RYAN'S VINTAGE GI JOE & TOY BRICKS BLOG

Posts in the Vintage 1964 GI JOE category

University of Florida Military Training Certificate Signed by General James Alward Van Fleet 1930

Hidden amongst some old vintage GI JOE manuals and posters we found this cool piece of history today! A Military Training Certificate of the Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) from the University of Florida dated 1930 and signed by then Major, Infantry, (DOL), Professor of Military Science and Tactics, and University Football Coach “James Alward Van Fleet.” James Van Fleet would eventually go on to become General of the United States Army in 1951 during the Korean War and was regarded by President Truman as “America’s Greatest General.” We have not come across any info on the recipient, “Allen William Spencer” but would be appreciative of information any of you might have on him, or this particular piece in general. Cool find 🧐! What do you think?

 

 

 

Original 1964 Hasbro GI JOE "Join The GI JOE Club" Paperwork

Original 1964 Hasbro GI JOE "Join The GI JOE Club" Paperwork
Original 1964 Hasbro GI JOE "Join The GI JOE Club" Paperwork.

VINTAGE GI JOE COLLECTING: HOW TO IDENTIFY THE YEAR YOUR GI JOE WAS MADE

VINTAGE GI JOE COLLECTING: HOW TO IDENTIFY THE YEAR YOUR GI JOE WAS MADE

        On June 15, 1964, The Hasbro Toy Company (Hassenfeld Bros Inc.) filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to claim their rights to a then, revolutionary action figure described to have twenty-one movable parts. After much success, this action figure came to be widely known as, "G.I. JOE" "America's Movable Fighting Man." 

        Throughout the process of finalizing Patent US3277602, which came on October 11, 1966, G.I. JOE had five different distinctive figure markings. Depending on the year in which a particular G.I. JOE ran off Hasbro's production line, the markings, which were stamped on the right buttocks of the figure, read differently. This has allowed collectors to gauge the year in which each figure was made, despite the fact that every G.I. JOE was imprinted with the year "1964."   

        Now lets get down to business! The buttocks identification markings corresponding with the specific production year/years for the vintage G.I. JOE figure are shown below.

1964-1965: TM/R Patent Pending 

1966: R/R Patent Pending 

1967-1975: R/R with Patent Number

1965-1969: Canada Markings 

Early Canada Marking

Later Canada Marking

        The above markings are meant to be used as a rule of thumb for identifying the year in which your G.I. JOE was made. Now being able to correctly identify the year of your Joe is one thing, but being able to identify how early/late in that specific year your figure was made, takes more time and experience. We will dive into that specific topic in another post.

        Please feel free to comment in the section below if you should have any questions or ideas related to the topic at hand. We are always willing to help fellow collectors find their way in the collecting world! Until next time...Yo Joe!

~Ryan

Ryan's Vintage GI JOE & Toy Bricks  

 

 

 

 

 

VINTAGE 1966 GI JOE SOLDIERS OF THE WORLD (SOTW) RUSSIAN INFANTRYMAN

VINTAGE 1966 GI JOE SOLDIERS OF THE WORLD (SOTW) RUSSIAN INFANTRYMAN

        From our personal collection, we are featuring a vintage Hasbro GI JOE 1966 Soldiers Of The World (SOTW) Russian Infantryman Soldier. We just put the finishing touches on him tonight, and are proud to say he is now fully complete and in pristine condition. He stands tall, at just over 12 Inches and is 51 years young. Out of all of his awesome accessories he carries, we are particularly fond of his fur hat (it's cold out there!). One of the coolest in the collection, in our opinion. This is a timeless piece. He comes from an era of toys that were designed with love and were "built to last." We'll be slapping him in our final collection case tonight! Bar the door Katie, that's a wrap!

 

Featured Accessories:  

1. Tall Black Jack Boots

2. Dark Green Johdpur Style Pants

3. Dark Green Jacket

4. Fur Hat

5. Anti-Tank Grenades 

6. DP Machine Gun With Ammo Drum And Bipod 

7. Field Glasses

8. Field Glass Case

9. Ammo Box

10. The Order Of Lenin Medal (missing it's original decal)

        

 

Find high quality vintage GI JOE figures and accessories like the ones featured in the blog, up for sale in our store at, www.ryansvinatgegijoeandtoybricks.com. Like us on Facebook and Instagram! Until next time!

 

~Ryan 

Ryan's Vintage GI JOE & Toy Bricks  

 

Best Reference Book For Vintage 1964-1978 GI JOE Collecting

Best Reference Book For Vintage 1964-1978 GI JOE Collecting

Are you just getting into the vintage 12 inch GI JOE collecting hobby? Are you wondering which accessories go to which set? If so, then we would recommend "The New Official Identification Guide To GI JOE 1964-1978," by James DeSimone. In our opinion, this is the best reference guide in the hobby. The featured picture is of our personal copy of the book. As you can see, it's quite worn. It still gets a lot of use from us! The book does a great job at highlighting each specific Hasbro GI JOE set, the specific accessories in those sets, and what year the set was introduced. It's mainly pictures, which in our opinion, is the best way to identify anything GI JOE. You can find an inexpensive copy of the book online by doing a simple name search. Well spent money if you're a vintage Joe collector. 

~Ryan's Vintage GI JOE & Toy Bricks

www.ryansvintagegijoeandtoybricks.com 

HOW TO IDENTIFY GENUINE VINTAGE 1964 HASBRO GI JOE BOOTS VS KNOCKOFFS

As a general rule of thumb, in the vintage 1960's 1/6 scale (12 Inch) Hasbro GI JOE collecting hobby, if any of the either tall black, tall brown, short black, or short brown boots are marked "Hong Kong" on them, then they are most certainly knockoffs and not genuine Hasbro GI JOE boots (no markings at all, usually means they are authentic). There is one exception to the rule, which are the first issue authentic GI JOE true rubber tall black or tall brown boots. These boots ARE marked "Hong Kong" around the bottom of their heels. This is the only place where these boots were ever marked "Hong Kong." I've included photos below to show a true example of the way an authentic vintage 1964 GI JOE first issue rubber boot was marked by Hasbro. Check it out!