JoeDeclassified.com

Hey everyone! My name is Darren Howlett. I was, at one time, a full-on gijoe collector / enthusiast / fanatic / what-have-you. I originally began collecting (much to the chagrin of my parents) in '83 - I tried to wear them down in 82 but they wouldn't have it. It took just over a year to get a little footing with them, and slowly but surely, my collection grew. By '88 I had nearly everything, with the exception of the large playsets. I sold it all due to peer pressure in school, and always regretted it.

In '95 I found a few Battle Corps and Shadow Ninjas in a discount bin in a TRU. I snagged them as well as the Manta Ray as a lark. There was a mail-order form in the Manta Ray that had 3 months left before it expired for some old school stuff I wished I still had. I sent off around $100 extra as they had an option for 'hero' or 'villain' beyond the listed figures. I got a ton of random figures in return, but more importantly, I was back into collecting.

That collection grew and grew until 2008. I had to sell everything off due to financial issues - It was a bad year for my business, well, everyone's business' unfortunately. I took some time to do some soul-searching, and properly recover - and here I am, back, just as new.

I look forward to catching up with everyone and gijoe in general!

Oh - and for some basic stats - I'm 37. Divorced father of two - I have them daily. I live in Canada - B.C. specifically. On Vancouver Island if you want to get down to details. I used to own a nightclub, now I work at a hippie restaurant (it's the west coast), but I'm launching a small barrage of small businesses this year (3). My collection is currently 0 (zero). None. I may hang out here at square one for a while, we'll see.

Thanks!
Darren

Let me be the first to say Welcome Home.

There goes the neighborhood. j/k

Welcome back Darren

Oh, but the knowledge...

Nice meeting you at Con, Darren. Welcome aboard.