25th Anniversary of GI Joe

As a kid I was a GI Joe fan. I don't know completely where it came from but I remember getting some of the figures way back in the when the "new" GI Joe premiered in 1982. From then on till I grew out of them in junior high school, I had a pretty good size collection of figures, vehicles, and play sets. I use to watch the cartoon on Saturday mornings and then before going to school on weekdays. I wasn't full into it like a few kids I knew, simply because we moved a couple of times and my folks usually tried to keep the shipping weight down. A ton of action figures can really put on the pounds, plus the books, puzzles, bedsheets, etc.
I always wanted to be a member of GI Joe team when I was a kid. I mean who as a young boy and was given a few of the GI Joes didn't want to become a member. I think when I was thrown outside with the rest of my friends we use to go to the park and pretend to be our own members of the team fighting Cobra the terrorist. Gave us something to do on a weekend or after school. That or someone brought a few of thier joes/cobras over to anothers house for the battle royale for the week.
It was fun and I didn't really give up playing with my GI Joe toys until I hit middle school. By then the cartoon was off the air, except for re-runs before school and the toys started to take on all sort of funky day-glo shades with all sorts of sounds and actual firing missiles. Still though it is amazing that the 3/4 inch tall GI Joe has been for sale on toy store shelves for 25yrs. I just wonder what the future will bring for the GI Joe team.