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02-03-2023, 04:34 AM | #1 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Jul 2021
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 369
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Sure, we all remember (or have seen photos of) the endless aisles of Joe product at Toys R Us circa 1987, but do you all ever think about just how big this shit was back in the day?
I have clear memories of '84 joes hanging alongside the chewing gum and tabloids at grocery store check out lanes. In 1985 I bought my Crimson Guard figure at a local sporting goods store (they didn't even carry toys, but they had GI Joe figures). The mom and pop video rental place in our neighborhood (this was well before Blockbuster) had a poster for for the "Revenge of Cobra" mini-series on VHS hanging on its wall (until they took it down and gave it to me). Like, seriously, from '84 to '87ish, GI Joe was EVERYWHERE! It was bizarre. Moreover, it was the product of a wildly complex confluence of time and place and product that may never be recreated. Whenever I see people post about how Hasbro just doesn't know how to market their product or that the industry is too afraid of appearing pro-America or pro-military or some such bullshit, I think of just how anomalous ARAH's heyday was. There's just no recreating that moment in time.
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02-03-2023, 05:55 AM | #2 |
Dark Lord of the Mods
Join Date: Dec 2021
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 7,340
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It's like the Beatles in the 60s or Star Wars in 1977... unless you were physically there, you can't appreciate how big it was.
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"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum." YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5i...9tb4Exi6R8cnvA Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/lordmordred/?hl=en |
02-03-2023, 07:49 AM | #3 |
Cobra Sith Lord
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Surf City, CA
Posts: 9,596
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Yeah, it was definitely special. It was as big as SW toys were from '78 - '83. GI Joe pretty much took Star Wars' place as the #1 boy toy thereafter .
Back then they also had GI Joe everything too. You name it, my brother and I wanted it or had it - Joe toys, books, bedding, clothing, toothbrushes, school supplies, lunch boxes, bath products, cereal, cartoons, comic books, read alongs, candy, stowels. The list goes on!! I remember I had an inflatable raft with oars that was GI Joe. Took it in the pool and up to the lake all the time. Loved that thing! Going to Gemco or TRU or local toy stores was so special back then. I still remember where or when or how I got most of my childhood Joes back then.
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CLASSIFIED CHECKLIST https://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-j...checklist.html RATE YOUR FAVORITE CLASSIFIED FIGURES AND SEE HOW THEY RANK! https://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-j...nked-list.html |
02-03-2023, 08:31 AM | #4 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: May 2015
Location: CT
Posts: 2,052
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It's crazy the ARAH line lasted 14 years - a great feat. I can still recall going into K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Children's Palace, TRU etc and seeing whole sides of an aisle dedicated to o-ring joes from the late 80s to 1994. All my friends had Joes too...great time to be a kid.
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02-03-2023, 09:17 AM | #5 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Santa Rosa, CA
Posts: 1,162
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it was massively popular. I think in 1986 GIjoe was named best toy in America actually.
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Heres my feedback rating. Im SGT SLAUGHTER AT COBRAISLAND. http://www.cobraisland.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41 Feedback at Hisstank. http://www.hisstank.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6193 |
02-03-2023, 09:24 AM | #6 |
Cobra Trooper
Join Date: Nov 2020
Location: Cobra Island
Posts: 1,113
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Christmas at my house in 84, 85 & 86 was nothing but GI Joe! 3 years in a row dominating with a little Transformers, Voltron & Mask thrown in!
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02-03-2023, 09:56 AM | #7 |
CG Immortal Commander
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: New York
Posts: 19,275
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It really was incredible and awesome
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02-03-2023, 10:08 AM | #8 |
Customizer of 80s Toys
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: US
Posts: 1,740
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It was just the perfect storm. Reagan deregulated children's television programs so they could basically become 30 minute toy commercials, Hasbro under the leadership of people like Kirk Bozigian decided to bring G.I. Joe a dead property back to life in a new scale, the toys were something new and innovative and the pro-American atmosphere at the time and BOOM a runaway freight train of success. Made for a great childhood growing up in the 80s.
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https://www.instagram.com/sizemore77...actionfigures/ Check out Best of the 80s Custom Project http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...m-project.html All my non-80s customs thread https://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-j...s-customs.html |
02-03-2023, 10:18 AM | #9 |
Just a fan
Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: NY
Posts: 8,579
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He-Man, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, MASK, Batman, Ninja Turtles...on top of that the NES....oh, the sweet seduction of capitalism.
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02-03-2023, 10:24 AM | #10 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: north Dallas suburbs
Posts: 375
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Funny, I was just reminiscing the other day about the glory days of the late 70s/early 80s toy scene and how it will never be replicated.
It truly was an amazing time and I am glad I got to grow up in that era. The toys, the Marvel comics, the cartoons, the excitement of mail-aways, the shock of walking into the store in 1983 and seeing a new group of figures and vehicles...just an amazing phenomenon. Ha, can't tell you how many times Mom and I would go to a department store (Kmart, Gold Circle, Hills, Rink's, BEST, Sears, etc) and the second we walked in Mom would tell me she would be in clothing or housewares or whatever and I would break out in a dead sprint to the toy aisle in anticipation of finding the Joe or SW or MOTU figure I Was still missing. Great times man, great times.
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My feedback: http://www.hisstank.com/forum/buy-se...-feedback.html My vintage ARAH want list:http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...want-list.html Last edited by jmiller; 02-03-2023 at 10:34 AM.. |
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