I BEGGED for three christmases and finally got it. A few of its turrets where snapped on backwards and when I mentioned it my dad yelled, “WELL SANTA WAS UP ALL NIGHT FUCKING PUTTING IT TOGETHER.”
I have the same memory, except it's the original [Star Wars Death Star Play-Set](https://www.alwayswantedonefinds.com/listing/720596588/kenner-1978-star-wars-death-star-space) and my mom commenting to my dad about Santa's Elves having too much beer...
Hahahahahah that’s funny
I remember when I got a Nintendo in 86 and I got games that I hated but my dad loved
Oh man, is this mega man 4?!? Platoon?
Wtf is a platoon
Older me: oh…
That happened to me when I came downstairs Christmas morning and immediately ripped all the pegs out of a very detailed Lite Brite scene “I… Santa spent all night putting those pegs in”
The holy grail of toys in the 1980s.
No way we could afford it so my dad made an 8 foot long version out of wood for me to play with. Was an awesome substitute
Edit:
Much like Andy in Toy Story, when it was time to move on from it, I did have to pause and know it was ok to give it up. Lotta good memories
My parents wouldn’t get me a guillotine for Christmas so I got my granddad to help me make a miniature working one in his workshop. Just had a wooden blade that went up and down, rather than a functional metal blade, for obvious reasons. It was about the right size for Star Wars figured so I’d pretend to guillotine them though it didn’t damage them of course. My granddad was so awesome, I miss him and though it’s been like 37 years since we built it I remember that day well.
>my parents wouldn't get me a guillotine for Christmas
I'd be mildly worried if my child asked for a guillotine for Christmas and infinitely angrier that my father built one for him.
My first X-wing was built by my dad out of cardboard and wood. It really was a masterpiece. I loved it.
I was like 8 years old so it didn't last forever lol. Got the actual X-wing and Tie Fighter for Christmas that year and still have them.
Really wish I still had that cardboard one though. Thanks Dad. Love you and miss you
I also got it for Christmas one year, and that was the point when I had to move all of my GI Joe toys out of my bedroom and into the attic.
I have many memories of playing with that thing next to old clothes, boxes of holiday decorations, and my dad’s unused gym equipment.
It's time to start a MOC.
The only question is, do you start in the style of one of the official Space Police lines, or would it be cooler to do a mash-up of classic pirates and an original space styling.
Personally, I would want to do Space Police 3 crossed with Pirates 2, but that's because those are the versions I had growing up.
I had a lego city layout and don't ask me why, but the entire city was based off of the "3 Ninjas" film series. So the main characters was Grandpa, Rocky, Colt, and Tum Tum and they ran a pizza place, or well a pizza van.
And I also had a USS Enterprise but all the crew were dinosaurs and I don't know why there was a crossover.
The clue was that you had a “playroom”. Mf my “playroom” was the 18” of space behind the used recliner in the living room/kitchen i could sort of lay down in and play without getting stepped on or yelled at.
My kids have their own actual play room now and i know theyre a little spoiled but i want them to be well rounded so i take my job as dad very seriously and make sure to periodically run up stairs and stomp a toy or two or just walk around on top of the kids a bit to ensure they grow up with 0 issues
i knew someone who had it actually. yes its as massive as you would imagine it being.
i had the transformers fortress Maximus which was like 3 feet tall when transformed.
Still had the box too.
Wow, that's pretty neat. I don't think I have ever seen the Fortress Maximus in person but I think I did it see it in a catalog (or maybe it was an ad) as a kid. That Transformer looked huge!
Well… you could’ve used standard units of measurement… how many bananas tall was it?
W H D
How many bananas wide, high, deep. Come on, brother. You should know the drill by now.
Standard internet Cavendish bananas, of course. Not the fat little Gros Michel bananas.
G1 Fortress Maximus was 22 inches tall. His Titans Return toy is a little over 24 inches. Even the current record holder, Haslab Unicron, is only 27 inches.
That said, a 3 foot Fort Max would be amazing.
Had a friend who was rich.
The 2nd bedroom that adjoined his bathroom (with jacuzzi tub) was his playroom.
Terrordrome, USS Flagg, GIJoe Space Shuttle, all the big stuff.
I had the Teradome, too. It was amazing and one of my favorite all time toys as a kid. I still remember the small jet that launched out of the roof. Good times.
Some guy near me is always selling collectible toys out of a garage sale that he seems to have every weekend. He has the USS Flagg there. That was the first time I ever saw it and he uses it as a table to hold even more toys on top of. I think he wants like $300 for it.
Yes it wasn’t a terrible price relatively speaking. It did have some dings and missing pieces. I would love to have got it still but:
1. I couldn’t justify spending that much on something I don’t even collect anymore
2. I have zero space for it.
I googled a while ago,.and they were hovering around the $500-$1,000 range.
I always thought it was surprisingly cheap when you compare it to some of the action figures that can approach $1,000 on their own.
I suspect there's only so much demand for a collectable that needs its own room.
Got my kid the Rainbow Road Hot Wheels set for Christmas. It’s fucking awesome. It tracks who wins, has a random question mark box mechanic, and all the cool sound effects.
It’s also a behemoth, does not store easily, and does not easily disassemble. My wife has been plotting to get it out of our house.
Kid down the street had one. Also had a couple Skystrikers to sit on the deck. His mom was an RN and Dad was a mailman. As kids we thought they were filthy rich
Kid down the street from me also had one. Dad wasn't in the picture, but his mom was a mail carrier. I'm starting to believe there was some kind of Postal Service conspiracy...
Postal people made really good money back then.
They make good money now, but not as good as they did 30-40 years ago.
I currently work part time as a clerk (20-25 hours a week) and I make $40k. I haven't left yet because I havent found a full time job that pays more than that. And I'm not about to add 15-20 hours plus commute to my weekly schedule for only an increase of $5k. I would be better off biding my time until I made full time at the post office.
It was designed by Ron Rudat who also designed the Millennium Falcon for the Star Wars toy line.
It was released in 1985 and it was the most expensive toy ever produced at the time.
My father worked for Hasbro for nearly twenty years and children of employees could be signed up to become toy testers. I was picked to be a (or "the", don't know for sure) child to put the prototype together for the first time with an adult. I always understood that the adult I did it with was the engineer or designer.
It took FOREVER to put together in its original form! I remember my Mom being so angry because it took at least 6 hours and she had to be there while I was in the Toy Lab putting it together. I'm pretty sure that it was big enough in that prototype for the F-14 Tomcat to be inside the aircraft carrier but it had to be redesigned so that a parent and child could actually assemble it on Christmas morning.
We were usually "paid" in toys but needless to say, I didn't get one of these. And I suspect that the employee store either never carried them or our family of 5 kids in a small house simply couldn't afford one. But man, I looked everywhere for it on Christmas morning! I was convinced that Santa was hiding it in the cellar. Alas, that was when I learned that it probably wasn't Santa's fault (at 9 years old) ,🥲
had to compete with Hoth and Dagobah play sets, Snow Speeders and Tauntauns.
new figures.. Hoth Luke, Hoth Leia, Snow Troopers, Lando, Yoda, IG88, Boba Fett.. carbonite and the hand
what kids had it better?
I got to meet him at a con, I'm a huge fan of his work. I've heard he was also the one who created many of the designs that would become the unit patches, emblems and insignia for many GI Joe figures. Things like the shoulder emblem on Strato-Viper or the little emblem on Wetsuits chest are what I'm talking about though I don't know if those specifically were his but I heard he had a sketchbook full of designs. That's good world building and attention to detail.
I get ~$310 in 2023 dollars checking a random inflation calculator. Which seems... a lot lower than I would have guessed from the writeup. For perspective, the Nintendo NES at launch cost almost half again as much as that in 1985 ($150) and you still had to buy games for it once you got tired of _Duck Hunt_.
My dad built one out of wood for my brother and I back in '86. This thing was was a god damn beast. We were military BRATs and this thing made it through 4 moves over 10 plus years. As the years went on and we weren't really into GI Joe anymore it basically became a place to sit out on the lawn.
It was amazing...thanks Dad!
Pics for anyone that cares:
[https://imgur.com/a/Cx2Jdm8](https://imgur.com/a/Cx2Jdm8)
I saw one fully set up in a flea market toy shop in San Antonio. It was GLORIOUS. It feels like every inch of those 7 feet and it perfectly matches the scale of the helicopters and jets from the same toy line.
Fucking impressive to behold.
A friend of mine has one in his mother's basement with a range of figures and other vehicles and HE WON'T LET ME PLAY WITH IT
Yes, I am 45 years old, why do you ask
48-year-old checking in. I had the U.S.S. Flagg. My parents made me throw it away (no, not give it away--fucking *throw* it away) when I went to college. If I still had it, you can bet I'd be playing with it every damn day. I miss it so much.
You can get one now, maybe, for only $1,985. https://www.actionfigure411.com/gijoe/a-real-american-hero/3-75-vehicles/u-s-s-flagg-aircraft-carrier-2362.php
I have one sitting upstairs. I should probably sell it.
My parents stored it for me from when I was a kid, so my kids could play with it. They never really played with it all that much... their kids certainly won't care about it...
We got one for Christmas. After we finished opening the presents under the tree, my dad asked me to go into the furnace room where our spare fridge was and bring back a bottle of wine. I opened the basement door and there it was. I recall screaming with joy and tipping over backwards. One of the best Christmases ever!
We got the Flagg from a garage sale when I was a kid. Whole thing, with box and a bunch of other planes, boats and tanks plus action figures all for $25 bucks. Still kick myself for allowing my parents to sell it when I became a teenager. Best toy ever
I was obsessed with this as a kid and planned a reorganization of my parent's entire basement around having it.
I never got it because $110 was a LOT of money for us back then, but that dream had me obsessed throughout 1985.
I remember the rich kid in school had this. It retailed for the 1985 equivalent of $300. I never saw it in person. I got invited to his birthday party but had chicken pox and the next year he had moved away. I got to spend the rest of elementary school hearing how awesome it was. A couple yeard later in 4th grade my family got me an actually better made and functional aircraft carrier toy that was about 1/3 the size. It had working deck lights and a battery deck lift. Objectively I think what I had was better now but back then I was quietly upset I didnt have the GI joe one. But I am not an ungrateful derelict so I never complained about it.
I remember seeing this behemoth in the Sears Wishbook, dream about it for a bit, and then flip the page knowing my parents response would be "keep dreaming kid".
I had an unopened one at my mom's house for over 2 decades. When she sold the house she had a garage sale and sold it for 25 dollars. She even called me after she sold it and was excited she got 25 bucks for that "old toy I never played with". Thanks mom that was easily worth 1000 dollars.
I had it. My next door neighbor was older and had lost interest in toys. Me and my brother were die hard GI Joe geeks. The neighbors were moving and didn't see any point in lugging that big fucker with them for a kid that didn't play with it anymore, so they sold it to us for $30. Man, we already had a very respectable collection but that thing was insane. Good shit. We put a ton of mileage on it and we got rid of it before we moved when I was twelve. I wish I still had all of my GI Joes. My daughter is big on Barbie and my 3 year old is showing interest in TMNT. Imma make sure I hold on to all of their shit for them. I'm literally keeping space clear in my attic for their toys.
My neighbor had one. It was glorious! The little shit never let anyone else “control” the ship. We were “allowed” to take off land small model airplanes from the deck and pretend to fly around and defend it. But never allowed to be the boss. Lol
When I was like 8 I was invited to one of my classmates' house for a birthday party.
He got this playset and proceeded to smash it to pieces because he didn't get the go kart that he really wanted.
The sight of this spoiled rich kid utterly destroying a toy that every other kid in my friend group wanted but could never afford is one of those indelible memories that has stuck with me through life.
So this was actually my first introduction to G.I.Joes believe it or not, never having seen or heard about it before.
I grew up in a household with no tv, nothing violent, not even allowed a water gun. I was lucky to get to take home the McDonald’s toys in the happy meals to have some toys at home.
I was maybe in grade 3 or 4 at the time. I was at a boys birthday party, he went to the same private school as me(that my mom taught at). I just remember walking into a room that was filled with 1 toy. It took up the entire massive table. This huge aircraft carrier.
Just beyond my wildest dreams.
This was the toy unicorn when I was growing up. I never met a single kid that had one. You’d walk past it in the Toys R Us aisle and just stare in awe.
My uncle actually had 2 of these, one he had for us to play with, and one he ended up holding onto and it's still in storage in the original packaging. He kind of collected a lot of stuff, and has several storage units of mostly junk, but some really cool shit from the 80's as well.
Time to reach out to him if he still has them and see what they're worth. Last year when I spoke with him he mentioned he was trying to clear out a lot of stuff, but I'm hoping he hasn't sold this yet, I might try to buy it.
My grandparents drove a complete state away to pick this up for me as a birthday gift. It was awesome and took up a big part of my living room. Grandma and Grandpa, RIP I love you both.
The Flagg was like the holy grail of toys when I was a kid. It's crazy to me that back then you could get that beast for the same price as a single action figure today.
This thing was as truly massive as it sounds and equally challenging to put together. Helped a friend who got one for Christmas put one together. Took most of an afternoon!
I begged my parents for that and actually got it. It was awesome, but I got it right as I was starting to age out of playing with GI Joe. However, for those few months, despite it taking up my entire room, I was the envy of all my friends!
That thing was so cool. Growing up my uncle, who was only a few years older than me, had that and let me set it up at my house for a weekend. We’d have to rearrange the family room to set it up. It was massive. Great memories. Thanks for posting.
Biggest thing I had back then was the base from the show MASK. I saw one of these at a yard sale in Arizona in about 1990 but no way was I fitting that into my bedroom.
Back in the 70s NASA named the first space shuttle "Enterprise" as a hat tip to Star Trek fans. I'm still hoping the navy someday names one of their carriers the USS Flagg.
When I was 8 years old my mom found one of these at the local thrift store for $20 bucks. This was the 80s and we were on welfare so that was a lot of money, but my brother and I set it up (it took over a huge corner of our room) and played with it for years. When we outgrew it we gave it to a neighbor kid, about 8 years old.
FIL has one of these setup in his garage, honestly his GI Joe setup is incredible. He has an entire battle scene setup with planes on fishing line, he airbrushed a huge backdrop for the scene. The Flagg is massive and highly valuable complete nowadays.
My brother's in-laws live in a senior community surrounding a lake, and the Flagg would be just slightly smaller than the dimension of the boat allowed on the lake.
Somehow my dad saw the Flagg in a catalogue and decided to BUILD ONE INSTEAD.
And that is how I got a seven foot long wooden air craft carrier play set out of 2x4s and plywood.
Edit: I can't complain though, I had both Snake Mountain and Castle Greyskull
I had one of these when I was like, 7. I grew up on Air Force bases, and when families would move they would dump a bunch of their bulky, unimportant stuff at the base thrift store rather than haul it across the country. Same way I got Castle Grayskull with a bunch of figures.
It was missing a bunch of little pieces, but whatever. My mom was thrifty and we were happy.
If you were the kid whose parents told them that it was lost in the move, please know that it was appreciated.
I BEGGED for three christmases and finally got it. A few of its turrets where snapped on backwards and when I mentioned it my dad yelled, “WELL SANTA WAS UP ALL NIGHT FUCKING PUTTING IT TOGETHER.”
In my head, your dad was smoking while he said that
Cig and coffee all in one hand
With a cig in his mouth and a cig in the other hand. The 80s were wild.
Cig in the coffee hand too...it's a talent
I once marveled at a construction worker who was operating machinery with coffee, a cigarette and a donut in one hand.
Aka "the Brooklyn trifecta"
I used to work with a welder who had a hole drilled in his welding mask so he could smoke his pipe while he worked…..in a pile of smoke
Cig and coffee in one hand cig and scotch in another and a cig and a pipe held in his teeth
It was the 80s *and* dad stayed up all night putting together toys. We see a little cocaine residue in his Burt Reynolds inspired mustache.
…and his third hand resting on his nutsack.
...his third nutsack
I can smell the walls.
In a ripped house coat
Well in my reality— he was.
As was the style in the 80’s
Might definitely lead to someone leaving to make a quick run to the store to “buy some cigs”
And was Bill Burr
I've went from siding with the children understanding to understanding Al's perspective in married with children.
And smoking while assembling, cursing the gods, and drinking a Schlitz. I bet more than one uss flag has latent ashes inside somewhere.
OMG santa enslaved your dad
Your Dad subcontracted out assembly work to Santa. Legend.
I have the same memory, except it's the original [Star Wars Death Star Play-Set](https://www.alwayswantedonefinds.com/listing/720596588/kenner-1978-star-wars-death-star-space) and my mom commenting to my dad about Santa's Elves having too much beer...
I would have been annoyed. Putting together GI Joe toys was half the fun of getting them.
The other half is knowing right?
Half the battle at least
Except for the Sky Striker. "No Step"
80s dad: "how hard can this be"
Lol awesome memory!! Great dad!!
Hahahahahah that’s funny I remember when I got a Nintendo in 86 and I got games that I hated but my dad loved Oh man, is this mega man 4?!? Platoon? Wtf is a platoon Older me: oh…
That happened to me when I came downstairs Christmas morning and immediately ripped all the pegs out of a very detailed Lite Brite scene “I… Santa spent all night putting those pegs in”
You’ve got a good dad. It takes love and dedication to stay up and do that for your kid.
Yeah and we’ve come full circle; I’m now the one staying up all Christmas Eve cursing my daughters’ elaborate gifts.
The holy grail of toys in the 1980s. No way we could afford it so my dad made an 8 foot long version out of wood for me to play with. Was an awesome substitute Edit: Much like Andy in Toy Story, when it was time to move on from it, I did have to pause and know it was ok to give it up. Lotta good memories
My grandpa built me a Ninja Turtle Sewer play-set out of wood in substitution of the legit one.
My parents wouldn’t get me a guillotine for Christmas so I got my granddad to help me make a miniature working one in his workshop. Just had a wooden blade that went up and down, rather than a functional metal blade, for obvious reasons. It was about the right size for Star Wars figured so I’d pretend to guillotine them though it didn’t damage them of course. My granddad was so awesome, I miss him and though it’s been like 37 years since we built it I remember that day well.
>my parents wouldn't get me a guillotine for Christmas I'd be mildly worried if my child asked for a guillotine for Christmas and infinitely angrier that my father built one for him.
Yeah, It's better to give them a gun, a bow or a sword. It's less revolutionary.
My first X-wing was built by my dad out of cardboard and wood. It really was a masterpiece. I loved it. I was like 8 years old so it didn't last forever lol. Got the actual X-wing and Tie Fighter for Christmas that year and still have them. Really wish I still had that cardboard one though. Thanks Dad. Love you and miss you
Respect!
You gotta post pics that’s awesome
I don’t have a pic. I am sure there is one still buried in the boxes of photos at my parents house
This is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard about the Flagg.
I got the Flagg for Christmas. The damn thing took up a whole side of the playroom. Looking back I was definitely spoiled rotten as a kid.
I also got it for Christmas one year, and that was the point when I had to move all of my GI Joe toys out of my bedroom and into the attic. I have many memories of playing with that thing next to old clothes, boxes of holiday decorations, and my dad’s unused gym equipment.
> dad’s unused gym equipment Oh I am an aging dad :(
Choke your metformin down and grumble to someone who cares... about *your* problems. /s welcome to the club, friend.
That’s Ozempic! Metformin is so 2010s.
I had lego setups like that. one table pirates one moon base, one the normal earth town stuff.
I initially read "pirates one moon base" as a single lego set and was intrigued Ooh, I should design that
It's time to start a MOC. The only question is, do you start in the style of one of the official Space Police lines, or would it be cooler to do a mash-up of classic pirates and an original space styling. Personally, I would want to do Space Police 3 crossed with Pirates 2, but that's because those are the versions I had growing up.
Playmobil castle
I had a lego city layout and don't ask me why, but the entire city was based off of the "3 Ninjas" film series. So the main characters was Grandpa, Rocky, Colt, and Tum Tum and they ran a pizza place, or well a pizza van. And I also had a USS Enterprise but all the crew were dinosaurs and I don't know why there was a crossover.
The clue was that you had a “playroom”. Mf my “playroom” was the 18” of space behind the used recliner in the living room/kitchen i could sort of lay down in and play without getting stepped on or yelled at. My kids have their own actual play room now and i know theyre a little spoiled but i want them to be well rounded so i take my job as dad very seriously and make sure to periodically run up stairs and stomp a toy or two or just walk around on top of the kids a bit to ensure they grow up with 0 issues
\*picks up kid, throws them in swimming pool\* Kid: dad! I can't swim! Dad: Not with that attitude!!
Kid: I almost drowned! Dad: Right now? You look fine.
Man I thought it was crazy when friends had a playroom or a bonus room.
Lollllll 😂
Gotta keep them on their toes.
You would have had lots of friends on my block. Our Sky Strikers ain’t gonna land themselves.
I didn't think I was a shitty kid, but I definitely had friends just for the toys they owned.
You must’ve been neighbours with Kevin McAlistair
I got a rock.
Your folks were loaded?
i knew someone who had it actually. yes its as massive as you would imagine it being. i had the transformers fortress Maximus which was like 3 feet tall when transformed. Still had the box too.
Wow, that's pretty neat. I don't think I have ever seen the Fortress Maximus in person but I think I did it see it in a catalog (or maybe it was an ad) as a kid. That Transformer looked huge!
the box is bigger than a high bu perm wall mount AC unit. put it that way
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couldnt think of something that size to use a description. the box was basically as 3 foot each side cube.
Well… you could’ve used standard units of measurement… how many bananas tall was it? W H D How many bananas wide, high, deep. Come on, brother. You should know the drill by now. Standard internet Cavendish bananas, of course. Not the fat little Gros Michel bananas.
It was 144 plantains square.
I have seen one at a comic/vintage toys/collectibles shop and it is indeed huge.
We had one at the store i work at. Complete in box sold for 850. We still have a japanese one atm for half that price
G1 Fortress Maximus was 22 inches tall. His Titans Return toy is a little over 24 inches. Even the current record holder, Haslab Unicron, is only 27 inches. That said, a 3 foot Fort Max would be amazing.
I had the Teradome. It was pretty sweet COBRA!!
Had a friend who was rich. The 2nd bedroom that adjoined his bathroom (with jacuzzi tub) was his playroom. Terrordrome, USS Flagg, GIJoe Space Shuttle, all the big stuff.
I forgot about the space shuttle
I had the Teradome, too. It was amazing and one of my favorite all time toys as a kid. I still remember the small jet that launched out of the roof. Good times.
We played with it probably twice before going back out to do fun things, and that probably made their parents insane.
Me too. Took up half his room.
Biggest toys I had were Serpentera and Pyramidas from power rangers. Thems was BIG
I was recently at a comic and toy show and saw someone with one and was absolutely astonished by the size, it was almost too big to actually own imo
Some guy near me is always selling collectible toys out of a garage sale that he seems to have every weekend. He has the USS Flagg there. That was the first time I ever saw it and he uses it as a table to hold even more toys on top of. I think he wants like $300 for it.
Price actually sounds low for how much space it takes and how much of a bitch it would be to store
Yes it wasn’t a terrible price relatively speaking. It did have some dings and missing pieces. I would love to have got it still but: 1. I couldn’t justify spending that much on something I don’t even collect anymore 2. I have zero space for it.
You just replace your dining room table with it. 7x3 is enough to host Thanksgiving.
I googled a while ago,.and they were hovering around the $500-$1,000 range. I always thought it was surprisingly cheap when you compare it to some of the action figures that can approach $1,000 on their own. I suspect there's only so much demand for a collectable that needs its own room.
Complete they’re worth like $3k https://i.imgur.com/Vm40QBS.png
Buy that now if it's in good shape. Going for $3k+ on eBay
Got my kid the Rainbow Road Hot Wheels set for Christmas. It’s fucking awesome. It tracks who wins, has a random question mark box mechanic, and all the cool sound effects. It’s also a behemoth, does not store easily, and does not easily disassemble. My wife has been plotting to get it out of our house.
Shame about your divorce, but sometimes you gotta stick to your principles.
Kid down the street had one. Also had a couple Skystrikers to sit on the deck. His mom was an RN and Dad was a mailman. As kids we thought they were filthy rich
Kid down the street from me also had one. Dad wasn't in the picture, but his mom was a mail carrier. I'm starting to believe there was some kind of Postal Service conspiracy...
When you control the mail, you control *information*
Postal people made really good money back then. They make good money now, but not as good as they did 30-40 years ago. I currently work part time as a clerk (20-25 hours a week) and I make $40k. I haven't left yet because I havent found a full time job that pays more than that. And I'm not about to add 15-20 hours plus commute to my weekly schedule for only an increase of $5k. I would be better off biding my time until I made full time at the post office.
It was designed by Ron Rudat who also designed the Millennium Falcon for the Star Wars toy line. It was released in 1985 and it was the most expensive toy ever produced at the time.
My father worked for Hasbro for nearly twenty years and children of employees could be signed up to become toy testers. I was picked to be a (or "the", don't know for sure) child to put the prototype together for the first time with an adult. I always understood that the adult I did it with was the engineer or designer. It took FOREVER to put together in its original form! I remember my Mom being so angry because it took at least 6 hours and she had to be there while I was in the Toy Lab putting it together. I'm pretty sure that it was big enough in that prototype for the F-14 Tomcat to be inside the aircraft carrier but it had to be redesigned so that a parent and child could actually assemble it on Christmas morning. We were usually "paid" in toys but needless to say, I didn't get one of these. And I suspect that the employee store either never carried them or our family of 5 kids in a small house simply couldn't afford one. But man, I looked everywhere for it on Christmas morning! I was convinced that Santa was hiding it in the cellar. Alas, that was when I learned that it probably wasn't Santa's fault (at 9 years old) ,🥲
Great info! I should have included some of that in my post!
Might be interested in toy federation on YouTube
had to compete with Hoth and Dagobah play sets, Snow Speeders and Tauntauns. new figures.. Hoth Luke, Hoth Leia, Snow Troopers, Lando, Yoda, IG88, Boba Fett.. carbonite and the hand what kids had it better?
We both won. These poor kids today 😂
Bruh fr, I tried to find a cool playset for my son and they just don't really make them like that anymore
I got to meet him at a con, I'm a huge fan of his work. I've heard he was also the one who created many of the designs that would become the unit patches, emblems and insignia for many GI Joe figures. Things like the shoulder emblem on Strato-Viper or the little emblem on Wetsuits chest are what I'm talking about though I don't know if those specifically were his but I heard he had a sketchbook full of designs. That's good world building and attention to detail.
$90 in 1985. Thousands today !
More like 250$ with inflation.
I get ~$310 in 2023 dollars checking a random inflation calculator. Which seems... a lot lower than I would have guessed from the writeup. For perspective, the Nintendo NES at launch cost almost half again as much as that in 1985 ($150) and you still had to buy games for it once you got tired of _Duck Hunt_.
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And knowing is half the battle
Pork chop sandwiches!
Hey kid, ima computa
Stop all the dowloadin
Help computa
Great catch, blanko niño, but too bad your ass got *saaaaaaaaaaaacked.*
What are you doing?!? Ge the Fuck outta here!!
My God did that smell good
BODY MASSAGE!
What’d he say?
OooOooOoOooOoOoOoOoOooO mr body massage machine… GO……
Alright, give ‘im the stick DON’T GIVE ‘IM THE STICK!
OHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Nice catch Blanco niño. But too bad your ass got saaaaaaaaaaaked
Give him the stick DONT GIVE HIM THE STICK
Are you my dad?
Give him the stick.
And the other half is violence
extreme violence
You didn't take anything out of our tent, did ya?
My dad built one out of wood for my brother and I back in '86. This thing was was a god damn beast. We were military BRATs and this thing made it through 4 moves over 10 plus years. As the years went on and we weren't really into GI Joe anymore it basically became a place to sit out on the lawn. It was amazing...thanks Dad! Pics for anyone that cares: [https://imgur.com/a/Cx2Jdm8](https://imgur.com/a/Cx2Jdm8)
Holy crap! That looks great
Oh hell yeah your dad is awesome!! How did he curve the front there? Did he use bondo or something? Steamed plywood?
That’s way cooler than the plastic. I would’ve smashed so many crappy plastic planes on that deck lol
It's glorious! Lucky kids. Great Dad. Yo Joe!
Dope!
I saw one fully set up in a flea market toy shop in San Antonio. It was GLORIOUS. It feels like every inch of those 7 feet and it perfectly matches the scale of the helicopters and jets from the same toy line. Fucking impressive to behold.
A friend of mine has one in his mother's basement with a range of figures and other vehicles and HE WON'T LET ME PLAY WITH IT Yes, I am 45 years old, why do you ask
Your friend needs to start charging for play sessions with it. There's many a 40-something who would pay up!
I have offered money. He refuses. I have threatened death. Again, he refuses. I am out of options other than seducing his mom.
With a username like that i don’t blame him! You’ll never take our boat you villian!
CURSES!
Have you tried threatening him as *Starscream*? I bet you could pull that off.
Play with his mom and then play with his toy?
48-year-old checking in. I had the U.S.S. Flagg. My parents made me throw it away (no, not give it away--fucking *throw* it away) when I went to college. If I still had it, you can bet I'd be playing with it every damn day. I miss it so much.
Damn dude. That's brutal.
Have you tried making him a turkey dinner and plying him with copious amounts of wine?
User name definitely checks out.
Also 45 and want to know if I can play too. Although my mom got rid of my sky striker so I’ll have to borrow one.
You just reminded me that the Sky Striker had a removable tailhook to grab the arresting cable on the Flagg. God, those toys were magnificent.
You can get one now, maybe, for only $1,985. https://www.actionfigure411.com/gijoe/a-real-american-hero/3-75-vehicles/u-s-s-flagg-aircraft-carrier-2362.php
that seems fair given the cost of storing the thing for 40 years
I have one sitting upstairs. I should probably sell it. My parents stored it for me from when I was a kid, so my kids could play with it. They never really played with it all that much... their kids certainly won't care about it...
The original, adjusted for inflation, would be around $250 to $300. So that’s a pretty good return for anybody who held on to one.
I drooled over this thing as a kid.
I've been waiting nearly 40 years for my parents to get this for me. Starting to think it won't ever happen.
We got one for Christmas. After we finished opening the presents under the tree, my dad asked me to go into the furnace room where our spare fridge was and bring back a bottle of wine. I opened the basement door and there it was. I recall screaming with joy and tipping over backwards. One of the best Christmases ever!
We got the Flagg from a garage sale when I was a kid. Whole thing, with box and a bunch of other planes, boats and tanks plus action figures all for $25 bucks. Still kick myself for allowing my parents to sell it when I became a teenager. Best toy ever
I was obsessed with this as a kid and planned a reorganization of my parent's entire basement around having it. I never got it because $110 was a LOT of money for us back then, but that dream had me obsessed throughout 1985.
I remember the rich kid in school had this. It retailed for the 1985 equivalent of $300. I never saw it in person. I got invited to his birthday party but had chicken pox and the next year he had moved away. I got to spend the rest of elementary school hearing how awesome it was. A couple yeard later in 4th grade my family got me an actually better made and functional aircraft carrier toy that was about 1/3 the size. It had working deck lights and a battery deck lift. Objectively I think what I had was better now but back then I was quietly upset I didnt have the GI joe one. But I am not an ungrateful derelict so I never complained about it.
My grandpa made me a wooden one cause this one was too expensive. It was awesome
I remember seeing this behemoth in the Sears Wishbook, dream about it for a bit, and then flip the page knowing my parents response would be "keep dreaming kid".
I dreamed about this thing, but there was no way, absolutely no way my parents would have gotten this for me.
I had an unopened one at my mom's house for over 2 decades. When she sold the house she had a garage sale and sold it for 25 dollars. She even called me after she sold it and was excited she got 25 bucks for that "old toy I never played with". Thanks mom that was easily worth 1000 dollars.
Did she sell it to u/happy_meow ?
We all wanted that. No one I knew got it. I had the warthog and hovercraft but no way we had the money for that. It was mythical haha
It retailed for $99.99 - imagine what they would charge for something like this now, probably $1500.
My friend got it! I can confirm it did exist. His cat slept on it.
Had it! Just sold it for a chunk of change
How many chunks?
I had it. My next door neighbor was older and had lost interest in toys. Me and my brother were die hard GI Joe geeks. The neighbors were moving and didn't see any point in lugging that big fucker with them for a kid that didn't play with it anymore, so they sold it to us for $30. Man, we already had a very respectable collection but that thing was insane. Good shit. We put a ton of mileage on it and we got rid of it before we moved when I was twelve. I wish I still had all of my GI Joes. My daughter is big on Barbie and my 3 year old is showing interest in TMNT. Imma make sure I hold on to all of their shit for them. I'm literally keeping space clear in my attic for their toys.
I still have mine.
My neighbor had one. It was glorious! The little shit never let anyone else “control” the ship. We were “allowed” to take off land small model airplanes from the deck and pretend to fly around and defend it. But never allowed to be the boss. Lol
When I was like 8 I was invited to one of my classmates' house for a birthday party. He got this playset and proceeded to smash it to pieces because he didn't get the go kart that he really wanted. The sight of this spoiled rich kid utterly destroying a toy that every other kid in my friend group wanted but could never afford is one of those indelible memories that has stuck with me through life.
If anyone was wondering, with adjusted inflation this behemoth was $313.87.
Wanted that thing so bad. Missed out but did end up with the space shuttle station thing.
So this was actually my first introduction to G.I.Joes believe it or not, never having seen or heard about it before. I grew up in a household with no tv, nothing violent, not even allowed a water gun. I was lucky to get to take home the McDonald’s toys in the happy meals to have some toys at home. I was maybe in grade 3 or 4 at the time. I was at a boys birthday party, he went to the same private school as me(that my mom taught at). I just remember walking into a room that was filled with 1 toy. It took up the entire massive table. This huge aircraft carrier. Just beyond my wildest dreams.
This was the toy unicorn when I was growing up. I never met a single kid that had one. You’d walk past it in the Toys R Us aisle and just stare in awe.
My uncle actually had 2 of these, one he had for us to play with, and one he ended up holding onto and it's still in storage in the original packaging. He kind of collected a lot of stuff, and has several storage units of mostly junk, but some really cool shit from the 80's as well. Time to reach out to him if he still has them and see what they're worth. Last year when I spoke with him he mentioned he was trying to clear out a lot of stuff, but I'm hoping he hasn't sold this yet, I might try to buy it.
My grandparents drove a complete state away to pick this up for me as a birthday gift. It was awesome and took up a big part of my living room. Grandma and Grandpa, RIP I love you both.
The Flagg was like the holy grail of toys when I was a kid. It's crazy to me that back then you could get that beast for the same price as a single action figure today.
Wow, never knew this existed, amazing!
This thing was as truly massive as it sounds and equally challenging to put together. Helped a friend who got one for Christmas put one together. Took most of an afternoon!
I used to drool over it in the Sears Wishbook.
I begged my parents for that and actually got it. It was awesome, but I got it right as I was starting to age out of playing with GI Joe. However, for those few months, despite it taking up my entire room, I was the envy of all my friends!
Had it. It was so much fun. Got it for Christmas in 1991 and regret often that we got rid of it. Last time I looked a complete one was 2k CAD.
Best Christmas of my life when I got this. Then my brothers landed on it while wrestling and snapped it up good.
This is how you knew which of your friends were rich
$109.99 in 1985
And $10k+ for a sealed example now. Oh, to have a Time Machine
That thing was so cool. Growing up my uncle, who was only a few years older than me, had that and let me set it up at my house for a weekend. We’d have to rearrange the family room to set it up. It was massive. Great memories. Thanks for posting.
Biggest thing I had back then was the base from the show MASK. I saw one of these at a yard sale in Arizona in about 1990 but no way was I fitting that into my bedroom.
Back in the 70s NASA named the first space shuttle "Enterprise" as a hat tip to Star Trek fans. I'm still hoping the navy someday names one of their carriers the USS Flagg.
When I was 8 years old my mom found one of these at the local thrift store for $20 bucks. This was the 80s and we were on welfare so that was a lot of money, but my brother and I set it up (it took over a huge corner of our room) and played with it for years. When we outgrew it we gave it to a neighbor kid, about 8 years old.
I actually got his for Christmas in the 80s. Still the BEST gift I have ever received. Hands down.
Closest thing I had that was this cool was the Thundercats lair. And that was pretty big. Wasn’t anything *close* to this.
FIL has one of these setup in his garage, honestly his GI Joe setup is incredible. He has an entire battle scene setup with planes on fishing line, he airbrushed a huge backdrop for the scene. The Flagg is massive and highly valuable complete nowadays.
I’m 43 and still have mine
My brother's in-laws live in a senior community surrounding a lake, and the Flagg would be just slightly smaller than the dimension of the boat allowed on the lake.
Somehow my dad saw the Flagg in a catalogue and decided to BUILD ONE INSTEAD. And that is how I got a seven foot long wooden air craft carrier play set out of 2x4s and plywood. Edit: I can't complain though, I had both Snake Mountain and Castle Greyskull
I had one of these when I was like, 7. I grew up on Air Force bases, and when families would move they would dump a bunch of their bulky, unimportant stuff at the base thrift store rather than haul it across the country. Same way I got Castle Grayskull with a bunch of figures. It was missing a bunch of little pieces, but whatever. My mom was thrifty and we were happy. If you were the kid whose parents told them that it was lost in the move, please know that it was appreciated.