For years I ran a collectibles store on eBay. We sold props, replicas, comics, and the bread and butter were always toys. When the G.I. Joe 3.75″ toy line had a resurgence around 2003, our entire stock of ’80s Hasbro A Real American Hero vehicles got bought out at lightning speed. The G.I. Joe brand has seen a few brief spikes in the following years but never truly regained the glory it possessed nearly forty years prior.
After our collection was sold, we stopped paying attention to the brand and focused on the thriving Star Wars and, to my surprise, Playmates Simpsons toylines. So today, I was checking out the collectors’ scene to see what was fetching high prices, and the Joes did not disappoint.
If you were a kid of the ’80s, you’ll probably remember boxes of Joe and Cobra vehicles not always being in the best condition when you’d pick them up at the toy store. Maybe it was because they were “army toys” or stores didn’t appreciate the budding collectors market, but finding a perfect box of the Dragonfly or Snow Cat was like tracking down a unicorn.
The only way you could almost guarantee getting something that had not been tossed around in the back room was to order through the trusty Sears and J.C. Penney Christmas catalogs. The preservation efforts of collectors or kids with foresight have led to a healthy amount of classic G.I. Joe toys returning to the market, and the Big Bad Toy Store has quite a few for you to blow your holiday money on.
I’ve picked out a few whose prices stunned me. Let us know your thoughts on these prices in the comments section below.
Now, if the Night Striker WHALE is going for $2,499, what would the original olive drab version go for?!

This AFA Grade 85 Cobra C.L.A.W. is going for $799. Cobra’s one-man jetpack isn’t very big. The front wheels never stayed on correctly. Is nearly a grand worth it?




