<p>This year marks the 40th anniversary of a lot of landmarks in pop culture, especially sci-fi and fantasy. So many franchises were born in 1984. Some came to define the genre or invent new genres. The great podcast <a href="https://www.imaginaryworldspodcast.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Imaginary Worlds</a> noticed this and produced a three-part series about 1984's Cambrian explosion of creativity that landed on the big screen, the small screen, bookstore shelves and, of course, the toy store.</p>
<p>In this episode we learn about at two iconic franchises that launched in 1984: Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They came from opposite ends of the business spectrum. Transformers was a top-down marketing synergy between American and Japanese toy companies along with Marvel Comics to compete against He-Man -- another TV toy behemoth. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle would eventually rival them in cultural dominance, but it began with two indie comic book creators making a black and white comic as a lark. But Turtles and Transformers both ended up wrestling with similar questions around what happens when you put the cart before the horse in creating content to sell products.</p>
<p><a href="https://99percentinvisible.org/?p=41951&post_type=episode" rel="noopener noreferrer">Toyetic</a></p>
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