It's a sad thing but one of the longest running fan mailing lists that I am aware of for a 1980s toy line died a death this December when the admins shut it down. Christy Marx was on that mailing list, and she was very good about discussing characters and answering questions. Because of that I even have copies of two or three of the episode scripts and it's so fun seeing what was left out or changed between that and the production. I think I have Talent Search 1 & 2, Britrock...I forget what else. Maybe Stingers Hit Town, not sure.
I'm a Misfit fan. I like the Holograms, too. Can't stand Jem or Rio. Pretty much everyone else is fine with me. I used to have Jem/Jerrica in my collection and I found I was losing interest in them. I then realised that I only should have the collection I want, not the expected collection and didn't need to have those characters even if they are the main characters from the show. I just had so much issue with Jem's hypocrisy and the fact Rio two times her with herself - and at least once, with her other self, Jamie, which must be a record.
I just shifted my cabinet around to put away some of the fashions and make room to put the IT dolls inside because they were getting dusty, but this is what my collection did look like before this break:
http://www.etherella.com/photoshoot/
My favourite characters are Jetta, Stormer and Synergy. But the prettiest doll in my opinion is 2nd Edition Shana. Specifically this one:
because I rescued her. She was really messed up and had no accessories and her hair was a messy knot but she has the prettiest expression so she's special to me.
Kimber was my first doll. I actually bought her to trade to Prance in Canada (Pranceatron vs Jem, great Jem website, one of the best) and then I saw Truly Outrageous and somehow Kimber never left.
But I really do like the Misfits better ;) These are my special Misfits.
I made 3 of the outfits and a friend made Roxy's. I went through a whole phase of making a lot of the outfits from the show because the Misfits didn't have enough outfits already. Especially Jetta ones, because she had none...
Oh yeah. I also have a big thing about the Mexican made dolls. I guess Jem's equivalent Nirvana is Spanish and Mexican Jem, but I love the Mexican ones. They're so crazy...
http://www.etherella.com/photoshoot/mexicoll.htm
The IT dolls are amazing! But yeah, I agree, so expensive. I decided originally I was only getting the ones that Hasbro never made as proper dolls in the old lines. Plus the Misfits. I've more or less stuck to that, although I thought I was done and then they decide to bring out Graphix. I won't get her, though, she's a club exclusive, so I guess I am done. I love that they made Eric and Craig. Eric had to happen. It was about time he did.
But when Regine, Danse, Clash and Video came out it was insane. Regine and Danse were literally sold out within the first day. And now some of them their prices are double the retail which is sad...
Another amazing Jem site is Brian's Totally Jem. Because it has pretty much every prototype thing you can imagine on it. Most of the old Jem stuff is in the community now. A Jem friend of mine got the autographs of Ellen Bernfeld and Anne Bryant for me, and someone else got me the autograph of Patricia Albrecht but pretty much all of the Jem former cast, people, etc have been in contact with someone in the Jem fandom unless they have passed away (which sadly several have). It's a bit different from MLP in that way in that fans have had a much deeper connection with all of the old stuff from the line and the people involved, which is brilliant.
What has happened with those dolls in the past is that you get scalpers and the prices are double what retail would be. And exchange rate sucks xD.
Graphix looks cool but I can't pay $200+ for a doll right now ><
Yep, that's the site I meant ;) THe mailing list I think had been running 20 years when it closed. Very sad day...
<3 Shana :D
What has happened with those dolls in the past is that you get scalpers and the prices are double what retail would be. And exchange rate sucks xD.
Graphix looks cool but I can't pay $200+ for a doll right now ><
Yep, that's the site I meant ;) THe mailing list I think had been running 20 years when it closed. Very sad day...
<3 Shana :D
I'd love to help you out but the club price for her is $130 - so even if I found someone who was willing to let me take her over for you (or sometimes Integrity has a few extra if you email them right away) shipping from Integrity to me, and then to you- definitely $200 by that time. :P
Queen of Rock n Roll is the one I was trying to remember! Thanks taffeta!
That poor pet fox.
Thanks Taffeta. :)
I liked that Banee found her father but doesn't that contradict one of the Starbright episodes where Banee was going blind and Jerrica said they didn't have any idea who Banee's parents were?
I also thought it was funny in The Stingers hit Town that when all of the people in the club were starting to riot and destroy things Riot told everyone to sit back down and Jerrica said "They're sitting down because he asked them to?"
Ponyfan
One of the things I like about Jem is that it not only had a really diverse cast, but it was obvious that the writers actually did research when they were portraying different countries. And since this was in the 80s, research took more effort than it would now that we have the internet.
One of the things I like about Jem is that it not only had a really diverse cast, but it was obvious that the writers actually did research when they were portraying different countries. And since this was in the 80s, research took more effort than it would now that we have the internet.
As the resident of one such country I'd have to both agree and disagree on the amount that they did. I think it depends on the writer. (I also know people in Croatia who are quite offended by the episode set in Yugoslavia).
...
Renaissance Woman, on the other hand, is totally different. As a historian as well it drove me nuts, but it's just stupid from start to finish. First you have a Renaissance Fair. Never heard of those before. Second, you have a pseudo Robin Hood figure appearing in this fair - but the concept Robin Hood belongs to a pre-Renaissance era, so that's wrong. Most stupid of all, though, is the idea that the area, Carfax I think? is feudal, there's a baron and local indentured peasantry who are being oppressed. The writer of that episode completely ignored the existence of the industrial revolution ;)
The idea is obviously to create a story with homage to the Robin Hood tale, with Danse as Maid Marian, but realistically the story doesn't make any sense and it doesn't represent 1980s Britain in any way, shape or form.
I don't think that Jem is terrible at presenting other countries. But I don't think it's overly great at it at times, either. And I know that Christy fought really hard to get a proper voice artist for Jetta to really make her British. Every other British voice in the show is terrible, and they are all would-be cockney, which is a London accent that has no place whatsoever in rural Carfax.
So I would say that, for my country, yes and no. Depending on the episode. And the accents are almost universally terrible.
Renaissance Woman was weird because halfway through everyone seemed to forget they weren't LITERALLY IN THE PAST.
Renaissance Woman was weird because halfway through everyone seemed to forget they weren't LITERALLY IN THE PAST.
Agreed. But my point is, Renaissance Fairs are an American thing but this was set in the UK. And we don't have them, as far as I am aware. And if we did, people here don't generally think of the Renaissance and Robin Hood as going together, because they frankly don't. In this country you might get county fairs in rural areas, or you sometimes get battle reenactments or mock-jousting tournaments with some kind of mediaeval reference, or stuff like that. And of course in November we stuff an effigy, stick it on a bonfire and burn it, which can often be a community event. But I've never heard of a Reinaissance fair here. That's what I meant about the episode having a very shoddy grasp of British life.
I totally agree that they lost the plot halfway through though, and blurred whether they were in a Fair or in the past. Which is where the problem of feudalism comes in and gets totally misunderstood.
The only saving grace about that episode is that we find out Raya's good at archery. And they bother so little to give us anything about Raya past her intro ep and the gratuitous "Mexican trip" ep that any little detail is welcome in my view.
But yeah, not all the episodes are well researched. And not all the writers are Roger Slifer or Christy Marx's calibre.
You can have an amazing bad episode, though, such as the Shangrila one, which is totally ridiculous but amazingly funny. And then you can just get a bad episode like Ren. Woman. :-/.
I think you just summed up the whole problem with the episode xD. It's not even clear xD. But the terrible TERRIBLE accents sort of give it away.
Oh it was supposed to be in the UK?
She had that romance going on with Stormer's brother, she got shoved into the luggage compartment of the bus, she was pretty sarcastic and her braininess and natural suspicion let her catch onto some plots.
She had that romance going on with Stormer's brother, she got shoved into the luggage compartment of the bus, she was pretty sarcastic and her braininess and natural suspicion let her catch onto some plots.
Yeah, but what I mean is, they could have explored a lot more about her background. You can pick out a lot about her character and her relationship with Craig is pretty nice because it's complicated, but I feel like there's more in her that we could've seen. She certainly never had what I would call an Aja episode, unless you count China, which was so early on it really just seemed to be a cultural reference.
The JEM comic is ending at issue #26.
https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/FEB170499
Though apparently just the "ongoing" is ending, leading to spectulation that JEM will continue through additional mini-series.
http://www.cbr.com/idw-publishing-jem-and-the-holograms-ending-in-april-will-return/
The JEM comic is ending at issue #26.Awww, I LOVE the Jem comics! They have been my very favorite currently running comic series. so I'm super sad they're ending! :(
https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/FEB170499
Though apparently just the "ongoing" is ending, leading to spectulation that JEM will continue through additional mini-series.
http://www.cbr.com/idw-publishing-jem-and-the-holograms-ending-in-april-will-return/
If the comic is ending, I'm sad for the fans of it, but I'm actually a bit relieved if it means Jem can go back to her vintage bubble where, honestly, I think she belongs. I know that's a selfish viewpoint but it's how I tend to feel about the show and the storyline after all the attempts to update and modernise.