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Although
scarce, the G.I. Joe Nurse can be found
— if you know where to look. Examples
occasionally appear on online auction sites
such as eBay, but potential buyers are advised
to use caution. Make sure the seller is
legitimate, has good feedback, and provides
a close-up photograph of the doll. If you
have any questions, contact the seller before
placing a bid.
Other potential sources include:
> Ads in toy and doll collecting publications
such as Toy Shop (www.toyshopmag.com)
and Master Collector (www.mastercollector.com).
These and similar magazines can be found
in the collectibles section of your local
magazine shop or bookstore.
> Established G.I. Joe dealers. Dale
Womer can be contacted at joedepot@epix.net
or via his website, www.joedepot.com. Brian
Savage can be contacted at brian@mastercollector.com.
Others can be found in the pages of toy
collecting magazines.
> Regional toy and doll shows, especially
those that specialize in vintage collectibles.
> The annual International Hasbro G.I.
Joe Collector Convention. The 2004 show,
commemorating G.I. Joe’s 40th anniversary,
will take place July 1-4 at Walt Disney
World Resorts in Orlando, Fla. Contact Brian
Savage for additional information.
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Missing accessories are just one of many factors
that determine the overall value of a G.I. Joe
Nurse — when you can find one. Condition,
of course, is paramount; the better the doll’s
appearance, the more valuable it is. Not surprisingly,
though, few dolls can be considered pristine today.
Back in the 1960s, children actually played with
their toys rather than merely display them on
a shelf, so it’s not uncommon for G.I. Joe
Nurses to show signs of wear and tear, including
chopped hair and body damage. Sometimes, the latter
can be extreme. Savage once acquired a G.I. Joe
Nurse that was missing the lower portion of one
arm. Still eager to have the piece in his collection,
he hired an artist to create a “prosthetic”
limb.
“A nurse (doll) that is complete and in
good condition but with no box is worth between
$800 and $1,200,” says Savage, who promotes
an annual G.I. Joe convention that attracts thousands
of fans from around the world. “If you have
the box, the value increases to the $3,000 to
$4,000 range.”
The 2004 edition of Toys and Prices, an annual
price guide published by Toy Shop, lists the nurse
doll as one of the top three G.I. Joe collectibles
when found in mint condition, right behind the
Action Soldiers of the World Talking Adventure
Pack and the ultra-rare Canadian Mounties set,
which was sold only in Canada.
Adding to the collectibility of the G.I. Joe
Nurse is that her medic bag came in two colors
— green and white. The green medic bag was
standard issue and that’s what most nurse
dolls come with, Womer says. But in the waning
months of the doll’s availability, Hasbro
released it with a white medic bag, which now
is a rare collectible. “I’ve seen
only two dolls with white medic bags in 20 years,”
Womer says. “One of them sold for more than
$6,000.”
Complete the collection
Most of the people in pursuit of the G.I. Joe
Nurse are hard-core G.I. Joe collectors who need
the doll to complete their collections. There’s
also a subset of G.I. Joe collectors who are into
creating detailed dioramas with their figures.
For them, a nurse doll can help complete a scene
of injured soldiers receiving treatment on the
battlefield.
Then there are real nurses who covet the doll.
The number of nurses actively seeking this prized
toy is impossible to determine, but they’re
definitely out there, dealers say.
Eight or 10 years ago, Womer was approached by
a woman who wanted to buy a G.I. Joe Nurse for
her daughter, who had become an RN and had owned
a G.I. Joe Nurse as a child. The mother said she
felt guilty about getting rid of the toy and wanted
to give her daughter another as a gift. Womer
sold her a nice example for about $1,200.
“She was shocked by the price, but ended
up buying it,” Womer says. “I remember
that sale because both the mother and the daughter
wrote me letters of thanks. The daughter told
me the G.I. Joe Nurse was one of her favorite
toys as a child.”
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comment on this story, send e-mail to editorcal@nurseweek.com.
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