11 jul 06
"who is cooler transformers or gi joe?"
gi joe, because the characters have more potential for homoeroticism. check out gung ho:
unbelievable, eh?
when i was 5-10, i had two action figures that were called "GI joes". they were big, about barbie-sized, and had removable clothing (haha). i think they did, at least, but maybe i'm just wishfull thinking. i know they had things like backpacks, grenades, etc, that you could take off and play with (?). maybe it's time for a web confirmation of these original GI joe figures...
The original G.I. Joe Action Figures, hitting the marketplace in 1964, were toys similar to Ken Carson (Barbie's boyfriend), but with a much increased articulation range, and more rugged appearance. Joe stood 11.5 inches, with 21 points of articulation, making him the first 'Action Figure' (a title that Hasbro insisted on, to make Joe more palatable to parents reluctant to let their boys play with a 'doll'). -- wicked-pedia
i played with dolls. i also had transformers, which are also dolls, if you think about it. even little action figures, like star wars figurines, are miniature dolls. all of you played with dolls, or miniature replicas of humans. a miniature replica of a human is going to be one of the most interesting thing to play with, regardless of the child's gender. we're all human beings, and like to monkey around with little replicas of ourselves, mimicking adult behavior and situations. that sounds sort of suggestive, after re-reading it. no matter.
all of my toys, i'm talkiing about 100%, have vanished. i know i gave some away to some ungrateful little brat when i moved to the states, but i suspect that many of them were pilfered by house visitors, especially the transfomers -- i have none of those left, and many of them were really cool. but perhaps the coolest was "jetfire", who was precicely modeled after the "macross" fighters from "robotech" (an anime series). anyway, i disassembled jetfire with a jewler's screwdriver, and never could get him back together, so at least i can be certain as to the cause of his death. it was very sad. but sunstreaker, the bumblebee guy (not, actually, "bumblebee", but literally a transforming bug), and others just dissappeared.
now that i think of it, i never did get into my GI joe action figures; i didn't know how to play with them. and furthermore, i never owned a single star wars figurine or "late model" GI joe. i'm just coming to this realization now. maybe this was indicative of some antisocial, "anti-human" tendencies brewing even then.
i reverse my original decision -- transformers are way cooler. GI joe sucks the pipe. but the way the asker phrased it: "who is cooler, transformers or GI joe?" as opposed to "which are cooler, transformers or GI joe?" seems to imply a restriction to the realm of fantasy. ie, which group of individuals, as described by the literature, is "cooler"? tough call.
i'd have to say that the story of GI joe is cooler, because plots concerning real human emotions and behavior are more believable when you're not dealing with robots.
as a group, but still in the fantasy-realm (regardless of which cartoon was better), i'd have to say the tranformers, because they only had to stomp on a GI joe for it to be would be all over.
certainly as toys, transformers have it hands-down.