Transformers ad from 20 years ago of the week-Jetfire

As an aging toy robot nerd I laugh at the kids today with their instant access to information thanks to the intertron. These kids know about toys and games months-sometimes even years-before they hit the shelves at their local Pancho's Giveaway Megamart. Back in my day we never knew what the hell was going on when we went to the store looking for toys. Take this Target ad from the week of December 7th, 1985.

It reminds me of how back in late 84/early 85 Jetfire shipped with the same catalog as teh first series 1984 Transformers although Jetfire didn't appear in the first series Transformer catalog. Same thing with Shockwave and Skids. They even had the same battle scene on the back of their boxes as the 1984 guys. So for a little while, there were TFs on the shelves that I was totally unprepared for although at eleven years old I already had a masters degree in Transformer toy catalogs and packaging. Jetfire, Shockwave, and Skids were part of the new '85 line but us first generation robot nerds didn't know they were coming out. We didn't have MegaNetWebs back then to show us prototypes of toys as they're being sculpted by crafty Japanese engineers like they do now. For most kids in 1985, seeing an unexpected new toy on the shelves at Pancho's Giveaway was a pleasant surprise. For me it was another reason to huddle in the corner of my room and cry about how uncontrollable and chaotic life was, particularly toy robot distribution.