Michael Jackson's Thriller View-Master (View-Master Ideal Group, Inc.)

 

Michael Jackson's Thriller View-Master
View-Master Ideal Group, Inc.
1984

I was messing around on Youtube the other day when I found myself stumbling across reaction videos to classic songs from my era that people were listening to for the first time. I was baffled to see a young man who was listening to Thriller for the first time, it just didn't compute with me. I just couldn't wrap my brain around how in 2021 there were people out there who had never heard this song, or album. I mean, I know it makes sense. The album is decades old, so there's bound to be people out there who have never heard it. But come on! It's the highest selling album of all time eve today! 

Anyway, the point I'm trying to get to, is that after seeing this, I was intrigued enough to throw a search in Google for "Michael Jackson toys". I don't why. I've already covered the LJN series, and the HORRIBLE dolls released in 1995 by Street Life. While I know of a few more Michael Jackson related collectibles out there, I never expected to find a View-Master, let alone a talking one.

There are straight up awesome! I love View-Masters! Yet oddly enough, I don't own any. Why is that? I suppose it's for the best, as it really would be a slippery slope for me. There are hundreds of View-Master reels I would want to add to my collection. Many of them based on 80's properties. Probably best to stay away.

Michael Jackson. View-Master. I mean, come on. This is awesome. How could it get any better?...

Michael Jackson's Thriller Talking View-Master
View-Master Ideal Group, Inc.
1984

...Well, talking View-Master of course! Everyone saw that coming, right?

Talking View-Masters are so nostalgic that they make every part of me giggle with joy. Have you ever seen one? It's a View-Master reel and mini flexi disc record all on one sheet. You then slide it into the machine, and let the magic happen between sound and picture.

A fun fact of these is that the records can actually be played on a regular record player that will play at 33 1/3 speed. So even if you don't have the View-Master, you can still play the record on a player. You can't see it, but I'm absolutely bursting at the seems with nostalgic glee as I type this.

As I said above, I don't own any View-Masters, but after typing up this post, I REALLY want to start a collection.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

G.I. Joe 3D View-Master (General Aniline & Film)

G.I. Joe 3D View-Master
General Aniline & Film
1972 and 1983

For as many toys as I've obtained in my collection to date, one thing I still find myself lacking is a classic red 1980's era View-Master Viewer and a hearty collection of fun reels. There are so many awesome sets based on iconic 80's properties: Centurions, Masters Of The Universe, Transformers, Knight Rider, The A-Team, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...This list could really go on an on for thousands of titles.

Of course, if you haven't guessed by the title of this post, I'm zeroing in on a specific one that I'd like to add to my collection. The 1983 G.I. Joe 3D Viewer. The Gift Set came with three reels featuring the short story "...Hot Potato!", which originally appeared in the last third of G.I. Joe number one from Marvel Comics. It also came with that nice, now retro style, red View-Master viewer.

It's a tough set to track down these days, and will easily set you back over a hundred dollars to pick one up in the box. That's why I haven't done so myself as of this writing. Then again, I'm also not one for collecting things in the box, so I'll most likely just end up buying the reels loose, and then grabbing a cheap Viewer when I come across one out in the wild.
 

Speaking of buying the reels separately, that too was an option back in 1983. Many kids in the 80's already had a View-Master, and therefore, focused strictly on obtaining a library of reels. I wish you could still find these for the original price of $3.29!

Of course, if you really want to go retro, you can also look into the original The Adventures Of G.I. Joe reels which came out in 1972.

General Aniline & Films (GAF) released three different stories. What makes these so unique is that they're actually created using the actual dolls and diorama like set pieces. One of the reels was even compatible with the Talking View-Master, which was originally introduced in 1970. The Talking reels not only included the pictures, but accompanying sound for each frame.

The Talking View-Master is actually so unique in how it works, that I kind of want to go into it here for you. Each set included the standard View-Master picture reel, and then also a small record which include the sound on one side. Both were resting on the same "platter", which was installed into the top of the Viewer. Once inside, you pushed a little button which would start the record, and much like an education film at school, change the frame when you hear the tone.

If you come across one of the "records", they were designed to be played back at 33 1/3 speed. If you don't have a Viewer, but a turntable that will play this speed, you could play the audio that way. Be careful though. These aren't actual hard vinyl records. Rather they are a thin vinyl sheet known as flexi disc, which is somewhat fragile to crinkles and even tearing.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.