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The Toys That Made Us - Netflix documentary series
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Started by 01TheDude,

83 posts in this topic

comix4fun

comix4fun

Posted
Posted
56 minutes ago, Max Carnage said:

I was only into Star Wars and Six Million Dollar Man toys.  I assume that was because I was born in 1970.  Anyone my age who was into He-Man or GI Joe ?

Yeah, 1970 would have been prime time for He-Man....11 years old. 

I was born in '71 and I loved SMDM, Shogun Warriors, Planet of the apes, Star Wars, and He-Man hit it big right before Return of the Jedi came out. I was far too invested (meaning my parents wouldn't support another toy line) in Star Wars to get into He-man, but the kids in my class loved those figures. 

GI Joe and transformers were '84-85....high school, girls, and the death of all toy collecting until existential ennui kicked in. 

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ComicConnoisseur

ComicConnoisseur

Posted
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1 hour ago, Max Carnage said:

I was only into Star Wars and Six Million Dollar Man toys.  I assume that was because I was born in 1970.  Anyone my age who was into He-Man or GI Joe ?

For me Gi Joe,Transformers and Nintendo. 

Ages 6-10 I guess. 

I also remember playing Lazer Tag as well back then. 

Plus lots and lots of baseball cards and comic books. 

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Max Carnage

Max Carnage

Posted
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2 hours ago, comix4fun said:

Yeah, 1970 would have been prime time for He-Man....11 years old. 

I was born in '71 and I loved SMDM, Shogun Warriors, Planet of the apes, Star Wars, and He-Man hit it big right before Return of the Jedi came out. I was far too invested (meaning my parents wouldn't support another toy line) in Star Wars to get into He-man, but the kids in my class loved those figures. 

GI Joe and transformers were '84-85....high school, girls, and the death of all toy collecting until existential ennui kicked in. 

I thought He-man was '83 so at 13 I was a teenager and too big for toys ;)

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comix4fun

comix4fun

Posted
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23 minutes ago, Max Carnage said:

I thought He-man was '83 so at 13 I was a teenager and too big for toys ;)

Yeah '82 for the toys, '83 for the TV show. 

12-13 was the breakpoint age for most. 

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rjrjr

rjrjr

Posted
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2 hours ago, Max Carnage said:

I thought He-man was '83 so at 13 I was a teenager and too big for toys ;)

I was born in 1969 and thus too old for He-Man.  I did watch it on television after school, but was not interested in the toys.

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

Posted
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17 hours ago, Max Carnage said:

I was only into Star Wars and Six Million Dollar Man toys.  I assume that was because I was born in 1970.  Anyone my age who was into He-Man or GI Joe ?

I was born March 1971 and collected the GI Joe smaller figures that started in 1982.  Buying the first issue of that comic was a huge part of what got me started with Marvel after having mostly read Richie Rich before that.

 

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comicwiz

comicwiz

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Posted (edited)
27 minutes ago, fantastic_four said:

I was born March 1971 and collected the GI Joe smaller figures that started in 1982.  Buying the first issue of that comic was a huge part of what got me started with Marvel after having mostly read Richie Rich before that.

 

I was born the same year. I was a first generation Italian Canadian kid who grew up in a predominantly "new immigrant" area of Toronto. My Dad took us to watch Star Wars, but it wasn't something that instantly connected me to the merchandise - it was more influenced by cereal promotions (Ad Pac Star Wars stickers), comic ads, and movie trading cards. Once I saw the Star Wars toys for the first time in the Consumers Distributing catalog, I began to see them in their true (or near true form anyway, if the photograph used early concepts or prototypes) rather than the line art form in the comic ads. Getting my first set (the Creature Cantina with Yoda Special Offer set) and the four Cantina figures is what opened the floodgates of my pursuit as a kid to collect them all, as well as collecting them later in my life for nostalgic reasons. Looking back, the Marvel comic series and ads certainly played a part, but back then it was the SW trading cards that allowed you to rewatch the movie through a series of photographic stills. I've always felt that a lot of the marketing behind Star Wars was an extension of what the trading cards did, and it never really felt like any of it was forced. It felt more like the time you'd wait between each issue of your favourite comic title. That anticipation, I found anyway, to have been diluted in later years by Hasbro when they started doing all the animated series and comics around the toy lines. Eventually everyone began upping their strategy, and that influenced Kenner to do the same with ESB and ROTJ, but there was a time (at least in my early childhood years) where there was a certain magic in collecting all the merchandise, because it allowed you to rewatch, reexperience or reimagine Star Wars. And my regular comic titles picked up where Star Wars left off. The weekly animated series for lines like Gi Joe or He-Man never had the same magical feeling.

Edited by comicwiz
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comicwiz

comicwiz

Posted
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4 hours ago, Chip Cataldo said:

I still can't believe you just scored that multi-pack. I'm sooooo jealous. Insane piece. Sometimes I look at pics of it just to cheer myself up. Lol. 

Thanks Chip, you're too kind. ESB holds a very special place for me in terms of my childhood. I don't remember the exact reason, it might have been because I acted-up or my Mom's overprotective nature, but one of the older kids on the street I grew up with took a bunch of my street buddies to watch it, and I had to sit it out. I was severely bummed to say the least. Eventually it meant using the ESB trading cards and toys from the ESB wave combined with a knack of guilting my Mom about not letting me go watch the movie, to imagine my own version of the movie with toys until I finally got to watch it on TV.  Of course, by the time that happened, I had acquired a significant amount of the figures and a handful of the ESB vehicles. I would later watch it again on VHS when I was older, but I developed a greater fondness for the ESB wave because of these early experiences. The ESB 7-pack has always been something of a goal and nostalgic piece growing-up in Canada, and our exposure to some of the coolest and unique sets.

 

7-pack_office.jpg

Edited by comicwiz
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ComicConnoisseur

ComicConnoisseur

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On 1/1/2018 at 6:25 PM, comix4fun said:

Yeah '82 for the toys, '83 for the TV show. 

12-13 was the breakpoint age for most. 

Yes, than at 12-13 most of us transitioned to the rock n roll stage. :headbang:

That rock stage lasted about until 16 were we all wanted our own cars.

 

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ADAMANTIUM

ADAMANTIUM

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Posted (edited)

Well finally got around to watching G.I. Joe.... A little depressing, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I was born in '81 and was really too young for Star Wars, He-man, or Joe, but I always thought that they were cool. I had a couple of turtles, but I think when I quit playing with them, the parents sold them off for future Christmas/Birthday gifts such as video games.

 

Edited by ADAMANTIUM
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Max Carnage

Max Carnage

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

Well finally got around to watching G.I. Joe.... A little depressing, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I was born in '81 and was really too old for Star Wars, He-man, or Joe, but I always thought that they were cool. I had a couple of turtles, but I think when I quit playing with them, the parents sold them off for future Christmas/Birthday gifts such as video games.

 

At the ripe old age of 1.

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