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In a lot of ways it doesn't really matter if all the rumors and bad buzz are true or not. The damage has already been done either way.

Fan-boys can say what they want about the Transformers movies, but those movies have attracted millions of news fans, generated a lot of money, and the toy line is doing better than ever. Any frachise has to continually attract new fans and continue evolving or it will die. By attracting old and young fans Micheal Bay and his Transformers movies have ensured that the frachise will live on for many years to come.

GI Joe could only dream of the sales that Transformers has produced in recent years, and GI joe has had a really hard time attracting new young fans and toy buyers.

This movie was a chance to put GI Joe back on the map with kids. But beause the GI Joe producers didn't real play the nostalgia angle the way Transformers did, and because the previews have been lame, I just don't see the movie attracting enough of an audience to really propel the frachise or the toy line forward. Even a sequel seems unlikely at this point. (Work on the second Transformers movie started before the first was even out the the theaters.) I'm really disapponted by the how badly Hasbro and Paramount missed the boat here.

I know some fan think of Larry Hama as sort of the Godfather of GI Joe, and I'll admit that Larry Hama was a huge part of comic books' success in the 1980's. But that comic book was only a part of GI Joe universe. The cartoon was seen by far more people than the comic book, and Hama admitted that he hasn't even watched the cartoon. The cartoon and the TV commercials are what drove toy sales in the 80's not the comic book. Its no coincidence that after new cartoon episodes stopped, sales of the toy line tanked.

Reading interviews of Hama, it sounds like he was never really emotionally invested in the characters, beyond Snake-eyes. It sounds like it was just ajob for him, and not something he was ever really passionate about. And let not forget that Hama was responsible for the ninja obsession, and bizarre sci-fi elements that were introduced in the late 1980's-early 1990's. That crap killed the toyline.

06-20-2009, 07:31 PM	#23
Uncle Flint Veteran Offline --> Posts: 168 --> Join Date: Mar 2006	missed opportunity In a lot of ways it doesn't really matter if all the rumors and bad buzz are true or not. The damage has already been done either way. Fan-boys can say what they want about the Transformers movies, but those movies have attracted millions of news fans, generated a lot of money, and the toy line is doing better than ever. Any frachise has to continually attract new fans and continue evolving or it will die. By attracting old and young fans Micheal Bay and his Transformers movies have ensured that the frachise will live on for many years to come. GI Joe could only dream of the sales that Transformers has produced in recent years, and GI joe has had a really hard time attracting new young fans and toy buyers. This movie was a chance to put GI Joe back on the map with kids. But beause the GI Joe producers didn't real play the nostalgia angle the way Transformers did, and because the previews have been lame, I just don't see the movie attracting enough of an audience to really propel the frachise or the toy line forward. Even a sequel seems unlikely at this point. (Work on the second Transformers movie started before the first was even out the the theaters.) I'm really disapponted by the how badly Hasbro and Paramount missed the boat here. I know some fan think of Larry Hama as sort of the Godfather of GI Joe, and I'll admit that Larry Hama was a huge part of comic books' success in the 1980's. But that comic book was only a part of GI Joe universe. The cartoon was seen by far more people than the comic book, and Hama admitted that he hasn't even watched the cartoon. The cartoon and the TV commercials are what drove toy sales in the 80's not the comic book. Its no coincidence that after new cartoon episodes stopped, sales of the toy line tanked. Reading interviews of Hama, it sounds like he was never really emotionally invested in the characters, beyond Snake-eyes. It sounds like it was just ajob for him, and not something he was ever really passionate about. And let not forget that Hama was responsible for the ninja obsession, and bizarre sci-fi elements that were introduced in the late 1980's-early 1990's. That crap killed the toyline.