Check this one out from the CBC The Journal archives from 1984: Can the lady who works in the toy store transform Sideswipe in front of a camera? Transformers 'make coleslaw out of the cabbage patch' - CBC Archives We see Transformers, Microman, Diaclone, Kronoform and Gobots, as well as many GI Joes and He-Man figures. The Canadian newshounds worry about the violence from the popularity of these "war toys". Edit - YouTube link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi2NszqB13w
How does Sideswipe resemble a Porsche in any way? Jazz is the Porshce, Sideswipe is a Lamborghini. Man it's cool just see old archive footage of old 80's toys. War Toys are indeed fun.
I think it's funny how the world changes with the generations. Back then the news was filled with adults who were worried about the violent kids toys like that "war toy" Soundwave. Today the world is run by the kids who played with it, and the news takes a survey about which Classic Transformers character you most want to see appear in the Transformers movie, and Soundwave was in the top 10. It was also neat to see all the Diaclone toys in the piece. Red Tracks on the canadian toy shelves in 1984! Plus the Soundwave used in the piece was Microman's "Cassette Man".
That was really cool to see. It really took me back and I remember watching news shows with my dad with people protesting Gi Joe toys. Very cool, thanks for posting
We now interrupt these episodes of "A-Team", "The Fall Guy" and "Magnum, P.I." for some hand-wringing about war toys. I love the Major Bludd poem
To be fair I don't recall those shows broadcasting on CBC. ;-) Funny thing is about this and other takes I've heard on the outrage over violent kids toys is these are the "bad guy". Major Bludd is the guy GI Joe tries to capture! Do you want Duke going after a nice guy with his machine gun? CBC's The Journal had a lot of things like this in the 80s. They did a report once on childern's toy commercials showing the dolls doing things that the dolls couldn't do... Like walk in an animated scene! These poor kids would think the dolls could walk! Deceptive advertising! They also did a big story on how Dungeons and Dragons was going to take over your kid's mind.
Haha! I was part of a CBC radio panel on war toys around that time... I was the the "kid" contributor, so I got to tell everybody why GIJOE and Transformers were awesome. I loved the "coleslaw" comment. So true! Anybody else notice the GODSIGMA chogokin behind the sales lady? I remember when you could still find those in regular Canadian department stores. Surprising that many of the robots they selected to show for this segment are not Transformers... King Dan (Dam?) from the Diaclone line, the old red Tracks Diaclone variant, Kronoform watches (those were everywhere!). Also of note that the "Soundwave" the kid is playing with isn't even a real Soundwave... it's the "Cassette Man" off-brand version. That really was a blast from the past... I remember that time so well, but it's strange now to look back on it and really put it in context. Thanks for sharing that! zmog
Man cause I teleport BACK to that time period with my computer and internet and have the cash I have now so I can buy fortress Maximus well, 3 really. I just thought that vid was so cool as it took me back to a time and place in my life.
To be fair, this was news back in 1984. It wasn't just the Canadian media... everybody was talking about it. War toys were a genuine concern, much as video games are now. You can also throw violence and sexuality on television into that bin too... it's easy to cry "puritan!" and brush it off, but I think there IS something wrong with us. It may be fundamental to our human psyche, and maybe there's no escaping it, but it's worth looking at. I think that people are over-protective of children, and that kids are a lot tougher and more sensible than we give them credit for... but then, on the other hand, some kids are dumb, and grow into dumb adults, so who can say? I agree that much of it is leftover hippy paranoia. I think the line between being a kid playing with toy soldiers, and becoming a dangerous sociopath is pretty vast, however there is a valid point to be made about overt violence and militarism in our culture... it's a facet of humanity, really. In an ideal world, we'd all be much more innocent and boring, admittedly. Not sure that world exists, but I guess we need the hippies to keep balance with the truly vile elements on the other end of the spectrum, so the rest of us can live comfortably in the realistic middle. zmog
My god, Peter Mansbridge with hair... Still, an extremely interesting piece, and one that brings home that some things never change.
