TAtTF: Rambo!
I’m about a month or two late on this one to be relevant considering the last Rambo movie was out forever ago, but this ad for Rambo toys is still flipping sweet. Not because of the actual toys or anything, but because the whole idea of the Rambo franchise being aimed at children is frightening hilarious. Here it is though, one of the bloodiest most violent action franchises being marketed for the kiddies:
Oh, this ad has got it all. It’s like the magnum opus of horrible toy ads under a strong pretend guise of quality. You’ve got animation that just happens to be terrible. There’s the toy soldiers that aren’t any more offensive than G.I. Joe except for the fact that it is based of an R rated film property. The figures themselves look like they have lots of action features, but have heads bigger than the Elephant Man.
Like any 80s toy property worth it’s salt, Rambo here had his very own cartoon series. The series only lasted a year before being canceled and the toys didn’t last much longer than that, ending up in the clearance aisles and as dog chew toys across America.
If you want a super special bit of toy trivia, this is the toy line that caused Rocky Balboa to not join the G.I. Joe team. Sylvester Stallone licensed his likeness to the Rambo line instead of G.I. Joe (as Hasbro had been planning to release a Rocky Joe) and the rest is history. While Stallone could have joined the ranks of one of the most loved toy franchises ever, he sold out to be the star of a piece of crap. Hmmm…. sounds like almost his entire movie career.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:21 am
Hmmm…. sounds like almost his entire movie career.
Ouch! No love for Oscar?