Official 30-minute Toy Commercials thread
- Thread starter the greenman
- Start date
the greenman
Well-Known Member
STARCOM: THE U S. SPACE FORCE
This was a slightly unique and short-lived, American animated series with terrific (almost anime style animation). The series was shepherded by Brynne Stephens who left major marks on animation from He-Man to Gargoyles. Matched with a team of great writers including Michael Reaves (R.I.P. 1950-2023) and Marv Wolfman. There were eclectic stories that you swear you'd seen or heard some place before (like on a Western), but entertaining nonetheless.
While the series tried to push a heavy good vs. evil narrative, the villains didn't really do it for me. I think in the short time the show aired, they didn't or couldn't give the characters enough development (especially the villains). The heroes did, even naming some episodes after them. I'm not even sure if there is a rationale for the villains though, it comes off like the 1950's where aliens means evil/different?
The animation was produced by DIC who pretty much always had excellent looking animation. I read around this time (1987) TMS was helping out and some of them lent artists from the fledgling Studio Ghibli. Also featured the work of animator Marek Buchwald who would later work on post-golden age Disney features.
The orchestral music by the legendary team of Haim Saban and Shuki Levy was composed perfectly for space operas like this. They were probably riffing off Robotech a little, which came along the U.S. a few years earlier.
It was a show made not quite for little children (probably for the YA demographic 12-16) as it came off as a kinda primer/propaganda series. The whole gist and purpose of the cartoon and toyline was to get kids interested in space exploration. This was about a year after the tragic disaster of the Space Shuttle Challenger, and the Young Astronauts’ Council in addition to Coca-cola sponsored this. Who woulda thunk a few decades later the U.S. would truly have a Space Force?
Seemingly, one would believe it was based on having a more patriotic approach like G.I. JOE which was highly popular at the time. However, like Robotech, it focused on alien conflicts (who acted a whole lot like humans) as well as robots (much like that Star Wars-on-a-budget 70's show). The line didn't last long though, as the cartoon series only hit 13 episodes. Because of the combination of poor toy sales, and poor ratings, more than likely the cause of not going to the often usual 65 episodes.
The toys, made by Coleco were basically smaller than G.I. Joe's figures. Standing at 54mm's or 2 inches which are specifically designed to fit in the motorized vehicles. Both featured the advertised "magnalocks" (magnets). Of course I did interact with these by annoying my family by sticking them on my refrigerator.
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This was a slightly unique and short-lived, American animated series with terrific (almost anime style animation). The series was shepherded by Brynne Stephens who left major marks on animation from He-Man to Gargoyles. Matched with a team of great writers including Michael Reaves (R.I.P. 1950-2023) and Marv Wolfman. There were eclectic stories that you swear you'd seen or heard some place before (like on a Western), but entertaining nonetheless.
While the series tried to push a heavy good vs. evil narrative, the villains didn't really do it for me. I think in the short time the show aired, they didn't or couldn't give the characters enough development (especially the villains). The heroes did, even naming some episodes after them. I'm not even sure if there is a rationale for the villains though, it comes off like the 1950's where aliens means evil/different?
The animation was produced by DIC who pretty much always had excellent looking animation. I read around this time (1987) TMS was helping out and some of them lent artists from the fledgling Studio Ghibli. Also featured the work of animator Marek Buchwald who would later work on post-golden age Disney features.
The orchestral music by the legendary team of Haim Saban and Shuki Levy was composed perfectly for space operas like this. They were probably riffing off Robotech a little, which came along the U.S. a few years earlier.
It was a show made not quite for little children (probably for the YA demographic 12-16) as it came off as a kinda primer/propaganda series. The whole gist and purpose of the cartoon and toyline was to get kids interested in space exploration. This was about a year after the tragic disaster of the Space Shuttle Challenger, and the Young Astronauts’ Council in addition to Coca-cola sponsored this. Who woulda thunk a few decades later the U.S. would truly have a Space Force?
Seemingly, one would believe it was based on having a more patriotic approach like G.I. JOE which was highly popular at the time. However, like Robotech, it focused on alien conflicts (who acted a whole lot like humans) as well as robots (much like that Star Wars-on-a-budget 70's show). The line didn't last long though, as the cartoon series only hit 13 episodes. Because of the combination of poor toy sales, and poor ratings, more than likely the cause of not going to the often usual 65 episodes.
The toys, made by Coleco were basically smaller than G.I. Joe's figures. Standing at 54mm's or 2 inches which are specifically designed to fit in the motorized vehicles. Both featured the advertised "magnalocks" (magnets). Of course I did interact with these by annoying my family by sticking them on my refrigerator.
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Vuxovich
Well-Known Member
The real reason why Starcom was short-lived was because of the fact that it was going to last for 65 episodes. Because the original sponsor pulled out, only 13 episodes were made. To quote this:
Access Syndication announced they were distributing 65 episodes, but later trade publication articles say they pulled out. Coca-Cola ended up distributing the 13 episodes that did get made.
the greenman
Well-Known Member
Thank you. I do believe it also involved low toy sales. I think I discovered Europe got some toys the States never saw.
I did mention Coca-cola had a stake in this franchise.
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you mean Sony pictures television still own this franchise?
the greenman
Well-Known Member
That is correct. Coca-Cola Telecommunications was the distributors and of course Coca-Cola products sponsored it, as well as commercials playing through the program.
Drink your soda kids, part of your well balanced meals
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Dantheman
Gee, I never thought about that...
I didn't know where else to put this, but in 2010 Hasbro was pitched a Rescue Bots-type take on G.I Joe based on the 1970s Adventure Team era with ARAH characters and elements as guest stars.
Here it is.
Here it is.
the greenman
Well-Known Member
BIONIC SIX (1987)
Jack Bennett/ Bionic-1
Helen Bennett/ Mother-1
Eric Bennett/ Sport-1
Meg Bennett/ Rock-1
James Dwight "J.D." Corey - IQ
Bunjiro "Bunji" Tsukahara - Karate-1
F.L.U.F.F.I.
These family members (and adopted ones) are all endowed with bionic powers (with the addition of the robotic gorilla F.L.U.F.F.I.) make up the team Bionic 6. Led by professor Amadeus Sharp to battle his own notorious brother Dr. Wilmer Sharp aka Dr. Scarab (voiced by veteran V.A. Jim MacGeorge doing his best George C. Scott impersonation), who in turn has his own group called Scarab. On a side note; Easter egg it is more than likely the Bennett name was derived from Harve Bennett (R.I.P. 1930-2015) producer of the Six Million Dollar Man.
The series was developed by renown, but kinda cantankerous, producer/writer Ron Friedman (G.I.JOE, Transformers & that's only a couple) who came up with this idea from 6 Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman hooking up.
Friedman on his creation (NSFW):
Anyways, this series was actually pretty fun on rewatch. Though I was just about tired of seeing repetitive Scarab villains Mechanic, Madame O., Glove, Klunk, and Chopper, the writers throw in different villains sometimes; and some that are important to the narrative of this universe. Unfortunately they never returned to some outlier characters/situations. Like most family sitcoms of the time, they were sure to give someone a catchphrase. This honor went to Meg/Rock -1 with her excited use of "Mega", "Ultra" and "that's So-Lar!" Usually as in an exclamation of a good thing.
The writers on this mostly circled the industry's best animation stints from alot of the very same shows in this thread. Prolific producer/writer Gordon Bressack (RIP 1951-2019) helped out as head writer, and you could tell from some of the goofiness. The series had a strong anime influence, exhibiting great art work, but often questionable on writing. Anime alumni Tetsuo Katayama and Osamu Dezaki participation on this worked out a lot, which might explain Bunji having his background explored more than J.D./IQ.
In terms of voices they had a good talented group of actors, including the aforementioned Jim MacGeorge, the ones of note were Frank Welker, Alan Oppenheimer, Brian Tochi, John Stephenson, and Jennifer Darling (these last two were the only v.a.'s to have appeared on the original Six Million Dollar Man). This series was produced, not exactly coincidentally, by MCA Television eventually becoming Universal TV who produced those Bionic folks and old Incredible Hulk.
The toys were produced by LJN, who's only real claim to fame was Thundercats. Bionic Six was basically die cast action figures. They were roughly around the same size as G.I. Joe's. I personally never had any of the vehicles. Mostly my child mind teamed them with the Joes. I think I have seen the vehicles, but never owned one. I don't remember seeing F.L.U.F.F.I. anywhere back then. For you toy collectors, some of the brand new sealed figures are actually kinda pricey nowadays.
LJN had an interesting history. First came the tie-in toys with the CBS Dungeons and Dragons cartoon, then WWF wrestling bendable figures, of course Thundercats, and these Bionic Six ones in 1987. After that they couldn't get no satisfaction with the toys (especially after the water gun incident) they transitioned to videogames in the late 1980's into the 90's for the NES.
As for the animated series, it did a full 65 episodes run. With an infectious and catchy theme song (with one guy who worked with the Bee Gees), it's a sad shame the series and toy sales couldn't continue on, but honestly in that time there was too much competition. I caught some rerun episodes on the Sci-fi Channel back in the day as well. Bressack brought the series to a meta ending, but did at least give it an ending. Bionic Six had no more cross promotion campaign towards the end of their run, except underwhelming products kids didn't really want.
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Jack Bennett/ Bionic-1
Helen Bennett/ Mother-1
Eric Bennett/ Sport-1
Meg Bennett/ Rock-1
James Dwight "J.D." Corey - IQ
Bunjiro "Bunji" Tsukahara - Karate-1
F.L.U.F.F.I.
These family members (and adopted ones) are all endowed with bionic powers (with the addition of the robotic gorilla F.L.U.F.F.I.) make up the team Bionic 6. Led by professor Amadeus Sharp to battle his own notorious brother Dr. Wilmer Sharp aka Dr. Scarab (voiced by veteran V.A. Jim MacGeorge doing his best George C. Scott impersonation), who in turn has his own group called Scarab. On a side note; Easter egg it is more than likely the Bennett name was derived from Harve Bennett (R.I.P. 1930-2015) producer of the Six Million Dollar Man.
The series was developed by renown, but kinda cantankerous, producer/writer Ron Friedman (G.I.JOE, Transformers & that's only a couple) who came up with this idea from 6 Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman hooking up.
Friedman on his creation (NSFW):
Anyways, this series was actually pretty fun on rewatch. Though I was just about tired of seeing repetitive Scarab villains Mechanic, Madame O., Glove, Klunk, and Chopper, the writers throw in different villains sometimes; and some that are important to the narrative of this universe. Unfortunately they never returned to some outlier characters/situations. Like most family sitcoms of the time, they were sure to give someone a catchphrase. This honor went to Meg/Rock -1 with her excited use of "Mega", "Ultra" and "that's So-Lar!" Usually as in an exclamation of a good thing.
The writers on this mostly circled the industry's best animation stints from alot of the very same shows in this thread. Prolific producer/writer Gordon Bressack (RIP 1951-2019) helped out as head writer, and you could tell from some of the goofiness. The series had a strong anime influence, exhibiting great art work, but often questionable on writing. Anime alumni Tetsuo Katayama and Osamu Dezaki participation on this worked out a lot, which might explain Bunji having his background explored more than J.D./IQ.
In terms of voices they had a good talented group of actors, including the aforementioned Jim MacGeorge, the ones of note were Frank Welker, Alan Oppenheimer, Brian Tochi, John Stephenson, and Jennifer Darling (these last two were the only v.a.'s to have appeared on the original Six Million Dollar Man). This series was produced, not exactly coincidentally, by MCA Television eventually becoming Universal TV who produced those Bionic folks and old Incredible Hulk.
The toys were produced by LJN, who's only real claim to fame was Thundercats. Bionic Six was basically die cast action figures. They were roughly around the same size as G.I. Joe's. I personally never had any of the vehicles. Mostly my child mind teamed them with the Joes. I think I have seen the vehicles, but never owned one. I don't remember seeing F.L.U.F.F.I. anywhere back then. For you toy collectors, some of the brand new sealed figures are actually kinda pricey nowadays.
LJN had an interesting history. First came the tie-in toys with the CBS Dungeons and Dragons cartoon, then WWF wrestling bendable figures, of course Thundercats, and these Bionic Six ones in 1987. After that they couldn't get no satisfaction with the toys (especially after the water gun incident) they transitioned to videogames in the late 1980's into the 90's for the NES.
As for the animated series, it did a full 65 episodes run. With an infectious and catchy theme song (with one guy who worked with the Bee Gees), it's a sad shame the series and toy sales couldn't continue on, but honestly in that time there was too much competition. I caught some rerun episodes on the Sci-fi Channel back in the day as well. Bressack brought the series to a meta ending, but did at least give it an ending. Bionic Six had no more cross promotion campaign towards the end of their run, except underwhelming products kids didn't really want.
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the greenman
Well-Known Member
CBR got ahold of this:
Unmade G.I. Joe Cartoon Concept Art Surfaces
Concept art for an unmade, kid-friendly take on the classic G.I. Joe franchise has finally been revealed.
www.cbr.com
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the greenman
Well-Known Member
G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero (1983-1992)
As a kid, these were basically mainstays in the toy industry for boys; for girls of course were Barbie. However, Hasbro kinda reinvented the original 12" G.I. Joe dolls with accessories, invented by Stanley Weston, for smaller action figures. No more "Kung-Fu Grip". I remember seeing packages of those little green army men when I was really young, but when the Joes came along in the 80's there was no looking back.
IMHO, with the association of Marvel, G.I.Joe pretty much cemented the now perfect trifecta of comics, toys, and cartoons. Marketing 101, I'm sure. My older brother had the comics, and read them voraciously. I read some as well, but my brother collected like the majority of that entire 1st run. This in addition to us watching the animated series and having the toys. Larry Hama was the main brainchild behind the characters in the comics, soon to be developed into toys by Hasbro, and then into animation.
Larry Hama on the creation of the characters:
This was the beginning of the partnership of Sunbow Enterprises and producers Bacal and DePatie were working alongside Marvel with Hasbro. Initially helping with animated commercials for the comic books:
I do distinctly remember that my brother and I got some of the first line of 13 figures with the straight arms. I was excited to see that characters like Flash and Stalker was the same from the comic cover. The first group were mostly pretty close to being bland green old army figures (except Scarlet and Snake Eyes) versus the blue colored storm troopers of Cobra. Simply because soon, the entire line would steer to more sci-fi kinda stuff. I can tell you I interacted with a good amount of the figures and their vehicles with my bro and my friends. This was pretty much because of the original two miniseries The M.A.S.S. Device and The Revenge of Cobra (done with Japanese animators assistance by TOEI/AKOM animation) and the later DIC animated series was in heavy rotation on my television. And to be honest, anyone of age has to admit, this series was very toyetic, as the writers conveniently allowed that bridge layer to show up when need be.
Sculptor/designer Ron Rudat:
One has to admit that the revisionist toyline was clearly ahead of its time in the department of diversity. The first couple of miniseries stands up until this day for that reason. The one episode I actually realized this was next level non-kiddy material was, 'There’s No Place like Springfield' 2-parter (in hindsight STNG's 'Future Imperfect' did this story better). Something that made a young kid think. The repartee of the Joes and Destro bickering with Cobra Commander or his other underlings like Zartan, the Dreadnoks (yes Cajun Biker gang with British/Australian accents), or the Crimson Twins; all enjoyable as a kid. In the animated series, Ron Friedman, Steve Gerber, Ted Pedersen (RIP 1938-2010), Buzz Dixon, Flint Dille, and Christy Marx were on board along with some other comic alums like Gerry Conway, Denny O'Neill (RIP 1929-2020), and Mary Skrenes as staff writers.
Memorable VA's were all apart of this project and more in the Sunbow family; including Michael Bell, Chris Latta (aka Collins/RIP 1949-1994), Arthur Burghardt, Mary McDonald Lewis, Neill Ross, Charlie Adler, B.J. Ward, Keone Young, Corey Burton, and others. French animation studio DIC (or Diffusion Information Communications not meant to be a political word) would take over animation duties as they had recently come along in 1981. A few artists from later DCAU fame got there start on this, and you can often tell.
As a cap to the original iteration of G.I.Joe, and the failure of both Transformers: the movie and My Little Pony: the movie (I seriously cannot remember this one being a thing), the studios were forced to release G.I.Joe: the movie on Home Video and eventually television stations where I saw it. In the story, it was seriously all hands on deck. Featuring new hero recruits, a brand new enemy in Cobra-La, the origin of Cobra Commander (who has an impromptu re-enactment of "The Defiant Ones" partnered with Roadblock), and even the introduction of the quasi-fictional Sgt. Slaughter. Honestly, it was a high mark for the franchise.
For all you toy heads, found this site among many:
news.hisstank.com
. . . and knowing is half the battle.
Sent from my moto g power (2022) using Tapatalk
As a kid, these were basically mainstays in the toy industry for boys; for girls of course were Barbie. However, Hasbro kinda reinvented the original 12" G.I. Joe dolls with accessories, invented by Stanley Weston, for smaller action figures. No more "Kung-Fu Grip". I remember seeing packages of those little green army men when I was really young, but when the Joes came along in the 80's there was no looking back.
IMHO, with the association of Marvel, G.I.Joe pretty much cemented the now perfect trifecta of comics, toys, and cartoons. Marketing 101, I'm sure. My older brother had the comics, and read them voraciously. I read some as well, but my brother collected like the majority of that entire 1st run. This in addition to us watching the animated series and having the toys. Larry Hama was the main brainchild behind the characters in the comics, soon to be developed into toys by Hasbro, and then into animation.
Larry Hama on the creation of the characters:
This was the beginning of the partnership of Sunbow Enterprises and producers Bacal and DePatie were working alongside Marvel with Hasbro. Initially helping with animated commercials for the comic books:
I do distinctly remember that my brother and I got some of the first line of 13 figures with the straight arms. I was excited to see that characters like Flash and Stalker was the same from the comic cover. The first group were mostly pretty close to being bland green old army figures (except Scarlet and Snake Eyes) versus the blue colored storm troopers of Cobra. Simply because soon, the entire line would steer to more sci-fi kinda stuff. I can tell you I interacted with a good amount of the figures and their vehicles with my bro and my friends. This was pretty much because of the original two miniseries The M.A.S.S. Device and The Revenge of Cobra (done with Japanese animators assistance by TOEI/AKOM animation) and the later DIC animated series was in heavy rotation on my television. And to be honest, anyone of age has to admit, this series was very toyetic, as the writers conveniently allowed that bridge layer to show up when need be.
Sculptor/designer Ron Rudat:
One has to admit that the revisionist toyline was clearly ahead of its time in the department of diversity. The first couple of miniseries stands up until this day for that reason. The one episode I actually realized this was next level non-kiddy material was, 'There’s No Place like Springfield' 2-parter (in hindsight STNG's 'Future Imperfect' did this story better). Something that made a young kid think. The repartee of the Joes and Destro bickering with Cobra Commander or his other underlings like Zartan, the Dreadnoks (yes Cajun Biker gang with British/Australian accents), or the Crimson Twins; all enjoyable as a kid. In the animated series, Ron Friedman, Steve Gerber, Ted Pedersen (RIP 1938-2010), Buzz Dixon, Flint Dille, and Christy Marx were on board along with some other comic alums like Gerry Conway, Denny O'Neill (RIP 1929-2020), and Mary Skrenes as staff writers.
Memorable VA's were all apart of this project and more in the Sunbow family; including Michael Bell, Chris Latta (aka Collins/RIP 1949-1994), Arthur Burghardt, Mary McDonald Lewis, Neill Ross, Charlie Adler, B.J. Ward, Keone Young, Corey Burton, and others. French animation studio DIC (or Diffusion Information Communications not meant to be a political word) would take over animation duties as they had recently come along in 1981. A few artists from later DCAU fame got there start on this, and you can often tell.
As a cap to the original iteration of G.I.Joe, and the failure of both Transformers: the movie and My Little Pony: the movie (I seriously cannot remember this one being a thing), the studios were forced to release G.I.Joe: the movie on Home Video and eventually television stations where I saw it. In the story, it was seriously all hands on deck. Featuring new hero recruits, a brand new enemy in Cobra-La, the origin of Cobra Commander (who has an impromptu re-enactment of "The Defiant Ones" partnered with Roadblock), and even the introduction of the quasi-fictional Sgt. Slaughter. Honestly, it was a high mark for the franchise.
For all you toy heads, found this site among many:
HissTank.com - G.I. Joe Toys and Movie News and Discussion
HissTank is a community for G.I. Joe fans to talk about the toys, comics, tv shows and movies.
news.hisstank.com
. . . and knowing is half the battle.
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Last edited:
the greenman
Well-Known Member
C.O.P.S. [AKA COPS n CROOKS] /Cyber C.O.P.S. (1988)
Central Organization Of Police Specialists
Well, I didn't intend on doing a deep dive on these little reviews. But with talking about this thread idea with a friend, they said why not dive deep, or else why bother? So I got the picture.
HASBRO was of course at it again with the trifecta of comics, toys, and cartoons (except this time, they steered away from Marvel (No SUNBOW) and went with DC. The comics series only lasted 15 issues and mostly were written by Doug Moench. These action figures came out after the highly popular toylines of Transformers, G.I.Joe, JEM, and MLP. This one was set in a futuristic setting, as the title sequence proclaims 'fighting crime in a future time'. . . all well and good being ambiguous on a specific time (I believe the comics or toys put them in 2020); though it is weird they kept this early 20th century gangster motif mixed with a futuristic cyberpunk aesthetic. These C.O.P.S. figures had a very similar design, sculpt, and build to G.I.Joe figures with O-rings, swivel arms, and accessories (except being around 5 - 6"). Only real difference in features was swiveled hands. They even kept the idea of a taskforce of individual specialists.
This line was designed by Bart Sears (who later would work at Valiant Comics and did a few covers for the COPS comics). He created a unique toy style as they had different body sculpts from beefy, skinny, and actually rotund. The one flaw of this entire line; there were no females. Though the comic/cartoon did have major characters in Mainframe, Mirage, and villains Ms. Demeanor and Nightshade. Hmmm. As a little nugget of trivia, Larry Hama did write the file cards for these figures, and as an Easter egg, he made the G.I.Joe Beachhead an ancestor to C.O.P.S. Checkpoint.
I can attest, I only owned a few of these action figures. Namely; Longarm, Bullet-Proof, Bowser & Blitz, Buttons McBoom Boom, and Berserko. Some had features that came with caps to emulate shooting guns or lights, some were tame and cheap in features. Never got any vehicles. For certain, HASBRO didn't exactly do a good job with this line. The WAVE 1 toys were released slightly before the animated series circled in syndication in 1988. That was successful. Around 22 episodes and then they ordered a second WAVE, and of course more episodes, but by this time it was already the 90's and on CBS Saturday mornings, as well as being renamed Cyber C.O.P.S. Unfortunately, HASBRO was trying to also push another toyline called Air Raiders (this one backed up by the original Marvel/Sunbow team as well; but never got to tv). However, the C.O.P.S. did reach an order of a full 65 episodes. HASBRO already had WAVE 2 heading to stores, but by this time the stores discovered the new set of figures were not selling. Also, they were too late to plug the new characters in for the animated series. Only guest star or cameo roles towards the end of the 65 episode run.
You could be forgiven if you mistook C.O.P.S. for being an American-ized anime, as they started doing in the 90's. Simply because there's often too much goofiness in this. Seems the demographic was probably for children around 10-13 yrs. This complete with highly cartoon sound effects. It could've been a mandate for the creators to gear this to children being the subject matter is police versus criminals. Much like other Sunbow shows, they also featured a few 30 second PSA's at the end. I believe this cartoon was created by producer Carl Macek from his observations of Anime in the 70's and 80's. I can't prove this, but I think he adapted this in that regards for an American audience.
This was a series that didn't take it's audience seriously (including me back in the day). In other words they were pandering and condescending kids with no respect. It's no wonder when Tiny Toon Adventures or Batman: the animated series came along in the early 90's, it revolutionized children's television animation. The days of corny cartoons belittling children were being left behind.
The team at DIC handled the animation around this time, but honestly this was disappointing. It's possible they had too much on their plate. As the action scenes were perfunctory. This year particularly, DIC had pretty much flooded the market on animation as they were juggling on all 3 major networks in the US and that obviously doesn't include the shows on the syndicated networks.
I was not going to bring this up, but a few things bothered me on the show differing from toys. A character called Taser is the only other Black character than Bulletproof, yet on the show he isn't always portrayed as such with usually blonde eyebrows. The toy, he certainly is Black. Another character is Max "Nightstick" Mulukai, portrayed as Asian in toy form, cartoon. . . not so much. Not even getting into VA's.
Btw, found these neat chibi updates
As far as my final pros and cons on this series:
WRITING: this is deliberately immature
ANIMATION: already explained, for the most part passable, but kinda off at times.
CONTINUITY: this one surprised me on rewatch, but all traits, character development, were all successful.
The series, as a whole, isn't 100% unwatchable.
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Central Organization Of Police Specialists
Well, I didn't intend on doing a deep dive on these little reviews. But with talking about this thread idea with a friend, they said why not dive deep, or else why bother? So I got the picture.
HASBRO was of course at it again with the trifecta of comics, toys, and cartoons (except this time, they steered away from Marvel (No SUNBOW) and went with DC. The comics series only lasted 15 issues and mostly were written by Doug Moench. These action figures came out after the highly popular toylines of Transformers, G.I.Joe, JEM, and MLP. This one was set in a futuristic setting, as the title sequence proclaims 'fighting crime in a future time'. . . all well and good being ambiguous on a specific time (I believe the comics or toys put them in 2020); though it is weird they kept this early 20th century gangster motif mixed with a futuristic cyberpunk aesthetic. These C.O.P.S. figures had a very similar design, sculpt, and build to G.I.Joe figures with O-rings, swivel arms, and accessories (except being around 5 - 6"). Only real difference in features was swiveled hands. They even kept the idea of a taskforce of individual specialists.
This line was designed by Bart Sears (who later would work at Valiant Comics and did a few covers for the COPS comics). He created a unique toy style as they had different body sculpts from beefy, skinny, and actually rotund. The one flaw of this entire line; there were no females. Though the comic/cartoon did have major characters in Mainframe, Mirage, and villains Ms. Demeanor and Nightshade. Hmmm. As a little nugget of trivia, Larry Hama did write the file cards for these figures, and as an Easter egg, he made the G.I.Joe Beachhead an ancestor to C.O.P.S. Checkpoint.
I can attest, I only owned a few of these action figures. Namely; Longarm, Bullet-Proof, Bowser & Blitz, Buttons McBoom Boom, and Berserko. Some had features that came with caps to emulate shooting guns or lights, some were tame and cheap in features. Never got any vehicles. For certain, HASBRO didn't exactly do a good job with this line. The WAVE 1 toys were released slightly before the animated series circled in syndication in 1988. That was successful. Around 22 episodes and then they ordered a second WAVE, and of course more episodes, but by this time it was already the 90's and on CBS Saturday mornings, as well as being renamed Cyber C.O.P.S. Unfortunately, HASBRO was trying to also push another toyline called Air Raiders (this one backed up by the original Marvel/Sunbow team as well; but never got to tv). However, the C.O.P.S. did reach an order of a full 65 episodes. HASBRO already had WAVE 2 heading to stores, but by this time the stores discovered the new set of figures were not selling. Also, they were too late to plug the new characters in for the animated series. Only guest star or cameo roles towards the end of the 65 episode run.
You could be forgiven if you mistook C.O.P.S. for being an American-ized anime, as they started doing in the 90's. Simply because there's often too much goofiness in this. Seems the demographic was probably for children around 10-13 yrs. This complete with highly cartoon sound effects. It could've been a mandate for the creators to gear this to children being the subject matter is police versus criminals. Much like other Sunbow shows, they also featured a few 30 second PSA's at the end. I believe this cartoon was created by producer Carl Macek from his observations of Anime in the 70's and 80's. I can't prove this, but I think he adapted this in that regards for an American audience.
This was a series that didn't take it's audience seriously (including me back in the day). In other words they were pandering and condescending kids with no respect. It's no wonder when Tiny Toon Adventures or Batman: the animated series came along in the early 90's, it revolutionized children's television animation. The days of corny cartoons belittling children were being left behind.
The team at DIC handled the animation around this time, but honestly this was disappointing. It's possible they had too much on their plate. As the action scenes were perfunctory. This year particularly, DIC had pretty much flooded the market on animation as they were juggling on all 3 major networks in the US and that obviously doesn't include the shows on the syndicated networks.
I was not going to bring this up, but a few things bothered me on the show differing from toys. A character called Taser is the only other Black character than Bulletproof, yet on the show he isn't always portrayed as such with usually blonde eyebrows. The toy, he certainly is Black. Another character is Max "Nightstick" Mulukai, portrayed as Asian in toy form, cartoon. . . not so much. Not even getting into VA's.
Btw, found these neat chibi updates
As far as my final pros and cons on this series:
WRITING: this is deliberately immature
ANIMATION: already explained, for the most part passable, but kinda off at times.
CONTINUITY: this one surprised me on rewatch, but all traits, character development, were all successful.
The series, as a whole, isn't 100% unwatchable.
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Zorak Masaki
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From what I've heard and seen, the C.O.P.S. comic book was MUCH more serious and violent than the cartoon.
the greenman
Well-Known Member
Doug Moench was the main writer on that. Knowing him, yeah nothing less would be expected.
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G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero (1983-1992)
As a kid, these were basically mainstays in the toy industry for boys; for girls of course were Barbie. However, Hasbro kinda reinvented the original 12" G.I. Joe dolls with accessories, invented by Stanley Weston, for smaller action figures. No more "Kung-Fu Grip". I remember seeing packages of those little green army men when I was really young, but when the Joes came along in the 80's there was no looking back.
IMHO, with the association of Marvel, G.I.Joe pretty much cemented the now perfect trifecta of comics, toys, and cartoons. Marketing 101, I'm sure. My older brother had the comics, and read them voraciously. I read some as well, but my brother collected like the majority of that entire 1st run. This in addition to us watching the animated series and having the toys. Larry Hama was the main brainchild behind the characters in the comics, soon to be developed into toys by Hasbro, and then into animation.
Larry Hama on the creation of the characters:
This was the beginning of the partnership of Sunbow Enterprises and producers Bacal and DePatie were working alongside Marvel with Hasbro. Initially helping with animated commercials for the comic books:
I do distinctly remember that my brother and I got some of the first line of 13 figures with the straight arms. I was excited to see that characters like Flash and Stalker was the same from the comic cover. The first group were mostly pretty close to being bland green old army figures (except Scarlet and Snake Eyes) versus the blue colored storm troopers of Cobra. Simply because soon, the entire line would steer to more sci-fi kinda stuff. I can tell you I interacted with a good amount of the figures and their vehicles with my bro and my friends. This was pretty much because of the original two miniseries The M.A.S.S. Device and The Revenge of Cobra (done with Japanese animators assistance by TOEI/AKOM animation) and the later DIC animated series was in heavy rotation on my television. And to be honest, anyone of age has to admit, this series was very toyetic, as the writers conveniently allowed that bridge layer to show up when need be.
Sculptor/designer Ron Rudat:
One has to admit that the revisionist toyline was clearly ahead of its time in the department of diversity. The first couple of miniseries stands up until this day for that reason. The one episode I actually realized this was next level non-kiddy material was, 'There’s No Place like Springfield' 2-parter (in hindsight STNG's 'Future Imperfect' did this story better). Something that made a young kid think. The repartee of the Joes and Destro bickering with Cobra Commander or his other underlings like Zartan, the Dreadnoks (yes Cajun Biker gang with British/Australian accents), or the Crimson Twins; all enjoyable as a kid. In the animated series, Ron Friedman, Steve Gerber, Ted Pedersen (RIP 1938-2010), Buzz Dixon, Flint Dille, and Christy Marx were on board along with some other comic alums like Gerry Conway, Denny O'Neill (RIP 1929-2020), and Mary Skrenes as staff writers.
Memorable VA's were all apart of this project and more in the Sunbow family; including Michael Bell, Chris Latta (aka Collins/RIP 1949-1994), Arthur Burghardt, Mary McDonald Lewis, Neill Ross, Charlie Adler, B.J. Ward, Keone Young, Corey Burton, and others. French animation studio DIC (or Diffusion Information Communications not meant to be a political word) would take over animation duties as they had recently come along in 1981. A few artists from later DCAU fame got there start on this, and you can often tell.
As a cap to the original iteration of G.I.Joe, and the failure of both Transformers: the movie and My Little Pony: the movie (I seriously cannot remember this one being a thing), the studios were forced to release G.I.Joe: the movie on Home Video and eventually television stations where I saw it. In the story, it was seriously all hands on deck. Featuring new hero recruits, a brand new enemy in Cobra-La, the origin of Cobra Commander (who has an impromptu re-enactment of "The Defiant Ones" partnered with Roadblock), and even the introduction of the quasi-fictional Sgt. Slaughter. Honestly, it was a high mark for the franchise.
For all you toy heads, found this site among many:
HissTank.com - G.I. Joe Toys and Movie News and Discussion
HissTank is a community for G.I. Joe fans to talk about the toys, comics, tv shows and movies.
. . . and knowing is half the battle.
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It's kinda interesting that it seems like Marvel just took old Nick Fury story ideas and just grafted them onto GI Joe.
GI Joe existed since the 1960s, but Cobra was only introduced in the 1980s when the show started and Cobra looks like Hydra with the serial numbers shaved off.
How a Nick Fury Team Became G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Instead
In their latest look at never-published comic stories, CSBG looks at a pitch for a Nick Fury Jr. elite fighting force evolved into G.I. Joe instead.
www.cbr.com
Seriously, Duke is Nick Fury, Cobra Commander is Baron Strucker, the Baroness is Madame Hydra, etc.
Dantheman
Gee, I never thought about that...
That was the general rule for a lot of these toy tie-in comic books (I remember picking up the first issue of the Marvel Dino Riders comic back in the day, and it ending with the good guy leader being declared a traitor left me gobsmacked).
Not that they didn't have their lighter moments (a training montage for new recruits into G.I. Joe from the Marvel comic showing that they had to watch "Blood on the Asphalt" -style driver's ed films, and there was a storyline in the Marvel Transformers comic where the Decepticons Runabout and Runamuck went around the United States spraying graffiti of Cybertronion glyphs on landmarks, that probably said "Humans Suck" or something like that).
the greenman
Well-Known Member
I have to admit, I have not read a lot of the toy tie-in comic books. I think have quickly skimmed through them, but mostly if the artwork didn't attract me, I left it. Remember I was a young kid. I was still into superheroes, no matter the artwork sometimes.
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the greenman
Well-Known Member
The Real Ghostbusters (1986-1991)
This is one of the few movie tie-ins.
As a disclaimer, I am only concentrating this review on the original Real Ghostbusters, not Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters (which pretty much officially began one season after the VA replacements of Winston & Janine). I personally couldn't stand Slimer after that original film. IMHO, the character wore out his welcome pretty quickly. Honestly wouldn't have minded they use Louis Tully as comic relief from the beginning instead of Slimer. I have a sneaking suspicion Rick Moranis had something in his contract blocking any use or likeness of him. He eventually would end up doing his own animated series with 'Gravedale High' building off his rising career of 'Honey I. . .', 'Spaceballs', and 'Little Shop. . .'; except they only used him sparingly in the aforementioned 'Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters'.
Anyways, for anyone alive, and able to see it in 1984, 'Ghostbusters' was one the biggest phenomenons along with 'Back to the Future' and of course 'Star Wars' in the 1980's. In terms of merchandising, there wasn't a whole lot; mostly clothing with the logo, that was everywhere. There later stuff like cereal, school supplies, and anything else Columbia Pictures could sell with licensing. Problem is there were no official Ghostbusters toys in Christmas 1984. Reason being the cast never signed likeness rights. This is the credit 'Real Ghostbusters' gets; it literally saved the franchise. Then the merch really exploded.
Producers Joe Medjuck and Michael C. Gross, designer of the "no ghosts" logo (RIP 1945-2015), helped bring Ghostbusters to the small screen. Not an easy task. As most of us know the reason why they changed the name to 'The Real Ghostbusters' was because of a rival IP by Filmation named 'The Ghostbusters'; which actually predated the film. Filmation, being one of the animation studios shopped to work on this as well.
Producer and sometimes director Richard Raynis (Who also worked on 'Extreme Ghostbusters' & 'Men in Black') manned the helm on the initial first season which aired on ABC. J. Michael Straczynski, Marc Scott Zicree, Michael Reaves, Chuck Menville, David Gerrold, Kathryn M. Drennan, Dennys McCoy & Pamela Hickey, Michael & Mark Edens all shared in being part of the writing team. They brought in some good talent as it certainly felt like this was intended as part of a bigger universe. . . sometimes literally. Some writers brought on would invoke some deliberate Lovecraftian themes (which I knew nothing about at the time). Some seemed to write like it was typical Saturday morning fare. TBH, in hindsight, it is now clear this show laid the ground work for Ghostbusters going further. The animated series also seemed to cause a major redesign for characters in Ghostbusters 2 with not only Janine but Winston as well.
J. Michael Straczynski on doing RGB:
With Filmation no longer an option, the team went with DIC, and with that producer Tetsuo Katayama was on board for the animation production. This often gave it an anime vibe, but pretty fluent animation as DIC was pretty much known for. Though the had a little too much on their plates at this point, and it was noticable from time to time. Our main characters were laid out well, but producers at Columbia/SONY were upset with Janine's portrayal at some point. Ultimately causing clear changes in later seasons. The series got into some heart felt episodes, and brought rated G level horror successfully.
Majority of character designs, as well as most of the ghosts and assorted random creatures, were courtesy of Everett Peck (RIP 1950-2022) and Fil Barlow. TBH, some of the ghosts/creatures would be at home in a Clive Barker film:
Toy designer Mark Boudreaux (RIP 1955-2023):
So on with the VA's:
The most famous the alleged casting rumor of the replacement of Lorenzo Music who was popular already for voicing Garfield the cat. The rumor involved Bill Murray complaining his Venkman sounded too much like Garfield, and thus they replaced him. This really felt true when Murray outright played Garfield in the film version after Music passed away. Something Murray would do. Honestly, even Dave Collier sounds too much like Uncle Joey. . . which is a can't win. Maurice LaMarche does an excellent job as Egon/Harold Ramis. Frank Welker appears to have been hired because he can do both Ray and sound effects with Slimer to save money. Arsenio Hall, IMHO, made the better VA for Winston Zeddemore; even though Ernie Hudson himself originally auditioned and didn't get the role. If I had one complaint about Hall, he came off sounding younger than normal for the character. He was in his late 20's as opposed to both Ernie Hudson; or Buster Jones (real name) who replaced Hall. However, Jones didn't start until Hall could not continue because he had another project we might recognize his name from. Janine Melnitz, initially voiced by Laura Summer, ending up with Kath Soucie. Comparisons between the two are noticably shocking.
The Real Ghostbusters action figures were originally made by Kenner, just after delivering Star Wars. A plastic proton pack complete with a translucent ghost to bust. Never had the ETCO-1. BTW, in the category of toys my parents wouldn't buy was the 15 inch Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man plushie proportional to the Ghostbusters, and I believe this was an amendment to releasing a Stay-Puft figure the same size as the Ghostbusters. I only had one figure, I think either Ray or Egon. That plastic proton stream was flimsy, and think something got either broken or bent on one of mine. I do remember some of my friends had multiple figures; sometimes the same as my own. They are still producing RGB action figures till this day, for kids and big kids alike. Interestingly, Kenner got bought out by Hasbro, the very year Real Ghostbusters ended.
Arsenio Hall and late great Harold Ramis:
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This is one of the few movie tie-ins.
As a disclaimer, I am only concentrating this review on the original Real Ghostbusters, not Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters (which pretty much officially began one season after the VA replacements of Winston & Janine). I personally couldn't stand Slimer after that original film. IMHO, the character wore out his welcome pretty quickly. Honestly wouldn't have minded they use Louis Tully as comic relief from the beginning instead of Slimer. I have a sneaking suspicion Rick Moranis had something in his contract blocking any use or likeness of him. He eventually would end up doing his own animated series with 'Gravedale High' building off his rising career of 'Honey I. . .', 'Spaceballs', and 'Little Shop. . .'; except they only used him sparingly in the aforementioned 'Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters'.
Anyways, for anyone alive, and able to see it in 1984, 'Ghostbusters' was one the biggest phenomenons along with 'Back to the Future' and of course 'Star Wars' in the 1980's. In terms of merchandising, there wasn't a whole lot; mostly clothing with the logo, that was everywhere. There later stuff like cereal, school supplies, and anything else Columbia Pictures could sell with licensing. Problem is there were no official Ghostbusters toys in Christmas 1984. Reason being the cast never signed likeness rights. This is the credit 'Real Ghostbusters' gets; it literally saved the franchise. Then the merch really exploded.
Producers Joe Medjuck and Michael C. Gross, designer of the "no ghosts" logo (RIP 1945-2015), helped bring Ghostbusters to the small screen. Not an easy task. As most of us know the reason why they changed the name to 'The Real Ghostbusters' was because of a rival IP by Filmation named 'The Ghostbusters'; which actually predated the film. Filmation, being one of the animation studios shopped to work on this as well.
Producer and sometimes director Richard Raynis (Who also worked on 'Extreme Ghostbusters' & 'Men in Black') manned the helm on the initial first season which aired on ABC. J. Michael Straczynski, Marc Scott Zicree, Michael Reaves, Chuck Menville, David Gerrold, Kathryn M. Drennan, Dennys McCoy & Pamela Hickey, Michael & Mark Edens all shared in being part of the writing team. They brought in some good talent as it certainly felt like this was intended as part of a bigger universe. . . sometimes literally. Some writers brought on would invoke some deliberate Lovecraftian themes (which I knew nothing about at the time). Some seemed to write like it was typical Saturday morning fare. TBH, in hindsight, it is now clear this show laid the ground work for Ghostbusters going further. The animated series also seemed to cause a major redesign for characters in Ghostbusters 2 with not only Janine but Winston as well.
J. Michael Straczynski on doing RGB:
With Filmation no longer an option, the team went with DIC, and with that producer Tetsuo Katayama was on board for the animation production. This often gave it an anime vibe, but pretty fluent animation as DIC was pretty much known for. Though the had a little too much on their plates at this point, and it was noticable from time to time. Our main characters were laid out well, but producers at Columbia/SONY were upset with Janine's portrayal at some point. Ultimately causing clear changes in later seasons. The series got into some heart felt episodes, and brought rated G level horror successfully.
Majority of character designs, as well as most of the ghosts and assorted random creatures, were courtesy of Everett Peck (RIP 1950-2022) and Fil Barlow. TBH, some of the ghosts/creatures would be at home in a Clive Barker film:
Toy designer Mark Boudreaux (RIP 1955-2023):
So on with the VA's:
The most famous the alleged casting rumor of the replacement of Lorenzo Music who was popular already for voicing Garfield the cat. The rumor involved Bill Murray complaining his Venkman sounded too much like Garfield, and thus they replaced him. This really felt true when Murray outright played Garfield in the film version after Music passed away. Something Murray would do. Honestly, even Dave Collier sounds too much like Uncle Joey. . . which is a can't win. Maurice LaMarche does an excellent job as Egon/Harold Ramis. Frank Welker appears to have been hired because he can do both Ray and sound effects with Slimer to save money. Arsenio Hall, IMHO, made the better VA for Winston Zeddemore; even though Ernie Hudson himself originally auditioned and didn't get the role. If I had one complaint about Hall, he came off sounding younger than normal for the character. He was in his late 20's as opposed to both Ernie Hudson; or Buster Jones (real name) who replaced Hall. However, Jones didn't start until Hall could not continue because he had another project we might recognize his name from. Janine Melnitz, initially voiced by Laura Summer, ending up with Kath Soucie. Comparisons between the two are noticably shocking.
The Real Ghostbusters action figures were originally made by Kenner, just after delivering Star Wars. A plastic proton pack complete with a translucent ghost to bust. Never had the ETCO-1. BTW, in the category of toys my parents wouldn't buy was the 15 inch Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man plushie proportional to the Ghostbusters, and I believe this was an amendment to releasing a Stay-Puft figure the same size as the Ghostbusters. I only had one figure, I think either Ray or Egon. That plastic proton stream was flimsy, and think something got either broken or bent on one of mine. I do remember some of my friends had multiple figures; sometimes the same as my own. They are still producing RGB action figures till this day, for kids and big kids alike. Interestingly, Kenner got bought out by Hasbro, the very year Real Ghostbusters ended.
Arsenio Hall and late great Harold Ramis:
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It's interesting to me that the events of the second movie are confirmed to have happened at some point late in the cartoon but were never recreated on screen. Similarly Tokka and Rahzar from The Secret of the Ooze turn up in the 87 Ninja Turtles cartoon at some point without any formal introduction, even though it seemed like they were Bebop and Rocksteady surrogates in the film.
the greenman
Well-Known Member
I think there's a lot of that in Hollywood, too many egos. Don't want to give credit. Others don't care.
I think it is a shame Aykroyd and Ramis were not paying attention to just how cultish and big this franchise was. They and Murray were also too busy on other things. There could've been a universe out there where Ramis himself directed a film. Oh well.
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The New Woody Woodpecker Show was just removed from Peacock... Can this show just take a break from being screwed over?