Defiant at Toys R Us!
Well, here are two things you won’t see again. A giant playset and a toy store. Adieu, TRU!
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Defiant in 1987 Toys R Us Ad
The Defiant is one of the great trinity of ultra-mega-huge GI Joe vehicles/playsets alongside the Flagg and Terrordrome. To say the toy is large is an understatement. I had mine displayed in a room for a time, and it is a behemoth. Unfortunately, I stepped on the front section of the crawler and snapped off a corner. Yeah, not good.
Read moreChristmas Catalog Miscellany
I remember this time of year as a kid being filled with excitement and possibility. Fall meant a return to school, as well as the arrival of a new round of Christmas catalogs. In the days before collectors’ magazines and the internet, they were the best source from which to get a sampling of the year’s top toy lines. The
Read moreDuke Hustles Marvel Comics in 1985
Hey kids! Duke says you can subscribe to Marvel comics at last year's prices! Sweet, now I can renew my Rom sub! Comic house ads are always interesting to check out, particularly when you can see that titles available back when. I'm trying to pin down the artist on this ad. Frank Springer was the penciler at the time, and
Read moreGet Ready for Action and Adventure
I’ve been re-reading some of the comics from my younger days lately thanks to the miracle of comic scans. The fact that anything I want to read is at my fingertips is quite amazing. More amazing are the discoveries of advertisements within the pages. Some I can recall vividly, and others seem new to me. This GI Joe ad was
Read moreCobra is Looking for a Few Bad Men
I remember this ad for the GI Joe video game running in Marvel comics, with a Joe version on a facing page featuring Hawk. The game doesn’t quite live up to the promise of the epic battle between the two factions, though it is unique in allowing you to play against one another. Cobra Commander looks a bit more fierce
Read moreSuper Joe in the Sears Wishbook
Super Joe just doesn’t get enough attention in my opinion. I find its designs and sci-fi aspects interesting and colorful. The differently colored uniform variations bring to mind the original Trek outfits, and I dig the unique 70s sci-fi vibe, all the way down to the funky package art. SJ appeared in a few Christmas catalog entries during its short
Read moreRough, Rugged & Ready for Action at Woolco
Woolco, Venture, TG&Y and Dolgins were department stores that I remember from my youth, and we’ll never see the likes of them again. But the ads of days gone by linger on. Check out this selection of early Real American Hero era Joes from a Woolco circular. I’ll take them all, and throw in the Bigfoot trucks, too! By the
Read moreNight Raven Art
The Night Raven was such an impressive toy, it really didn’t need an amazing piece of box art to help sell it. The clean painting is even more striking. Here’s hoping Hasbro sees fit to supporting the release of great toy art like this. It’s fantastic to see the fans take the initiative when it comes to this sort of
Read moreHear This! Read This!
Ya gotta love the days of comic book ads. Heck, ya gotta love the days of comic books–well, when they were made for kids. But enough of me being a grumpy old man, check out this ginchy Joe ad from 1966. The season was set for a blitz of Christmas season ads, and again the GI Joe club was front
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