This catalog page from the Canadian Simpsons department store may not have much in the way of GI Joe content, but it more than makes up for it by including a group shot of some of my favorite 70s toy baddies. Imagine a world where Bionic Bigfoot, Stretch Monster, Terron and Darkon joined forces! It’s a 70s supergroup of bad
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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
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This spread from the 1976 JC Penney Christmas catalog is chock full of mid-70s action figure goodness. The final Joes before the advent of Super Joe (including Bullet Man and the Intruders) are offered alongside Big Jim’s foray into the world of super adventure. It was a year of transition, to be sure. Just a while later, a galaxy far,
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The Adventure Team morphed into the The realm of super heros when folks like Eagle Eye Joe and Bullet Man joined up. The caveman-like Intruders made up Joe’s first real nemesis in his history. The 1976 JC Penney Christmas catalog featured not only GI Joe, but his also-ran adventuring competitor Big Jim, who has also embraced a more comic book
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How can you make the Pulverizer look cool? How about sticking it in a nice diorama environment and publishing it in a seldom seen international catalog? Sounds about right to me. While it doesn’t measure up to the ludicrous brilliance of the Cobra Rat, the vehicle nevertheless piques my interest for its uniqueness.* And hey–Scoop gets some exposure as well.
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Super Joe wasn’t long for the world as the follow-up to the Adventure Team. He did however make it into that most treasured of tomes for kids, the Sears Wishbook. The main line figures are featured on this page, along with playsets (including the rare White Shark Hunt). Joining Joe are some other interesting toy lines of the time, including
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In the 90s, I was back into collecting toys, and buying all the latest issues of Tomart’s and Lee’s to check out the latest releases. Both frequently published bits of Toy Fair catalogs each season. I’m amazed that I missed the fact Kenner re-purposed the Firebat for its VR Troopers toy line. Then again, I wasn’t exactly impressed by yet
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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
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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
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