G.I. Joe Special Savings Expire in 1985
In my two books on action figure marketing — Each Sold Separately* and Action Figures Not Included* — I took time to discuss the mail-away offers of the eighties. By providing kids with a way to order toys directly, manufacturers once gave kids a reason to collect proof of purchase points and then left us excited as we waited for our orders to arrive.
The internet has kinda wiped out the idea of mailing in proof of purchase points, but I can remember when this was an important part of toy collecting and promotional flyers like this one for the G.I. Joe series were fun to find in toys. We don’t get these today, but maybe we’ll get lucky one day soon and someone will take a chance on mail-away offers and launch a new promotion. I hope.
Related articles
- 1984 GoBots Mail-Away Offer (battlegrip.com)
- G.I. Joe Elite Brigade “Hover Pod” for 12-Inch Scale Action Figures (battlegrip.com)
- The Corps’ “Beast Bomber” for 3.75-Inch Scale Action Figures (battlegrip.com)
Cool! Is that a proto-Outback on the first page? I know he digs headbands. Then again, it’s probably just Rock ‘n Roll.
@Rob – My very first thought was “Is that Outback?” We’ll probably never know.