1991 GI Joe Product Catalog: Part 4

I realize that I promised another big Joe vehicle for this part of the catalog coverage, but I thought I’d change it up and go with the pages covering Cobra rides and other smaller price point (and flying!) items.

First off, I have to admit that the backgrounds in this catalog are very well done. The Ice Sabre is moving across a pretty convincing snowscape. There’s even a bit of the powdery stuff on the vehicle’s front skis. In the Air Commandos shot, we’ve got an epic mountainous backdrop that really shows off the altitude at which these gliders are supposed to be, well, gliding. Cool stuff. The Sabre and Paralyzer get nice little clean background inset shots showing off their play features. Looking at these two types of photo shoots, I’d love to see some high-resolution or unedited versions of them. I’ve seen auctions for the box product shots on eBay, so somebody out there must have something to share from the catalogs as well.

The most disappointing aspect of these pages is the lack of clear shots of the glider and copter pilots. Only Skymate gets a decent episode; the rest are obscured by their gliders. I guess we know what Hasbro thought was the most important selling point. It’s a good thing the figure designers gave it their all. The Air Commandos specifically included some wonderful newly designed figures, and alsothe Battle Copters’ Interrogator is one of the coolest of all the 90s Cobras.

Okay, so I’m certain this time that we’ll cover the Joe vehicles in the next part, and wrap it all up. Check it out, after tomorrow’s usual KansasBrawler feature, of course.