Yeah, that does tend to mystify me a little bit. GI Joe was such a huge hit back in the 80's, and it even hit before Transformers (82 debut vs. 84). I remember GI Joe being everywhere as well, and I often had trouble deciding between getting GI Joe toys or Transformers toys. It's odd to see the GI Joe franchise floundering a little bit. It also makes me appreciate how amazing it is that the Transformers franchise remains so strong after 30 years, while other 80's properties often have to fight to stay relevant.

GI Joe still has some life, the GI Joe Renegades cartoon was really good, even if it was cancelled abruptly. Until the last year or two we had toys on the shelves, and the current GI Joe brand leader has come out and said that he wants to put GI Joe product back on the toy shelves.

Transformers is my number one, but I'm a GI Joe fan as well, and would like that franchise to stay strong.

 

Are you kidding? G1 is here to stay!  

 

Just imagine the word as "Gewinner"!

...that's what I do.

 

My 5 year old Nephews never saw the G1 cartoon, but I put it on the last time they visited and started naming all the characters on screen.. then asked if I had "X Y Z" toys in my collection and asked who some characters were that they've never seen and tried to compare to the Bay films.

 

yeah my boy has only watched rescue bots and g1 the last 3 years ! he only has toys of g1 characters ! We just had a big TF party with his cousins in which we sat down and watched the original movie .

 

My 8 year old son LOVES G1. So much so here is the cake I made for him a couple of weeks back:



G1 Grimlock is his favourite version of the character. He's even dressed up in a G1 cosplay outfit I made him and stomped around his school saying "Me Grimlock King!" (among other G1 quotes). He does also love Transformers Prime and the movies but he seems to always fall back to G1 when he wants something to watch.
He's not as taken by the new RID in terms of the cartoon itself because it doesn't have enough Optimus for him but he does like the toys and he's totally addicted to the Combiner Wars line.

 

love that cake wish I could draw like that myself ! I would do that in an instant