My birthday was this weekend and I was able to visit my parents for the first time in about a year. On its own, that’s nice, but more special as my mom has been dealing with cancer for over a year now and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen my parents for one of my birthdays.
We’re at the point where each time I see my mom could be the last time I see my mom so I made a little video to try to preserve the moment. We spend some time talking about my childhood and past birthdays, but then get into a very real discussion about life and death. It may not be for everyone and it’s very different than anything I’ve ever put out there, but both her and I are very happy we had this conversation.
I know we’ve been watching TMNT for the past few weeks, but I’ve been on a major GI Joe nostalgia kick of late with all the awesome new toys they’ve been releasing so I couldn’t help but want to revisit the series that sucked me in as a kid. And if I’m going to do that, I may as well blog about it, right? Right.
GI Joe as a brand has obviously been around since what feels like the dawn of time, but it’s the 1980s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic book, cartoon and all the subsequent licensing and marketing that went along with it that made it a real phenomenon. There have been plenty of DVDs produced over the years, but modern technology is a wonderful thing and we now have access to the full original series streaming whether that’s on YouTube – where many complete episodes have been uploaded by Hasbro – or on Tubi – a free streaming app that has the full 85 episode run available.
Eighty-five episodes is good, but you know what’s better? More episodes. Although, the actual syndicated series did clock in at 85, it was actually preceded by two separate five-episode mini-series which became necessary after a series of commercials produced by Marvel Productions to promote the toyline became super popular with kids of all ages craving to know more about this new world they were seeing.
Honestly, if I were seeing these commercials for the first time, I’d be soiling my pants for anything I could possibly get of GI Joe. Give me whatever you’ve got.
Which brings us to today. This week we’ll be watching the initial mini-series which is the “true” beginning to the classic series we all hold near and dear. I hope you’re as excited as I am since it’s been a very long time since I’ve gone back and watched these. Continue reading →
Car JoeMeZ 