G.I. Joe enthusiasts say the small toy has made big impacts on their lives

    GRAPEVINE, Texas (KTVT) -- Sixty years ago, a new toy was introduced to the world – G.I. Joe made his debut, and the term action figure was born. The rest, as they say, is history.

Recently, a group of DFW G.I. Joe enthusiasts got together at their annual convention to discuss how this little toy has made big impacts on their lives.

Everybody remembers their first.

"I got my first G.I Joe in 1969. My grandmother gave it to me for Christmas and I still have it," said Randy Thorton, a club member.

At the DFW G.I. Joe convention in Grapevine, everyone has a story about their first joe, including Matt Stevenson.

"My first Joe was an '82 breaker," he said.

He's here as a vendor – he has to sell toys to fund his collection habit. But, "depending on the show I probably spend as much as I sell," he said.

The addiction has become a family affair.

"Since I was four? So 24 years?" said his son, Nolan Stevenson.

Matt and Nolan Stevenson have traveled the country going to shows. Unfortunately, the father-son bonding comes with a side of martial strife.

"Buying more stuff than we should, then having to now tell both of our wives and hide it from both of them... It's getting harder to do that," said Nolan.

Father-son collectors are a recurring theme at the convention.

"I started collecting G.I. Joes when the first came out in 1964," said Bob Welch, the president of the DFW G.I. Joe Collectors Club. "My son was born in '84, and he began collecting them soon after."

He fell in love with the Joes because they represent the military.

"My dad served 35 years in the Army, Army reserves, which kind of led me into going into it," he said, "My son went into the military in 2005 when I retired."

His family has four generations of service from his great-grandfather in World War I.

"Unfortunately, we lost Rob in Afghanistan in 2011," he said.

That loss left a void in Welch's soul that he needed to fill.

"Right after he got killed in Afghanistan, I was having a real hard time. So one of the things I decided to do was make a figure of him," he said.

A real-life action figure for a real-life hero – not something you see at any old toy show.