Nostalgia for the Plastic Toys Made for Us
‘The He-Man Effect’ by Brian ‘Box’ Brown
Kids like action figures that depict family structures or that make them feel powerful. They’re capable of open-ended “imaginative play,” but they also gravitate toward premade toys with predefined stories whose culture they already share with other kids they meet.
Many children’s TV scripts and characters don’t make a lot of sense, and that’s because they were workshopped in focus groups and created as hybrids of the elements that most appeal to young kids. Typically, less attention was paid to principled messages or to narrative cohesion.
In the mid-20th century, TV began to offer programming especially for children. Many kids’ shows made money from selling toys. When U.S. advertising regulations prevented selling toys directly to kids, companies found workarounds. For example, they aired commercials for G.I. Joe comic books although the real money was in the 3.75" plastic action figures. Once kids recognized the characters, they found out about the toys.
This history is told in comic book format in The He-Man Effect: How American Toymakers Sold You Your Childhood by Brian “Box” Brown. The book shows how licensing and business decisions were made behind the scenes, including when the cost of manufacturing plastic rose with the…
