Wars kid, and then Transformers. I really only got into GI Joes figures in the late 80s. By the 90s I outgrew them but still kept my favorites. I have fond memories as a child playing with them. Compared to Star Wars, the toys were built better. You could pose them in ways you couldn't pose Star Wars toys. I had this story of these characters all getting sucked into this other dimension where they would need to get along, form alliances, or bad guys fighting bad guys for power. The bad guys never able to pick a leader and were always fighting amongst themselves. Quite complex storylines for a kid.

[@vermontmike9800]

You had me at “I liked Flint better than Duke”.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Yeah, I'm not a Duke fan. He's too bland

[@DS-lw4tn]

The best year for me was the 1986 line when I got the Tomahawk helicopter at Circus World in 1988 and Terror Drome at Toys R Us in 1987, respectively. By 1988, it was already VERY difficult to find any discontinued 1986 figures or vehicles. To me, they're much more authentic than the 1988 line (exceptions being Iron Grenadiers, Hydro Viper, Warthog, Desert Fox, Hit & Run, Storm Shadow). I did get the Skystriker, MOBAT and HISS Tank in 1983 but was only 3 years old at the time and didn't appreciate them as much until I was older in 1987, 1988. The smell of the toys walking into a Miami Florida Zayre's, Service Merchandise, Sears, KayBee, Lionel, or Toys R Us in the late '80's and seeing hundreds of action figures displayed. I will never forget the nostalgia. I preferred collecting Vipers like Techno Viper, Hydro Viper, Tele Viper, and Viper. Beachhead, Wet Suit, Snake Eyes, Mainframe, and Flint were easily my favorites on the Joe team.

[@sburns2421]

Never a chance for me in a million years to get the Flagg. Still remember them being in the toy section at Sears and thinking "who is going to buy that?" It would be $600 today. American Girl Doll money ;) In hindsight we definitely had the lower level vehicles. Water Moccasin (1984) and C.L.A.W. were my personal favorite vehicles. Storm Shadow's sword backpack (1984) was insane and Cobra Commander V3 (1987) was best CC. Barbeque (1985) was great, having an axe as a weapon which was fun. Nice for when the O-ring breaks and the figure splits in two anyway, BBQ did that!

[@mikeyfourbarrel8473]

Wow. Awesome video. I’m now subscribed. I loved every minute of this. As a diehard Transformers kid, GI Joe was always in the background for me. I loved the show and had a few toys here and there but my knowledge (back then and now) is pretty thin. This ranking list really helped clarity and anchor so many memories. I’m currently collecting Classified and this history lesson only adds to my appreciation. Awesome stuff, man.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks! Much appreciated

[@waskerbasket9601]

My folks bought me a lot of the Ghostbusters toys when they split just after Christmas. I thought something was off.

[@markytnshyt]

"I have broken relationships and trust issues that I'll have for the rest of my life, but I got the USS Flagg." LOL!

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Im glad you find my issues amusing😄

[@Gregory11811]

I think this statement sums up the Gen X experience pretty well. We may have been latchkey kids of divorced parents living in a post-Watergate/Vietnam society, but the toys were objectively awesome!

[@christopherwebb3517]

I'd say it's a toss-up between 84 and 85 for me. 82 and 83 were great too, but 84/85 was the apex of the line.

[@demo3456]

Asking me to rank GI joe years is like asking what Kid I love the most haha 91 had some misses but there were hits there too

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

91 does have cool stuff. I like the international soldiers being brought in

[@gmwforce1972]

This a greatly put together video. My first time checking you out- now I’ll have to look at some of your other vids. I really liked the Scarface yejo analogy depicting the fall lol!

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks a lot! Cocaine is the only possible explanation for Ice Cream Soldier

[@FigFinder78]

Love the vid,i was there in Hills department store everyday with different family members 😂 They had so many available on the shelves back then..No scalpers needed then.I just started collecting Classifieda and Retro cardwd Bigs,the smalls are very odd now.. Anyway,love the channel... Yo Jpe!

[@strikeforce19XX]

92',93', and 94' were awesome. Got a bunch of the Mega Marines for Christmas that year. Loved all the Ninja Force lines. Early 90s holds a special place in my heart. Also, Eco Warriors was my favorite of all time just because of the whole water gimmick.

[@ruicosta1037]

Depends on when you were born I guess. I was born in '86, so I was at the "best age" for the 92-94 lines and loved them. But I can understand they are not as good as the older ones.

[@BigMoneyGripMCV]

the best one i had was the HAVOC. That was the biggest one i had. Tunnel Rat is probably my favorite figure for the Joes, with Repeater coming in close 2nd because of his kit, and the Dreadnoks for Cobra

[@toomieornot2me436]

The first 4 years are hard to beat. When I was a kid, my favorite Special Missions lineup was: Beach Head, Low-Lite, Snake Eyes w/ Timber, Roadblock, Hawk, and Flint in the A.W.E. Striker vs. all of COBRAAAA! The Joes won every time.

[@garybugden8810]

Agree on the worst years no question. I was more a fan of the traditional military guys and not so much the Knocks ( but still have most of them ) Really well done video .

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks

[@curtissphilipsen1939]

Your perspective and takes are both off and relatable . . . and I’m here for it. Thank you for doing this!

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks!

[@liquididentity101]

2023 has revitalized GI Joe like never before. It may not live up to those inception years, and we will never see most of those 80s vehicles ever again, but this just reminded me how many more amazing things the future may hold for our modern Classified series.

[@TheBigBigSean]

Mabey. But GI Joe 25th, 30th 50th, POC, ROC, Retaliation were a blast to collect.

[@Spongemonkey26]

25th is wildly underrated, aside from the outdated head sculpts by today's standard, we had almost every figure and a good chunk of the classic vehicles.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Love the Pursuit of Cobra line. So much good stuff there.

[@kenponinja1877]

Thanks for putting this together man. Really brought me back

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Glad you liked it!

[@dustycrosley486]

Great review on all this and I love how genuine you are on this review!

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks alot. Very kind comment

[@dustycrosley486]

@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal No problema man! Alot of people out there just promoting BS. You have a genuine love for vintage collection.

[@adamheisey5698]

I really loved ‘92 with the Ninja Force with Storm Shadow, Slice the Orange version, & Zartan would be #5 for me, I had only two vehicles for’94 of Space Brigade which were the Starfighter and Invader which would of been #4, Defiant was the one shuttle with Launch Pad that I wanted but never got from ‘87 would be #3, next Cobra Night Raven would one of the greatest jets that resembles the Blackbird SR-7 from ‘87 was #2, and my best year would be Cobra Iron Grenadiers with Destro leading the battle instead of Cobra Commander, with the iconic A.R.C. which was really cool since it could hover from ‘88 was #1.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

It was cool that Destro finally got tired of Cobra Commander and did his own thing. It opened up the whole Cobra civil War idea that was fun. 92 Ninja Force was okay, the 93 version they lost me.

[@EmeraldCoastStacker]

Really well done! Thoroughly enjoyed this from beginning to end and brought back some great memories.

[@jasonchislett3282]

Merry Xmas homie, nice Dudikoff refrence. Love your channel, do u have merch???

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks! No merch yet. Haven't quite got there

[@danielcurcic1901]

Man, this was a great trip down memory lane for me. I was born in 83 and my toys consisted mostly of Transformers, LEGO and Gi Joe. So i didn't go all in on one of them. Shocked me to see how many figures i owned that you showed per year hahaha. Like Cesspoll, Range viper, B.A.T. (orange color one), headhunter, and many more. I just bought the figures on how they appealed to me. Had all the ninja's of the 90's as well hahahaa. Living in The Netherlands i think we had a delay in release dates, so i could find figures from let's say the 88/89 line in 93/94 for example. Thx for the vid :)

[@mamunestor]

The comicbook build more lore. 😂 and better lore than the cartoon. 😂 but that’s me. Best year 1983… all the 82 figs with upgrades and new figures.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Agreed. I'm comic book all the way. The cartoon is hilarious though

[@mattnoon3235]

Caught the tail end and watching the start now… brutal on 94🤣😂😅 but I have to say there is a lot to like about it that you don’t mention… that being said can’t wait to watch the rest🫵👍💪 thanks for the vid!!!

[@mrcotter35]

That was an excellent watch for me. You are 100% on your list. Thanks for putting this up. Great memories for me.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks a lot!

[@jeanpommes]

1984 by far. Baroness. Storm Shadow. Zartan. Hooded CC. Firefly. Recondo. Duke. Roadblock. Ripcord. Spirit. Mutt. Pick any carded fig at random and you have a really fun, intriguing character. ‘85 was great, too. It has several individual figs that are better than anything in ’84, but overall less consistently awesome. It helps that I was 8 in ‘84, the prime age for engrossing in GI Joe.

[@jeanpommes]

As you said, Serpentor and Mindbender were way more interesting in the comic, and iirc, we were first intro’ed to that storyline via comics, so we were stoked when the toys later came out. At that point, my bro and I were only reading the comics and didn’t have TV so we weren’t ever ruined by TV Serpentor.

[@TyGosketch]

Thank you for all of your hard work. GI JOE is the reason I became an artist and a toy designer. It really changed my life. I loved seeing the flashbacks. This was awesome.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks! I'd love to see your work, please feel free to post a link here so I can check it out.

[@AlbertoFrankieBello]

Thanks for this video, I really enjoy it. In Italy Joes arived with a big delay (maybe '87), series was mixed and not all the figures and vehicles were imported. First time I saw it was in a little toy shop near Venice: there was the Flagg displayed over the entire shop window. My mom bought me my first figure: Shipwreck.

[@shenanitims4006]

I wonder if the ‘92 line had dinosaurs due to the upcoming blockbuster of “Jurassic Park.” The idea of world-building is rather hilarious though. I mean, Serpentor? The crocodile man? That Globulous dude? Totally believable! The military troop utilizing a mute ninja? Who has an arctic wolf as a companion? Sadly, ‘Nam was totally hot, hence the US’ failure there. Worthless nitpicking aside, great video. Loved the trip down memory lane. I loved the Rolling Thunder growing up, along with the black jet from that year(?). And I seem to remember another space shuttle type vehicle, though that could be 30 years of cobwebs in my mind.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

it doesn't have to be 100% believable, just believable within the rules it sets for itself. They start off with lasers and JUmp packs, so we know we're not in the real military-- and Serpentor was a stretch, but I could go with it--but the Bio-Vipers and mega marines crap breaks the rules it sets for itself. In my opinion anyway. Yeah, I think they released the top part of the Defiant as its own thing and they also had a few more space vehicles. Cobra had some too. The early cobra shuttle was pretty cool

[@ralpheichenlaub7004]

87 was a phenomenal year. But still heartbreaking how very few of those figures made it into the cartoons. I wanted to see a dark psychological episode with Crystal Ball and Slaughter fighting with either Big Boa or Croc Master. Outback and Crazy Legs became my favorites out of the whole lot.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

IDW comics have a great version of Crystal Ball in the COBRA series by Mike Costa. He's a creepy mystic. Its probably the only good version of Crystal Ball I've seen.

[@ralpheichenlaub7004]

@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal ill take a look at that. I haven't delved much into gi joe comics outside of the reborn series. But im curious about the civil war stuff

[@chitterlingsrtasty]

In 83 I came back from germany after 3 years as a child and my dad had a whole host of gi jies waiting for me. Fell in love right away with the franchise

[@GIJoe90sHeadquarters]

as a kid of the 90's its kinda sad to see all the hate for the 90's figures....most of the time ive noticed the collectors that hate the 90s are ones that are too old to remember these figures or just never gave them a chance 1993 was the best selling year for gi joe in the entire og run...beating out every other year that says something right there

[@Helmet.head.productions]

Agreed! And if you were a 10 or 11 year old in 92-93 like me not only were these years great but the nostalgia is there for us now as 40+ year olds. I do like how he gives props to the cobra earthquake and the DEF line in this video.

[@GIJoe90sHeadquarters]

@@Helmet.head.productions yeah thats about the only thing good in the video was def and the earthquake

[@Helmet.head.productions]

@@GIJoe90sHeadquarters yeah I didn’t like how he stomped all over the cobra Detonator lol 😂

[@GIJoe90sHeadquarters]

@@Helmet.head.productions agree the detonator was awesome

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Hey, also want to say, anybody who has that much love for the brand--even 1994, 1993--is pretty awesome. So even if we disagree on the years, love that you care so much about it

[@MoDXtraGC]

Awesome. Thanks for the little peek. I love stuff like this. The memories man… *stareslonginglyintothedistance*

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks!

[@OriginalStevenMalibu]

I think '87 was the last good year. I was pretty much done with toy collecting at that point. Everything after this just looks weird to me...Python Patrol etc. For me '83 and '85 were my favorites! However '82 will always have special spot since I got my 1st joe, Short-Fuze. Plus they gave us Snake Eyes.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Yeah, it gets more colorful and dumber after 87.

[@DicksonBoyz]

Subscribed! A lot of love and honesty went into this video. 84 for the WIN! Salute!

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks!

[@ChamP10nk1ng]

EASILY 86' when Serpentor debuted ! 👍 He dominated in the cartoon series aswell, no comp whatsoever!

[@Grim3313]

Great video! I appreciate how you put gave some positive points to the lowest years as well. Really balanced. Thanks for the hard work!

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks! Yeah, there's almost always something good

[@kcthesledgestoryteller]

My favorite Joe year will always be 1984 - debut of ROADBLOCK.

[@nestorperena8629]

always going to love the 90's line.

[@jamesbosquez5669]

I was born in 81 so my favorite Christmas was the year i got a ton of the tiger force line. I finally had some of the classic characters and vehicles in my collection that i had missed out on from the early waves. Got the tiger fly and recondo, the tiger shark, tiger cat and tiger paw plus Duke, Roadblock, Tripwire and Dusty. That was a memorable morning!

[@Dogman1736]

That was a very hard list to make, I might have changed around #1 through 4 a little. But like I said it’s a hard list. You did a great job. Earned a sub. Have you talked about the comic packs yet? I need that snake eyes storm shadow and stalker in Vietnam

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks! I;m working on a video ranking every version of GI Joe, including the Comic Book packs. I love those things

[@craigbloxham8344]

Enjoyed this, good work! 1983 will always be number 1 for me.

[@TacticalSquirrel]

4:28 To be fair in regard to Scarlett. She's a Counterintelligence Agent who knows several martial arts and uses a crossbow pistol. She is an OG G.I. Joe ninja by definition of what a ninja actually is. A real ninja was a spy who knew martial arts.

[@waxcpc]

What year did the dreadnaughts car come out? That was one of my favorites.

[@wickedspank]

The Thunder Machine!! Easily one of my favorite toys from my childhood. That thing looked so cool.

[@fredropro]

Im really glad you showed the mail away figures .... I paused it to reflect on what it took to get those figures .... It wasnt much when you think about it now but boy was it a big deal as a kid... I had one friend that didnt get any of the figures, they just never showed up.

[@danjohnson4082]

1982 will always be my favorite mostly for nostalgia, but 85 was probably the peak for GI Joe.

[@Mr.SalmaHayek]

Love the video brother! Please make more " ranked" videos. Well for me it's 85/ 86 Gi Joe's especially 86. Because me and moms would go to the thrift store whenever she could and next door was a small toy store and they sold Gi Joe's and moms would get one for me every time, the good ol days YO JOE!!!! Edit: i subscribed to your channel

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Definitely will make more. Next topic will be the women of GI Joe and Cobra

[@Mr.SalmaHayek]

@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal Can't wait!

[@Stormonu]

1984 for me. Getting the Whale for Christmas was the highlight of that year. I peaced out of GI Joe after '86, but started picking the line back up around 2002 with the Joe Night Attack Chopper (For me, it was always about the vehicles). I also remember when swivel-arm battlegrip came along. Local Toys-R-Us had the non-upgraded figures for like 99 cents, and we got a lot of the cobra troopers and such that day.

[@toomworld]

I really like those late year super bright colors. Reminds me of 80’s skateboarding

[@rocketimpossible5196]

Great video! I think Big Ben and Red Star were the last decent figures. The last great figures were Bullhorn, Freefall, and Topside in 1990. My all time favorites were Night Viper (89), Shockwave (88), Tunnel Rat (87), Jinx (87), Falcon (87), Iceberg (86), Beach Head (86), Dial-Tone (86), Dusty (85), and Lady Jaye (85). The best years were 1986 and 1987, to me. I had the Tomahawk, Mamba, Night Raven, and the space shuttle, and they were the best vehicles ever. Good times.

[@schwaaard]

Finally someone mentioned Shockwave! I felt like I was taking crazy pills when ‘88 went by with no mention of him. He’s probably my favorite for whatever reason. (What am I talking about? His load-out was frigg’in awesome, and he had a commando/masked-man vibe. Of course he’s the bestest!)

[@LavishPatchKid]

That brought back so many memories. lol I don't know if I've ever watched anything I agreed so much with. Something to mention - the peak GI Joe years were really the 'peak toys for boys' years; with dozens competing for the sales. 1980 - 1988 was basically peak EVERYTHING. Not just Star Wars, GI Joe, He Man and Transformers... but properties completely forgotten - like MASK, Dinoriders, Centurians, Robotech, Silverhawks, COPS, Thundercats, etc., etc. PS - That aircraft carrier was a thousand dollars in the 80s. I remember staring at it at Toys R Us for $999.99. lol I don't think most understand how much a grand was in 80s money. (For reference, to get into Disneyland was like $15 dollars, while a brand new car would cost you 4 or 5 grand.)

[@etanrrac5425]

Didn't know about all those years! Thanks for the video.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Yeah, the damn thing kept going way past its expiration date

[@akarudie]

What a flashback!! Thanks for the video!

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks!

[@GRITZ2137]

Soon as I seen the thumbnail and title of this video in my feed I said to myself, "1985". Good stuff.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Yup. That year was incredible.

[@PulpVision]

This is a fun presentation that brings back memories of my history with G.I.Joe. My favorite year goes to 1983 where Hasbro upped their game not only with more animated spots but Destro who I'm also a fan of and the first Joe Miniseries. 93 was the worst and it's no wonder why Hasbro canceled the line.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Yup.I am obviously Destro obsessed, so I can't argue with that

[@PulpVision]

@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal I was hoping out of curiosity you would mention Battle Force 2000 during your 87' segment. While I disagree with repaints like Tiger and Night Force, Maurauders didn't make the cut for me. Happy 2024!

[@Cowah]

Aw, maaaan... 1990-94 are my favorite years by far, in all their goofy, neon glory.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Hey I respect that., we all have different opinions and eras we love. They probably were fun, especially if you had them as a kid. I was getting pretty old by then, so they were not what I was looking for. I did buy one thing -- the big Mech robot. It was badass enough that it became the last thing I bought

[@drewlovelyhell4892]

You may be joking, but there was still a bunch of solid figures in those final years. The last figures I bought were '92 Destro V3 (excellent figure), Wild Bill and Dice.

[@kgthegreatone943]

Can you do the same type of video but for gi joe classified series?

[@redblocks8821]

You had me laughing about Zartan's disguise. My definitive Joes n Cobras are from batch '82 - '86. I'm not a completist but for my Classified collection, I stick to these batches.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks! Yeah I don't need to complete either, No need for the crappy first two Roadblocks or the fifty repaints. I just get what I like, which unfortunately for my wallet, is alot.

[@Wookiesugar]

The VAMP and it's Cobra counterpart gave me a jeep addiction I've never been able to shake.

[@ThatJohnKillion1970]

The second wave hit that sweet spot as far as the comic book story arcs go.

[@bookguy2025]

I really enjoy your videos. I am a G.I. Joe fan from way back in the beginning in 82 as a kid. I agree that the early years were the best when the Joes were only a little sci-fi and more military-themed. I lost interest in the late 80s when the Joes started to become too weird. I do hope that Hasbro will give us all the original 13 Joes in the the Classified line. I would love to see a more deluxe version of Breaker with more accessories, even though the RAM mototcycle is cool as hell. My favorites Joes are Airborne (Franklin W. Talltree), Doc, Ripcord, Wild Bill, Grandslam (Not sure why, maybe because he is always kind of forgotten), and Topside (He was more of a simple character that I liked).

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks! Yes, can't wait to have the Original 13

[@bookguy2025]

Airborne (Franklin W. Talltree) was always my favorite Joe. His figure was so detailed, in my opinion. The picture on his filecard was awesome. I was annoyed when the Sky Patrol figures were released in 1990 and they re-used the Airborne code-name for a completely new figure. I guess that I am just picky.

[@bookguy2025]

I wonder what kind of load-out Hasbro Pulse will give to Grand-Slam?@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal

[@johnsoehnlen4781]

Great video and pertinent points for each year. 1986 followed by 1992 are my favorite years due to nostalgia. 1986 is when I was introduced to the cartoon and I received Beachhead and Roadblock for Christmas. Plus I had older friends who had the Terrordrome, which is awesome. I was too young to really understand the story and didn't get back into it until 1992 with the comic book. 1992 also allowed me to get core characters with new molds. I was old enough to appreciate the filecards and not lose the accessories and accidentally break the o rings. I consider 1982 to be the worst from an adult perspective. The figures from that year aren't as sturdy as later years and there's too much reuse of the same molds.

[@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal]

All my 82 figures have broken thumbs. There's like three thumbs left among the whole lot

[@johnsoehnlen4781]

@@DestroIsMySpiritAnimal That sucks. Most guys tell me that they have the same problem with the 1982 figures. I always hated when I accidentally broke a thumb. The funny thing is the thumb breakage is also common on the 1994 Shadow Ninja figures.