1991 GI Joe Product Catalog: Part 1
It’s been a while since I’ve taken a few days to cover a GI Joe product catalog. While the previous versions I’ve looked at have come from the 80s, I wanted to focus on how the cross-sell material was presented later in the life of the Real American Hero line. 1991 didn’t look too bad, although we will begin to see where the presentation starts to decline in terms of really showing off the product. There are still some nice figures and vehicles from this year, however.
Let’s start things off with the cover. If you’re familiar with the DIC cartoon, you’ll recognize the layout here, with the General front and center, along with the Locust, Hammer, Retaliator, Avalanche, Sky Patrol Sky Hawk and Mobile Battle Bunker. These of course are all 1990 vehicles, and featured heavily in the first DIC season. At first, I thought the vehicle line art at the bottom was taken from the intro of the animation, but a closer look reveals that it is simply the front views taken from the vehicles’ respective blueprints. Also, the three vehicles at the top appear to be adapted into line art from product photography. Take a look at the poses of the figures. Interesting.
I don’t quite know what to count as the first page, so I’ll hit the odd one first. Role play gear just doesn’t seem to get much attention from collectors, and that’s a shame. When I was a kid, I had quite a few Star Wars role play items. I didn’t get much in the way of GI Joe, but I’m sure if there had been an ’85 Snake Eyes mask, wrist arrow, sword and uzi set, I would have been all over it. Of course, the next year would see the release of a 1991 Snake Eyes set. I want one! Anyway, the Duke set looks interesting enough, although the brightly colored pistol reflect more the beginnings of the era of safe toy guns era than neon-colored GI Joe weapons. Also on this page, we get a teaser of Electronic Survivor Shot. Was this thing ever released? The lack of a real photo of the item brings me to an issue that will crop up more and more in the 90s catalogs–how can you cross-sell a toy that you can’t even show? It’s such a disappointment after years of seeing shots (even if they were often mock-ups) of the new product.
Wow, this was a positive start, huh? Well, things aren’t all bad. We’ll pick it up tomorrow with a look at the figure pages. Stay tuned!
When I started re-collecting in the mid 1990’s, I was desperate to find product catalogs as there were no guides available and the internet was too new. I got the catalogs from 1992 through 1994, but none earlier. I got this one when I bought a boxed Hammer in ’98 or so. Was interesting to see all the items as I didn’t spend much time on vehicles in those days.
”Right after 1987, the Hasbro G. I. Joe action figure/vehicle lines, started to get a little stale/boring. Everything looked too unrealistic/ just remake of early original action figures/ vehicles(Tiger Force, Python Patrol, Sky Patrol, Sgt. Slaughter’s Marauders),etc..”- The 1990’s action figures/vehicles for both G.I.Joe/Cobra looked just too lame for everyone’s taste/opinions.”
The General is always massive and cool!!!
Ah, the shift to needing safe toy guns really marks a point in social development of the time. The Electronic Survivor Shot (awkward name!) sounds like it might’ve been a laser tag/photon-type toy, which Hasbro made originally in 1987. The cover of the catalog is nice, but nothing like the photo & brush art laden presentations before.
After having beautiful original catalog art from 82-88, then the Crusader art in 89, then just a logo in 90, I thought it couldn’t get worse. I stood corrected when I saw the cover of this catalog 🙂
Cost cutting all around!
I have all the catalogs from 82 to about 87.I love all the paper ancillary items with relation to Joe:catalogs,inserts,exclusive posters, GI Joe the Magazine, steel brigade paperwork,Starduster mini- comics ……..
Now I know what those things in the front of the treads of the Avalanche in the picture are. Those are the plastic wheels that are attached onto the treads, so the toy can be rolled on a table, or on a non carpeted floor. No wonder those things always looked so weird to me when I used to look at the front of this catalog back in those days. Thank you for finding that out. Also if you look at the Hammer, the Humvee looking vehicle, you’ll notice something too. In the picture the Hammer looks about the right size that a vehicle like that one would look like parked next to a real life Avalanche tank. But in the actual toys the size, or the scale, of the Hammer is almost the same size as the Avalanche. And why is the Locust dropping two missiles on the General? Or was it aiming for the G.I. Joe logo.
The survivor shot was indeed released but not under the GI Joe banner, it was released as a separate product called simply “survivor shot”. It was a neon green gun with a wire coming from the bottom of the handle and connecting to a head set. The head set had a red siren looking sensor at the top of it that acted as the target. When ever it was hit it would light up and vibrate on your head. The gun also had rapid fire, 3 shot burst and single shot functionality. I know so much about this toy because my friends and I all had them. We got them because we were a roving band of shoplifters and stole them from either Best or Consumers I don’t quite remember.