Toy links
Joe the mirror.
“Almost from his birth at the dawn of the Vietnam War, G.I. Joe was as much a symbol as a toy.”
Joe at war.
“And as tensions escalated in Vietnam, public opinion turned against all things military in nature …”
Anti-Joe.
“There were kids whose moms wouldn’t allow them to buy Joes … Their moms didn’t want military things around the house.”
Joe the adventurer.
“The 1969 Adventures of GI Joe series was shift by Hasbro away from the military themed sets towards a world of adventure. The basic uniforms, especially of the adventurers, still have a paramilitary flavor, but the accessory sets focus much more on civilian action.”
Joe the war profiteer.
“In fact, the biggest years for G.I. Joe were during the height of the Vietnam protest, from ’69 to ’73.” (See the Collectible Toys & Values scans.)
3DJoes.com.
“3DJoes is dedicated to preserving the sculpt and package art of G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero through interactive 360 photography and digital photo restoration.” (See also.)
On the artwork of the late Hector Garrido.
“As I get older and look back more and more to those times under the trees in my yard with my tons of Joe toys … I realise how much of an impact the art and design, especially the packaging art, has had on me as an artist.” (See also.)
Kirk Bozigian on the G.I. Joe File Cards.
“This was at a time when baseball cards were really hot, and I felt this was one of the easiest ways of telling kids who our characters were …” (See the Action Figure News And Toy Review scans.)
Packaging G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.
“Sorry to break it to you, but you have the Netherlands flag on your ‘American Hero’ box.” (YouTube, 06:12.)
Toy packaging online.
“… the decision to pick up a particular product and engage with it at retail is quite impulsive. … It’s clear that showing multiple views of a toy’s packaging within its online listing is key. Simply showing the front panel isn’t enough when there’s a level of complexity to the product’s attributes …” (Pages 94-95.)
Marty Pasko on writing for the Sunbow G.I. Joe cartoon.
“They literally gave you a sheet enumerating the product that had to be included in the show. It was a brilliant procedure from a marketing standpoint in the sense that they had very specific targets in mind as to when the individual episodes would be aired … with regard to product rollout.” (Part 2.)
Buzz Dixon interviewed.
“… we did a count and found out we had a whopping EIGHTY-SIX characters who appeared in two or more episodes, a number not matched until The Simpsons much later …”
Steve Gerber interviewed.
“… the requirements of a TV series and those of a toy line are sometimes very different. … imagine your reaction if one day you tuned in your favorite show, and all the characters you knew and loved were suddenly gone — with no explanation!”
Flint Dille interviewed.
“… each different medium should add something to the property or franchise that the other mediums don’t bring.” (Part 2. Part 3.)
Buzz Dixon interviewed.
“… toy sales and TV ratings did not coincide with one another. Sometimes the most popular toys had the best shows, but often a popular toy’s show would bomb and an unpopular toy would have a successful show (this was the case with Jem).”
Stan Lee on Toei’s tokusatsu Spider-Man.
“I liked the way they did it in a Japanese style. It wasn’t really like the American version. It had its own flavour — even the way he walked.”(YouTube, 09:46.)
Gene Pelc, Marvel’s man in Japan, interviewed.
“(Stan Lee) said that in all his experience of writing for people, if they could see (Sun Vulcan) in America on Saturday morning, it would wipe out anything because it’s full of action and very entertaining.” (See also.)
Haim Saban interviewed.
“I’m laying in bed in my hotel room in Japan. … just three channels playing game shows … All of the sudden there were these five kids in spandex fighting monsters. Don’t ask me why, but I fell in love. It was so campy!”
The woman who saved Power Rangers.
“Despite Super Sentai enduring in its native Japan, no one on Loesch’s side of the Pacific saw the potential.”
Saban sells, buys, sells Power Rangers.
“Over the years, the franchise has spawned more than 900 television episodes and billions of dollars in sales of toys and other merchandise.”