Sci-Fi Decisions

Faced with this decision as a child, I went for Super Joe and you know what? I still would, especially since I don't have a "Gor: the King of the Terrons" doll. What about you folks?

New Six Million Dollar Man Shirt in our Redbubble store!

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Get the expanded digital edition of Rack Toys here.

Palitoy Commander Power; Fearless Defender of the Galaxy

Fortune smiled on me last month in the form of managing to pick up a Commander Power action figure. 

Known to us kids as Super Joe, the British toy firm Palitoy made some fun changes to the line such as marketing the characters (Palitoy only selected 3 Super Joe characters) in large boxes and more notably changing the name of our star player.

More after the jump:

Dolls: Big Figures from Fantasy!

I recently came across this wonderful article about action figures circa 1977, it mentions Micronauts, Pulsar, Metal Man, Electroman, Stretch Monster, Shogun Warriors and their impact on the toy market place. It features interviews with not only toy buyers but toy makers from Hasbro, Mego, Zee Toys and Mattel.

Seeing as these are things that haunt my dreams 40 years later, I thought it might be of interest to all of you, read on after the jump!

1979 Palitoy Commander Power Catalog (Super Joe)

In 1976, Hasbro Toys had abandoned the G.I. Joe action figure , the following year Joe returned 4 inches shorter and now in the future as "Super Joe" which lasted two brief years.

Hasbro's UK distributor Palitoy (Who was still busy selling 12" Joes as Action Man) decided to release Super Joe into the United Kingdom. Like a lot of their product lines, Palitoy did a massive rebranding of the concept. Joe became Commander Power and he was only joined by two other characters at the time, Gor King of the Terrons and the Shield. Judging by how hard it is to find the toys from this line, it's fair to summize that it wasn't terribly successful. However, it is quite nice to look at:

Check out the Palitoy Commander Power Catalog here.

More Super Joe:


For more about Super Joe check out our comprehensive Super Joe Gallery



1977 Super Joe Hasbro Catalog


1978 Super Joe Hasbro Catalog

Hasbro Super Joe Concept Art

Long ago, I saw these amazing pieces of original Super Joe concept art on Ebay, I regretted not putting a bid in and never got even proper shots of them for the site.

As luck would have it, the winner of the auction was none other than my pal John "Toyzilla" Marshall and he graciously offered to share them with the world.

These pieces appear to be drawn by comics legend Nick Cardy and depict Super Joe punching out what I can only guess is a rough concept of Gor: King of the Terrons. 

He's Joe and early version of the Shield knocking the wind out of Gor again. I can't say enough about this great artwork, I'm smitten.

Thanks again to John for this awesome share. Nothing like some newly discovered 70s joy.

Plaid Stallions Super Joe Archive!

Super Joe meets Godzilla

Seeing as it's Christmas eve, I'm going to hurry up and do a few of my favourites before I shut down for the year. This piece featuring Hasbro Super Joe (an underrated line IMHO) features Shogun Warriors Godzilla, for no good reason but it totally works. This is what I miss about catalogs....

More on Hasbro Super Joe

Super Joe Gallery

1977 Hasbro Super Joe Catalog

After folding the G.I. Joe Adventure Team in 1976, Hasbro sought to give their rugged man of action a massive overhaul. Thus SuperJoe was born, bearing little resemblence to the soldier of the past, Joe had lost four inches of height and the G.I prefix. Superjoe was now set in the far off future and (I'm guessing here) on another planet.

The Superjoe dolls were all electronic and the 1978 campaign was "They fight by night with light" meaning the figures were working penlights. Despite the very trendy Sci-Fi theme, Superjoe failed to gel with kids and faded away after the 1978 Christmas season.

Check out more in the 1977 SuperJoe Catalog

And hey if you're fascinated by Super Joe be sure to check out our Super Joe Action Figure Archive which has been freshly updated.

Super Joe Gallery

Super Joe Toy Gallery

Created a new gallery for that often forgotten era in G.I. Joe's history known as Super Joe, the era when Joe got shorter and was blasted off into the distant future to do battle with "Gor King of the Terrons" (incidentally, Gor was only the second villian Joe ever had but not the first alien).

The Gallery features production drawings and early advertising along with shots of Super Joe items from around the world:

In the UK, Joe was called "Commander Power" but Terron was marketed as an enemy for his 12" doppelganger "Action Man".

In Mexico, Joe was called "Siglo XXX" (which translates into XXX Century) and he was marketed alongside his 12" counterpart. Finding these in the original Lily Ledy display boxes are a task and a half.

Check out More at the Plaidstallions Super Joe Gallery

Other Plaidstallions Action Figure Archives

Toy Questions Part 2: Super Joe

Another recurring contributor to my mail bag is Super Joe, I get email from folks from time to time that say:

"I had this 8 inch tall Micronaut, he lit up, who was he?"- His name is Luminous and he's part of Hasbro's short lived GI Joe revamp called Super Joe. Luminous is clear like a Micronaut so the confusion is genuine.

"I remember this big Lizard that walked but if you hit him with a flash light, he stopped"- That's Terron, the big "get" for 1978 that many attribute to ruining the Super Joe line.

I think the big problem with Super Joe is he just didn't have the name recognition, kids didn't get that this was GI Joe and without some sort of tie in (ie TV show or comic book) he just became somewhat swept under the carpet next the Superfriends and Star Wars.

It's a bit of shame because Super Joe has some neat ideas, look for more on him at the site in the coming months.

DVD Alert!The Comedy goldmine known as Cinematic Titanic has released another live DVD, their last live DVD (East meets Watts) was the best I had seen by the former MST 3K gang.

Add to this that their latest victim, Alien Factor, is actually a pretty fun and creative film in it's own right. What happens when a space ship full of alien convicts crashlands in Baltimore.

You can see the first five minutes here and what's even cooler you can download the whole movie at their store for $10.00. If you're a fan, please support quality comedy and laugh your ass off.

1978 Collegeville Halloween Costume Catalog

With it being October, I tend to get a little nuts with the Halloween costumes especially my favourite company Collegeville.

1978 was a fun year for Collegeville, sure they didn't have Star Wars but did Ben Cooper have the Hardy Boys? Not a chance. The 1978 Collegeville catalog is exploding with characters and creations that made the 1970s great including Jaws, Grizzy Adams, Farrah Fawcett, Superjoe, TV Super teams The Osmonds, Laverne and Shirley, Starsky and Hutch and the Monster Squad, just to name a few. It's like some weird TV special that probably happened...

Rob Reiner has one of these somewhere. Click on any image to check out all the fun of the 1978 Collegeville Costumes Catalog.

More Costume Catalogs:

Did you invite Godzilla?

I'm loving this 1978 Sears spread featuring Hasbro Super Joe, I'm just somewhat curious as to why Godzilla from the Shogun Warriors was crowbarred into the back like that. It works though doesn't it? Little kids don't care that the toys aren't from the same lines (unless you were that really anal kid) and this scene probably got reenacted in a couple of (lucky) households.

bh

Super Joe VS Terron Trading Card

This is the final Plaid Stallions trading card for the summer, I'm not sure why I didn't reveal it earlier but here it is, ta-dah! I have a soft spot for Super Joe and when I found this image, I rushed it to press. I've already laid out my next two cards and they will be a departure, one will be for the ladies and the other isn't a doll or an action figure! Stay tuned!

colouring book theatre will return next weekend.

Super Joe Armed for Space War

After the demise of the Super Adventure Team, Hasbro regrouped and turned G.I. Joe into Super Joe, an 8" Mego sized Space Warrior. Super Joe lost the space war in 1978, interestingly at a time when the public's interest in science fiction was at a new high.

1978 Hasbro Super Joe Catalog

Super Joe 1978 Catalog

They fight by night with the power of light! I really fun one today the 1978 section of the Hasbro catalog devoting to SuperJoe, G.I. Joe's futuristic kick at the can. Joe took a four year holiday after this, come see why! Also come check out our newly redesigned website, now with 50% more smooth.

More from Charlies Basement

This is a follow up to the first Charlies Basement segment in which I took random photos from a friends toy collection. Above is a boxed Mattel Rodan, that one made me a little jealous as did the perfect mailer boxed Shogun Warriors.

Carded Super Joe figures are extremely hard to find, I've never seen a loose example of the commander in this outfit, let alone carded. Note that the hands are disintegrating which is really common with these guys.

Carded bearded Super Joe Commander

Apparently this Creature from the black Lagoon Halloween costume is uber tough to find.

I admit it, I have a boyhood crush on Spider-Woman.

And one on Godzilla..

It was hard not to crack these open