DFW G.I. Joe & Action Figure Show
Real American heroes and villains will collide this weekend at the Grapevine Convention Center, and they’ll be joined by the man who helped design them.
The 8th annual DFW G.I. Joe & Action Figure Show will take place 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Grapevine Convention Center, located at 1209 South Main Street. The show will feature contests for custom variants of dioramas, vehicles and action figures, swap meets and over 35 confirmed dealers who will show off their own figures and custom variants.
“The dealers are the celebrities of this show,” co-founder Greg Brown says. “We totally fill out that venue.”
But the dealers are not going to be the only celebrities in attendance. Figure designer Ron Rudat, who worked with the Hasbro company during production of its G.I. Joe toy line throughout the 1970s, will be a special guest for the show and will sign autographs for show attendants. Rudat helped design several of the most popular characters from the G.I. Joe adventure team toy line, including Firefly, Baroness, Destro, Scarlett and Snake Eyes.
He was also responsible for designing Cobra, the terrorist organization that becomes Joe’s sworn enemies.
“He did a lot of the figure concepts as well as the Cobra logo,” Brown iterated. “That was his creation.”
Although it wasn’t until 2012 when he helped start the DFW G.I. Joe & Action Figure Show, Brown said his love of action figures — and G.I. Joe in particular — extends way beyond that. He recalled being four years old when his family moved to Texas from Missouri in 1976. It was at that time when he saw his first G.I. Joe action figure on the shelf at the local Gibson Store that he frequented.
“I remember getting an ‘Eagle Eye’ figure,” Brown states. “He had these eyes that moved back and forth and the kung-fu grip. I was hooked, man. I got to have the best of both worlds.”
Brown says he enjoyed putting his G.I. Joe through all sorts of different scenarios. He chuckled as he recalled putting his Joe in the dugout, fitting him in an adventure suit and flying him in a helicopter, among other army adventures.
“Hasbro created G.I. Joe to basically be Barbies for boys,” Brown says. “And it stuck. You could take an action figure, you could change him out for whatever adventure you wanted, give him accessories such as belts, machetes, hunting rifles, binoculars, whatever.”
And although Brown later grew up from his playful battles against Cobra Command, his affection for G.I. Joe never faded away.
In fact, he currently works as the Director of Marketing for Cotswold Collectibles, a specialist action figure company that sells everything from G.I. Joe to science-fiction all the way to superheroes.
“I’ve always been a G.I. Joe collector,” Brown adds. “I’ve always been connected in some way, shape or form. I literally eat, breathe and spit action figures.”
And while he indicated pride in seeing the G.I. Joe show grows year after year, Brown expressed that what brings him the most fulfillment is bringing all of these Joes together and share all of their experiences for one exclusive weekend.
“We don’t do it to make money,” Brown says. “We do it to bring people together and keep the hobby alive.”
Price of admission is $8 per day, except for children under 12 who are admitted for free. To learn more about the DFW G.I. Joe & Action Figure Show, go online at DFWJoeShow.com.