The Joy of Joe

By Dave

As most of you probably know I adore GI Joe: A Real American Hero and often cite it as my favorite toy line of all time. At the very least it is the toy line that dominated my childhood and much of my adult collecting years.

If I’m being honest, it’s tough to make the call between Joe and Star Wars, but even though Joe was “just army guys” as our beloved pal Beau Brown likes to say, I’ve always felt that the play value of the line far exceeded that of Star Wars, Masters of the Universe, or any of the other, wilder lines out there.

Most of you probably also know that I’ve been writing for around a decade now. Lots of toy reviews, lots of biographical stuff, and lots of essays about pop culture. My writing has been published on DorkDroppings, the ESO Network, in puppetry magazines (though I never got a copy of that), and of course here on Needless Things.

And MySpace.

Now, though, for the first time ever, my words are seeing print in an actual, for-real, available-on-Amazon book.

Thanks to our good friend, Award-Winning Bobby Nash, I had the opportunity to contribute to a book of essays about the greatest toy line of all time. My essay – “Toys for a Troublemaker” – appears alongside reminiscences from Fabian Nicieza, Jerry Ordway, Brandon Jerwa, and Justin Bell; as well as friends of Needless Things James Palmer, Mark Maddox, and Bobby Nash.

It’s a massive honor to see my name included among so many talents. This is a highlight of my career.

I strongly encourage you to order a copy from Amazon right now:

This book is only ten bucks and is chock-full of heartfelt toy memories, the kind of stuff we thrive upon here at Needless Things.