The 1991 international catalog is a great source of the kind of diorama setups that the US pack-in catalogs had moved away from. There’s something compelling about these toys in a simulated environment. There’s an artistry that’s missing from straight studio shots against plain backgrounds. For me, the dio catalogs evoke memories of Toho kaiju films, with their painstakingly detailed
Read more
By KansasBrawler As a kid, I tended to avoid remakes of figures I already had if my original figure was still in good condition. I got my vintage Storm Shadow v2 probably in 1989 and never looked back. I think had my vintage Tiger Force Flint for probably just as long. Truthfully, the only figure I can recall purposefully updating
Read more
It’s rare that I feature a figure from my collection who’s incomplete. Sad to say, since I started the blog, my disposable income has diminished, and there are some figures and vehicles I probably won’t be able to complete. Such is the case with Cloudburst, one of the fantastically colored and interestingly accessorized Air Commandos. So right off the bat,
Read more
If you peruse the Christmas catalogs of the early to mid 80s, you’ll get a good picture of the extent of the GI Joe brand’s popularity at the time. Unfortunately, Joe’s golden years were fading in the eyes of catalog distributors as the 90s rolled around. Check out this page from JC Penney’s 1991 book. GI Joe is represented by
Read more
I often wonder why Hasbro didn’t take more opportunities to throw in bad puns with code names. I know the obvious thought goes to Sgt. Slaughter, but that’s not a proper pun, just a colorful alliteration. No, I’m talking about putting some thought of relationship into the character’s rank and surname. This is the kind of stuff you begin to
Read more
We at the final stretch of the 1991 catalog, and this page is all about Joe vehicles. The three new features rides are instantly recognizable as 1990s efforts. Not only does each one incorporate some form of brightly colored plastic, but each also features a firing weapon. I can remember looking at the early 80s packaging and taking note of
Read more
I realize that I promised another big Joe vehicle for this part of the catalog coverage, but I thought I’d change it up and go with the pages covering Cobra rides and other smaller price point (and flying!) items. First off, I have to admit that the backgrounds in this catalog are very well done. The Ice Sabre is moving
Read moreMore figures! And the first taste of vehicles! Are you excited? I am, because I’m not afraid to say that the Eco Warriors make me smile. Not in a funny way, but in a fun toy way. The kind of fun you can get when you squirt your toys with water. I took my Joes in the tub as a
Read more
Okay, so the bland cover hawking DIC’s animated series and a page of 1991 role play items (one of which wasn’t even pictured) didn’t seem to inspire much confidence in where this catalog was heading. At least the figure pages will give us some shots of all the newest characters, right? Well, some of them. Only nine of the new
Read more
It’s been a while since I’ve taken a few days to cover a GI Joe product catalog. While the previous versions I’ve looked at have come from the 80s, I wanted to focus on how the cross-sell material was presented later in the life of the Real American Hero line. 1991 didn’t look too bad, although we will begin to
Read more