The Toys that Made Us

If anyone out there has Netflix, there’s a 4 episode series called The Toys That Made Us (each episode focuses on one particular subject: Star Wars, Barbie, He-Man, & GI Joe). “The minds behind history’s most iconic toy franchises discuss the rise — and sometimes fall — of their billion-dollar creations.” It’s from 2017. Could be interesting.

#tv #discussion

Thanks for the heads-up.

I'll probably watch an episode a night this week. As some of you may know, there's this golf tournament being played in Augusta this week and those of us who've been around for a while find it prudent to lay low and stay out of the "flow."

I keep hearing great things about it! I have a friend who's in it, so I'm more than a little curious. Really need to give it a watch. If any of you guys get to it, would love to hear what people think.

According to the shows goofy opening jingle this is supposedly an 8-part series. Since I’ve been off work, I had the time to get thru the 4 episodes they have so far. Pretty interesting. Each episode focuses both on the financial and creative process behind each of the toy lines. I had a lot of connection with the Star Wars episode. Less so with the He-Man and even some elements of the GI Joe episode. Barbie’s history was interesting, but also somewhat frustrating, thanks mostly to the idiots that started the whole “body” shape issues.

In the 60s-70s era of Joe I could relate, but by the mid-80s, much like He-Man, my connection with Joe was lost. I never had any interest in He-Man, still don’t. Sadly, by the mid-80s on, as sort of discussed in the series, a lot of these toys became the driving force behind Saturday morning cartoons, and thus, as far as I’m concerned, the death of both decent TV shows, and even movies, when it became all about just selling crap toys. The He-Man episode showed how a bunch of guys just cobbled junk together and slapped a stupid name on it, and laughed how some of the time they were drunk when they did it, and laughed all the way to the bank. To me, that is exactly what Lucas did when he made the Star Wars prequels; those movies are just 2-hour poorly written, even more dreadfully acted, toy commercials.
So, while I enjoyed this documentary series, there were elements that also made me a little sad. I’m not a fan of change when it comes to my favorite things, and watching the evolution of a beloved product/franchise (or de-volution), due to changing times and sensibilities, is bittersweet.

I watched the first episode last night...the Star Wars one.

Kenner was on their game at the outset of that proposition.

I found it to be very interesting and sometimes entertaining.

I'm sure I'll save the GI Joe episode for last, even though that might not be where it falls in the broadcast order. "Save the best for last" guy since I was a kid.

Actually, Joe is the last episode to date. SW, Barbie, He-Man, Joe (in that order). Barbie's origin is hilarious (original design based on, I believe German, doll from a newspaper strip about an "Escort" -- hilarious!).

I loved the series from the point of view of how business both shapes and reflects cultural trends. It’s interesting how concepts were all ripped off from other parts of the industry as well. It definitely confirmed that Barbie is the ‘1/6 Eve’ as GI Joe was created to fill a comparative niche for boys. I remembered a lot of things relating to my own life watching this such as the changes to GI Joe from more purely military to occupational as trends changed. The Star Wars episode was very nostalgic because I was 7 when the film came out and wanted all the toys. At the time, I lived in Cincinnati where Kenner was based. Our scout troop went to the Kenner factory area as a field trip, and they gave us all a Jawa!

MarkEl wrote: Our scout troop went to the Kenner factory area as a field trip, and they gave us all a Jawa!  

How 'effin' cool is that???

No such a thing in the area where I grew up, BUT, you could get a tour through a cotton gin. Ahhhh well...

It is a pretty good show, and has been renewed for a second season. The episodes are pretty entertaining, and informative.

MarkEl wrote:I loved the series from the point of view of how business both shapes and reflects cultural trends.  It’s interesting how concepts were all ripped off from other parts of the industry as well.   It definitely confirmed that Barbie is the ‘1/6 Eve’ as GI Joe was created to fill a comparative niche for boys.  I remembered a lot of things relating to my own life watching this such as the changes to GI Joe from more purely military to occupational as trends changed.   The Star Wars episode was very nostalgic because I was 7 when the film came out and wanted all the toys. At the time, I lived in Cincinnati where Kenner was based.  Our scout troop went to the Kenner factory area as a field trip, and they gave us all a Jawa!  

Man, that would have been a dream come true as a kid! As an adult, still pretty jealous.

I finished watching the series last night and I'm glad I did.

The Barbie segment dragged a little for my tastes, but was mostly interesting nonetheless. I sort of laughed my way through the Masters Of The Universe segment as that was my youngest brother's time (and he might have been a little old) and the few episodes of the show I watched came off a bit silly. I do have a Buzz Off figure still that was given to me as some point along the way.

All in all, I'd say it's a good series deserving of another few episodes. I'd really like them to go back and do Tinker Toys or maybe Erector sets, but that's more my dad's era and there will not be much video for toys that old.

I’m honestly surprised they didn’t do Planet of the Apes. That was the first franchise that set the bar for everything from Star Wars to The Avengers. I found a neat 10 minute video from around the time of Tim Burton’s horrible reimagining, hosted by Elvira, that went through all the merchandise that was available. Scary thing is, I still have a LOT of that stuff.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLnBZsgQg5V0vCnfXBLc_AvF1-WRLBrpQF&v=5gLQyaVTeXk

Just finished watching season Two on Netflix. It covers:
Star Trek
Transformers
Lego
Hello Kitty

Pretty interesting. I found the Star Trek episode particularly interesting. Everyone (meaning all the people on forums) thinks that Star Trek doesn't sell merchandise. But as the episode clearly shows, the problem isn't that the product wouldn't sell, it boils down to bad timing by the studio to license merchandise, or license stuff that had absolutely zero actual connection to Star Trek. Stupid people, making stupid decisions is what has held Star Trek merchandise back. Mego was one of the only companies that was smart with Star Trek toys. And some more contemporary manufacturers, though they seem very limited in their scope or production.

Just saw the new episodes on Netflix over the long weekend, but skipped over them as I've been watching "Into The Badlands" as of late.

I'll see them eventually, but appreciate the update and your thoughts.

I'm contemplating creating my own 1:6 hobby documentary . . . self-funded.

The 1:6 Figures That Broke Us Financially & Ostracized Us Online / In Social Media