The Real American Hero

March 20, 2003 1:58 PM

He's no Stormin' Norman, but his Battalion of Greeters will takedown Saddam and Rollback Prices! Check out the extensive G.I. Joe filecard gallery at Yo Joe.com to harken back when times were a little bit more simple, and our guns fired Laser Beams. Also if you have a chance see the commercial archive for the comic books (with songs for each one!). I hope you'll learn something from all of this, and knowing is half the battle.
posted by Stan Chin (15 comments total)

You will all kneel before me.
posted by COBRA! at 2:16 PM on March 20, 2003

I was just today saying that the US should supply the Iraqi Republican Guard with red tracers to complement the US's green. That way when we watch CNN, it'll be *exactly* like G.I. Joe. Factor in the lack of any visible carnage, and you've got yourself some quality Saturday morning TV.
posted by bingbangbong at 2:22 PM on March 20, 2003

WTF is up with that Sam Walton thing? Is Kommander Kmart working for Cobra?
posted by ColdChef at 2:25 PM on March 20, 2003

Ahh....the memories. These figures and transformers were what got me through my childhood years. Good stuff...
posted by JaxJaggywires at 2:27 PM on March 20, 2003

We've become Klingons haven't we? Guess I just never noticed.
posted by Wulfgar! at 2:29 PM on March 20, 2003

Cobra Commander actually started out as a Used Car Dealer

"Yo will be able to resist the power and speed of this 1988 Oldsmobile CUTLALALALALALALALALA SUPREEEEEEME!!!"
posted by Stan Chin at 2:33 PM on March 20, 2003

Whoa... I dimly remember one of the comic books revealing the used car dealer thing, but I had no idea it became canonical on a filecard. Awesome.

Oh, and the day they added the la-la-las to the end of the Cobra yell was the day it all fell apart.
posted by COBRA! at 2:38 PM on March 20, 2003

Today isn't really the day I want to be thinking about G.I. Joe, but this seems like as good an opportunity as any to mention G.I. Joe Killaz, for those who might be unfamiliar with Cobra Commander's LAZER GUN RAP project. "Eau de Cobra" is one hell of a song.

COBRA!: I didn't know either that the used car dealer thing had made it onto a filecard! You may or may not know already that Larry Hama, the writer for the G.I. Joe Marvel comic from the 80s, also wrote the filecards for the toys...
posted by cobra libre at 2:48 PM on March 20, 2003

I love the make-over Gung Ho got over the years.
Compare: Before (1983) / After (1987)

He's still a Leatherman's wet dream, tho.
posted by me3dia at 2:51 PM on March 20, 2003

Hama wrote the filecards? Wild.

Actually, looking back, I'm pretty bummed to see the marketing synergy that was obviously going on between the toys, comic, and cartoon (and, of course, this goes for Transformers, too). At the time I just thought it was a bunch of cool stuff...
posted by COBRA! at 2:54 PM on March 20, 2003

i think it's nice that all the world's attention is on the middle east and korea so that cobra folk can finally mingle comfortably within forum threads.
posted by Peter H at 3:38 PM on March 20, 2003

Actually, looking back, I'm pretty bummed to see the marketing synergy that was obviously going on between the toys, comic, and cartoon

Let's not forget the ancilary products like breakfast cereal (scroll down). Hey, check me out, I'm combining Stan Chin posts. My Meta is more Meta that yours!!
posted by jonson at 4:14 PM on March 20, 2003

Ah, Mainframe. Suddenly, I recall my first infatuation with computer geeks...
posted by Katemonkey at 4:47 PM on March 20, 2003

So cool, thanks Stan.
posted by Ty Webb at 5:26 PM on March 20, 2003

Larry Hama wrote most of the filecards, but it's rumored that one card was written by Stephen King.
posted by MrBadExample at 7:39 PM on March 20, 2003