Not everyone would agree with me, but I believe the hands-on 1/6th scale figures are extremely important. I believe they absolutely are to kids and collectors, but most employees in toy companies do not understand the significance.  Many times, I turned down buying figures because the hands were useless.  My definition of useless in this […]

When I first started working at Mattel in 1984, I poured through every toy catalog I could find.  Any that I found tossed in a throw-away pile became part of my personal library.  Not only was I reliving my youth seeing old toys that I played with, but I also was able to see some […]

Electronics are a typical part of modern toys and even the vintage GI Joes.  There were only a few Classic Collection Joes which came with electronics such as the lights and motor sounds of the Five Star Jeep or the propeller-driven Sea Sled. Since the large GI Joes were so expensive to begin with, it […]

If you are a toy collector who focuses only on US toy lines, you may have missed out on another great 1/6th figure, Action Man.  This line has always been linked with GI Joe since its release in Europe in 1966.  The line was licensed by a Palitoy, a European toy company known for redistributing […]

As noted in the article on The Adventures of GI Joe 2010, Hasbro viewed Joes as only for collectors.  The 2010 figures were strategically released to dilute the excitement of Mattel’s Max Steele launch – but they actually outsold Max Steel. To keep that momentum going, GI Joe Double Duty was designed specifically for kids. […]

Since 1996, Hasbro had been producing its Classic Collection line of 12” Joes with mostly collectors in mind.  Meanwhile, Mattel had been searching to find a way to remarket Big Jim as a modern action figure line.  In 1999, Mattel was finally ready to launch Max Steel to fill that void.  When Hasbro realized that […]

Typically, I have focused on older toys, but when a new fun action figure comes along, I am happy to discuss it. In May of 2017, Disney opened an “Avitar” land in the “Animal Kingdom Park” of “Walt Disney World” in Florida.  The new land is pretty amazing at making you feel like you are […]

Late in 1977, Mattel launched Pulsar – the Ultimate Man of Adventure; it was odd timing. The 1/6th (10.5”) scale original GI Joe stopped in 1976 but was reintroduced as Super Joe (8.5”) sized a little smaller than Big Jim (9.0”).  In 1978, Big Jim was stopped in the US, but Mattel tried to rekindle some […]

Way back in the 1930s, visionary writers of comic strips and pulp novels gave us the groundbreaking characters like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon.  Being in space, they obviously needed more firepower than gunpowder charged pistols, so blasters were born! During backyard battles, you could change the function of a blaster depending upon the adventure. […]

My favorite thing to see is the delighted face of a child receiving a toy. That moment of delight is magical. As a parent, it is satisfying that we made our child happy, at least for a moment. As a toy designer, I see it as a moment to spark a child’s imagination.  I still […]