Author John Michlig On The Playmakers

In preparation for writing the 1960s-1970s section of The Playmakers, I had the privilege of interviewing writer and producer John Michlig, whose GI Joe Masterpiece Edition book-and-figure product arguably kick-started Hasbro’s newfound reverence for the “classic” version of the product. Besides writing the definitive book on Hasbro’s little-big man, GI Joe: The Complete Story of America’s Favorite Man of Action, Michlig genuinely loves toys. We hit it off immediately and talked about action figures, movies, comics, and movies based on comics. We conversed over Marvin Glass, Batman, King Kong and other pop culture giants. He gave me a schooling on the business of books and his contributions to the final version of The Playmakers were numerous. Yet, just when I thought he couldn’t possibly do anymore to help, he agreed to preview a pre-press version of my book. Here’s what he had to say:

“Visually compelling, stunning in its breadth, and wonderfully subjective at times, The Playmakers tells the often dramatic, always eye-opening stories of mavericks and dreamers who created the playthings and cherished totems that in turn helped create us. Walsh has done his homework well and ker-plunked it home with clarity and wit.”

— John Michlig, author of It Came from Bob’s Basement, GI Joe: The Complete Story of America’s Favorite Man of Action, and the creator of The Masterpiece Edition book-and-toy series.