Jem is her name and no one else is the same! In 1986 those words were what this fictional rock star sang to legions of little girls and adventure-loving boys, as she and her band, “The Holograms” performed on children’s television sets for about three seasons. Although the cartoon didn’t have a proper ending, it was good enough for fans to have a form of closure as the show came to an end in mid 1988.

Although the dolls were aimed at girls, 20-some years later they make great pieces of history and even better collectables. The Jem dolls were quite large in package and in physical size at 12 and a half inches and featured some of the best sculpting and detail in the eyes. The hair is rooted and features multiple colors making these playthings different compared to the standard monotone hair colors—these girls were rockers, and their outfits gave them a style that trumped Barbie and the other hot dolls of the mid 80’s.

She is “Truly Outrageous!” Glitter ‘n Gold Jem was introduced at the end of the first season of the animated TV show, she featured a lot of accessories including her microphone (somewhere inside the box), a golden doll stand that mounted to the leg, not the waist, a hair pick and a—cassette tape! (What’s a cassette tape)? A tape is an old-fangled thing that played music, it was around before CD’s and MP3’s—I’m sure that most people know, but someone asked me once so I though I’d make light of it. The tape featured some of the songs from the cartoon, including the “Glitter ‘n Gold” tune that the episode was about. Also on the tape are a few more songs and on the “B-side” are instrumentals of the songs.

Glitter ‘n Gold Jem features a really luxurious dress with a gold bow and gold cape with white fur trim. She has all the standards like shoes and stockings—all very fancy, but what stands out quite a lot is her blonde and pink hair with the gold strands. The most interesting thing about this doll is the fact that she has a pair of button batteries inside of her body and that her “Jemstar” earrings can light up and flash with the sliding of a switch on her upper back—top that Barbie…HA!
Jem is a holographic projection with the real person being Jerrica Benton who controls Starlight Music with her sister Kimber. Jerrica would be the standard music executive if she didn’t have a heart; but her heart is huge. Spending most of the money that Jem and the Holograms make on the girls in which they care for from the Starlight House, Jerrica was often seen looking quite average in the cartoon. Glitter ‘n Gold Jem gives Jerrica her own appearance with a swappable white skirt and maybe her hair can be changed up a bit, remove the cape and so on.

The box art is just beautiful, the character almost looks like a real person and I’ve always appreciated well done art of the human form because it’s not an easy thing to duplicate. With Glitter ‘n Gold Jem, they did an awesome job and it really makes the packaging stand out a whole lot.

The back of the huge package features the Glitter ‘n Gold theme in having Jem, her love-muffin Rio (well, Jerrica’s love muffin) and the Glitter ‘n Gold Roadster which is just a re-coloring of the Rockin’ Roadster—complete with real FM Radio in the trunk!

The side of the box gives some info on the doll and there you have it, a great piece of history, Glitter ‘n Gold Jem/Jerrica.

All right, I’ll admit it, when I was young I fell in love with Clash, that’s right, a cartoon character—now my heart belongs to Ruri of Eureka SeVen—yeah, I’m hopeless…

Anyhow, Clash was a very cool character in the cartoon, she was a master of disguise and even fooled people into thinking that she was Jem as she caused trouble and acted full of herself, sadly she was caught and when she tried to sing, she was booed off the stage.

Clash wanted to be a member of the rival band to Jem and The Holograms called the Misfits (no relation to the punk band the Misfits, I’m surprised there weren’t any legal issues). The sad part about it was, even the Misfits didn’t really want her. Clash would enter a room, bang her bracelet cymbals together and annoy people—yeah…and it was hilarious! I could never tell how old she was, but she came off as young, I’m guessing between 16 and 18. Clash was just as well the Misfits whipping-girl and after she failed to best Jem and her cousin Video, she went running after the Misfits van begging to join them and I’ll never forget her sad, quiet voice saying “please?” Video is the Holograms music video producer—what’s a music video? It was something bands made to get the interest of their fans; it was huge on MTV when they used to show videos, I don’t know what they call the crap they show on that channel now.

The Clash doll seems to differ from the cartoon character a bit. Her appearance is pretty much the same except that her bracelets don’t have little cymbals and her main accessory is a “Distortion Modulator” which jams the holographic signals that allow Jerrica to appear as Jem—before I say this, I just want to say once again how much I love Clash—If Clash isn’t supposed to know who Jem really is, why would she have something to keep Jerrica from becoming Jem? I look at it this way, with all of the synthesizers and electronic musical equipment of the 80’s, I think her distortion modulator is best suited to screw with Jem and the Holograms while they are trying to perform, that sounds a bit better. It’s almost like Evil-Lyn knowing that Prince Adam is He-Man and using her magic to interrupt the Power Sword changing him.

Clash has a young-looking face sculpt and purple hair with the excess of a tail which I think is pretty cool. She has a faux fur jacket, a sparkly dress, shoes and stockings—standards. Clash has a headset to go with her modulator and of course her yellow stand, hair pick and her own cassette tape! Her tape features a mix of songs including the Jem Theme and some Misfits songs.

The back of the box features Clash with Misfits; Roxy, Stormer and Pizzazz, sold separately!

The box is a bit tight or crushed, and the flaps had once been opened, however the doll inside is pretty much the way it was from the factory. The best part once again is the package art which makes Clash look simply awesome. Her pose is sexy, she has her finger wrapped around one of the dials of her modulator in a sneaky way and the art itself causes the character to appear real.

GnG Jem and Clash are aged, fragile, vintage collectibles; however, they are great pieces of history. The Jem cartoon was perfectly written to be an action/adventure with some amazing dramatic moments. A viewer could fall in love with the characters (in many ways) and could feel for them and that is what brought the viewer interest in the show.

The dolls were made very well and had some great accessories and detail. The inclusion of the cassette tapes was an added bonus and the box art was just perfect.

This isn’t a review; GnG Jem and Clash are 2 more pieces added to the archive of great 80’s toys. I never had any of the dolls when I was young, (mainly because I didn’t play with dolls, it was G.I. Joe, He-Man and Transformers—and others) I think as an adult I can appreciate what they were and still are.

CLICK ALL PHOTOS TO ENLARGE!

Side Note: The 2012 SDCC is going to have a new Jem doll, it costs more, or just as much as the vintage, boxed dolls. Hollywood Jem, is already being scalped for about $300 with a retail price of $125, as nice as the doll is, I’d recommend getting the originals if you are going to spend that kind of money.

Click the link to see it:

http://www.integritytoys.com/jemandtheholograms/collection-hollywood-jem.php

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