Super 7 ReAction Lines

Considering how large some of the Megazord and Transformer ReActions get it is disappointing that they didn't go bigger.

SilverHawks coming. Quicksilver, Steelheart, Bluegrass and Pre-transformed Mon-Star. Quicksilver comes with Tallyhawk, Steelheart with Rayzor, and Bluegrass with Hot Licks. 

Posted by: @jim_abell

↑

Still amazed that we've got here a modern Sesame Street line and three waves in with no Elmo in sight...

I've been thinking about this. I'm wondering if Super7 is misreading fan reaction to Elmo. 

There is no question that current Sesame Street is nothing like it used to be. The show used to wink at parents while entertaining toddlers, and it has become entirely focused on the babies in the audience. The parodies are being phased out, and they don't even tell jokes anymore. I don't know if that's the wrong play for 2025 (our world is fucked up and Sesame Street has always evolved with the times) but there is no denying a large part of the babyfication of Sesame Street happened because of Elmo. I'm wondering if knowing this Super7 is under the impression adult collectors would avoid Elmo. 

20 years ago? A safe bet they would. But Elmo was properly introduced on Sesame Street in 1984. The character is literally 40 years old. Adults wanting merch for a character they loved as kids doesn't just fall within the "30 years since you couldn't afford it as a kid" nostalgia rule. It has an entire decade added as an extra cushion. 

I was born in 1975, but the era of Sesame Street I watched the most (as a teenager) was the late 80's and early 90's. Believe it or not Elmo was the best part of the show. Because the show USED to be an ensemble, and when Elmo was a minor secondary character he brushed up against the other characters brilliantly. Knowing how square and babyish the character's reputation is with modern fans, Classic Elmo would shock some of them. His role in the ensemble was that of the Wild Card. He was essentially a hilarious chaos agent, much like Grover, but more confident and less put-upon, so the viewer enjoyed seeing that without the character getting knocked down a few pegs. We could enjoy Elmo causing mayhem without feeling bad about it. 

And after the Tickle-Me-Elmo craze, the show decided to stop being an ensemble, and simply centered the show around Elmo. I mean I get Elmo was popular, but defanging the character by making him the main guy made him lose a LOT of his inherent naughty appeal. And adults who only knew Elmo from the overplayed Elmo's World (which was a BIG part of Sesame Street's decline) had no idea how fresh and funny the character initially was. 

Adult collectors are old enough now to remember that about Elmo. The character so badass he REFUSED to let go of Snuffy's trunk until Big Bird could PROVE he was real to all the asshole adults on the show. No, the adults weren't actually assholes. But when it came to Big Bird and Snuffy, they actually were. I will never forget it's Elmo who put them in their place about that. 

I'm not kidding about the show working best as an ensemble. I was never happy when BIG BIRD was given so much play in the early 80's, and this was that to the Nth degree.

I stopped watching the show regularly around the time Zoe came up with Rocko. I was as annoyed by that as Elmo. Worse probably, because I felt the adults playing along with that bullshit was majorly unfair and I could verbalize how passive-aggressive and cruel it was better than Elmo ever could. 

Zoe was a major character in the 1990's and was practically the second lead (or third if you count Oscar) in The Adventures Of Elmo In Grouchland. But once the show decided to turn her into Elmo's tormenter I think the character became pretty widely hated, even among little kids. You barely see her anymore for that reason. But she used to fulfill Abby's current role as Elmo's best friend until the writers decided to give her a cruel streak and utterly ruin her. 

Do you know the worst thing about Zoe's behavior? It was completely imitable to every kid watching at home who wanted to bully their siblings. What the fuck were the buttload of child psychologists the show employed over the decades even FOR if not to prevent this VERY type of bullshit? 

Even worse, she was the most visible female character at the time. And they decided to turn her into the stereotypical annoying shrew. Swell. 

For the record, Zoe was introduced in 1993. She is definitely in that 30 year nostalgia merch rule now.