G.I. Joe Enthusiasts From Across the Country Come to JoeLanta
Kate Sweeney
People came from across the country to show off their action figures at the 13th annual JoeLanta convention over the weekend. While JoeLanta welcomes all action figure collections, it’s still, as the name suggests, predominantly G.I. Joe.
Old action figures covered dozens of tables inside a North Atlanta hotel ballroom Saturday. Some of them came from 45-year-old Ace Allgood, who drove here from Minneapolis. His table was covered with little plastic baggies containing tiny G.I. Joe uniforms and accessories. He came to JoeLanta, in part, to sell duplicate figurines. Behind his table were shelves with over a dozen original 12-inch tall G.I. Joe figures. One of which was in a pristine green uniform with a price tag around its neck that said 550.
“That’s five hundred and fifty. OK so this is what’s known as a marine jungle fighter. It only came out in ’67 and ’68, so this one year era that it came out in. What’s unique about him is that it’s got this USMC on him and it also says G.I.Joe above him and it has the cloth insignia stripes. And that’s unique to that set, and that set only.”
Allgood isn’t just here to sell things. He’s an avid G.I. Joe collector, like most of the men in their 40’s and 50’s who come here year after year to see old friends and old toys. 57-year-old Danny Garrett from Lexington, Kentucky, says he’s here for the shared nostalgia.
“I started out with it as a child in ’65 and started collecting about five years ago trying to recapture my youth, and now I’m hooked. I’ve probably got a dozen or two of the originals and probably 100 to 150 of the other figures.”
While the almost thousand people who were in attendance over the weekend weren’t just looking and shopping they also, did fan films and had a G.I. Joe parachute drop.
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