Two Excellent Toy Documentaries Available To Stream (For Free!)

Netflix currently has a 4 episode documentary called The Toys That Made Us. This is a must watch for anyone who came of age during the eighties as well as Star Wars collectors. The four episodes focus on Star Wars, Barbie, Masters of the Universe and G.I. Joe. The G.I. Joe episode may particularly rankle you as the same exact company who has manifested the renaissance of 5POA 3.75" figure also championed "posability" as part of their G.I. Joe line. Additionally provocative is the insinuation that we may have had to wait 16 years for a new Star Wars movie due to a bad licensing deal with Kenner. Finally, the Masters of the Universe episode touches on the importance of "line accessibility" which, while still important to this day, has been mitigated somewhat by online storefronts in the modern era.

Overall, The Toys That Made Us is an invaluable resource for insight into the industry. Don't be a jerk and skip over the Barbie episode. It's good too.



Over at Amazon, the 2014 documentary, Plastic Galaxy is streaming. This is a great documentary on the early days at Kenner and its acquisition of the Star Wars license. This film is the foundation of my fascination with former Kenner CEO, Bernie Loomis, who coined the greatest word in the history of the hobby: "toyetic." This is also a must watch.

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