Inspired by the amazing newspaper toy ads that Phillip over at battlegrip.com regularly unearths, I thought I would do a little digging to locate a TV listing circa my favorite cartoon era. Getting more specific, I wondered if I could find a listing for the debut episode of GI Joe: A Real American Hero AKA the MASS Device mini-series. What
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So you don’t think the toy business can get nasty? Check out this Mattel trade ad from 1982. While Star Wars seems to be the most obvious target of the most powerful man in the universe, you can also spot a couple of straight-arm Joes in the mist, namely Scarlett and Flash. There’s also a figure from Sgt. Rock, and
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Whatever happened to Andy and George? The two friends, and members of the GI Joe club appeared in ads for the toys and club during the early years of Joe. I don’t think they made it into the Adventure Team era. The GI Joe figures in this ad look preternaturally realistic. They appear more like scaled-down humans than the toys
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I was perusing my hard drive for interesting GI Joe images when I came across this oldie from 2004. Remember when Hasbro’s weird press image style was a stark white background with accessories laid flat or superimposed among the figures? Well, at least it’s a more accurate representation of the toys than the weird satin Photoshop filter that’s used on
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We at the final stretch of the 1991 catalog, and this page is all about Joe vehicles. The three new features rides are instantly recognizable as 1990s efforts. Not only does each one incorporate some form of brightly colored plastic, but each also features a firing weapon. I can remember looking at the early 80s packaging and taking note of
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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
Read moreMore figures! And the first taste of vehicles! Are you excited? I am, because I’m not afraid to say that the Eco Warriors make me smile. Not in a funny way, but in a fun toy way. The kind of fun you can get when you squirt your toys with water. I took my Joes in the tub as a
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Okay, so the bland cover hawking DIC’s animated series and a page of 1991 role play items (one of which wasn’t even pictured) didn’t seem to inspire much confidence in where this catalog was heading. At least the figure pages will give us some shots of all the newest characters, right? Well, some of them. Only nine of the new
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Just thought I’d throw out a little bonus flashback coverage, since the real Toy Fair was a pretty sad experience for those expecting some Joe news out of Hasbro. But hey, there’s always some new product at Comic-con and JoeCon. For now, pretend for just one more day that you’re really pumped to see something new, like say…this. Pumped–get it?
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Our look back at 1993’s Toy Fair catalog continues with one of the flagship offerings of the year. Hasbro even gave it an amazing two-page spread to showcase it. The Ghoststriker certainly deserved the attention, and was an impressive jet for a late line release. It’s feature-laden yet maintains a nicely scaled silhouette. Of course, none of the Joe vehicles
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