REPLIES: 69 comments
first post... I think I actually had this thing.. but it doesn't make sense since I was only one when it came out.
Chestnuts roasted by chad @ 11/17/2003 06:07 PM EST
They kept this in the stores for years after it initially came out, so you very well may have owned it. Although there was also another GI Joe train set, so you could have owned that instead. Or maybe you didn't own either and you're just thinking about the train from Silver Spoons.
Chestnuts roasted by Brian Jacks @ 11/17/2003 06:16 PM EST
Crashing through the sky comes a fearfull cry cobra, COBRA!
Chestnuts roasted by Scourge @ 11/17/2003 06:44 PM EST
Did anybody here ever have the Space Vehicle Launch Complex? That thing came in a box the size of a washing machine crate.
Chestnuts roasted by Hamburger Man @ 11/17/2003 06:54 PM EST
I'm fourth :)
I'm special :)
Has there ever been an X-E group outing? We should have a convention and all watch shitty 80's movies and play with toys :)
Chestnuts roasted by *Applesauce* @ 11/17/2003 07:15 PM EST
Applesauce - if by fourth you mean fifth, then yes, you are. :)
Chestnuts roasted by Paul @ 11/17/2003 07:33 PM EST
These ol' blogs are filled with good folk that are good at figuring out what stuff is. So, some one help me out. I got this blue cube with jiggly eyes that turns into an elephant. It's by Tomy and its from the 80's. Any clue Any one?
Chestnuts roasted by kennef @ 11/17/2003 09:11 PM EST
I don't care for Will Smith's songs.
Chestnuts roasted by pikachulover @ 11/17/2003 09:23 PM EST
Just picture Storm Shadow saying "Choo Choo" there...
I mean, really go into your mind and have the voice artist of Storm Shadow say "Choo Choo"
Friggin' hilarious!
Chestnuts roasted by AlphaCentaurian @ 11/17/2003 09:29 PM EST
I'm sure Will Smith and all of his fans along with all his money plus his not so bad lookin wife are all crying together becuase some kid who loves pikachu doesn't care about Will Smith's song.
Chestnuts roasted by karl byotch @ 11/17/2003 09:36 PM EST
"Did Destro know?" Ha! Of course he did. And me did too. I received it Christmas '84, have the red-eyed, crazy haired, pajama bottoms only pictures to prove it too. I remember the track being so metal. Not like "rock out." More like, "eh, not a bad build." I grew up to be Kansas City Southern's first laser-rifle totin' conductor. Toot, toot! Ya'll stop it with that there grafitti artin' now! Toot, toot!
Chestnuts roasted by the Unstoppable @ 11/17/2003 10:52 PM EST
I keep farting, my pc room reeks, freakin spin doctors are on the radio. Yet my heart bleeds for the GI JOE electric trainset...
Chestnuts roasted by spazzamatic @ 11/18/2003 12:24 AM EST
I want to give everybody a big ol heads up
ABC is going to show A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on Sunday at 7 pm. Everybody should watch, and bask in the glory of toast.... TOAST!
Chestnuts roasted by Tony @ 11/18/2003 12:33 AM EST
G.I. Joe was never on my top list of cartoons to watch back in the 80's. I was an Astroboy fan, meself. A whole nother breed. As for the train set, I had a friend that owned it, and I just chewed on a lot of the Cobra clan. Yeah, so I wasn't THAT old, but that's beside the point. Team Cobra tastes delicious in the hands of a 4 year old. Fare thee well!
Chestnuts roasted by Armagideon Time @ 11/18/2003 01:00 AM EST
Hey man, love the site
I'm wondering, will you be putting out any more reviews of Macy's parades? I LOVED the 1984 one.
thanks a million
Brian A. Henegar
Chestnuts roasted by Brian Henegar @ 11/18/2003 01:53 AM EST
Damn....My parents never let me have GI Joe...though ofcourse i was 2 when this came out.
I did have a train set that i blew up with m-80s...though it was in my Gomez Addams phase.
Chestnuts roasted by Bfett @ 11/18/2003 03:01 AM EST
After reading about the greatness of this set, I can only wonder about its Cybertronian counterpart. Yes, they had a Transformers train set, too, but its a lot rarer than the Joe trains from what I hear. Still, if you ever manage to get your hands on it, you ought to have the two trains fight...somehow.
Chestnuts roasted by Moai Ou @ 11/18/2003 03:18 AM EST
twenty-or-so years later, you actually opened the darned thing.....
an idiot collector would've paid more than double the original cost.....
and that's an "idiot" collector....
you've got a great piece there........
probably worth a pretty penny.....
ugly pennies need not apply
Chestnuts roasted by oneless @ 11/18/2003 03:29 AM EST
I almost forgot about those parachutes. After the string pulled out of the circle tabs I did the plastic shopping bag thing. That sucked too.
I chucked the crusty plastic toys and used stompers. The military ones. Whatever hapened to those.
Chestnuts roasted by savemejebus @ 11/18/2003 03:29 AM EST
damn, after reading the comments from the other people commenting (comment, comment.....you get the idea.........)
i feel old......
but hey, i collect 8tracks (ever heard of those, young'uns?) so old is the way i should feel :)
i remember the G.I.Joe that was a 12" tall DOLL......for boys, even.......
boys with dolls, but they were war dolls :)
Chestnuts roasted by oneless @ 11/18/2003 03:36 AM EST
Hmm... that shot of the kid adjusting the little soldier with the camera medium close-up and at chest-level on the table is *very* reminiscent of a *very* similar shot of Anthony (Luke Wilson) adjusting the toy soldier during the "not-quite-as-daring-as-you-might-have-thought" burglary scene in the 1996 film Bottle Rocket. Gee, you don't think Wes Anderson could possibly have this commercial on tape, do you? Naaahhhhhh... (Lamest rip-off conspiracy theory ever.)
Also, I'm pretty sure that the device which reduces the current is called, and if I'm correct, you'll be kicking yourself for not remembering this, a "transformer".
For the benefit of those of us Canadians here, how big is a box of Mr. Bubble? I remember my mother using Mr. Bubble on me as a kid, but it was the bottled kind.
(If anyone cares, now I have a crappy photoblog.)
Chestnuts roasted by Steve Brandon @ 11/18/2003 03:47 AM EST
Hah. Lizard. Awesome.
Chestnuts roasted by Evin @ 11/18/2003 03:50 AM EST
That set is pretty massive but nothing beats the G.I. Joe aircraft carrier. This thing could hold like 5 or 6 deluxe jets. Now that's honking big.
Chestnuts roasted by BillyBadAss @ 11/18/2003 09:21 AM EST
i'm in school right now third period and i'm bored. school is very boring.great commercial
Chestnuts roasted by Romo @ 11/18/2003 09:37 AM EST
was anyone else amused at the fact that they put in BIG letters across the train, SPECIAL FORCES... so much for those sneak attacks. Also it's no wonder Cobra and troops were so mean when even their parachutes proudly label them as the enemy, they can't exactly shake that stigma!
Chestnuts roasted by saint matthew @ 11/18/2003 10:16 AM EST
Never got the train. Our parents had this strange idea that all our toys ended up broken. Every time I see the old Joes I get nostalgic. Unless I see that sailor or the paramedic who wore red. Then I feel depressed because I had those guys and they sucked. Anyone ever notice how fast the crotch of a G.I. Joe guy broke off? Then their legs got all wobbly and all they were good for was doing some sort of insane dance or taking apart to play Dr. Frankenstien with other Joes...somewhere in this house there is still some very mixed up toys.
Chestnuts roasted by Killer Duck @ 11/18/2003 10:23 AM EST
I'm with Applesauce. Everybody drop by this weekend. We can re O-ring my Gijoes. Bring your Stompers too.
Chestnuts roasted by klatubaradanikto @ 11/18/2003 10:45 AM EST
I had this. It sucked because it was too small for my regular GI Joes. Plus I was like 8 or somesuch and was into like figuring out how things work and i took the train apart and burned out the engine.
Chestnuts roasted by fR0 @ 11/18/2003 12:01 PM EST
This thing kicked ass back in the day... great article.
Chestnuts roasted by PWalk @ 11/18/2003 12:15 PM EST
did anyone have the GI JOE aircraft carrier? that thing took up my friends entire room!
Chestnuts roasted by Mimik! @ 11/18/2003 12:23 PM EST
Photog...*gasp* Please!
Chestnuts roasted by Gillespee @ 11/18/2003 12:33 PM EST
Setting up that parachute shot must had been a bitch.
Chestnuts roasted by Aconite @ 11/18/2003 01:23 PM EST
I had this set back when I was a kid but the problem was my man-at-arms figure kept trying to be a homo, I mean hobo and train hopped without paying fare. It's ok though, slimer always promptly kicked him off and he sought refuge in my lil sisters malibu barbie mansion which I had converted into modern day (so to speak) hoovervilles. That damn man-at-arms and his hijinks.
Chestnuts roasted by kingofswing @ 11/18/2003 01:54 PM EST
Brian: Hang out. Matt's plan is to do at least 2 more parade reviews for '86 and '89. He MAY do '85, as well.
Chestnuts roasted by Scott @ 11/18/2003 02:12 PM EST
I was eight when it came out, and I got it for christmas. It rocked. My grandfather got me a big piece of plywood so I could nail it down. I loved that set. The parachutes sucked though. Damn things never worked. Many a good Joe lost his life on that track. (I was always into Cobra more than G. I. Joe)
Chestnuts roasted by Remember When @ 11/18/2003 02:38 PM EST
AWESOME ARTICLE! I had this, and it's still in my parent's basement -- (I found photos of me playing with it the other day, coincidently).
Chestnuts roasted by Tim G. @ 11/18/2003 03:03 PM EST
Oh yeah Oneless, I had the 12" Joes as well ( with kung fu grip ). Unfortunately they all died in a tragic fire. Somehow they all ended up in a S.W.A.T. van filled with firecrackers and soaked with gasoline. I can still see them rolling down a hill ablaze and exploding.
Chestnuts roasted by Gozer @ 11/18/2003 03:27 PM EST
I had the Transformer train set... might still have it somewhere.. and it had a lot cooler cars, but not as much extraneous stuff if I recall. This Joe set looks like it came with a lot of stuff... wonder how much it goes for on Ebay.
Chestnuts roasted by Van Hammersly @ 11/18/2003 04:10 PM EST
Hey Matt, did you stop doing top 11 articles for UGO? Haven't seen any mentioned in the blog lately.
Chestnuts roasted by Park @ 11/18/2003 08:35 PM EST
Doesn't that kid's weird looking dad look like the smoking man from x files?
Chestnuts roasted by Bitner-Boy @ 11/18/2003 09:08 PM EST
You've dredged up horrible memories for me Matt. I used to have that train set and many G.I. Joes but as a kid, they were all sent to the Philippines by my parents for the "needy" children. It hurt me then as a kid and it still hurts me as a young man today WAAAHHH!!!
Chestnuts roasted by polarbear @ 11/19/2003 01:10 AM EST
Had the Train. Broke it. Now miss it! Thanks to Matt. I blocked its mighty memory out of my head. I blocked all memories of putting blocks under its mighty tracks to make it try and climb up a hill it was not ment to climb. That poor train. The tiny soldiers ( and I do mean tiny. Like 1/4 the size of regular plastice generic soldiers) would watch and cry.
It finally broke when I slammed my Knight Rider KITT (talking) car into the Engineer car and fried it out.
Man! I broke more toys that way.
Anyhoo thanks for bringing up memories I tried to forget. Again. Jerk.
Chestnuts roasted by tcgarak @ 11/19/2003 02:33 AM EST
i've got a box of electric trains in my closet. I used them as a kid but I have no room to set them up. I have tons of tracks and a bunch of cars. Probably enough track to go through my house. it would be nice to set that all up again...
Chestnuts roasted by heeloyd @ 11/19/2003 04:52 AM EST
GI Joe is a great series I have a lot of comics and some of the toys too
Chestnuts roasted by Romo @ 11/19/2003 09:19 AM EST
The 1985 GI Joe USS Flagg aircraft carrier.
At 7 and a half feet long from bow to stern, and 2 and a half feet wide, it was the largest GIJoe toy ever made, and will probably never be made again, due to the sheer cost it would entail for Hasbro and the consumer.
some pics (the fighter on the deck is the Skystriker X-14, another rare and much loved 1983 GIJoe toy)
http://www.themassdevice.com/octvehs%20037.jpg
http://www.themassdevice.com/octvehs%20039.jpg
http://www.themassdevice.com/octvehs%20040.jpg
http://www.themassdevice.com/octvehs%20041.jpg
http://www.themassdevice.com/octvehs%20042.jpg
http://www.themassdevice.com/octvehs%20044.jpg
http://www.themassdevice.com/octvehs%20045.jpg
Chestnuts roasted by FFN @ 11/19/2003 10:06 AM EST
I know for a fact I had this one. It kicks ass. Anyway, I'm down for an X-E BBQ. Let's do it! photog art?
Chestnuts roasted by Nemesis Frog @ 11/19/2003 11:48 AM EST
I assume you no longer have it, too bad, it gets great money on Ebay, even in busted-ass condition.
Here's how a Mint in sealed box one is doing
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2468&item=3155759456
Chestnuts roasted by FFN @ 11/19/2003 12:00 PM EST
Man that brings back memories. I had this when it first came out. For months the dining room table hosted my epic battles as Cobra tried to derail a train that went in circles. Tehy never won - poor planning.
Chestnuts roasted by Cass @ 11/19/2003 12:01 PM EST
I had the Aircraft carrier and the space shuttle complex. Sold them in a garage sale. :( Yes, they were huge, and they came in huge boxes that--to my childish eys--seemed to tower over you and threaten to crush you with their might.
Never had the train, though. I do remember having an HO train, shaped like a modern bullet train, that ran up the wall. It was orange, and came with little paper tunnels. Was probably about 1988 or 1989. Anyone remember this?
Anyway, if anybody wants to have a train at the approximate scale of the 3 3/4 figures, take a look at G scale Model railroad equipment. Examples: mylargescale.com; http://www.lgboa.com.
Chestnuts roasted by Cameron T. @ 11/19/2003 12:44 PM EST
HOLY CRAP!!! That aircraft carrier is freakin huge!!!! I would be scared of it as a kid!! I'd probably be scared of it now too! I wish I would have saved my action figures, I had tons of ninja turtles, gi joe, other figures from movies (i.e. Hook, Batman, etc..) so many memories, I still have my lego collection and my hot wheels though.
Chestnuts roasted by heeloyd @ 11/19/2003 04:10 PM EST
That's the Tyco Turbo Train Cameron T. I don't know if you can put pictures in here or not.
Nope, sure can't.
Useless trivia, The Turbo Train's engine is used as a mold for some MST3000 Tom Servo Parts.
Chestnuts roasted by katubaradanikto @ 11/19/2003 04:13 PM EST
I had the Transformers train set. Was VERY cool. All the train bits transformed into combat train modes and it was full of little robots who you could have fight over the train.
Chestnuts roasted by Bloodcat @ 11/21/2003 12:11 AM EST
I heard they have action figures based on this train thing. Only they are bigger with more movement.
Chestnuts roasted by R Hunter @ 11/21/2003 10:05 AM EST
I found this link showing the GI Joe train set and other cool ones like the Transformers, MASK, A-Team, and Rambo.
http://tycotrain.tripod.com/tycotrains/id55.html
Looks like trains were the cool thing to have back in the days. I didn't like the size issue. So I stuck with the USS Flagg and the Space Shuttle play sets. They kicked major ass. Till I had to give them to my stupid little cousin. I haven't seen most of my vehicles in 10 years. Anger rising....rising.....
Chestnuts roasted by Yeti Hunter @ 11/21/2003 01:34 PM EST
My brother had this train set. Dad ended up building a city for it. Lateron, we destroyed it. I guess that is what happens with war
Chestnuts roasted by Zeppie0802@yahoo.com @ 11/21/2003 08:18 PM EST
Man, I never understand these people who complain about Joes being easy to break. What the hell did you do with them?
We buried a few in the back yard on accident a few times and dug them up years later and they were find.
Sadly enough, my dad does have a giant room set aside solely for huge train sets. And he's done jack with it for 15 years. Pisses my mom off.
We didn't have the "official" GI Joe train set but we did have a ton of army train cars for our trains. A howitzer, a hospital car, a transport car, and a spotlight car if I can remember correctly. We also had those tiny tiny army men out the yin yang growing up. I remember being miffed watching Toy Story because the Army Men were huge.
Chestnuts roasted by Regault @ 11/23/2003 05:44 PM EST
I always wanted one of those GI Joe train stes abd I wasn't even a GI Joe fan. I would have had it run over the bad guys.
Chestnuts roasted by planet garp @ 11/24/2003 11:34 PM EST
Oh man, I used to have that thing. It broke within a record time of four hours.
But, even though the train didn't move anymore, it was still a great source of good chewable plastic figurines.
Chestnuts roasted by RadishAttack @ 11/25/2003 11:57 AM EST
Slap the name of any franchise you want on 'em...train sets are GAY!
Well,unless you did a Gemm is truly truly truly outRAgeous express or an Empire Strikes Back "Rebels on Hoth Supply Convoy" set,nonetheless...the futility of the electric trains eternal circuit makes for some nil replay value.
Chestnuts roasted by Rudolph @ 11/26/2003 04:56 AM EST
Dude!, that f'ing rocks! I had this toy and loved it till I buried all the joes in a big dirt pile and used the power pack for making homemade "remote" controled cars. Thanks for the memories and yes that box is huge!
Chestnuts roasted by Dave @ 12/24/2003 01:08 AM EST
I just bought my 4-yr old son the 1985 Transformer Train for $300. Is that bad?? Not in it's box, but the person that had it said everything is with it and he's had it in his attic since he was a teen. I'm trying to find a list of all the contents, just so I could see. It's in great condition! A couple of stickers fell off though.
Chestnuts roasted by Holly @ 12/24/2003 11:07 PM EST
HOLY SHIT! i had completely forgotten the fact that i owned this toy, and it was awesome, and i want it back.
Chestnuts roasted by Charlie @ 02/03/2004 11:50 AM EST
I had one of these. It was freakin great untill my hellspawn of a sister broke it.
Chestnuts roasted by Joe 70006 @ 02/07/2004 01:56 PM EST
I had the aircraft carrier. It took up my entire room, but, damn, the stories you could tell/play... The only problem was that you got locked into sea battles, and cobra's base (that circular thing with the jet that shot out of the middle...can't remember the name) ended uphaving to sit on the bed, which wasn't so sturdy.
If I remember, that thing's still sitting under my parents' bed. My dad still tells awful stories of how "Santa" almost got his head crushed getting the box out of the attic where they hid my toys.
Oh, and the Admiral figure was pretty sweet...much cooler than Mr. Sailer and Sgt. Parrot.
Chestnuts roasted by Craig @ 02/10/2004 01:40 AM EST
The Cobra base that shot the jet out of the top was called "The Terror Dome"
Chestnuts roasted by Robin. HLB A @ 02/28/2004 10:02 PM EST
Omigawd, this frigging thing ruled my little 8 year old world! My room was dwarfed by the massive cardboard playmat but I played with that train set for like 6 months straight. I kept buying (same scale) trains so that I could have Cobra attack the Joes. And I even created my own parachute so that I could "drop in" like my cheap plastic counterparts. Luckily for me I never was able to get on top the house to try it out.
Chestnuts roasted by James @ 03/01/2004 12:31 PM EST
I had that very train set a young lad. I also had the transformer train set as well. My dad built got a bunch of extra track pieces and made us a sweet set up in our basement. Ahh, those were the days, playing train wars between the GI Joes and the transformers, see which train wouldn't derail in a head on crash.
Chestnuts roasted by Steve @ 05/26/2004 11:38 PM EST
I say, this GI JOES train set came with the same exact play-mat as the Transformers train set. I used to have the transformers train set, and whilst it came with fewer accesories, the mini, HO-Scale robots were very cool. They looked like cybertronian versions of some real Transformers, and were kid of a hard rubber that allowed them to last.
Chestnuts roasted by Robo Dude Charles Monataque-Hurly IV @ 05/28/2004 02:09 PM EST
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Chestnuts roasted by income tax preparation @ 11/06/2004 08:47 AM EST
My friend Brian's been asking me to do this one for years, so here it is: a review of the 
