Phil's G.I. Joe Page


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Wednesday, September 08, 2004
 
Lately I've been getting back into my Star Wars collection. Those $10 vintage packaged toys now at retail really reminded me of just how cool the old, original action figures really were. Sure, a lot of details were lacking, and the likenesses left something to be desired, but the packaging still looks amazing, and the telescoping lightsaber feature still rocks.

Now, if you know me, you'll know I have a Star Wars collection that rivals the size of my G.I. Joe one. These two lines alone probably take up half my room space. But I've been looking at my Star Wars toys, and I've noticed something. A lot of these toys I no longer really like. See, when the toys came back in 1995, someone at Kenner (or Hasbro, as they owned it by now), decided it would be a cool idea to give each character a body pumped full of steroids. The bulky look worked back in '95, as they were the first Star Wars figures in 10 years, but now that smarter heads have prevailed and most figures these days try to be as movie accurate as possible, the mid-'90s figures just look out of place. So out of place that Hasbro (who now has complete control of the line), has issued resculpted, more accurate figures of just about every steroid-pumped character.

Of course, at the time it really didn't matter to Hasbro. Star Wars toys have been a perpetual fast seller since they reintroduced the line. It really was the fans who managed to change the direction of the likenesses. Strangely, though, I don't feel this way about the old 78-85 line. These guys look way off the mark yet somehow they're still cool, and I still want them.

So what's my point? It's that I've tried to control my spending so that I've got enough figures that I only need to buy toys that really attract me. And the vintage carded figures really do. So much so that I may use them as my default figures for these characters. Of course, I've got so many now that it really doesn't matter, but whatever. But I am getting perilously close to deciding on getting one of every original figure. And that's a slippery slope of high prices and numerous figures. And I really don't have that kind of money right now.

posted by Phillip at 10:21 AM 0 comments
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