Collectible of the Week: G.I. Joe Adventure Team Headquarters (Hasbro; 1972)

One of my favorite toys from childhood was Hasbro's G.I. Joe Adventure Team Headquarters, a two-story base for the large G.I. Joe action figures of the age.  

Now, I wasn't actually that big a fan of G.I. Joe himself (save for his 1977, sci-fi-themed Super Joe incarnation..), but his headquarters was an amazing piece of work, and it functioned admirably as an enemy fortress for the Knight of Darkness (Ideal), or for Mego's Klingons.

This large fold-out base came complete with a signal buzzer, an elevator chair, a map table, maps, equipment storage racks, and hangers, ear phones for Joe, and even an Adventure Team Comic-Book.  I still love the retro-futuristic look of the thing, with the blinking-light computers and tape-to-tape reels.

Designed for Ages "6 - 12," this Adventure Team H.Q. box was accompanied by the legend "where the adventure begins..." and could fold-up, like many play-sets of the 1970s, for "easy storage."  This feature made it easy to take outside, into the backyard, and into the thick of new adventures.

I'm still not certain how I came by my  original Adventure Team Headquarters, but I think it arrived courtesy of my (now-deceased...) uncle Glenn, my father's youngest brother.  He had collected a huge amount of G.I. Joe toys (including the Sea Wolf submarine, and a mobile support headquarters) and one day decided to pass the entire collection onto me, his nephew.  I'll never forget that act of kindness.  I know for sure that the mobile HQ was in that bunch of Glenn's toys, as were several figures, and I *think* that's how I got my hands on the Adventure Team HQ, though it is possible my parents found it for me at a yard sale.

The comic-book that accompanies the HQ encourages the reader to have a "different adventure every day with G.I. Joe" and to look for G.I. Joe adventures including "Danger of the Depths," "Flying Space Adventure," "Secret Mission to Spy Island," "White Tiger Hunt," "Fantastic Free Fall," "Capture of the Pygmy Gorilla," "Hidden Missile Discovery," The Shark's Surprise" "Space Walk Mystery" and "Secret of the Mummy's Tomb," among others.

Inside the comic book, the new H.Q. is described as "incredible" and a "team member's dream."  It also notes that it "takes more than daring to operate out of this Headquarters.  It takes a good knowledge of advanced electronic technology to operate all this special equipment."

All I know is that I spent a lot of great, imaginative play hours with this toy back in the mid-seventies.  I recently got my hands on one on E-Bay, and intend to share it with Joel.  We'll see what he makes of it...

Below, you'll find a TV commercial for the HQ.