Not your 'Average Joes': Convention honoring toy icon returns to Atlanta for more adventure and action
Few men can say that they have had the privilege of traveling across the world, but Joe prides himself as being an exception.
From swimming through tides in the Pacific Ocean, to exploring new species in the Amazon Rainforest, to marching through the sands of the Sahara desert, he has been to locations that many can only dream about. Of course, Joe is no ordinary man … in fact, technically speaking, he is not a man at all.
He is G.I. Joe, the beloved fictional U.S. soldier that has spawned a series of toys, movies, cartoons, and most abundantly, fans since its introduction by Hasbro, Inc. on Feb. 2, 1964 as a 12-inch toy figurine.
Created as the first “action figure” to hit the toy market, G.I. Joe has seen many incarnations throughout the decades in design, sizes, wardrobe and accessories. And while the character himself may be based on fiction, his spirit is livelier than ever this weekend with the return of Joelanta, an Atlanta-based military, action and adventure figure toy show and convention held at the Hilton Atlanta Northeast in Peachtree Corners.
Founded by toy collector, artist, and Marietta resident Buddy Finethy, the event is going into its 22nd year of uniting toy enthusiasts throughout the country who share a strong passion for recollecting memories and toys of their pasts, while collecting new items and building forth new relationships for their futures.
“G.I. Joe was about the individual struggles about those team members and it was a dynamic that taught teamwork and imaginative thinking, zeroing in on your priorities,” Finethy said. “That toy carried so much energy and vibrancy and became such a medium for the imagination. How can it not be something that someone within the creative field wouldn’t want to espouse?”
Finethy, who has collected toys and action figurines for over 30 years, saw Joelanta as a way to share his passion of collecting vintage toys with a sea of collectors who ranged from serious to beginner in their hobbies.
While the event is centered around the legendary toy icon, various toys and designs outside of the G.I. Joe universe are represented, sold and traded throughout the convention.
On top of featuring a variety of cosplayers and celebrity guests, such as professional wrestling veteran St. Slaughter and “Deadwood” actor Keone Young, Finethy has kept an open door available for vendors of artists, diorama builders and painters searching for a place to showcase their talents.
“We have seen through filmmaking and visual arts … people customizing their own figures … the art of diorama is our prime medium, its the slice of the mountain, beginning, middle and end,” Finethy said. “We’ve gotten to know some of the greatest craftsmen of the diorama arts. We’ve had so many great artists join us from every walk of life … every walk of creativity and involvement.”
“More of us have become interested in the creative aspect, building environments, building vehicles, building accessories to go with our Joes, watching how people learn skills … learn how to paint, learn how to sculpt, get into 3D printing … I get it to watch their mistakes, they get to watch my mistakes, and we get to grow together,” said Steve Charlton, an Arizona resident who has attended nearly every Joelanta since its original incarnation.
“A few of our vendors do small scale manufacturing on the side, you have some doing medium scale production of certain accessories. It’s always fun to watch and see what will pop up and arrive.”
Charlton, a business analyst for Pima County, Arizona, was first introduced to G.I. Joe as a child. Being part of a military family, he often moved and very seldom had the opportunity to stay in one location long enough to make long-term friends. The beloved action figure, as well as close knit collection of toys, always remained the few exceptions.
“For some time, the toys were not only the things that I played with but were also my friends,” Charlton said. “After we settled down, I was able to find friends and play with them, but I’ve always had an appreciation for the models, for the figures and the accessories because they were a thing that I was able to focus on and enjoy even when there was nobody else around.”
A Joelanta board member and a collector of over 1,000 action figures, Charlton credits the feeling of nostalgia with bringing forth many of the collectors and vendors that he has run into over the years.
“Kids today want to play video games, or be on social media, but with G.I. Joe, there’s an aspect that there’s no story behind it, you have to use your imagination.”
Alex Massey, Joelanta Atendee/Board Member
“You’ve got people in my age group who were born in the late 50s to 60s, who were playing with the 12 inch G.I. Joes, military themed ones, the adventured themed one … those same kids played with the Marx’s ‘Best of the West’ action figures or Marx’s ‘Knights’ … there’s a population within the collection community that relates to those memories,” Charlton said.
“As people get older, they evolve and their interests in detail and in subject matter broaden and that’s what’s happened with action figures in general,” Finethy said. “It’s such an explosion and zeroing in on it, we would have been remised not bring Joelanta back.”
That’s not to say that the convention is restricted solely to those of a certain age or generation.
One of the primary goals that Finethy and Charlton hope to encourage is showing younger toy enthusiasts how G.I. Joe and other toys can contribute to the power and influence of imagination, especially during a time that has youth enthralled with social media and digital entertainment.
“This is a medium for storytelling … where toys are proxy actors for any story that you want to tell,” Finethy said.
It was this appeal that first introduced Alex Massey to the convention when he was 10 years old and has not kept him coming back over a decade later.
“The further we get with technology, the farther we get with being able to use our imagination,” Massey said. “Kids today want to play video games, or be on social media, but with G.I. Joe, there’s an aspect that there’s no story behind it, you have to use your imagination. As a child that was very important to me, it was like Joe was my buddy, even with it was just me in the house.”
“In your mind, you’re making up a story for those figures, going through the forest, fighting enemies, finding lost treasure,” Charlton said. “That aspect, no matter what the toy or its size is, has never changed, and still continues today. It’s just some of us who are older now maybe have a little more trouble bending over in the backyard and have to stick to playing on the tables.”
A Tennessee native, Massey has traveled to Joelanta and its companion show held in March, Toylanta, for the past 13 years. At 23, he takes on his first year as a member of the Joelanta board for the upcoming convention.
“It’s just a lot of coordination working with the hotel, working with the dealers … working to get the celebrity guests, and of course advertisements,” he said of the new role. “There have been people from all over the world, every continent who have appeared, many of them were not able to attend throughout the past years due to the pandemic, so it will be very exciting.”
“This is a medium for storytelling … where toys are proxy actors for any story that you want to tell.”
Buddy Finethy, Founder of Joelanta
Although he enjoys catching up on the latest model of toys featured, it has been the chance to reconnect with old friends that has made Massey see each convention more and more meaningful.
“At first, when I was a kid, around 10 or 11, I was coming just for the toys,” he said. “Now, the more that I grow, I’ll buy a couple of things for the collection but it’s all about the people. The community that we have here is very strong.”
“There have been a large number of children that I have seen grown up … friends who’ve had kids who bring in their children,” Charlton said. “I’ve seen those kids grow up and get married, have careers of their own, kids of their own, yet many of them still come back to the show time to time … and some of them bring their kids. It’s as though I have an army of nieces and nephews.”
It is this strength in numbers and comraderies that Finethy, like the many incarcerations of toys and models and action figures that he holds, hopes will grow with each new year that the Joelanta crew returns for a new adventure.
“The world is a tough place, everybody searches for a moment of connectivity and the commonality of these toys through our lifetime has given us a lifeline ourselves to each other,” he said. “People are able to come in and connect with fellow collectors across the country and have really created a community in a sense of mission and fun … it makes a great atmosphere that everyone can be proud to be a part of.”
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