Straight-armed Snake Eyes, bought on a youth church retreat at the Galleria in Houston in 82.

First two, by second hand, were Croc Master and Barbecue. No accessories, just figures. Barbecue wasn't known by that name because didn't know anything about him; he was called "Meltdown" due to his orange color and the insignia on his arm. He shot radiation beams from his helmet's visor and could fly. Surprisingly Croc Master was Croc Master - he was somehow known to little # 8.

They were mortal enemies in an apocalyptic future since both had the masks and looked like they'd fit in with the Mad Max mythos.

First NEW figure bought by a relative for a birthdate present was Copperhead with the Water Mocasin. He became the right hand man to Croc.

Many other second hand figures/presents later comes the first one purchased by own hands and money: Alley Viper version 1! He became the de-facto favorite character for the collection. He even is the one main reason for the screen name: his shield had "8" printed inside it. The way of thinking for that number being there was he had been that call-sign on a team of eight and was the only one to survive a horrific event to be the only one in the toy drawer. Sure, more AV's would arrive as troop building became easier to fill in those spots... but he'll always be the all time best figure in this household. =)

# 8.

First one was the red-headed/bearded one (since I had copper hair back then) of the sixties. My aunt and uncle got him for me including the foot locker. Then shortly after I got Captain Action and Action Boy, and at least two of the outfits, Spider Man, my all time favorite, and I believe the second was Batman, but my mind is fuzzy on that.

First ARAH Joe was Spirit, a gift from my sister since she thought we would NEVER see a cool portrayal of a Native American that wasn't a Peter Pan version or Marx screaming one. She was floored and couldn't resist. Took him to our Powwow runs as my good luck charm.

_________________

My first Joe was straight arm Rock and Roll. My parents bought him from TRU in Brooklyn. His thumb broke off over the years but I actually still have the figure. I lucked onto the carded 25th RnR when it came out and have it posted up on my wall.

_________________

It was either Mainframe, Dial Tone, or Low Light. But my memory is kinda fuzzy on it as I turned 4 just before Christmas of 1986

_________________

Clutch got him and the Vamp for Christmas. That was the end of my He-Man collection I still watched the cartoon but the only action figures I bought were Joes

Joes were very popular where I grew up so finding the good ones was hard.

1st- Bazooka and Skyhawk
2nd- Buzzer
3rd Battle Platform and Cobra Ferrett and Flint

First was a few from the orig straight arm 13 - stalker, flash, and maybe grunt? My fav later became Beachhead - loved the swivel arm innovation and how much gear was molded on him; seemed like with all those mags, grenades, pistol, knives, and backpack he could take on Cobra single handedly.

But it still bothered me that most still couldn't grip a gun two handed nor could you remove all that gear. So with the rebirth of the 25th line it made my childhood dreams come true with swivel wrists and removable pistols and knives on many figs. And BH's crossbow was even removable - heaven! But I still don't know what that thing is molded on the left side of his orig backpack; I pretended it was a hand pump (like on a blood pressure checker) that pumped out poison gas. Ah the weird stuff we come up with as kids



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Backblast V1

_________________

Straight Arm Zap and Swivel Arm Cobra trooper were gifts for being ring bearer at my uncles wedding. Zaps arm was promptly broken by a dumb kid that thought they all swiveled.

my third figure witch I couldn't open till the next day, was Thunder. They didn't want me driving a tank around the reception... Still have that thunder, well his torso and head.. and bits of his gear. Still favorite character and figure.

_________________

General Hawk, Viper V1 and the Rifle Range unit for my fifth birthday. The start of something big.....

For my 8th birthday in 1982 my two aunts took me to TRU to pick out my birthday present. I chose Grunt, Short Fuse and the Dragonfly. Snapped the thumbs off Grunt and Wild Bills crotch broke but I still have them 32 years later.

Matt

My first was Flash v1, right after the figures came out. I got that and Rock N' Roll both from my folks.