The Power of Packaging: Takara Cardback
The Takara GI Joes of the 80s have always fascinated me, mostly because of the strikingly different package design. The explosion concept was changed into something a little more slick than its American counterpart. What I hadn’t seen back in the old days of Toy Shop and Tomart ads for these figures was the back of the card. What a cool and unique dio photo I was missing!
The setup is reminiscent of the 1983 catalog with its pebbly/rocky landscape that almost evokes the terrain of a model railroad layout. The scene is quite compelling, and I think sells the toys beautifully. It’s too bad that the line didn’t catch on in Japan. I wonder if Takara would have gone into sci-fi territory as it had with its previous licensing of the large scale Joes?
Speaking of which, the building in the upper left may look familiar to Microman collectors, as it appears to be a shot of the Microman Rescue Base. Very groovy, considering Microman’s link to GI Joe.
Rescue Base image via microforever.com
I wonder why no Storm Shadow? Was it because he was a Japanese “bad guy” & they didn’t want one of “their countrymen” displayed as the villain?
Awesome, more stuff I have never seen.
Snowjob and Torpedo look a bit out of place
After the super articulated and modular Microman line, 3 3/4″ GIJoe must’ve seemed a little basic. Fantastic cardback!
One of my great regrets is selling off my Takara Joes. For a long time, they were dirt cheap. Haven’t checked on them in a few years, though. They really were nicely done and the cardbacks were equally nice.
Great pose of Stalker!
That Microman base does look vaguely Terror Drome-ish.