Barbecue (Classified)

As far as I can remember, Barbecue was my real first G.I. Joe. My older brother had started collecting Joes in 1982, at the time to supplement the Endor Rebel troops from his Return of the Jedi and Star Wars toys. As the Star Wars line died, he continued to collect Joes for a few more years. He let me play with the figures he didn’t care about; that is the more gaudy and toyetic figure like Flash, Blowtorch, etc. his tastes were too sophisticated now to appreciate anything but the most realistic military look, whereas I, being much younger, liked the brighter, shinier spacemen-looking characters. Thus, by 1985, my brother was easily passing on half the line and figures like Shipwreck, Quick Kick, and Airtight were being given to me directly. But Barbecue was the first. I still remember holding him in the package. I still remember losing his accessories immediately. Anyway, by 1986, G.I. Joe was my thing, no longer my brother’s. But that’s a different story.