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Yo Joe!
Apr 23, 2022 10:36:00 GMT -5
Post by codystarbuck on Apr 23, 2022 10:36:00 GMT -5
ps If you need any more encouragement, check out the great Harry Morgan, in the film...
He plays a major, from G2 (Army Intelligence) sent to assess the situation, after a spotter plane sees a brawl, set off by Dick Shawn's character. He is taken prisoner by the American GIs (who had swapped uniforms with the Italians, during a drunken poker game) and put in a storeroom. meanwhile, there are a pair of inept would-be bank robbers (including the always terrific Vito Scotti) who dig the wrong direction and emerge in the major's cell. He ends up down in the catacombs, beneath the city and slowly goes mad, as he tries to find his way out. It gets wilder and wilder as he goes along.
Eventually, the Germans send in troops and the Americans and Italians are forced to work together to defeat them, with the catacombs figuring into things. Really fun movie that isn't as well known as Operation Petticoat, Edwards' other WW2 comedy.
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Yo Joe!
Apr 27, 2022 8:51:20 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2022 8:51:20 GMT -5
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Yo Joe!
May 14, 2022 5:52:43 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on May 14, 2022 5:52:43 GMT -5
Interesting question from a Twitter user:
What do you think?
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Yo Joe!
May 14, 2022 12:33:32 GMT -5
Post by Dizzy D on May 14, 2022 12:33:32 GMT -5
Nostalgia will get at least some years out of it. There have been some good comics recently and I think the core concept still holds up (team of specialists from various branches that form a super elite team. A concept that has been used a lot in other properties as well.) Cobra as a villain will also hold up, the exact form may change with the times, but like HYDRA, there will always be those that are disatisfied and fall for fascism/terrorism etc.
G.I. Joe as a vehicle for toys sales.. don't know how much future is in that. From what I've heard, like comics, most of the new toys are marketed solely to collectors.
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Yo Joe!
May 14, 2022 13:22:16 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on May 14, 2022 13:22:16 GMT -5
I didn’t read every reply to that thread, but one person mentioned that the military connotations could be problematic to some (or words to that effect). Well, I don’t see how they can escape it. I don’t have a problem with it, and have actually been less enthusiastic about the franchise embracing its fantastical elements (I have a love/hate relationship with Serpentor).
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Yo Joe!
May 14, 2022 18:55:45 GMT -5
Post by codystarbuck on May 14, 2022 18:55:45 GMT -5
There is a future, if they adapt to the times. The doll line was introduced in 1964, an era where there were all kinds of WW2 movies and tv series, when the military still had respect and a whole generation of fathers had mostly served in one of the armed services, in WW2 or Korea or just the peacetime draft. Vietnam isn't a hot potato, yet. The dolls sold huge numbers; because it gave young boys something familiar, which stimulated their imagination, then gave them accessories to make it bigger and keep them coming back, until they out grew it. That worked fine until the end of the decade. then, you have anti-war protests, the war isn't going so well, soldiers are being treated poorly when they return home, etc and sales of the dolls and war toys drop (though not as much as you would think). They reconfigure GI Joe as an adventure hero, with the GI Joe Adventure Team. Now, he digs up mummies in Egypt, or searches the jungle for lost treasure, or rescues people in danger. The military connotation is de-emphasized; but, adventure and action are still the center of things. Then, in the Reagan 80s, with the largest peacetime army in US history, they launch new toys, with a whole line of toys and figures, rather than the big dolls, with accessories. part of that was the success of Star Wars, which was done like that to hold down costs. It's easier to make an X-Wing that seats a 3 inch figure, for an affordable price, than for a 10 or 12 inch figure. Hasbro does the same for the Joes. Now, they make them a whole team of specialists, ala the new Delta Force, fighting terrorists. Really, they were a military SHIELD, fighting a different HYDRA (or UNCLE and THRUSH, if you go back further, or Bond and SPECTRE, etc). So, you can emphasize or de-emphasize aspects based on current events; but, there will always be a market for adventure and action toys for young boys and even young girls, if they made more female figures and parents didn't conform to gender stereotypes when buying toys for their kids.
You could easily turn GI Joe into something like Space Force (minus the self-serving publicity), where they are defending the Earth from an invading alien race or G-Force, guarding the planet from Godzilla or other monsters or even a glorified version of the Thunderbirds.
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Yo Joe!
May 15, 2022 10:12:38 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on May 15, 2022 10:12:38 GMT -5
One of the comments stated that the UK’s Action Man can avoid/escape military connotations (or words to that effect) while G.I. Joe cannot.
I have respect for the military. If I have any criticisms of certain conflicts, my criticism is with the politicians who initiated the war and signed it off. I have no issue with the men and women who serve - and who certainly do not choose where they serve. So on that basis, I don’t have any issue with G.I. Joe.
My desire for the G.I. Joe of the future is for it to have fewer fantastical elements. To be honest, Serpentor is cool (wish I had a figure) and looks good. But if they rebooted the franchise, in any media, I’d prefer a less fantastical origin for him, just like I preferred the more modest origin of Cobra Commander as opposed to all of that Cobra-La stuff. Let Serpentor be John Smith, a disgruntled cab driver who became Cobra’s Emperor (okay, not that exact origin!).
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Yo Joe!
May 15, 2022 12:37:03 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on May 15, 2022 12:37:03 GMT -5
I think codystarbuck and Dizzy D covered a lot of good history and perspective on this. As I think about even the context of my own childhood, I was getting my earliest toys right after the Vietnam war ended in the 70's. My dad was a Nam vet and I'll just say I think saw everything for what it was (patriotic as he most certainly was for his country), but also without hesitation would buy little green Army men for me. He grew up with his little Army men as well, and it was sort of a separate thing for him, he still enjoyed classic war films and military history despite his own experiences with an unpopular war. I think it was maybe Christmas of '81 I got a Navarone mountain playset (WWII military playset for those little Army men). And then of course shortly thereafter would come the 80's Joes toyline and cartoon. So at least back then, I think military unpopularity in the late 60's and 70's did not yield a big shift away from inspired toylines shortly thereafter. But on the modern side of things, I don't know that purely as toys, action figures/playsets are nearly now what they were to kids back in the day, or at least as a major vehicle for introducing kids to certain franchises. I feel like if there was a successful G.I. Joe MMO or something similarly gaming related, that would have a stronger generational resonance potentially. They could do a new cartoon as well, but I feel like this is always so difficult with aging franchises...never classic enough to appeal to older fans, never fresh enough for newer fans. I suspect there's enough of a retro legacy with the Joes it will have some steam for awhile overall, but it may be a slow burn over the coming years as Gen X spending eventually tapers down.
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Yo Joe!
May 15, 2022 17:49:24 GMT -5
Post by commond on May 15, 2022 17:49:24 GMT -5
Serpentor did lead to one of the best arcs in the comic book, the Cobra Civil War. Hama was quick to kill him off too. Personally, I think the military aspect of G.J. Joe is wildly overstated. As soon as they introduced ninjas, shapeshifters, mad scientists, etc., it was basically non-powered superheroes.
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Yo Joe!
May 19, 2022 5:29:28 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on May 19, 2022 5:29:28 GMT -5
On sale 30 years ago today, featuring cover art by Andrew Wildman:
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