Christmas Catalog Miscellany

I remember this time of year as a kid being filled with excitement and possibility. Fall meant a return to school, as well as the arrival of a new round of Christmas catalogs. In the days before collectors’ magazines and the internet, they were the best source from which to get a sampling of the year’s top toy lines. The catalogs were also a treasure trove of the miscellaneous licensed product that accompanied the most popular brands. Such was the case with GI Joe at the height of its 1980s popularity.

12 comments

  • I miss all the licensed merch. I would wear those PJs right now if they made them!

    • Are you talking about that thing that the kid in the photo is wearing? Are those pj’s? That thing reminds me of what Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Springer, and Arcee, were wearing in the 1986 season two episode of the Transformers called Only Human, after they get turned into synthoid humanoids. That’s the same episode that features Cobra Commander, the Old Snake.

      • Yeah, those are zip-up pajamas with feet. I guess they were a fad for a while and I wouldn’t be surprised if they still make them.

        • They were the bomb!!

        • Thank you very much for that information. I just don’t remember if I ever saw any of those pj’s in any store. Or even if I had one back then. There were a lot of things that I used to have back in those days, that today I don’t remember having. Or, somethings that I don’t remember, or even know their names.

  • Interesting ATARI 2600 game cover… definitely changed before production.

  • ”Too bad a science genius, hasn’t invented a Time Machine, like the one from the 1978 movie, and be able to move the planet Earth, Back in time to 1982, stop the flow of time right there, and then be able to relive the 1980’s all over again, with the Hasbro line being introduced back in 1982.-Totally Awesome!”

  • I recently got an old 1986 Service Merchandise catalog, has a nice Joe dio shot in it. And the Tyco JOE TRUCKING set in there.

  • The only thing pictured here that I would’ve been interested in as a kid is the train set.

  • That Cobra Battle Game is still fun. I’m not convinced the headsets in T are actually “GIJoe”, but just US-themed. And what do you bet the Communications Center in Y is AM-only?

  • Christmas catalog? But it’s not Christmas yet. Anyway, I’ll take the train set, the watch, and the video game. I don’t see a G.I. Joe logo on those headset walkie-talkies with the T next to them, though. The item next to the Y, it’s just way too cheap to be for real.

  • The headsets aren’t Joe items. It was very common for companies to put items that look like they could go with a popular toyline on the same page in the catalogs.

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