Archives

Toy Questions Part 2: Super Joe

Another recurring contributor to my mail bag is Super Joe, I get email from folks from time to time that say: “I had this 8 inch tall Micronaut, he lit up, who was he?”- His name is Luminous and he’s part of Hasbro’s short lived GI Joe revamp called Super Joe. Luminous is clear like […]

Paint By Numbers Coolness

While a paint by numbers kit alone isn’t that exciting to kids, Hasbro amped up the cool with the licensing. I’d have trouble deciding today what to choose let alone as a five year old. I’d probably go with Star Trek but the idea of painting Aquaman is really tempting….

G.I. Joe Action Team Catalog

G.I. Joe in Europe experienced a massive change in 1975, when the ladies came over! That’s right, German adventurers Hard Rock, Tom Stom and John Steel were now joined by Super Peggy and Super Sandy. There was no kitchen playset in the action team, these women were full fledged adventurers! Other surprises this year included […]

G.I. Joe Real American Hero 1982 Catalog

I know it’s technically not a 70s toy but it is related, plus these figures came out when I was eleven and had the distinction of being the last toys I bought to play with. In fact, on my twelfth birthday my mom made me a G.I. Joe cake (as I’ve explained before, she was […]

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 […]

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 […]

The Undead Wobble but Refuse to Fall Down

One of the reasons I think Weebles remained popular for so long was their choice of subject matter. I mean, Weebles had horror and Superheroes, things Fisher Price never touched and pretty much all I think about during the day, save for sandwiches and well, you know…

Weebles!

Popped up some scans from the Weebles section of the 1975 Hasbro Catalog this evening. Although I never had them (my parents were firmly in the Fisher Price camp), I sincerely envied those who did. Check it out here in the 1975 Weebles Catalog

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 […]