I had about a million of these when I was a kid......

The TOPPS Darth Vader candy filled head!! In 1980 Topps made a ton of these, and I had an army of Vaders. There were little candy pellets that came out of a hole at the base.....kinda feels like hamster food or something now..... They made only a few versions; Vader, Chewie, C3PO, Stormtrooper, and Boba Fett. The second series included Yoda, Bossk, 2-1B and a Tauntuan.There was also a Return of the Jedi series that had an Admiral Ackbar,  Jabba, Sy Snootles and Wicket.  I've seen the Bossk and Jabba and they're freaky. Look em up on Ebay....messed up!!

I searched high and low for one of these and found a sealed specimen filled with its candy intact :) Now... I understand that this is a 32 year old artifact and the candy was not meant to be eaten this far in the future but..... I DONT CARE !! I had a few and the candy is as I remember !! I am going to eat a couple a year until I die (or it kills me) so I remember the flavor!!

How often can you take a trip back in time to your childhood and try something that was lost long ago ?

What happens when you have an imagination, lots of toys, but not one that can represent your new interest?? You learn to customize your figures !!

The day I went to the Super Flea and picked up my first Punisher comic I was hooked, but the question was..... " How do I act out the violence that the Punisher inflicts on GI JOE?" First you take Snake Eyes' chest, Flint's arms, Zap's head and I forget where the legs/torso came from and BOOM, a custom Punisher GI JOE !!!

A paint marker makes the skull, red paint for the eye scar (just looked cool) and pencil for the five o'clock shadow. Bib Fortuna would give up his robe so that Punny here could have his trademark overcoat (time has claimed the overcoat and is now lost).

The idea of customizing GI JOES came from a friend. We were playing one day and I noticed he had a few different ones. After asking where these new and previously unknown gems came from he showed me the small screwdriver that could take out that screw recessed in the back. After that, the less popular figures and the ones who would become disabled from finger and crotch damage, you got to admit it sucked bad when the crotch blew out of your favorite JOE or Cobra - OUCH, could be reborn as another character that back then would have never seen the light of day in plastic !!

You, the reader will see that I was not stopped by Hasbro, LJN or any other toy company in my desire for realistic play. If they didn't produce it, I made it. Like many other children from my generation, plastic, paint, a dremel and imagination could create whatever was necessary for the next adventure !!

Where it all started...... I remember having toys as a young child but Super Joe was where my obsession with toys began. These are the two I had and they were enough. The accessories kept me playing and their height lent to the eventual fights with the Megos that came next.

The commander was great!! His backpack, powered by a AA battery, let other accessories (sold seperately) plug in to him and have power. In my play he was the leader that set the rules and commanded men.

The adventurer was the grunt that did the work. Check out those sideburns! Must've been auditioning for Star Wars :)

As you can see the hands and joints deteriorated as is common for these figures but a couple of stands and they are ready for action !!