Author Topic: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures  (Read 17031 times)

Offline Brian

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Re: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures
« Reply #15 on: September 13, 2017, 05:53 PM »
Bumping this one up as well 😉. I loved the ARAH line as a kid, and still have my figures from that time, although the accessories are another story. I've thought about trying to track down a small collection of these down the road, when I complete my vintage Star Wars collection. Looking through stuff online lately, I guess I didn't really realize there was a certain faction of fans/collectors that sort of just focus on the early years of Joe, and don't really care for when Joe became more.....colorful.

I honestly saw the earlier (straight arm years) at my friend's house, but I think Stalker was the only one I ever had. My first Joe was Duke, and it was one of my favorites. He had a lot of solo missions for awhile, until I was able to expand my ranks. I remember clearly my search for a Snake Eyes figure, until I finally found one at a local drug store and spent my hard earned money on it at 8 years old. It really was a great line, and those old cardbacks strike that same nostalgia as vintage Star Wars.

Offline Scockery

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Re: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures
« Reply #16 on: September 13, 2017, 06:05 PM »
What is a small collection? ARAH is a huge line to collect with a lot of large items and scarce items.  It's easy to see why people focus on certain areas.

But, yeah, there's always been an early years focus by snobs certain fans. Those were the best years overall, I think, but the whole run has its merits. The early days online there was quite the Marvel comic book centric attitude, too, to the point of being jerky about it.

There's also fans who are really just COBRA fans. The original Black Major guy who produced the factory level customs seemed to be one, a huge army builder, which one reason he had all those "bootlegs" made. (If you don't know know what I refer to, see Ebay search RED LASER and BLACK MAJOR customs...you'll find various figures that Hasbro never made.)

One of the biggest MIB ARAH collectors was a woman in Texas who has sold her stuff off for financial reasons. She had gobs of foreign items.

Offline Nicklab

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Re: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures
« Reply #17 on: September 13, 2017, 08:14 PM »
I just cleaned out my storage unit.  And in that was my vintage GI Joe ARAH collection.  Over the next few months I'm going to be prepping it for sale.  But damn, is there a lot of stuff!
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Offline Brian

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Re: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures
« Reply #18 on: September 18, 2017, 06:00 PM »
One of the old Joes I was kind of hoping to pick up was Sgt. Slaughter. I always wanted one as a kid, and wasn't able to get one. Just with some initial checks of eBay, prices seem very reasonable. Joe experts, is there something I'm missing? Some don't seem to have his little baton, which I'm not sure I care about that much, but I guess I just thought he'd be a pricier figure. I may just be thinking of the modern 25th version, which I wasn't able to get either.
« Last Edit: September 18, 2017, 06:01 PM by Brian »

Offline Scockery

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Re: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures
« Reply #19 on: September 18, 2017, 06:27 PM »
Prices aren't that high for most vintage loose figures (there's some big exceptions). This is in part because many GI JOE collectors have moved on to modern style, some even selling off their vintage collections. It's similar to how Star Wars collecting became in some aspects.

Which Slaughter? There were 4 in the vintage line.
Triple T Driver, the cartoon look more or less.
Mail-In (the wrestling look...though not as pudgy as the real Sarge. Was offered for years via pack-in forms, but some price guides will act like he was a 1985-1986 only)
Warthog driver (a more tactical look, with removable hat)
Slaughter's Marauders (the only vintage single carded version of him released domestically. A repaint of the wrestling version. Made of more brittle plastic because it was made in Brazil and not China like most figures.)

And there was a large non-poseable wresting figure that was a mail-away only, made in the style of LJN's big rubber figures.


Offline Brian

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Re: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures
« Reply #20 on: September 19, 2017, 05:47 PM »
Prices aren't that high for most vintage loose figures (there's some big exceptions). This is in part because many GI JOE collectors have moved on to modern style, some even selling off their vintage collections.

Thanks for the info, I am starting to see lower than expected prices in some places, thanks. I just haven't really looked into vintage Joes in some time, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It seems so strange to hear that some collectors are choosing modern over vintage, not something you often see in Star Wars, at least with collectors that grew up with the original line.

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures
« Reply #21 on: October 3, 2017, 05:09 PM »
I actually think the modern SW crowd has to outweigh the vintage by a large margin?  I mean in the one or the other category not buyers of both.  I know I've more or less given up vintage Star Wars at this point.  Cost is meh, grading has become too pervasive for me.  I'm even thinking of selling off what little boxed ships I have left.
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Offline efranks

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Re: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures
« Reply #22 on: October 21, 2017, 03:32 AM »
One of the biggest MIB ARAH collectors was a woman in Texas who has sold her stuff off for financial reasons. She had gobs of foreign items.

Airedevon.

I actually got to pick through that collection from the guy that bought the bulk of it. It was very, very impressive.

I haven't been looking for stuff on eBay lately but I hit up the NJCC show this summer and the Joe prices were pretty reasonable. I snagged a Ferret for a buddy and I think I only paid like $10 for it and he threw in a figure with it.

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Offline Brian

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Re: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures
« Reply #23 on: August 12, 2018, 07:27 PM »
After finishing a nearly lifelong goal of getting a complete loose vintage collection of Star Wars figures (except POTF, too pricey for now), and I've started turning my attention to some ARAH figures. I still have some of my childhood figures, and years ago completed my '85 Snake Eyes (my favorite), but wanted to replace some favorites and add some characters I never had and always wanted.

Anyways, I started of with the original Duke figure. He was my first Joe figure, and I can still remember getting him for a birthday present from my childhood friend (who was super into Joes). I had so much fun with that figure. I don't know that I even knew too much about the cartoon at that point, but he was just a cool "army man" to me. Somewhere between me going to college and my brother taking over a lot if my stuff, he got lost. After a lot of waiting for the right figure/price, I finally reacquired him last week. I can't wait to get more. I have my sights set next on Cobra Commander, a figure I oddly enough never had. Prices seem to be a little higher on some of those earlier Joes, higher than expected anyways.

Offline Brian

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Re: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures
« Reply #24 on: September 16, 2018, 10:46 AM »
I know Joes don't get a lot of attention these days, but I've been having fun tracking down and fixing up some Joes from Real American Hero days. Over the past couple months I've either picked up the parts to fix up or just picked up the following:

Duke
Snake Eyes v2
Cobra Commander
Storm Shadow
Destro
Flint
Snow Job
Cutter
Rock n Roll
Airtight
Dusty

I didn't actually ever get some of these as a kid, so it has been fun tracking down some that I always wanted. Hoping to continue on, but yeesh some of those early ones are kind of pricey (swivel arm Scarlett I'm looking at you). Such great toys though, and good memories.

Offline efranks

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Re: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures
« Reply #25 on: October 19, 2018, 12:42 AM »
I would say most of my summer was spent on vintage Joe figures, much more than the time I spent thinking about Star Wars.

Started at Joe Con in June, picked up some loose figures and parts to complete some figs I already had. Grabbed some blueprints and an Action Force Armadillo.

Also spent some time on eBay and went to the Harrisburg toy show and picked up some vintage 12" Joes and accessories. And the latest pickup is an Action Force Armoured Troop Carrier which I'm really psyched about.

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Offline Brian

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Re: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures
« Reply #26 on: April 29, 2019, 07:48 PM »
I know not a lot of people visit the Joe forums any more, but I've still been chipping away at picking up or upgrading figures from the ARAH days - focusing on 1985 (for the most part) for now before moving onto another year (probably 84). In addition to the ones listed last time, I've picked up:

Quick Kick
Footloose
Alpine
Barbecue
Bazooka
Beach Head
Tomax and Xamot
Lady Jaye
Roadblock
Baroness

Some of them get fairly pricey these days, so I'm taking my time. It really reminds me how great, and huge, that line was with the figures, vehicles, playsets, etc. Good toys too.

Offline Ben

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Re: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures
« Reply #27 on: May 1, 2019, 04:59 PM »
Yeah, the prices are nuts these days, on eBay at least. I picked up a few figures at Quake Collectibles in Chicago last month, but they didn’t have any weapons. I grabbed Beachhead v2, Ambush, Crankcase, and Rampart. The only way I can afford to buy these any more is at a collectible store. I’m pretty lucky that I live a couple hours from a great store in Des Moines called Jay’s that has all sorts of great stuff for fair prices.
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Offline Brian

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Re: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures
« Reply #28 on: May 2, 2019, 03:02 PM »
Yeah, the prices are nuts these days, on eBay at least. I picked up a few figures at Quake Collectibles in Chicago last month, but they didn’t have any weapons. I grabbed Beachhead v2, Ambush, Crankcase, and Rampart. The only way I can afford to buy these any more is at a collectible store. I’m pretty lucky that I live a couple hours from a great store in Des Moines called Jay’s that has all sorts of great stuff for fair prices.

I may have to start checking stores then, if that is a better option. Even Des Moines isn't too bad of a trek if we were out and about sometime. The prices is what has kept things at a slow burn for me as well. Like I said, I've been working on the '85 figures, and I think the last Joe I need from the regular releases is Shipwreck, but holy cow is he pricey (especially with the parrot, I may have to give up on that accessory). Another one I was after when I first started, but took a break from due to price, is a swivel arm Scarlett. Yeesh are those expensive. Thanks for the advice!

Offline Qui-Gon Jim

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Re: Vintage 3.75" ARAH Figures
« Reply #29 on: May 6, 2019, 02:31 PM »
 So funny...  I saw this listing on Facebook Marketplace:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1943403705771717/

..and said "wow...  never had a Swivel-Arm Scarlett back in the day."

Not sure how palatable that price is but figured I'd share it.