I am a 13 year-old male, and I have been reading your fine magazine since I was six. But, never, in all those years, have I seen such a magnificent spread (please, pardon the pun) as the one on the GI Frank doll in the September issue.
GI Frank has it all: beautiful packaging, great accessories and, of course, a body that just won’t quit, even after thousands of hours of playing! As far as I’m concerned, even the instructions were fantastic, and I’m no nerd who feels he needs to read the manual!
I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way. So, I was wondering if it would be possible to see more of GI Frank. Say, in the next issue? Please? I promise to eat all my vegetables and go to bed early. Honest.
Sincerely,
Jimmy Smith,
Ogoway. Wisconsin
(We’ll do our best, but we’ve got lots of lovely new toys just dying to be revealed in our pages – tee hee. If you are interested in seeing GI Frank or any of our other featured toys again, don’t forget the Playtoy Plaything of the Year Contest, coming soon.)
I think you put out a fine magazine. I particularly like the manufacturer interview and the food review (the Skittles review in the July issue, which described the candy as “obviously, grossly chemical in taste, yet very addictive” was right on). However, I found your review of the new Coca Cola (“Well, There Goes 99 Years of History!”) in the September issue to be superficial and poorly documented.
In that article, you suggested that Bill Cosby had been Coke’s spokesperson since the product was first introduced. Get real! If he had been, Cosby would now be 120 years old, and he doesn’t look a day over 40!
You also say that the new Coke has gained widespread popularity, and is selling better than the old Coke ever did. Where did you come up with those figures? Everybody I know would rather drink Diet Sprite than the new Coke, and we all know how drastic that would be!
I like your fine magazine, and I hope this was just a minor, one-time lapse in editorial judgment.
Sincerely,
John Glenn
Heart’s Desire, Wisonsin
(Get real, kid; our research tells us that nobody reads this magazine for the articles. Besides, everybody in our offices liked the taste of new Coke. What further research do we need?)
I’ve been reading your fine magazine for several years, now. I always thought that the letters about encounters between readers and new toys weren’t written by real people. Then, I had a breath-taking encounter of my own, which, of course, I had to write about.
It was late at night (after nine, at least). I had gone to bed as I had a big test the next day. When somebody knocked on my bedroom door. I tried to ignore it, but, well, I’m a pretty typical 15 year-old, and I get curious, so I opened the door.
There, standing in the middle of the hallway, was the most gorgeous Star Blap Atari cartridge I had ever seen. Oh, it might not have looked like anything special to another boy, but when I saw it in my hallway, I just knew that I was going to heaven that night!
I took the cartridge into my room. “Play me! Play me!” it seductively whispered into my ear. I greedily unwrapped it and, not wanting to waste any time, plunged it into the console hooked up to the television in my room.
I wasn’t disappointed; it was a night I’ll never forget.
Sincerely,
Phil Erzats
Collins, Wisconsin
(We love to hear stories like this, but, frankly, you left out the most important part of the story: did the game come equipped with batteries?)
I started reading Playtoy Magazine a few months ago. I get it at a specialty store downtown and sneak it into my room when my parents aren’t looking. It’s not that I’m ashamed that I read Playtoy, which is a fine magazine, it’s just that they wouldn’t understand, and who needs the hassle?
Anyway, I was watching a report on the news the other day about a protest against Playtoy and other magazines like it. Some parents’ group thinks that Playtoy exploits and abuses games and things that appear in its pages.
Now, I’m sure that that’s not true, but I was wondering: I’m not doing anything immoral, am I?
Sincerely,
Mike Wombat
Kenosha, Wisconsin
(Of course you’re not doing anything immoral! As you should be aware, equality of toys is a large part of the Playtoy Filosophy, and is actively pursued by the Playtoy Foundation. Besides, we don’t force any of these toys to appear on our pages; they do it of their own free will. And, they are well paid for it, we might add.
And, we’ve commissioned many studies which prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no correlation between Playtoy and violence against toys. That’s our story, anyway, and we’re sticking to it!)