Toy collector relives the good old days with GI Joe dolls
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What started as a curiosity led to a career for GI Joe collector
James DeSimone of Burbank.
It was 23 years ago, while glancing through the Recycler, DeSimone
saw an ad about a collector searching for GI Joe dolls. So, he called
the collector and asked him why.
The man explained that the 4-inch-tall action figures had replaced
the 12-inch doll from the 1960s, like the one that DeSimone had when
he was a kid.
Just to see for himself, DeSimone went to a Toys R Us to check out
the smaller version.
In the same phone conversation with the collector, DeSimone
learned that the 12-inch action figures were being sold at swap meets
and garage sales. So, still curious, DeSimone started going to them.
“I started finding them,” he said in a voice still laced with
surprise. At first, he admitted, it was more like a challenge, trying
to find them. “I don’t know why I wanted the 12-inch doll. It brought
back memories. When I found one, it was like reliving my childhood.”
From then on, he said he was hooked, and three years later, he had
built a collection of more than 500 original GI Joes.
Now he shares his hobby with collectors of all ages by presenting
toy shows every three months at the Ramada Inn in Burbank. The next
show is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
The adults at his shows, he said, are often looking for things
they had or wanted to have as a kid. A lot of the children who attend
are collectors and are collecting what dad or other relatives have.
“Or they try to recreate or reenact current movie things,”
DeSimone said. “My son finally built his first diorama of “Black Hawk
Down.”
And, surprisingly enough, he said, women and girls collect GI Joe,
because moms wouldn’t let them play with them when they were little.
Their brothers had them.
For DeSimone, his hobby has grown into a business. He has
published four books on GI Joe, which are available on ebay.com and
amazon.com, and sells GI Joes to collectors. Selling the toys from
home, he said, has allowed him to become a stay-at-home father to his
two children, Jonathan and Melissa, while his wife, Honor, works at
Costco.
Seeing all the toys from childhood is a great outlet for adults in
these times of hectic lifestyles, DeSimone said.
“The ‘60s and ‘70s were a good era in life. There was lots of
stability and not a lot of worries like there are today,” he said.
“Kids had a childhood. They were not forced in a situation where both
parents worked, or in one-parent homes. There were no video games,
computers and other things like we have today. They had to use their
imagination, which created memories.”
Seeing the toys from their past allows them to relive those
memories, he added.
Part of the fun planned this Sunday is a chance to meet one of the
voice-over actors from the G.I. Joe cartoons. Also attending will be
representatives of manufacturers of the various action figures. And,
of course, he said, there will be mostly GI Joe action figures and
all toys from ‘60s through the ‘80s, with a few pieces from “Star
Wars” and X-Men.
The Action Figure Show and Sale, featuring GI Joe, space figures
and other collectible toys, will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at
the Ramada Inn, 2900 N. San Fernando Blvd., Burbank. Admission is $5
and free for youngsters under 3 feet tall. Families receive a
discount. A portion of the proceeds goes to St. Robert’s School for
its science lab. For more information, call 563-1179 or check out the
Web site www.gijoeinformation.com.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Stunt Road band at Cruise Night
There are two sides to Andy Roth. By day, he is a registered
investment advisor and financial planner at his Glendale office. But
on the weekends, he unleashes his creative side as lead guitarist and
vocalist with his band Stunt Road.
Joining him in the group are Mark Watson, bass guitar and vocals;
Luke Theule on keyboards and vocals; and Dave Nelson on drums and
percussion.
“We are a classic rock band, playing sounds of the late ‘60s and
early ‘70s and some ‘70s and ‘80s,” he said. “The bands most
integrated into our set list are the Beatles and the Doors but we
have quite a few beyond that.”
The band plays material of more than 100 different artists and
plays a lot of different events from night clubs to charitable
events. Most recently, the band played at Glendale’s Holy Family’s
Midsummer Night’s Cuisine fund-raiser.
“I’m active in Kiwanis Club of Glendale and during the club’s
holiday gala, we auctioned off two performances by the band as a
prize in the live auction,” he said. “We don’t turn down charity
events. That goes beyond playing to satisfy our artistic needs by
also putting something back into the community.”
But Stunt Road is getting paid when it performs at the ninth
annual Glendale Cruise Night from 5:30 to 10:30 tonight on Brand
Boulevard in Glendale. The free event is between Broadway and Doran.
There will be 400 classic cars on display.
Performing on the main stage, at Brand and Wilson, are The
Nelsons, Matthew and Gunnar, who will present a special musical
tribute to their dad, Ricky Nelson, at 9 p.m. The band Slacktone
begins at 5:30 followed The Cadillac Angels at 7. On the second
stage, at Brand and Lexington, are Stunt Road at 5:45 p.m. La
Bluescasters at 7:15 and Penn and Lane at 8:45.
Roth has appeared at Cruise Night with the band for the last four
years but the members have changed. Stunt Road has quite a
significant local following, he said.
“We are opening the evening,” he said. “We hope to get the
audience really excited so they have a great time. We have been able
to do that in the past.”
The best part about performing with the band, Roth said, is it
gives balance to his life.
“As a business person and a father, this is my way of tapping my
creative side, different from what I do professionally,” he said. “I
get a lot of satisfaction out of helping other people in my business
but what my music does is it allows me to express myself creatively
and artistically.”
ROAD’ERS REVVING UP FOR CAR SHOW
The Road’ers car club will meet for its July Cruise-In from 6:30
to 9 tonight at Bob’s Big Boy, 1407 W. Glenoaks Blvd. in Glendale.
This is the one night a year the club gets to participate in
winning trophies, etc. There will be a dj, raffle and 50/50 drawing.
In addition, at least seven trophies will be awarded. This is a
family affair and entry is open to all classic, muscle, custom and
hot rod-type cars.
For more information, call Jim Thomas at 842-0325.
CHRIS BRUBECK IS GUEST AT POPS CONCERT
The Pasadena Pops Orchestra concert tonight at Descanso Gardens
features composers whose names begin with B -- Leonard Bernstein,
Johann Sebastian Bach, Beethoven and the Beatles. The gates open at
5:30 p.m. for picnicking and the concert begins at 7:30.
Guest artist Chris Brubeck, the son of famed musician Dave
Brubeck, will perform his and his father’s music with the Pops. Barry
Socher, concertmaster of the Pops, will perform the first movement of
the Barber violin concerto.
Tickets are available only for Section C at $19 and can be
purchased at the gates the day of the concert. For information and
tickets for the benefit concert starring John Tesh on Aug. 3, call
the Pops office at (626) 792-7677. Descanso Gardens is at 1418
Descanso Drive in La Canada Flintridge.
FREE SCREENING OF ‘A BUG’S LIFE’
A free family movie night featuring “A Bug’s Life” is scheduled
tonight in the parking lot of the First Lutheran Church of Burbank.
Gates open at 7:30 p.m., and all ages are welcome. Guests should
bring their own chair or blanket as seating is on the ground only.
The church is at 1001 S. Glenoaks Blvd. In Burbank. For more
information, call 848-7432.
MUSIC OF THE BEATLES AT STARLIGHT BOWL
The Fab Four, performing the music of The Beatles, will take the
stage Sunday at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank. Ron McNeil portrays
John Lennon, Ardy Sarraf plays Paul McCartney, Michael George Amador
is George Harrison and Rolo Sandoval portrays Ringo Starr.
The concert begins at 6:30 p.m. and gates open at 5:30 p.m. for
picnicking. Tickets are $5, $3 children ages 4 to 12 and seniors 60
and older. Parking is $2. The Starlight Bowl is at 1249 Lockheed View
Drive, Burbank. For more information, call 525-3721.
FREE CONCERT IN THE PARK
The Foothill Community Concert Band will perform at a free concert
from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday when the city of La Canada Flintridge
continues its 2002 Music-in-the-Park Concert Series at Memorial Park.
Listeners are invited to bring a picnic basket, blankets, lawn
chairs and join family and friends for some country music.
On Aug. 4, Instant Replay, a reggae group, will perform. The park
is at 1301 Foothill Blvd. in La Canada Flintridge. For more
information, call 790-8880.
MUSIC PLAYED UNDER THE OAKS AT DESCANSO
Descanso Gardens’ free Under the Oaks concerts, titled “Six
Continent World Music Tour,” begin at 2 p.m. each Sunday. The
audience can savor the sounds in the tree-shaded comfort of the newly
renovated Under the Oaks Theater. This week, Asha’s Baba,
representing Africa, is scheduled.
The final event in the series, Stephen Day’s East Indian music,
representing Asia, is on July 28.
Descanso Gardens is at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Canada Flintridge.
The gardens are open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily except Christmas
Day. Parking is free. Admission fees are $5 for adults; $3 for
seniors and students; $1 for children 5 to 12, and free for members
and children 5 and younger. For information, call 949-4200 or visit
www.DescansoGardens.org.
ART EXHIBITS
WATERCOLOR ARTIST EXHIBITS AT DESCANSO
An exhibit of works by Patricia A. Wiley of La Crescenta and
Kendra Page of Glendale continues this weekend at Descanso Gardens
Art Gallery.
Wiley’s “Expression From the Heart in Watercolor” features
watercolor paintings by the artist who has shown at La Canada
Flintridge Library, San Gabriel Fine Arts Gallery, Whites Gallery and
whose art hangs in numerous homes and establishments throughout Los
Angeles. She has studied the art of porcelain painting and has worked
on fabric like silk. But for the most part, she has studied florals,
landscape and still life in the mediums of oil and watercolor.
“First Impressions” showcases recent oil paintings by Page, a
30-year Glendale resident, who returned to art a few years ago after
a career in business. She focuses on California landscapes, exploring
all areas of her adopted state, from the golden summer hills along
the coast to the foothills in our local mountains to Catalina Island.
The displays continue through Aug. 1.
Descanso Gardens is at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Canada Flintridge.
The gardens are open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily except Christmas
Day. Parking is free. Admission fees are $5 for adults, $3 for
seniors and youths 13 to 18, $1 for children 5 to 12 and free for
members and children 5 and younger. For more information, call
949-4200.
EXHIBIT IS ON ‘SUMMER EXCURSIONS’
Five painters are featured in the new exhibit, “Summer
Excursions,” continuing through Aug. 10 at Whites Gallery in
Montrose.
The exhibit features the international landscape paintings in oil
of Elisabeth and Bill Johns, the regional and state landscape oil
paintings of California Art Club member Catherine Hill of Glendale,
the soft pastel paintings of the California coast by Bruce Trentham
and the photo-surrealistic acrylics of Romy Muirhead.
The gallery is at 2414 Honolulu Ave., Montrose.
THEATER ARTS
‘ONE TOE IN THE GRAVE’ AT CENTRE THEATRE
“One Toe in the Grave,” a comedy by Jack Sharkey, is in its
opening weekend at Glendale Centre Theatre.
The play is about an executive who, in order to save his job,
fakes a marriage claiming his “wife” is seriously ill. But things get
out of hand when his boss arrives with a cure.
Tickets range from $14 to $16 and student and senior rates are
available. Performances are at 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays
with a 3 p.m. matinee on Saturdays, through Aug. 24. There is a
special Thursday matinee on Aug. 8. For reservations, call 244-8481
from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The theater is at 324
N. Orange St. in Glendale.
‘PINOCCHIO’ OPENS THIS WEEKEND
A new musical version of the classic children’s fairy tale,
“Pinocchio,” opens today at Glendale Centre Theatre.
Show time is 11 a.m. every Saturday through Nov. 16. For tickets, $8 to $10, call 244-8481 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through
Saturday. The theater is at 324 N. Orange St. in Glendale.
PLAY ON PARENTING AT BRAND PARK
The age-old dilemma of how parents should relate to teenagers is
the subject of the Roman comedy “The Brothers” by Terence being
produced by the Action Reaction Theater Company in its second annual
free series at Brand Park. The final performance is at 7:30 tonight.
The play was written by Terence who was brought to Rome as a
slave, eventually freed, and became a noted playwright. For the Brand
Park production, Christopher Pearson, a Glendale obstetrician and
gynecologist, wrote the current translation.
His wife, Kathy Pearson, is producer of the Glendale Summer
Theater Project for the company and also appears in the play as the
elderly widow Sostrata who lives next door.
Directing this production is Michael Holmes. The play is performed
in front of the Doctors’ House Museum. The Glendale Historical
Society will provide refreshments for sale at intermission as a
fund-raiser for the society.
To make preferred seating reservations or for more information,
call 786-1045.
MUSEUMS
THE DOCTORS’ HOUSE FEATURES GLENDALE HISTORY
The Doctors’ House, tucked inside Brand Park in Glendale, is a
Victorian home in Queen Anne Eastlake-style open to the public from 2
to 4 p.m. Sundays. Built in the 1880s by real-estate entrepreneur
E.T. Byram, the house has been restored. Brand Park is at 1601 W.
Mountain St., Glendale.
If you have press releases for the 48 Hours column, please call
JOYCE RUDOLPH at 637-3241 or e-mail joyce.rudolph@latimes.com or fax
them to 241-1975.