The eighties were a much different time, especially for the toy industry. The companies back then were much less subtle about cross selling their products. The He-Man, Transformers, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony and many other toy lines were all tied to a cartoon show with the purpose to push toy sales. In the early nineties things were changing to make it less obvious, because of complaints by parents and child advocacy groups. But that didn’t stop the major toy companies from influencing children to buy more of their licensed toys. Miniature toy catalogs were often included in larger play…
