|
Now why is there a M and not a J?
| When Hasbro was given
the idea for developing a Rock & Roll doll,
she was named M. She is rumored to have male band
members. As time passed, M became Jem because Hasbro
could not trademark a letter at that time. Or may
have been in conflict with a band called "M",
famous for the song "Pop Muzik". |
 |
"Truly Outrageous!"
(pre-1986)
Bill Sanders (1940-1990)
a famous award winning advertising executive, and two
friends/collaborators (fromer Hasbro maketing executive
and freelance toy designer Joe
Hyland (1935-2001) and his wife Barbara advertising
executivefreelance toy designer) went to Hasbro with
a idea of a new doll line, to compete with Barbie. Bill
thought Barbie was boring and no fun.
Hasbro had Sunbow Production, Inc. develop a cartoon
to promote the Jem dolls. It started as fifteen (seven
minute) segments on a show with several other shows
in the "Super Saturday" show, or "Super Sunday" show,
starting in October 1985.
Hasbro had to give "M" a new name. Jem came
from the jemstar earrings she wore. The name of the
band became the Holograms. The idea for the name came
from the Holographic image that changed an ordinary
girl (Morgan or Misty) into "M". And during
this time the male band became three females ... Kimber,
Jade and Aria. The names changed to Kimber, Aja, and
Shana. One name for Roxy and/or Stormer at this time
was Rue.
Early
concepts |
| M/Misty
became Jem/Jerrica |
Aja
became Kimber |
Jade
became Aja |
| |
|
|
| (click image) |
(click image) |
(click image) |
| |
|
|
| Pizazz
became Pizzazz |
Rue
became Roxy |
Roxy
became Stormer |
| |
|
|
| (click image) |
(click image) |
(click image) |
photos
from an unnamed source |
One playset was being developed for "M" was
a plane. Like most of the Jem playsets, it was to have
a cassette player and speaker. It also could be transformed
into a stage. This playset was dropped and the Rockin'
Roadster, Star Stage, and Rock Backstager came out.
 |
Original Plane
Design
as illustrated
by Bill Sanders (1985) |
| (click image) |
|
As develpment conitued the dolls were based on the
Kenner Darci line. Hasbro
used Darci dolls to design the fashions to fit Jem.
| |
Polaroid of the original sketches
and prototypes of 5 On Stage Fashions |
from
ebay.com
Seller: pjkho
Date: 6/27/2008
Amount: $631.00 |
 |
| |
"Encore,"™
"Twilight In Paris,"™ "Dancin'
The Night Away,"™ "Command
Performance"™ & "Permanent
Wave"™ -- click names for larger images
the win has posted. |
"Only the Beginning"
(1986)
| Jem |
Jem/Jerrica |
the Holograms |
the Misfit and Rio |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| (click image) |
(click image) |
(click image) |
(click image) |
Eight dolls, three playsets and twenty-four fashions
started the doll line.
Those 15 "Super Sunday" segments were put
together into a 90-minute movie "Truly Outrageous!"
in 1986 and shown to kick off the new "Jem"
series. At the same time those 15 segments where extended
and included as the 1st five part episode of Jem. The
five part episode started airing in April of 1986. 4-1/2
minutes was added to 3 segments to fit the new Jem episode
running time. "Starbright" soon followed in,
July 1986, as 3 part episode. Between April of 1986
and the March of 1987 Jem had 26 full episodes.
"Getting Down To Business"
The dolls hit the store shelves and the Catalogs and
store flyers. Image
from some of the Catalogs
"We're Off And Running"
(1987)
| Glitter'n Gold Jem |
new Holograms |
new Misfits |
Synergy and the Starlight Girls |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| (click image) |
(click image) |
(click image) |
(click image) |
Three new Jem dolls, three new Holograms added to the
"New Look" Holograms, two new Misfits added
to the reissued Misfits, Synergy, three Starlight girls
along with three new playsets, four playset attachments,
a watterbed and twice as many fashion where added to
the line. (1987)
"Glitter'n Gold" was the new doll theme and
the 26th episode, with the same name, aired in March
1987 -- it was the first look at the new 1987 fashions
and dolls, with the exception of Raya and Jetta. After
the summer break, Raya and Jetta made their first appearance
in September with "Talent Search" part 1 and
2. Jem was now being aired Monday through Friday. Between
September of 1987 and the May of 1988 Jem had 39 full
episodes.
"This is Farewell"
(1988)
| Rockin' Romance and American Beauty
Jem |
two new Holograms |
the Stingers, Hollywood Jem, and Graphix |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| (click image) |
(click image) |
(click images) |
Jem was starting its third line when Hasbro pulled
the plug. New dolls where developed but Hasbro
decided to stop the line, and the dolls never were released.
There would have been at least three new Jem dolls,
two new Holograms:
- Astral - original name was Magic
- Regine - original name was Paris,
a new group the Stingers:
- Riot - original name was Chaos -- a male,
- Minx - original name was Fiasco,
- Raputre - original name was Jazz,
Most of these new dolls appeared in the show sometime
in the fall and winter of 1987/1988, along with some
of the new fashions for 1988. Pizzazz and a new Misfit
Graphix were drop from the 1988 line, and Graphix never
appeared in the show. New mix match outfits, along with
many other new fashion sets were planned for 1988.
Some of the new dolls and
fashions
When Hasbro canceled the line, they canceled the show.
Hasbro did allow Sunbow to finish out their 65 episode
contract, so "A Father Should Be..." was written
as the series finally.
"Can't Get My Love Together"
Jem seemed to have some popularity, and sells where
not bad. But basically Jem was not selling as well as
Hasbro expected her too. So the line only had a two
year run. The high prices, the larger size then Barbie,
and the "scary" Misfits where all stated reasons for
Jem's demise. Even though Hasbro took most of these
into account when the developed the 1988 line. The dolls
were to be sold without the cassettes and doll stand,
and for a lot less, the Misfits where replaced by the
Stingers. New cheap fashions where being designed to
compete with Barbie's cheap outfits ... the twelve and
a half inch size stayed the same. Hasbro had to cut
many lines in 1988, due to massive downturn in toy sales.
Maxie
A smaller doll called Maxie
ended up replacing Jem. Maxie was a high school girl,
with her high school friends. The line was the same
size as Barbie and the fashions could be swapped with
Barbie fashions. This line only lasted three years.
Maxie was not a true replacement for Jem because Hasbro
originally was going to release both Jem and Maxie in
1988. Maxie was a copy of the European doll Sindy, which
Hasbro just got the rights to produce for Europe in
1987. Maxie was going to have a pretended band in the
fall 1990, but Hasbro canceled Maxie before the dolls
hit the stores. This Maxie band would have featured
Jem instruments in new colors.
- Rockin' Pretty Bianca -
a blue Roxy guitar,
- Rockin' Pretty Maxie - a
purple Shana guitar,
- Rockin' Pretty Ashley - a
blue "Show Me The Way" Video Madness tambourine,
missing the Jem logo,
- Rockin' Pretty Carly - a
light green Kimber keyboard
I have to wonder if Maxie was canceled when Hasbro
got the contract to produce the New
Kids on the Block dolls. That included two sets
of dolls and a stage playset. |
