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The Defenders :1975 Hasbro Catalog

So you’re Hasbro in 1975 and everybody is cutting into your G.I. Joe profits with dolls named “Mighty Gary”, “Fighting Yank” and “Mr Action”, what do you do? You rip them off of course! That’s exactly what Hasbro did in 1975 with “The Defenders” a fairly cheap blow molded doll (whose head would later be […]

There are 50 Adventures of G.I. Joe

And I want every single one of them! Argh! I’m not really a Joe collector but about once every 4 years, I go on this insane bender, where I purchase as much as I can find and afford. Eventually I came to my senses realising a) I’m broke and b) I have no room to […]

More Scenes from Toy Fair 1975

This is the Hasbro booth for 1975, that’s the suer awesome G.I Joe Skyhawk zooming over these gentleman’s heads. From left to right they are Jim Camilleri, Jack Kipperman and Merril Hassenfeld, the man who put the H in Hasbro. Neat! 1976 Hasbro G.I. Joe Catalog B. Goldberg and J. Romain are off the see […]

A celebration of the Intruders

In 1976, Hasbro decided to change the game for it’s G.I. Joe line, hoping to improve sales. So not only did Joe get a Superheroic sidekick in Bulletman but he also got his first bonafied enemy. Before then, Joe always seemed to fight a faceless foe or an angry animal. I guess you could count […]

1974 Children’s Palace Toy Circular

Children’s Palace is a well known Toy chain to anyone who grew up on the East Coast, these castle themed stores were eventually bought up by Child World in 1977 and ran until 1992 when they finally closed their doors, leaving many a 70s kid in mourning.This 1974 Toy circular shows a retailer in it’s […]

Adventure Team Wear

Ed sent me this wonderful ad from Brazil (where G.I. Joe is called Falcon)of a line of boys wear that features the classic G.I. Joe Adventure Team artwork. That “Danger of the Depths” shirt would have so been mine…..

The 1983 Simpson’s Toy Catalog

My toy buying ended in the early 80s (until I discovered flea markets) but I still used to keep an eye what was coming out. That’s why I loved finding this news paper circular from Simpsons, a now long gone Canadian department store chain.All the big names of the time are here Smurfs, He Man, […]

Bulletman Appreciation Day

It’s been a while since we honoured Hasbro’s Bulletman, that great attempt to make G.I. Joe a little more superheroic that sadly failed. The big B is often maligned unfairly by Joe collectors, particularly the military ones but for many of us 70s kids, he was an incredibly fun toy. This is Bullet Man as […]

Team Up With Little Big Man!

In the 1970’s, toy maker extraordinaire Pailtoy brought the popular Spanish toy “MadelMan” to the UK renaming him “Little Big Man” in an effort to offer a lower price point alternative to their popular Action Man line of toys. Thought small in stature, this six inch character had a tall amount of adventures to choose […]

Men of Action for 1975

G.I. Joe meets the Six Million Dollar Man, that’s a cross over that happened more than once in my house. This page comes from Simpsons, a long gone Canadian retailer.Speaking of cross overs, you can see the other side to this beautiful double page spread (which features Big Jim and Mego) at the Megomuseum. It’s […]