Quick review: G.I.Joe Season 1.1 DVD

Ah, the marketing juggernaut for the upcoming G.I.Joe: Rise of Cobra movie has began in earnest; I noted three end-caps full of toys based on the movie at Target yesterday, and the T-shirts and backpacks are out in the back to school section. Finally, and this was what I was excited about this week, the DVD containing the first 22 episodes of the early 80s G.I.Joe cartoon was released.

Labeled “G.I.Joe Season 1.1” (since the first 15 episodes were three 5-part miniseries released several months apart) the DVDs are a nice trip down memory lane for me, as I watched the show (and Transformers) obsessively back in 1984 and 85. The picture and sound quality is nice on the episodes, though there is some distracting digital noise reduction in some moments (This is the second time the episodes have been put out on DVD, and based on my recollection of that previous set’s quality I don’t think that these episodes have been remastered from that release).

In addition to the episodes, you get three toy commercials, seven public service announcements, interviews with the lead writer Ron Friedman, and (the highlight of the set for me) the 1963 Toy Fair video that presented the original 1/6th scale G.I.Joe to the dealers (and the world). The 1963 presentation video is, for a collector of the original Joe like me, just a great snapshot of how they were going to market this “doll” to the world (they never called it a doll, it was a movable action figure, hence the name – and an industry – was born).

For Joe fans young and old this is a great addition to your collection, and a great way to introduce your sons to the world of G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero. Now, for the obligatory statement that any posting on that show requires:

“Yo, Joe!”

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