Published
February 12, 2001
The Columbia Chronicle
Published in both print and
online editions.
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"By the Power of Grayskull"...they're back!
Upon your next visit to Toys R US, you may be surprised to see some familiar faces: G.I. Joe, He-Man, Transformers—haven’t we seen these before? Yes, about 15 years ago. Toys from the 1980s are back with a vengeance, as many companies are re-releasing popular toy lines from yesterday. The results have been overwhelmingly popular with kid and collector alike.
Detractors may argue that reissue toys drive down the price of the originals. In most cases, when you buy a reissue toy, you are getting it cheaper than the original. When a toy is re-issued, it is usually because the original is very popular and therefore very expensive to buy secondhand. Likewise, when a toy is re-released it usually drives up the demand for (and the price of) the original toy even more, as many collectors want to own both old and new releases.
People who don’t collect toys might wonder what the big deal is, and why toy companies would re-hash old stuff anyway? One reason is that many “kids” who are now in their twenties have graduated and joined the workforce. Therefore, they have a few extra bucks in their pockets to spend on the stuff they had as a kid (or never had as a kid). The result is that toys from the ‘80s are more expensive, as the demand has skyrocketed in the past two years. Perceptive toy companies like Mattel and Hasbro—which make Masters of the Universe and G.I. Joe respectively—have moved in to capitalize on this trend by reissuing their old toys. Many people would rather spend $15 and buy a reissue He-Man figure than $40 to buy an “original.”
Another important factor is that there is a whole new generation of toy buyers out there—the kids of today. A toy that appealed to kids 15 years ago may very well appeal to kids today. Star Wars proved this fact five years ago. The original line of Star Wars toys ended in 1985, but toy company Kenner started a new line of Star Wars figures ten years later which was an unparalleled success. The new line of Star Wars toys was successful because of its appeal to both collectors and children, as well as 1997’s “Special Edition” of the trilogy.
Similar trends have followed in the toy industry. In 1998, the popular ‘80s toy/cartoon series Voltron was reborn. A new computer-animated cartoon was released, and some of the ‘80s toys were re-released and sold well. But ‘80s toys were still not “back” until last year, when some of the decade’s most popular toys made their return—Masters of the Universe (a.k.a. “He-Man” figures), G.I. Joe, and The Transformers.
Hitting the toy aisles late last year was Mattel's Masters of the Universe action figures. Re-released were popular characters such as He-Man, Skeletor, Man-At-Arms, Teela and Beast Man. These toys were made to please today’s toy collector, as each figure—as well as the figure’s packaging—has been almost perfectly replicated. The only exceptions are minor copyright changes on the toys and packaging, so they cannot be passed off as originals from 1982. Even more interesting is that the toys aren’t packaged once, but twice, as each blister-carded figure is then placed in a shiny window box to protect the “real” packaging.
According to the box, only 15,000 of each figure will be made. Each figure sells for around $15 and are sold in toy stores and comic book shops. Lately, the new Masters of the Universe figures have been tough to find, so you may have to shop around a bit to find them.
Somewhat easier to find is the new line of G.I. Joe figures. The old line of figures from the’80s titled, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, ran from 1983 to 1994. It was phased out, and replaced by G.I. Joe Extreme, which had nothing to do with the previous series-the figures were even five inches tall instead of the classic ‘80s size of three and three -quarters. But the new release reflects the popular eighties series, using familiar heroes (Flint, Snake-Eyes) and villains (Cobra Commander, Storm Shadow). The figures are also the popular 3 ¾” size, and include weapons and file cards. Several of the vehicles have also been re-released, such as the Cobra H.I.S.S. tank and the G.I. Joe Dragonfly (renamed the Locust). Unfortunately, these figures aren’t close replicas like the Masters of the Universe figures, as the new G.I. Joe figures have different paint jobs—and packaging than the original figures. However, they are not “limited” edition, and are fairly easy to find at most toy stores.
A third huge ‘80s toy line—The Transformers-has also made a comeback. Original‘80s Transformers have been re-released, but only in Japan so far. While new Transformer toys have continued in the U.S. with Beast Wars and Beast Machines series, old school Transformer toys are seeing slow re-release in Japan, and finding their way to America via eBay and import toy stores. Takara, the company that manufactures Transformer toys in Japan, has been releasing an ‘80s character about every two months. December brought the release of Ultra Magnus and Hot Rod, while last July, Takara re-released everyone’s favorite—Optimus Prime (known as “Convoy” in Japan). Upcoming releases include popular Decepticons Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave as well as the Dinobot Leader Grimlock. Unfortunately, since Hasbro—the American manufacturer of Transformer toys—has no plans to reissue these toys stateside, the only way to buy them is from import stores, resulting in much higher prices, or to buy from a Japanese store such as Hobby Link Japan, resulting in higher shipping costs.
But the nostalgic feel of owning something cool from yesteryear usually outweighs any price paid for an item, original or otherwise. However, the toy companies don’t make any money off the sales of toys from “secondhand” toy stores (i.e. collectable shops). Toy companies only make money when they sell the toy to the toy store. Therefore, expect more toy companies to re-issue their old toys in the future so as to cash in on this emerging trend.
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