GI Joe sales up!!

[Bigmack]

Developing a new generation of cannon-fodder! This, from the same paper that just dumped liberal writer James Goldsborough and which featured an editorial today saying how the Fallujah operation broke the back of the insurgency. Shit!
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War toys

Life-like action products can pollute kids' play, engender violence, some say, but stores are packed with such playthings this season

By Michael Stetz STAFF WRITER San Diego Union-Tribune

December 5, 2004

Action figure G.I. Joe was introduced by Hasbro Inc. in 1964. The latest versions shout commands and sport weapons like their real counterparts.

The steely-eyed Marine squad leader is primed for action, with his M-16A4 rifle cradled in his meaty arms. An Army Green Beret is next to him, also armed and ready. Close by is a Navy SEAL, decked out in full battle gear too.

This is not a description of elite U.S. fighters massing for an offensive in war-torn Iraq.

It is a display in a Wal-Mart toy section, or maybe a Toys 'R Us store or perhaps in a toy aisle at Target, Kmart or any of the other stores where plastic tanks, fighting men and warplanes are reporting for holiday duty.

Computer games glorifying war have also established a holiday beachhead, with "Ghost Recon," "Conflict Desert Storm" and "Medal of Honor, Rising Sun" among those on the shelves.

Whether children should play with such toys has long been in question. The debate escalates when a real war – the United States' bloodiest in a generation – is going on.

However, sales of G.I. Joe figures climbed 46 percent from 2001 to 2002, according to Hasbro Inc., the manufacturer. While Hasbro would not disclose more recent statistics, it did say that the uptick began in 1999, before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041205/news_1n5wartoys.html

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. G.I. Joke....

[edbermac]

2. Does it come equipped with a little body bag?

:mad:

[Deja Q]

3. There's a cheap toy called 'The Corps' from Lanard Toys...

www.lanard.com CLick on the language flag to read about this disgusting company.

The page is in Flash format so I can't copy any text. But they claim to say that 'integrity guides us', amongst other bullshit drivel.

:puke:

[Jack_DeLeon]

4. Geez...

I played with G.I. Joes and Transformers when I grew up in the 80s, I turned out alright.

[SheepyMcSheepster]

5. me too

i was a huge G.I. Joe fan, i never seriously considered joining the armed forces.

[bullimiami]

7. i liked gi joe too

in the 60s. im very antiwar pro democracy. hmmm.


here is my dumb idea.

repackage 2 gi joes. (mixed race a bonus) include some metrosexual items, sushi, champagne and glasses, nice metro clothes, hair and skin care "products", and a dvd of queer eye. and call them

"dont ask, dont tell GI Joe and Friend"


that should piss a few people off. :)

[SheepyMcSheepster]

15. hehe

[Bigmack]

18. Yeah, you're OK...

... but maybe that says more about you than about the majority of little kids. Remember growing up around those little dumbshits who pretended to be Superman and jumped off the top of the house thinking they could fly?

You gotta remember... about half of this country is dumber than a bag of hammers.

A country where a majority believes in Angels and doesn't believe in evolution is - to put it mildly - a country of big time DELUSIONS.

One of those "Local Heroes" pieces in our local paper was memorializing a kid killed in Iraq. The article said how, when he was little, he dressed up in camo and dug foxholes and couldn't wait to be a soldier. He sure got his wish.

[Codeine]

6. Hey now, I loved war toys...

...as a kid and still play wargames (boardgames, consims, and miniature wargames) as an adult and I'm as anti-war as they come.

In fact, when I get off work I'll go home and paint a few dozen 10mm British 8th Army Grant tanks that have been sitting on the painting table all week.

And I'll still be anti-war when I'm done! :D

[genieroze]

8. You sunk my battleship. eom

[billie_]

9. do they have a flag draped coffin accessory pack /wheelchair or removable

arms & legs (that have prosthetics) :( cause that's what our GI Joe's & Jane's get!

[bullimiami]

10. Islamic torture pack

Prisoners in removeable orange jumpsuits.
Glow sticks,
German Shepards,
Electrodes with realistic "sparking" action.
Autographed Lynndie "thumbs up" poster.

[billie_]

11. OH GOD, I laughed and now I feel guilty, that is terrible and TRUE :< n/t

[Bigmack]

17. Don't forget the CD...

... with the screams of the wounded.

[freelight]

12. Now, I oppose this war and war in general as much as the next leftie...

But really, how is saying these toys are ruining our kids any different from blaming the Columbine shooting on violent video games? Parents should just explain to their kids the difference between real war and playing with toy soldiers, and make sure they understand that war is a very bad thing. That's all. The kids are not as stupid as some people are making them out to be.

[newyawker99]

14. Hi freelight!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[freelight]

16. great to be here, thanks!

Been lurking for nearly a year, took me long enough to register.

[qanda]

19. My 8 yo son loves G.I. Joe

And he marched against the war three times with me. He even made his own signs. He speaks against Bush and this illegal war wherever he goes and yet he and his dad play G.I. Joe at least 2-3 times a week. I, too, fail to see what the big deal is. My son loves collecting the different figures and develops his own strategy to beat his dad just about every time they play.

[seabeyond]

13. another perspective from a mother, opposed to guns

fighting and war. with two boys. neither of my boys had a toy gun for years. after the war in iraq started up, and after all the fear of 9/11 and the build up of aggression during the time, and what my children were experiencing in their world, i found the gi joes to be an outlet for them to work on all this battle and aggression and violence. and thru all the learning, we keep an eye on the ball about war and what it creates

gi joes were never in our home, i brought the gi joes to boys because of how the world is and a way for them to work out in play what they are seeing in their reality

this is what us adults are giving the children to deal with. the more they get into the experience, the less fearful and out of control they feel. even if it is just in play

so dont knock this so much. i was about made to go into gi joes. and as a parent i put the time in allowing in a helathy balanced way, as much as i can