WEBVTT - Selects: A Partial History of Action Figures 0:00:01.240 --> 0:00:03.440 Hey everyone, it's Josh and for this week's s Y 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:07.280 s K Selects, I've chosen a partial history of Action Figures, 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:10.640 our episode from November two thousand sixteen, and it is 0:00:10.680 --> 0:00:14.080 a really, really in depth look at action figures. I mean, 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:17.360 we talked about different types of plastic molding for goodness sake, 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:22.040 but it's also chuck full with nostalgia and good feelings 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:25.080 and lots of warm memories between me and Chuck about 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:28.600 our childhood's playing with action figures. So I hope you 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:36.680 enjoy it. We certainly did, so you should too. Welcome 0:00:36.800 --> 0:00:45.960 to Stuff you should know, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey, 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:48.600 and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, and there's 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:52.479 Charles W. Chuck Bryant. Jerry's right there to my immediate right, 0:00:52.760 --> 0:00:55.880 and that makes this stuff you should know, the podcast, 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:01.440 the podcasts. That's right. I'm excited it about this particular 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:05.440 podcast Chuck put together this episode. I should say, well, 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:07.560 do you want to go ahead and announce the title 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:12.039 for the people that maybe didn't read it, it is, uh, well, 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:14.840 you you're going to select the title. It's the title. 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:18.520 Oh geez, I don't know, um everything you ever wanted 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:23.040 to know about. Actually some stuff about action figures that 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:26.880 you may already know, and some stuff that made the 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:30.400 light you well that's a working title. Huh yeah. Yeah, 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:33.280 but we're talking about action figures. That's the point of 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:36.080 of what I think that exercise just was. Yeah, I 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:38.480 was gonna say everything you wanted to know, but this, 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:40.759 I mean, we could do there. I'm sure there are 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:45.400 entire podcasts on action figures, for sure. And if you do, 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:47.600 if you have a podcast on action figures right in, 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:50.240 let us know, we'll we'll tweet it out for the 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:54.160 people whose boat this floated. This this one definitely follows 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:57.840 in the vein of um the Barbie episode, which I 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:00.760 have to say is one of my par Neil favorites. 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:04.440 I love the Barbie episode. Yeah, and Barbie actually makes 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:06.920 an appearance in this one. Do you like to play 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:10.720 with dolls? Uh? I like to play with action figures. 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:13.560 I played with barbies. I had older sisters, so like 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:15.840 I was, I played with Barbie's whether I wanted to 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:18.160 or not, So I made the most of it. But 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:22.880 I don't remember my sister having Barbies, but surely she did, right. Yeah, 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:26.680 she was a girl in America from the sixties on. Yes, 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:28.920 she had a Barbie. Oh no, my sister grew up 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:32.040 in the Soviet Union. Oh well, there you go. She 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:37.120 had um Martina. There probably wasn't Martina. But I mean 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:39.200 that was a pretty good episode. And this one's kind 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:41.799 of similar. It's it's got it all and like I said, 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:44.200 Barbie kind of pops up in the beginning. She actually 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:51.400 inspired action figures um like basically directly when when Mattel 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:56.240 I think it was Ruth Handler who invented the Barbie doll, right, yes, 0:02:56.880 --> 0:03:00.280 and when she when she and Mattel released it. It 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:03.360 was just a huge, enormous hit. And one of the 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:06.840 big reasons Barbie was number one such a hit and 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:10.119 number two so appealing to toy companies was that when 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:13.360 you bought a Barbie, you're buying experience wasn't over. There 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:16.960 were always like more clothes and shoes, and like my 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:19.120 sister had the pool that you could hang out with 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:21.639 and it had like a shower that actually worked. There's 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:24.200 just a ton of extra stuff to buy, and so 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:26.720 when you bought a Barbie, you wanted all the other 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:30.400 stuff too, and toy companies wanted to figure out how 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:33.800 to do that with boys toys, but they just couldn't 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:35.520 quite figure it out because no one had ever come 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:38.680 up with a doll for boys. And that's kind of 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:40.960 what it required, was coming up with a doll for boys, 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:45.320 and no one had cracked that nut. But Barbie made 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:48.240 the whole thing all the more appealing. I guess. Yeah. Finally, 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:52.640 this dude name Stan Weston who actually knew Miss Handler 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:57.800 and uh, he was in the toy racket, and um, 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:00.800 I guess I shouldn't call it a racket. It's a 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:02.600 bit of a recket. It's a bit of a recket. 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:04.880 So he said, like you were talking about, like, you know, 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:07.480 there's tons of money to be made here. Uh. He 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:11.480 was a military history buff and so he had this, 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:13.480 you know, the light bulb went off over his head, 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:15.600 and he says, what if we could come up with 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:21.080 a soldier doll, or perhaps even a series of soldier dolls? Uh, 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:24.760 and maybe not call them dolls. Actually he didn't, he 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:27.719 didn't come up with the name. To be fair. His 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:33.480 boss at Hasbro VP Don Levine or Levine. Uh. In 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:37.039 nineteen sixty three, he was pitched this idea and he 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:38.960 went nuts over it. And he's the one that said 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:41.560 maybe we should call them action figures, right, yeah. Stan 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:46.200 Weston approached um uh uh yeah, Don Levine at like 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:48.320 that toy fair and said, I got a great idea, 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:52.040 and apparently he gave him a hundred thousand dollars just 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:55.080 for the idea, and then he he since he worked 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:56.960 with Hasbro, He's like, guys, I've I've got a good 0:04:57.000 --> 0:05:01.280 idea here. So that roughly translates into about seven hundred 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:05.640 and eighty two thousand dollars in today money, which is 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:09.719 good though for an idea. But of course, anytime you're 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:12.240 the schmuck that comes up with the idea that you 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:15.680 sell for even seven hundred and eighty two grand and 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:19.080 it goes on to be like hundreds of millions of 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:22.200 dollar business, you probably always kind of feel like I 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:24.839 got taken for a ride a little bit. I'm sure 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:27.719 Stan Weston was like, I'll have millions of good ideas 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:30.000 like these that I can sell for seven hundred and 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:33.599 eighty thousand dollars a piece. I'm sure he may have. Yeah, 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:37.000 I don't know. It's certainly not one like G I Joe. Right, Well, 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:39.400 that's what we've been talking about. We've talked about G 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:42.240 I Joe a lot on this show, so, uh, it 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:45.839 feels appropriate that we sort of go down that rabbit hole. 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:48.920 We're gonna be talking about action figures. Well, so, well, yeah, 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:51.799 because G I Joe is the one that started, literally 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:56.040 started the action figure craze. Every action figure that's out there, 0:05:56.080 --> 0:06:01.719 from like um Action Jesus to uh to the Marvel 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:05.479 Superhero Action figures to every action figure came from G 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:08.680 I Joe. And if you want to get feminist about it, 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:13.040 every action figure, including G I Joe, ultimately came from Barbie. Yeah, 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:15.680 it's a good way to look at it. So, uh, 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:19.000 all right, here's the deal that I never knew. G 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:23.640 I Joe uh debuted in nine before Christmas. It's almost 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:26.640 as if they had planned that. Uh the original. I 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.599 knew all this stuff. The original was twelve inches and 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:32.120 had twenty one moving parts. And the thing I did 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:36.480 not know was that G I Joe was the collective 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:41.839 name of all four of these Armed Forces dolls. You 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:44.520 didn't know that. I thought the guy was Joe. No, 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:48.080 the the for my era, the guy, the main guy 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:51.960 was Duke, and for your era, the main guy was Rocky. Well, 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:54.720 it depends on which one you had. Okay, so that 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:58.320 was that was Rocky was the Army and the Marines. 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:05.040 Skip Skip was the Navy guy, and Ace was the 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:08.400 Air Force guy, the fighter pilot. Right, So they they 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:13.680 ran out of names after name three, circle back to Rocky. 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:16.320 They ran out of names. And they all were identical 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:19.760 except for their clothing. Yeah, as far as I know, right, didn't. 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:23.960 Wasn't their head different? Was the same? Was it the 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:26.480 same face for each one? It was literally just their 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:29.120 clothes were different. You know, I don't know. I'm going 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:31.280 for my own memory, which is that they were all 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:35.520 the same dude, and they were all Franco Harris. Well, well, no, 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:37.880 well they came up with an African American when at 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:40.640 one point in the sixties I think, yeah, yeah, they 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:44.720 changed with the times. But to my recollection, those original dudes, 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:47.280 and maybe I got in on the second wave. Maybe 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:51.680 the original sixties ones were different, but I only knew 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:55.400 Franco Harris, I got you, So maybe I just had Rocky. 0:07:55.680 --> 0:08:02.280 Maybe so Rocky or Rocky which one? Yeah, Rocky not Rocky. 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:06.600 So um, they come out with this this toy and 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:09.920 it's the first one of the big differences with G I. 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:12.760 Joe because there were toy soldiers before. But did you 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:15.200 ever have those like little plastic ones, a little plastic 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:17.760 green men. You dump them out of the bucket and 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:20.320 one had a bazooka and he was always the best one. 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:23.480 And but but they were on like little molded plastic 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:26.680 stands and you couldn't do anything with him except slide 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:30.080 them around or whatever does have been around forever. Well, 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:31.400 you could do a lot more with him if you 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:34.520 had imagination and uh, a lighter and a can of 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:38.839 hair spray. Actually was delighted. It was toy Story right 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:42.439 where they had those those guys come to life. Right. Uh, 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:45.320 that was like really really cool to me when I 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:48.000 saw that on screen. Uh, these because you know, like 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:49.800 you said, you can never move them, so you see 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:52.760 those little dudes actually come to life was pretty pretty awesome. 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:56.760 You were like, yeah, I've been dreaming of this day. 0:08:56.880 --> 0:09:01.080 I kinda was thank you. Dream Works. That's where they 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:04.240 got the name. Was it dream Works or was that Pixar? 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:07.280 Is Pixar right, Probably got it wrong. That's all right, 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:11.000 it's a Pixar. We're still going to get emails anyway, 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:13.840 even though we just corrected. They're they're all working dreams, 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:19.920 So Um, I read this great article called geez what 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:22.520 was it called? Uh, Now now you know the history 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:24.800 of G I Joe and knowing it as half the 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:29.719 battle from Smithsonian dot com written by Jimmy stamp was 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:35.360 that his name the Stamper, the Stampster. So UM, I 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:41.880 didn't realize this, But you can't. You can't copyright a figure, 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:44.760 like a human figure. So that was sort of an 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:47.880 issue when people started to do knockoffs of G I Joe. 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:51.280 But apparently early on in the process, G I Joe 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:54.840 was well known for that scar on his face and 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:57.199 I didn't even know this. He had an inverted thumbnail. 0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:00.320 And both of these were because of errors in p auction. 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:04.040 But those flaws were what allowed them to go after 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:09.560 people for copyright infringement. That's right, that's crazy. Yeah it is, UM, 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:12.520 And yeah, I guess they were. They were natural, like 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:14.800 they didn't plan them or anything like that, but they 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:19.360 just were happy accidents, I guess. Um. And actually over 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:21.960 it also elsewhere chuck that UM G I Joe was 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:26.040 so successful as we'll see that by the seventies, UM, 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:29.520 there were so many knockoffs that Hasbro released its own 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:32.240 line of knockoffs of cheaply made G I Joes to 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:35.600 compete with the knockoffs and and dilute their market share. Yeah, 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:38.240 it was called Defenders, and they were just these really 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:42.360 cheaply made versions of the big G I Joes. Well, 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:44.800 it was a huge hit though. Um it says here 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:49.160 that they accounted for almost sixty six percent of Hasbro's 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:53.400 profits in that's insane, That is nuts. And that was 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:55.800 the year it came out right yeah, like right out 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:58.120 of the gate. It was a really big deal. And 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:00.280 again one of the reasons why it was because you 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:03.400 had toy soldiers before, but this guy could move. He 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:07.800 had I think like or twenty nine moving parts, um 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:11.040 or different parts, and he was articulated so he could 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:13.760 lift up his hand in karate chop you. Although he 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:17.160 didn't get the kung fu grip until the mid seventies. Yeah, 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:19.920 that's where I came in. Okay, so he had kung 0:11:20.000 --> 0:11:22.920 fu grip when you knew G I Joe, Uh, yeah, 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:26.880 very much, gotcha. It was so kung fu right, but 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:29.000 he still looked like Frank o' harris, but he still 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:31.960 looked like regulars. Yes. And then the other big innovation 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:34.080 was the was not an innovation at all. It was 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:36.760 following the Barbie model, but for boys it was it 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:40.199 was that this this doll, which no one called the doll. 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.640 In fact, um, I believe Hasbro wouldn't do business with 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:46.480 you if you were going to call it a doll. 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:48.920 As a retailer, they would just be like, well, you 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:51.360 don't get any g I Jos. This is an action figure. 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:54.600 But on the package itself. And I don't know if 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:57.200 you remember this or not. Um I don't because I 0:11:57.240 --> 0:12:00.959 wasn't born yet. But there were pictures of the other 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:04.360 dudes and the other outfits you could get. So when 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:06.760 you bought one g I Joe, you as a kid 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:10.040 were made immediately aware, whoa, whoa, whoa, there's other g 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:13.160 I Joes out there, and I wanted to collect them all. 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:16.160 Some little kid came up with that collect them all 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:19.520 phrase just in his little brain. Yeah, some little kid 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:24.480 named middle age marketing executive Don Levine. So not only that, 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:26.200 but they had, you know, like Barbie, they had all 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:30.320 manner of um other things that you could collect them by. Um. 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:34.000 I had the had the jet pack, which um you 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:37.800 would attach to a string to simulate jet packing and 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:42.120 send flying like between two trees. Uh. And then I 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:46.800 had the uh, the submarine. It was like a sea wolf. 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:49.520 It was really cool. How big was the submarine? If 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:51.920 you're playing with twelve inch g I Joe's it was 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:55.920 um to take up the size of like the family room. Well, 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:57.760 this is not gonna mean anything that anyone at home, 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:01.400 but it's about the size of this lamp on our desk. Oh. 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:03.559 So it was like a one man sub Yeah, I 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:06.280 feel like it was. I can't remember exactly I feel 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:09.400 I feel like it was about the size of us. Um, 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:12.760 a little smaller than a bowling ball. How's that like 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:15.280 a child's bowling ball. Yeah, because he had to sit 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:16.600 in it, you're right. And he was a big dude, 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:18.560 even though you would you know, in a set of position, 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:21.400 he was smaller. Uh. And then I had the uh 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:25.920 six wheel or eight wheel, I can't remember all terrain vehicle. 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:30.000 Well that's nice, and that's about all that we were. Uh, 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:32.480 that's about all we could afford. That's but that was 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:35.400 probably quite an outlay from your parents. It was great. 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:38.440 And that was over time, you know, right, several Christmas 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:40.840 is right? Yeah, And this was, like I said, I 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:44.040 came in on the seventies. But um. In the sixties, 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:47.240 they actually, uh G I Joe did not do very 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:50.400 well because of the Vietnam War. Um, and it was 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:53.320 actually kind of I think it was actually went away 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:56.200 from production for a while. Yeah, it did. They just 0:13:56.320 --> 0:14:01.000 they basically retired, and I think the Vietnam War hurt sales, 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:03.240 so they took him out a little bit, and then 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:07.600 they re released him again, um, and kind of rebranded him, 0:14:07.640 --> 0:14:11.080 I think too, as rather rather than a soldier, they 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:14.880 rebranded him as an adventurer. Right, so this machete is 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:18.600 not for cutting off the hands of U Srpa who 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:22.480 leads us into danger. It's for um, you know, cutting 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:26.520 through vegetation and on a jungle adventure to save sherpas 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:29.920 who were for some reason live in the jungle. Now. Yeah, 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:32.200 and they, like you said, they called him adventurer or 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:36.920 the naval officer was called an aqua nat And I 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:40.360 very much remember that being the deal. Like, I didn't 0:14:40.400 --> 0:14:42.600 think of him as a soldier. I thought of him 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:45.480 as you know, well, I thought his name was Joe 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:47.600 because I guess it was a dumb little kid. But 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:51.360 I guess Rocky the g I Joe adventure guy right 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.680 slash Franco Harris right, and G I Joe. Actually, I 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:59.280 was taken from a movie called the Story of G 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:03.000 I Joe. That's where that came from. Did you ever 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:08.880 see that? No? No No, have you? No? Okay, I'm just curious, 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:13.000 So chuck, G I Joe is Uh, he starts to 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:15.360 do kind of poorly because of Vietnam. They take him out, 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:19.240 they re release him, um, and he doesn't do very 0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:21.080 well when they bring him back out, even though he's 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:25.160 an adventure right. Um, So G I Joe left. They 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:27.400 stopped making G I Joe's for a while, and it 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:30.960 created It left this big vacuum that was just waiting 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:33.400 to be filled, and it was filled by a little 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:36.000 company named me Go. And we'll talk about me Go 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:39.800 after this break. How about that sounds good? As watch 0:15:41.640 --> 0:16:01.920 skuld know all right? Is it mego or mego? I've 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:04.400 been saying mego in my head just because I'm a 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:07.280 dumb American. No, well, I think mego is probably how 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:10.320 they say it in the UK. Was that where it 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:14.760 came from? No, they're American. I say mego to be honest, 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:17.280 I have no idea. I'm sure there is a right 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:20.160 way that Tommy Mego would love to tell you about 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:24.440 but or Tommy mego. But yeah, I I've said I've 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:27.040 said mego in my head, but I don't know which 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:28.800 one is correct to tell you the truth. All right, 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:32.920 well we'll just proceed Fussie, I'll say mego, you say mego. 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:37.200 Let's just call the whole thing off, So go ahead 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:42.480 with me go. So so, um g I Joe is gone. 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:46.320 But again this was you said. It accounted for like 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:50.000 six it hasbro sales just in the first year, and 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:52.680 he was a hit year after year after year for 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:55.960 many years. Right, um, And even when they brought him back, 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:58.440 sales were terrible compared to the initial stuff, but they 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:02.560 were still making money off of them. Um. So this first, 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:05.960 the world's first action figure made a huge impact. And 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:08.840 when the world's first action figure wasn't around anymore, well, 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:11.520 there was a void that was to be filled. And 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:16.119 this company called meg decided, and I think one or 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:18.879 nineteen seventy two, that a pretty good place to start 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:22.080 would be releasing a line of action figures that were 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:26.320 based on superheroes. And they released, um, a line of 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:32.240 superheroes called the World's Greatest Superheroes Action Figures, and I 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:35.360 think nineteen seventy two, and it was a pretty big hit, 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:38.000 like right off the bat. Yeah. And what they did 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:40.879 was they were super smart and kind of had a 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:44.440 lot of vision and said, I think where it's at 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:48.200 is not necessarily creating characters from whole cloth that kids 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:52.920 don't know of, but licensing very famous characters and selling them. 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:56.280 So they got a hold of licenses for uh, Spider 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:59.000 Man and the Hulk and Batman and Wonder Woman and 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:02.080 Iron Man and Cap in America. Yeah, and not just yeah, 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:05.080 if you'll notice that's DC and Marvel characters in the 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:07.639 same line, Like that's unheard of today. They did not 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:11.840 discriminate back, you know they did. It was a wonderful time. Uh. 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:15.080 And not only that, but they said, you know, we're 0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:18.359 making money hand over fist selling these action figures. Um, 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:22.200 what if do you think kids would actually buy villains 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:25.080 like the Joker? And do you think they would buy 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:29.880 side characters like Robin and Bat Girl and other villains 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:32.000 like the Riddler and things like the Batmobile and the 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:34.920 Batcave play set. And before you knew it, they were 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:40.760 pumping out things like, uh, Bruce Wayne's Foundation building. I 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:43.159 know that was the real thing or what was The 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:46.439 other weird one the store, Oh they had they had 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:51.000 an exclusive with the Montgomery Reward store, so it wasn't 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:53.840 like it wasn't a store, but at the at Montgomery 0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:58.520 Ward only, Oh, you could buy the non superhero versions 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:03.200 of superheroes like Peter Parker and Bruce Wayne, which is like, 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:07.000 all right, you sit there in your cubicle and that's 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:09.359 what you do. Well, the rest of us are saving 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:11.439 the world. That's what you do with that action figure. 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:13.199 All right, that makes much more sense. I thought they 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:15.640 had a Montgomery Ward play set. That's what I thought 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:18.359 at first. Two like Bruce Wayne worked there or something, 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:20.480 which of course he didn't even work. I don't know 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:23.840 what I'm thinking. So this gave orders. They were making 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:27.320 tons and tons of money. Um. In nineteen seventy three 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:31.040 they moved into movies with their Planet of the Apes line, 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:36.119 which was some plastic primates, and then the Astronaut that 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:39.280 was taller and that was a huge hit. Yeah. And 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:42.440 the other thing about me Goo to Um was that 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:45.800 all action figures have been like twelve inch twelve inches 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:49.439 tall up to that point, and Migo's line was eight inches, 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:51.960 So action figures are starting to shrink a little bit, now, 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:55.480 that's right. Uh. And the one uh, the one actually 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:59.200 had even though I have no idea why I had 0:19:59.240 --> 0:20:05.879 the Star trek Um Enterprise Bridge and then I guess man, 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:07.560 I know I had Spock and Kirk and a couple 0:20:07.600 --> 0:20:11.200 of others. But you know, I'm well known to not 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:14.399 have ever seen any Star Trek at all except for 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:18.280 maybe one movie or something, So I have no idea 0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:22.040 why I got that. I mean, if it was a 0:20:22.080 --> 0:20:25.920 cool action figure, had some weird I had a weird 0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:28.840 wizard action figure when I was a kid. But you're 0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:32.600 into weird wizards, you still are, well I am now 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:34.800 as a grown up. I wasn't as a kid. I 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:38.520 was like, what is this thing? Gotcha? Some weird wizard? Well, 0:20:38.560 --> 0:20:39.800 I don't know why I had it. But the Star 0:20:39.840 --> 0:20:42.879 Trek uh that their collection was that was another big hit. 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:47.239 So they were just they literally kind of uh I mean, 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:49.240 G I Joe and Barbie of course kind of spawned 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:52.520 this thing, but it seems like Mego really took it 0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:58.199 to another level. Yeah yeah, um, they kind of they 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:02.040 kind of. Yeah, action figures were cool and G I 0:21:02.119 --> 0:21:05.920 Joe had really started something, but Mi Goo um, yeah, 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:10.040 they just they established it forever, permanently, And they also 0:21:10.080 --> 0:21:14.280 showed other companies to like, hey, man, go get yourself 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:17.760 a license and stick to it, like get creative, like 0:21:17.800 --> 0:21:21.160 with the Star Trek license that they had. Clearly the 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:24.880 toy designers had actually watched Star Trek episodes because one 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:27.960 of the play sets was from Um, one of the 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:32.480 sets from an episode of Star Trek, the Apple episode. Um, 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:35.879 Like you don't necessarily see there. You didn't see that 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:39.399 before with action figures, it was more like, hey, you 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:42.160 you know this guy, just buy them. This is like 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:45.160 you're into Star Trek and so are we, and here 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:48.439 is some awesome play sets based on your love of 0:21:48.480 --> 0:21:51.560 Star Trek. So Migo definitely broke the mold in that 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:56.199 in that sense as well. Um. But they also like 0:21:56.240 --> 0:21:58.639 they were it for action figures, like nobody could compete 0:21:58.640 --> 0:22:01.560 with me Go. Um. They would buy stuff from Japan 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:04.720 and then turn them into new stuff here. Um, there 0:22:04.840 --> 0:22:06.920 was just no competing with me Go in the US, 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:10.480 even though a lot of people were. But they they 0:22:10.560 --> 0:22:13.800 also dropped the ball in the most spectacular fashion anyone 0:22:13.840 --> 0:22:17.600 could ever drop the ball in the action figure world. Yeah, 0:22:17.760 --> 0:22:22.320 like they it's almost it's almost an elegant end of 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:24.760 the story because it literally makes you cringe when you 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:26.800 read it. And there's two different versions, but both of 0:22:26.800 --> 0:22:29.240 them are like, oh man, yeah, I think there's really 0:22:29.240 --> 0:22:31.879 only one version. I literally could not find a single 0:22:31.960 --> 0:22:35.280 source other than this one guy's blog who claimed the 0:22:35.320 --> 0:22:38.320 other version. But um, what we're talking about and if 0:22:38.320 --> 0:22:41.119 you know action figures, you probably see this coming. Uh, 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:45.679 they declined the Star Wars brand and allowed Kenner to 0:22:45.680 --> 0:22:49.720 pick it up. Yes, so how though, which story is true? Well, 0:22:49.800 --> 0:22:53.280 the story that I think is true is that they 0:22:53.840 --> 0:22:56.199