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TNI Editorial: G.I. Joe and Masters of the Universe: The Importance of Storytelling in Nostalgic Brands


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By: Yeats Roahrig

The 80’s was an important time for toys. Giants like TMNT, Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, and Transformers ruled the toy aisles. The kids buying these toys were only part of why these lines were so successful. What really cemented these lines and their iconic characters into popular culture was the media that they produced. During the 80’s, Sunbow and Filmation were producing new stories in animation while Marvel Comics expanded upon and created their own lore in various series based on Hasbro properties. This large variety of storytelling really fleshed out these beloved characters, creating the definitive versions for fans of the properties.

As a someone from Gen-Z, I was fortunate enough to grow up with most of these 80’s brands. While they weren’t the original toy lines and shows, new chapters in these franchises existed. These included the infamous 2003 TMNT series, Transformers: Animated, the Mike Young Productions MOTU series, and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6. Each of these shows carried over what was so iconic about the original series while updating them. This also very much applied to the toys. Playmates created a perfect spiritual-successor to their original line, while Hasbro decided to totally revamp G.I. Joe into an 8-inch, futuristic inspired line. Additionally all of these brands aside from MOTU had theatrical film releases, creating different interpretations of these characters. As a kid, these options of different interpretations allowed me to pick and choose which ones I related to. Now, as an adult, I am thankful for the wide variety of these brands that were available to me as a child and allowing me to experience what children in the 80’s did.   
           
Flash-forward to today, and these giants of the 80’s still have shelf presence about four decades later. While brands like Transformers and TMNT never really left retail, some brands kind of disappeared. Two brands that did this were Mattel’s Masters of the Universe and Hasbro’s G.I. Joe. Both of these lines were revived in 2020, under the names G.I. Joe: Classified and Masters of the Universe: Origins respectively. Upon the release of both lines, there was no new content to support it. In the case of Masters of the Universe: Origins, the figures come with somewhat new content in the accompanying mini-comics. While the mini-comics are not new to MOTU, given the original 80’s figures coming with them, these newer mini-comic stories are more bare bones. So far, these mini-comics have existed just to include all the characters from a wave into one story. Even though the stories may be lacking, they still allow for the kids playing with them to be introduced to the characters and their personalities.
           
In 2021, a year after the revived Masters of the Universe and G.I. Joe brands, new stories began to be produced. 2021 brought the release of Netflix’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation series as well as a new CGI He-Man and the Masters of the Universe show. With the release of both series, two new toy lines were put into stores with the Revelation Masterverse line being awarded Toy of the Year Award. In the case of G.I. Joe, 2021 brought the release of the Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins film. Unfortunately, the film did not perform well at the box office and was negatively received. The film bombing is very important in relation to the brand, as it was the only new piece of media aside from comic books and it signals a lack of interest in G.I. Joe. Some reasons why it bombed could have to do with it releasing during the pandemic, or more importantly, that kids aren’t really interested in the military. In a world filled with superhero content, it can be hard for younger audiences to be interested in things like G.I. Joe. G.I. Joe as a brand has been very military-centric, which in today’s media is content more related to older audiences. I believe Hasbro may have already thought about G.I. Joe, given the film was focused on the most popular character and his ninja roots. Going forward, it would be important for Hasbro to possibly look at what’s working, i.e. superheroes and sci-fi, and implement some of those ideas into existing IP like G.I. Joe.
             
Comparing this to the Masters of the Universe media in 2021, the Revelation had mixed reviews while the CGI series has had positive reviews. Despite a lot of fans disliking Revelation, the media pool is so large that it can afford to have a series not being received well. Children are still drawn to the CGI series, with maybe even some older kids leaning towards the Revelation series. With G.I. Joe, they only had the Snake Eyes film in 2021 and not any other media that could make up for the interest lost with the film’s release. This lack of alternative media, specifically a cartoon series, can really affect the interest kids have in a brand. If the G.I. Joe brand wants to be as successful as Masters of the Universe is currently and keep generating new generations of fans, it needs to capture the attention of children; and to do this, Hasbro needs the breadth of storytelling that Mattel has put out.

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Going to have to go ahead and disagree with you here. The G I Joe movie bombed because it was a terrible movie and had nothing to do with G. I. Joe, not because "kids today aren't interested in G. I. Joe or the military." They may or may not be, but that's not why the movie bombed.

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I'm curious, why is the 2003 TMNT considered infamous.  I loved that series and there is a continuous 10 year story there.

The lack of synergy between toys and media really does seem strange though.  Look at transformers over the last few years.  The prime wars trilogy you had to stream on Netflix.  And the war for Cybertron trilogy was showing up after at least half the toys had already left shelves.  There's nothing cong out to promote this to kids.  In my opinion, these companies have gotten lazy.  They are relying on collectors and then on nostalgia, where parents will get a kid a figure because they remember having one.  They aren't trying to create new fans by telling good stories anymore.  The exception being the new cg motu.

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6 hours ago, MagnaPrime said:

I'm curious, why is the 2003 TMNT considered infamous.  I loved that series and there is a continuous 10 year story there.

The lack of synergy between toys and media really does seem strange though.  Look at transformers over the last few years.  The prime wars trilogy you had to stream on Netflix.  And the war for Cybertron trilogy was showing up after at least half the toys had already left shelves.  There's nothing cong out to promote this to kids.  In my opinion, these companies have gotten lazy.  They are relying on collectors and then on nostalgia, where parents will get a kid a figure because they remember having one.  They aren't trying to create new fans by telling good stories anymore.  The exception being the new cg motu.

Mebe becuz tmnt 2003 hews closer to the comic version rather than the 80s cartoon. 

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