JoeDeclassified.com

I feel like the old man of this hobby. I'm not, but I feel like I am. I've always been in the back ground, but rarely the spotlight, so odd's are you've heard of me, but might not know me.

I've been collecting G.I. Joe since 1982. Though my first Joe was a 12" Talking Adventure Team Commander that I probably got around 1979. I was too young to really remember or make the direct connection between the 2 at that time. I read all the comics until IDW took over, then dropped it like a hot potato. Collected about 80% of the main line by 1994. Started collecting international figures in 1992. Yes I said 1992, long before most people even knew there were international Joe's. I had been on the look out for them since about 1986 when I got my first Action Force comics. I was posting on YoJoe around 1995. My first Joe convention was Chicago in 1995. So I've been around the PIT a few times.

For a long time I was collecting EVERYTHING I could get my hands on. And I mean everything from 1964 to today, and from every country, no matter what it was.

Now, I've stepped back. Money, space, time, they have all eaten into my ability to collect. Haven't left the hobby completely and doubt I ever will. But my interest does change with the tides. Currently I mostly collect Halloween and Role Play toys. It's an odd little nook that often get's ignored, but there is plenty of rare, and unusual material to keep my interest up. Pretty sure I can safely say I have the number 1 G.I. Joe Halloween collection in the world.

I'm 37, and I live in Winchester, Kentucky. For the last 3 years I've owned and operated Captain Cosmos Collectibles. It's not my first shop. My family owned Captain Cosmos Comics back in the early 1990's in Wyoming. Now the focus is much more on toys, so we changed Comics to Collectibles this time around.

I have an art degree, and did work in the art field for a while. I do still dabble, but free time is a major factor. I'm a long time comic fan, but I've pretty much stopped reading comics in favor of novels now, almost exclusively Sci-Fi. I love movies, and watch unhealthy amounts of TV. I've collected many, many toy lines over the years, but G.I. Joe has always been at the top of the list. Now I'm trying to distil my collection down to what I really want, and not just "stuff" because it belongs to a certain brand. Case in point, I no longer collect Star Wars in general, but I have a lot of R2-D2's.

Roger