HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
Mart: You might like this antidote, then: "Hey, kids! It's the all-new 'War on Terror' TRADING CARDS!" http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2001/11/26/tomo/index.html -- Steve --- mart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK > --------------------------- > > Forward from mart. > > A truly sick and disgusting "News" item. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Steve Wagner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2001 5:46 PM > Subject: GI Joe answers the call > --------------------------- > GI Joe answers the call > -------------------- > > Toys: He's tough, he's heroic, he's a little plastic man whose > popularity is rocketing again in these strongly patriotic days. > > By Peter Jensen > Baltimore Sun Staff > > November 22, 2001 > > In times like these, America embraces a hero - even if he's only 12 > inches tall. > > Makers of GI Joe, the action figure whose career spans a venerable > 37 > years, say sales are booming, thanks in part to a resurgent interest > in the military and old-fashioned heroism in the wake of Sept. 11. > > It's an impressive comeback for a toy that had become obsolete, at > least in its original foot-tall form, for more than a decade and > only > returned full-time to toy store shelves seven years ago. > > "The military has become interesting to kids again," says Derryl > DePriest, who directs GI Joe marketing for Hasbro Inc. "If anything, > recent events reinforce those core values that GI Joe symbolizes - > honor, duty and commitment." > > Hasbro officials aren't willing to share exact sales figures, but > will admit that sales of the toy have done "very well" since the > terrorist attacks. > > Toy industry observers say the doll's surprising comeback started > long before Sept. 11, however, and may say as much about GI Joe's > ability to adapt to his times as it does about current public > tastes. > > "The kids want heroes, and right now [the country has] clear > heroes: > They wear olive drab, and firemen's hats and flak jackets," says > John > Michlig, author of The Complete Story of America's Favorite Man of > Action (Chronicle Books, 1998). > > GI Joe came dressed strictly in olive drab in 1964, when he was > first > unveiled by Hasbro. Michlig describes the toy as the company's > answer > to Barbie, rival toymaker Mattel's hugely popular doll, except GI > Joe > was aimed exclusively at boys. > > With his articulated limbs and elaborate wardrobe and accessories, > he > was more or less a copy of Ken if Barbie's boyfriend had enlisted in > the Army. Fearful that he might be perceived as a girl's doll, > Hasbro > even put a scar on GI Joe's right cheek and company salesmen were > told to describe the product only as an "action figure." > > "Hey, I wouldn't have had my son playing with a doll or dressing a > doll," recalls Sam Speers, 75, of Sarasota, Florida who helped > create > GI Joe as Hasbro's director of product development in the 1960s. > "But > once we put him in the military, then it was all right. It changed > my > mind entirely." > > After modest sales initially, GI Joe's career took off, thanks to > some effective television advertising and word-of-mouth among grade > schoolers. The toy's career threatened to unravel just a few years > > later, when concerns about the Vietnam War sharply lowered the > public's opinion of the military. > > Rhode Island-based Hasbro responded by making GI Joe an adventurer > rather than a military man. His wardrobe switched from camouflage > and > helmets to space suits and explorer jackets. > > But things worsened by the late '70s, when the post-Watergate > generation seemed more attuned to anti-heroes than a straight arrow > like GI Joe. It didn't help that OPEC's oil embargo raised the price > of plastic. Hasbro officials decided to discontinue the 12-inch > version entirely in 1978. > > "Kids lost interest in GI Joe," says Vincent Santelmo, author of > The > Complete Encyclopedia to GI Joe (Krause Publications, 2001). "It was > a time of long hair, tattoos and chicks. GI Joe didn't fit in." > > But GI Joe wasn't ready to turn in his plastic dog tags yet. In > 1982, > Hasbro started making a 3 3/4 -inch model - the same size as the > highly successful Star Wars action figures. His whole identity was > altered: GI Joe became a code name for a team of elite soldiers, men > and women with specific personalities and character names. > > Sales took off once again - boosted by its tie-ins to a comic book > and an animated TV series that was little more than a 30-minute > advertisement for the line of GI Joe figures. But even that success > eventually petered out and the miniature GI Joes were discontinued > in > the mid-'90s. > > 'Kids today need heroes' > > Hasbro's decision to revive the full-size GI Joe in 1994 was aimed > largely at the growing legions of GI Joe collectors, mostly > middle-aged men with fond memories of the earlier versions. They > hadn't expected youngsters to buy into the toy, but it turned out to > be a hit. > > "Kids today need heroes like they see on TV," says Charlie Bury > Jr., > a Catonsville GI Joe collector with more than 400 Joes and an > 11-year-old son. "Now, they can sort of fight back themselves. And > it's great to see the big guy back." > > Today, the GI Joe line is once again extensive - if still not > quite > like the original. Where the original GI Joe cost $4, today's > version > retails for $10 to $30, with some limited-edition models selling for > as much as $150. > > Hasbro officials haven't lost their touch for sensing the public's > mood. The week of Sept. 11, the company was in the process of > shipping out a new model - a search and rescue firefighter - that is > now selling out in most stores. > > "It was a coincidence. We haven't changed our strategy [of > marketing] > in light of recent events," says DePriest, who plans to revive the > smaller GI Joes next year. > > Still, society has changed in 37 years and even GI Joe collectors > suspect many parents will be reluctant to buy a toy with a close > association to guns and violence. Santelmo, who has written five > hobbyist books about GI Joe and is a father of two, has misgivings > about his own children playing with armed soldiers. > > "Real-life and the horrors of war are not a pleasant thing," says > Santelmo, 40, who lives in New York. "GI stands alone for what he > represents as an action figure. He's also just a toy." > > _____________________________________ > Copyright (c) 2001, The Baltimore Sun > > Link to the article: > http://www.sunspot.net/bal-hf.gijoe25nov22.story > > Visit http://www.sunspot.net > > ==^================================================================ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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