Something in life I find fascinating is the deep-seated nostalgia people have for things from their youth. That love can encompass pop-culture items like movies, TV shows, books, and clothes.
But there is a relic of youthful fun that seems to shine above all others when it comes to passionate memories, and that is the toys that we played with as children.
It is in that spirit that producer Brian Volk-Weiss brings to Netflix the new docuseries called The Toys That Made Us — the stories behind iconic toy brands.
The first four episodes of the series dropped on Netflix on Dec. 22. The first slate of episodes (each roughly an hour in length) sheds light on the history and development of the toys, as well as their legacy in the toy lexicon.
Episode 1: Star Wars
Gives viewers a look into the rise of the Kenner’s popular toy lineup in the 1970s and 1980s. Interesting nuggets include an interview with the Kenner attorney who negotiated the toy deal with George Lucas prior to the Star Wars release in 1977 (Kenner received 95 cents for every dollar earned, and Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox split a nickel), and a look at the toy brand’s temporary demise in the mid-1980s.
Episode 2: Barbie
Offers insights into the inspiration for Barbie dolls (not the most savory source material), the politics behind Barbie, and the perpetual retooling and marketing for the seemingly eternal brand.
Episode 3: He-Man
I never owned any of the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe line, but watching the episode made me wish I had. Mattel’s launch of He-Man was in response to Kenner’s Star Wars line and Hasbro’s re-invention of G.I. Joe into smaller figures. You learn the origins of the toy (sold to execs on a wink and a promise), and get to meet the salty creators who utilized a shotgun approach in creating the odd assortment of characters produced. The episode also talks about the ill-fated 1987 Masters of the Universe movie starring Dolph Lundgren.
Episode 4: G.I. Joe
I owned a lot of the G.I. Joe action figures back in the early 1980s, and also owned a number of the vehicles (the W.H.A.L.E. Hovercraft was one of my favorites). The episode focuses on the origin of the Hasbro toy line — from the early “doll” years of G.I. Joe, through the retooling of the line during the Vietnam War, to the re-invention of G.I. Joe into an elite fighting force “small” figure line in the 1980s.
What’s fascinating about the first season of The Toys That Made Us is how many talented individuals came to the toy industry from other careers — such as the aerospace engineering field.
Producer Brian Volk-Weiss considers The Toys That Made Us something of a passion project. His producing career has focused primarily on comedy specials for outfits like Netflix.
In the following interview, Volk-Weiss discusses his toy-centric project, the difficulty selling the concept to programmers, and he mentions that the next four episodes (set to debut sometime in 2018) will focus on Transformers, Hello Kitty, Star Trek, and Lego toy brands:
Even if you didn’t play with the particular toys featured in The Toys That Made Us, it is a fun and fascinating watch, and sheds insight on an industry that doesn’t feature a lot of written or filmed history.
Check it out!
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