Book Review: The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe 1982-1994

It was a real treat to be asked to review the second edition of Mark Bellomo’s amazing visual chronology: The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe 1982-1994. My own childhood Joe collection only goes up to around 1987’s series IV but it was a passionate and memorable 5 years! Straight-armed Rock ’N Roll started it all. Thereafter, I clearly recall having a paper route which garnered me about $10 a week. And each week I’d go to Child’s World in Wayne, N.J. and buy three G.I. Joe figures. Good times. But this blog isn’t about me, its about a book that brings back those cherished memories.

The Fab Four

Whereas humans have been intrigued by crazy creatures for millennia, the phenomenon dubbed The Mos Eisley Invasion can be pinpointed to the late 1970’s. It was then that a band of four aliens hit the streets and forever became the most popular and recognizable creatures in the world of pop culture. Cantinamania was here. Instantly recognizable: Walrusman Lennon, Hammerhead Harrison, Snaggletooth McCartney, and Greedo Starr have come to symbolize our facination with the weird and kooky. Stormtroopers and Droids and Ewoks and Bounty Hunters were all cool in their own right, but the representatives from that Cantina capture a special slice of nostalgia.

Looking Back: Mattel’s Clash of the Titans

Mattel produced a few 3 3/4" scale, 5 POA action figure lines in the late 70’s / early 80’s. This scale and articulation mimicked the dominant Kenner Star Wars line and helped cement this as the default, iconic, and preferred style of action figure for many enthusiasts of that generation, myself included. The unfortunately short lived Clash of the Titans action figure series is representative. This movie line was created to correspond with the film released in 1981. The film was a success. Seems the toys were not.

Where the Wild Things Are Now

So I kinda lost my McFarlane Where the Wild Things Are figures in a little custody battle. That set of toys represents my favorite McFarlane product to date. The property was a fantastic choice and they hit it out of the park with the sculpts. I can’t think of another collection that brings me as much joy just to sit and stare at. And, unlike many other toy lines that eventually get taken out of the display rotation, the Wild Things stay put. Well, things got kinda shaken up for me this year and not the least grievous thing to happen was hearing this at the end of a particular conversation: “I want the Wild Things.”

My First Convention

I can feel it in the air, San Diego Comicon 2010 is closing in. There is no denying that SDCC has become the king of cons and it generates its own special kind of excitement and anticipation. But SDCC’s proximity and another recent event in my life got me thinking about the very first comic book convention I ever attended. One where I actually went for the comics!

Phoenix Comicon 2010

For the first time in its proud history, the Phoenix Comicon was held in Phoenix this year. Previously, our local con had been held at venues in surrounding cities like Glendale and Mesa. Well, we’ve finally arrived. No disrespect to past locations but holding Phoenix Con at the beautiful and impressive Phoenix Convention Center was a big deal. Everybody said the same thing: it actually felt like a convention this year! I was only able to attend Thursday’s "Preview Night" and Friday’s session. But even that abbreviated attendance provided a good geek fix!

Iconica

I met Eric Torres a few years ago at our local Phoenix Comic Con. He had a table set up with product featuring some of the most visually arresting imagery I’ve seen. It stopped me in my tracks. So I went over and asked excitedly: "What is all this stuff!?" Turns out, Eric is a graphic designer who is using his immense talent to create, through words and illustrations, a fantasy world called Rynaga. This pet project of his has already spawned a really cool book and a super-sweet card game called Iconica. This past week Eric invited me to an Iconica game night. He said there’d be treats.

Marvel Movies Recap

I’m not a movie snob nor am I Comic Book Guy. So I’m a little hesitant to blog about comic based movies. What I am is hyped over my recent viewing of Iron Man 2. One of the (not-so-immersed-in-geek-culture) friends I went with texted me earlier in the day to say they were reading reviews and, “did I know that Marvel wants to connect all its hero franchises?” They were referring to news regarding the talent and story lines of the recent and upcoming Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor movies being brought together for the eventual Avengers movie. This is, of course, very exciting. Especially if Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth can bring to life their alter egos: Steve Rogers and Thor respectively, the way Robert Downey Jr. nailed Tony Stark and Ed Norton portrayed Bruce Banner. Lots of potential there. Anyway, I wanted to spend a little time recapping all of Marvel Comic’s movie endeavors to date. So here goes . . . 

Have You Ever Called it Quits?

All the hub bub over the Masters of the Universe Classics Moss Man a couple weeks ago got me reminiscing about the vintage Moss Man. An original series figure I did not get. Oh, I remember quite vividly seeing him hanging on the pegs at the County Variety 5 & 10 in Kinnelon, NJ. I remember staring at him longingly and at length and on multiple occasions. So why the heck didn’t I get him? Because I had decided I had to quit buying action figures. Of course, I had some help making that decision!

A Fool and His Money are Soon Parted

Arizona Doll & Toy Museum

So, I’ve fallen off the ’ol AFi radar for a while. Not by choice, mind you, but just thanks to life getting in the way. This is an action figure blog and not a therapy session so I will spare those of you kind enough to be reading this the details. Suffice it to say I’ve been engaged in swell activities like packing up my entire collection and moving it to a studio apartment! Anyhoo, I was exploring my newish environs here in downtown Phoenix today and stumbled on a couple geek culture related spectacles. Forgive this dull attempt to ease back into the blogosphere…

The Bazooka Wormhole

||  dΣ ~ S2 ||  Ω ~ R x Σ  || This past weekend I was confounded by a rift I discovered in my personal spacetime continuum. My learned AFi colleague, xrmc20, helped me to define the law of physics that has been responsible for diverting countless hours from the lives of geek-populi. Its definition can be explained best by recounting the circumstances responsible for its unique appellation . . .

Super Powerful Ad

A couple years ago the graphic design studio where I work, Esser Design, launched a self-marketing campaign that conceptually conveyed the message: Stand out from the crowd. We aimed to illustrate the theme through a series of images that portrayed a grouping of items wherein one from the group stood out. The images are simple and are only accompanied by our tag line: “Make your mark.” We liked the first series of images so last year we did a second series. A couple months ago we needed to design an ad for the Phoenix Business Journal’s Book of Lists and we decided to do one more.

Still Evolving

Last year we began an anthropological study focused on the evolutionary changes visible within the species parumplasticus populus (little plastic people). Over the last several months I undertook to reexamine the fossil record. The findings range from predictable to surprising. Whereas today’s parumplasticus populus is more sophisticated in many ways, its ancestors maintain the genetic “nostalgic variation” advantage.

Christmas Past

Recently I wrote a blog about the old AD&D toy line. In the post I included a 25 year old Christmas photo that showed some of those toys under the tree. It got me thinking about how many cherished childhood playthings I actually received all those momentous December 25ths. We didn’t grow up in the lap of luxury and Mom didn’t often buy us toys on random occasions. How familiar the refrain: "Wait until Christmas!" Mom held true to her word and never once disappointed!