I am new to this!!

[trollsnatcher58]

Hi all,
I am completely new to this. I want to get myself a nice GI Joe with a good flocked head, I see I will probably have to find one and then send him to Ray and get him all fixed up. Where do I start? Most of the GI's I have viewed on eBay have the molded type hair, what year should I be looking at please? (I know plenty about vintage trolls, yes, those critters with the long, brightly colored hair, in my case, from the 60's. I know absolutely nothing about GI Joe.)

I had a couple of Action Men growing up as a kid in England, a contact told me he was basically the same toy, different name. Mine had molded hair too, I had wonderful gear for them, skiing, a space capsule and all kinds of great stuff, I wish I still had all that, the price of it now!!

Where do I find the great combat clothing I see on my contacts GI's on Flickr? Thanks for any advice - Penny

[handy]

The Joes or Action Men with flocked hair are the same heads as those with painted hair - the flock is over the molded hair. So you can flock over a paint head, or reflock. So anywhere from 1964 to 1978 is pretty much what you're looking for.

Generally, the cheapest head is a balding flocked head. Pop it on a Cotswold body and you'll have a durable and like new Joe.

[Ray (Flock Man)]

You could also just grab the Cotswold fuzz head figures. They are pretty cheap and durable- plus a good way to get started into the hobby. At least you'll have a start while you search for vintage items.

[trollsnatcher58]

Thanks for your help guys, your thoughts were really appreciated, I was wondering about flock and paint and if flock could go over paint.

I found my way over to Cotswold and purchased a mute Commander, he'll do to get me started. For now, I want to do just some fun shots with some other vintage toys. I found Toy Zoo on Flickr and I love the shoots he does with his guys, I'd like to find a nice vintage Joe and an Action Man eventually, I have fond memories of my Action men, I don't think my Mom liked them so much, she encouraged me to get rid of them but I still have some dolls, funny that lol! Ray, your re-flocks look great!