Welcome to the collection of Mark Wright Owner: Mark Wright, Washington, DC E-mail: gi.joeguy1@verizon.net, Website: The Beachhead (Shown below are Mark and his wife Laura at the 2002 GIjOE Convention in Norfolk, Virginia on the night of the traditional dinner.) GIjOE was one of my favorite toys when I was a kid. I remember days when my cousin and I would bring out all of our Joes and equipment and create adventures with the imagination that most children have. Eventually, as I grew older, Joe and his fellow troopers were stored away in footlockers as my life led me in other directions. In 1991, I stumbled across the new GIjOE Hall of Fame Duke figure on the shelves of Target and I was hooked again. That single figure fired up a ton of emotion. Memories from my youth came flooding back. It was great to have Joe back in his original 12" size. I grabbed one and immediately began searching for my original old friends who had been packed away for so long. Fortunately, I kept all my Joes and their equipment from my childhood years. I still have them all today and they are proudly displayed throughout my home. My collection has grown to include Classic Collection, Masterpiece, and Timeless Collection figures, the new Adventures of GIjOE, and post Classic Collection figures as well as additional vintage items. With the help (and financial approval) of my wife, Laura, we have continued to build a large vintage collection. She has been and continues to be a great supporter of my GIjOE hobby and will always grab a Joe if she sees one and think nothing of laying down the cash (within reasonable limits, of course). For me, memories are what GIjOE collecting is really all about. That's why I and many others go to such insane lengths to find more Joes to add to our collections. Personally, GIjOE reminds me of times when my world, at least, was a little simpler. I lived in a very small town in Upstate New York and access to GIjOE and his accessories was very limited if not nearly non-existent. I remember one time when my Uncle visited from Syracuse and brought me a heavy weapons set. I thought that was just great and I still have that set today. Just wish I hadn't thrown away the box. For a long time during my early childhood, the only thing I wanted at Christmas was GIjOE. One Christmas, my Aunt searched the entire State of New York and probably most of the remainder of the country looking for the Adventure Team Headquarters. She eventually called Hasbro directly. Hasbro actually found two of them in their warehouse and shipped them to her just barely in time for Christmas. One for me and one for my cousin. My Christmas was complete! My late Aunt was terrific! My Uncle was a real American Hero, a GIjOE assigned to the 45th Infantry Division. He was killed in action in 1944 by a German mortar attack at the Battle of Monte Casino in Italy. Having no children of her own, my Aunt spoiled me and my other siblings. ALL of my childhood GIjOEs were gifts from her and that's why they have such a special place in my heart. Today, as I look at the first two painted hair GIjOEs I ever received now proudly displayed, I can tell you exactly where I was and how excited I felt when I received them. Those are the kind of childhood memories that are priceless to me. Here's a picture of me (right) and a neighborhood friend of mine back in the early 1970's playing with GIjOEs. That seems like so long ago now. The Joes are all still in my collection today. The footlocker was a MARX Stoney Smith version that my Aunt probably purchased through the SEARS Christmas catalog. It was made from cardboard and I still have it in my collection as well. If I had only known then what I know now. I would have purchased (I mean had my mom purchase) every GIjOE she could for $4.99. Never in a million years would I have believed that I would pay the kind of prices I do these days just to add another Joe to my collection. It's gotten insane! The excitement of collecting GIjOE lives on as I have infected one of my youngest nephews. While he and his family were visiting the DC area on their way to Florida, my nephew's eyes lit up when he looked around our house to see all the Joes and vehicles. My nephew saw the clear GIjOE Collector's Club figure on my shelf and fell in love with it. He said that someday he wanted to have as many GI Joes as his Uncle. The magic of GI Joe continues... Finally, let me first say that this is not how I make a living. This is not my J-O-B (I'm actually a rocket scientist...no foolin'). I maintain my Beachhead website to further my own enjoyment of GIjOE collecting as well as a way to help other collectors. Thanks for visiting my collection today. And remember..." Only G.I. Joe is G.I. Joe!" ---Mark Wright Mark's Upstairs Joe Room This is a nice photo. It makes you feel like you could just walk right in and start browsing. Mark's Joe Room is a wonderful mixture of unique trapezoidal display cases, bookshelves, and floor displays. He describes it thusly: "My current Joe room is in one of our small bedrooms. This will all be moved into a much larger room that will include joes AND model trains as soon as my oldest daughter moves to college in the Fall. This room currently has 3 display cases, 8 bookcases, some shelves and a closet. As your eyes pan to the left toward the center of the room, you begin to see all the other shelves and bookcases that are filled to overflowing with Mark's mighty GIjOE collection. Looking even further left, you notice that he has two more space capsules suspended "in flight," a beautiful AT helo, a fully-deployed AT headquarters and a nice Dodge armored vehicle ready for battle. RRRRRR! "My closet is filled with over 50 40th anniversary figures, jeeps, footlockers, and parts. I keep all my vintage and new clothes, weapons, etc. in large plastic storage units." (see Tips-n-Tricks) Some items are placed together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, creating exciting arrangements. Mark describes it thusly: "I started collecting the toys, games, puzzles, etc. that were available under Hasbro license to other manufacturers. Some of these items included a backpack, medic kits, board games, coloring and sticker books, shoe shine kit, shaving kit, pencil case...the list goes on." Mark's Basement Joe Room Down in his basement Joe Room, you're immediately struck by Mark's beautiful display case. Complete with shelves and lighting, Mark tells us he purchased this from a local antique store going out of business. A closeup peek inside the case reveals all types of wonderous vintage GIjOEs. Mark's basement also serves as a storage depot for his many unboxed MIB figures and vehicles. The photo on the left clearly shows a pile of at least SIX SOTW Jeeps, while the photo on the right shows many equipment sets and figures, all still snug in their boxes inside watertight sterilite tubs. No need to worry about water damage. Good job protecting your collection, Mark. Mark's Living Room Display Cases These IKEA display cases ROCK. Check our Tips-n-Tricks page for more information. A peek inside Mark's IKEA cases shows many Joes, standing at the ready. Another closeup reveals how Mark makes the best use of the clear side panels by turning some vintage equipment sets OUTWARD for all to see. Smart idea! Mark also has a massive, oak case filled to the brim with vintage GIjOEs. Notice in the closeup shot on the left how the case is lit from the inside. Beeeeeutiful! Assorted Figure Closeups "This isa mint Man of Action figure (above, left) in the box with all the contents (boot instructions, rank stickers, and the "join the club" paperwork. I could just cry when I look at the J.C. Penney price sticker still on the box - $1.99. Where's that time machine? " "The Action Soldier (above right) has got to be by far my favorite figure. I purchased this figure from the original owner. It includes a beautiful mint fatigue field jacket, mint trousers and shirt, mint rifle with bayonet, mint helmet with netting, rare mint first issue tall black rubber boots, and a first issue rare cloth first aid kit. All of this on a mint trade mark figure (easily my favorite) complete with mascara eye brows. The figure also includes a mint backpack, grenades and entrenching tool with cover. I'm afraid to take off the boots to see if he has first issue baby feet. Judging from his hands, I have every reason to suspect that's the case." "The Action Soldier Construction set (second from left) took me about 2 years to piece together. Although it's not mint, it's still a good C-8. The gray gloves are nearly impossible to find. I had to get them from a dealer at the San Jose Convention in 1997. That low-life bought all the pairs of gloves from another dealer before the show even opened. I ended up paying 3 times what he originally paid. If you're one of those types of dealers, stay away from me. You give the hobby a bad name." "This member of my Adventure Team travels in a customized Adventure Team river raft. This raft is marked Hasbro, but may have been made for Action Man. I added a rope catapult to the missile launcher attached to the non-working motor. A first aid kit was attached to the back. The boat includes a Hasbro 40th Anniversary oar (just in case the motor quits or Joe has to sneak up on someone during a mission) and a radio. He also has a web belt, canteen, pistol & holster, and ammo pouch. The Hasbro boonie hat keeps the sun out of his eyes and the 21st Century rifle keeps the man-eating critters away." "The year 1967 was definitely a great year for Joe accessories and the Tanker set (above, right) was no exception. This is one of the harder sets to put together mainly because of the radio. Many times the radio tripod is broken or repaired and the stickers are either missing, damaged or reproductions. The helmet and microphone are also difficult to find in prime condition. I happened to stumble upon this set as part of a collection at an antique store. It includes a HASBRO JAPAN .30 machine gun and two ammo boxes." "The 2nd KMart exclusive and fourth Hasbro Willy's jeep release was this 2003 release of the US Navy jeep (above, left) with a .30 caliber machine gun mounted on a pedestal, spare tire, shovel, axe, and gas can. This time the jeep was painted in Navy battleship gray with blue seats. The set also included a radio set identical to the Diamond Head Pearl Harbor figure except that this one did not have a button activated sound chip and was molded in a dark olive drab color. The Soldiers of the World gray shore patrol jeep (above, right) is SOTW's standard jeep in Navy gray with shore patrol markings and a gray CLOTH cover." "My pair of vintage Marine Medics came loaded with medic accessories. Each carries a cloth medic bag and is equipped with stethoscope and plasma bottles. Plenty of crutches and splints are ready for action. Most of the accessories are minimum C7-C8 condition. The Soldiers of the World Medic Jeep was a great buy for only $29.99. It included nice hard rubber tires, a shovel, axe, gas can and plastic flip-down windshield." More 1:6 Scale Collections Return to Collections Index And Don't Miss... 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