80's Kids... THIS Thread Is For YOU!

[CobbSpikedMe]

Very nice stuff. I feel bad not saying the GI Joes or Transformers are my favorites on the bunch, but for some reason the Voltron stuff is my favorite in the pics. And I think I did see some Thundercats figures in there if I'm not mistaken.

I took my time looking at the pics and it was very enjoyable...thanks for sharing all of them.

[TheRoundMound]

Thanks for sharing! Brought back a lot of memories of afternoons spent lost in my imagination

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

Fun thread idea. I can relate to this because as a child of the late 70's and 80's, I had many Star Wars, GI Joe, and Transformer toys. While some of them were sold off in garage sales over the years, the vast majority survived and were in storage in my parents' home until a couple years ago when my mom finally wanted that "junk" out of her basement.

I enjoyed going through them, but I realized, for the most part, I didn't really have any interest in collecting vintage toys or making a display out of them, and they weren't doing any good sitting in boxes in my basement. So over the last year and a half I sold pretty much everything on eBay.

Some of you may not be aware, but just as the interest (and prices) of baseball cards has been rising recently, I realized the is true of some vintage toys. And luckily, as a kid, I kept good care of my toys, ensured no parts were lost, kept a lot of the original boxes, etc., etc.

My goal was to sell my entire collection of toys and use the money to buy a key baseball card that I've had my eyes on for the last few years. And almost down to the exact dollar amount, the profit I made from selling my toys paid for this:

Mantle.JPG


So it was a very fun endeavor. It made it much easier to sell off my old childhood treasures knowing that I was going to spend it on something FUN that I would enjoy, instead of bills, etc. And it made it much easier to justify to my wife to buy an expensive baseball card without having to use ANY of our standard savings, checking, college account money, etc.

I kept a couple of my earliest toys around just because (a beat up R2 and C-3PO, and old Bobba Fett, etc.) but all the rest are now spread around the country...hopefully being displayed by another collector that gets just as much joy out of those toys that I get out of my cards.

Although I no longer have them, here are a few pictures of some of the nicer and rarer toys that helped fund my Mantle:

Millenium.jpg

deathstar.JPG

atst.jpg

cobra.jpg

cobra2.jpg

[CobbSpikedMe]

I tried to sell my original Megatron in the original box with all parts on eBay and eBay took down my listing. Why? Because it was the original figure that didn't have an orange tip on the end of the gun barrel. I've been told it's illegal to sell it these days, but I found a comics and toys shop in PA that took it along with several other toys and comics that I had. It helped pay for Christmas for my kids when I was out of work and wasn't getting a paycheck for a while.

I can't believe there is not more interest in this thread as there must be a lot of 80's kids on the board that remember these toys.

Andy

[maniac_73]

Awesome thread! Made me go to EBay and start spending money I shouldn't be spending on vintage star wars toys lol

[samosa4u]

I just saw this thread right now, and wow, it brought back so many memories ... sniff*

I was born in 83' and by the time I was about three years old, my father started buying me all the best toys out there. Screw 86' Fleer basketball, man, I would probably run past boxes of them and go straight to the toy section! I remember ThunderCats, Ghostbusters, He-man, Cops, and I just loved the Ninja Turtles too (I almost got the Technodrome once, but I ended up not getting it - can't remember why though!) Now the thing is, I was very small back then and I would just break these toys and make my parents buy me more. It wasn't until the early 90s when I really started to take care and enjoy them more. When Batman the Animated Series came out, I was hooked! I remember watching the very first episode - my poor older sister was forced to watch them with me - and yes, I went after all the action figures as well. I remember the Robin figure was pretty hard to find, and the Toys"R"Us I used to go to never had it! However, one day I managed to track it down and I was over the moon!

G.I. Joe was very popular too, and I remember owning a couple of figures, but I was never much of a fan. I remember Transformers too, but I am not sure if I owned any action figures. And finally, I don't remember seeing a single Star Wars figure anywhere! And I'm not only talking about the shops here. Even among my large circle of friends, nobody owned a Star Wars figure.

Anyways, let me post a few pictures below of the best toys I used to once own:



It's crime fighting time! I had two or three of Bulletproof! He was my favorite!



Peter Venkman was my favorite Ghosterbuster and I had more than one of this toy!



This Robin figure was so tough to find! And when I finally got it, I took really good care of it!

[jb217676]

Great stuff everyone, love all of your vintage toy pics (especially the carded last 17 Star Wars figures!). Those carded last 17 figures are worth a pretty penny!

[scmavl]

This thread is amazing. Jeff, your collection is simply breathtaking. Seeing so many toys I either owned, or coveted in a catalog or friend's collection back then... Wow.

The last time I was at my folks house I found the old GI Joe Polar Battle Bear that I ordered from GI Joe directly, and they sent me two. One is still in the brown shipping box from Hasbro, sealed in plastic, unassembled. I also brought home my remaining Thundercats and Transformers.

When I was a kid, I was playing with all of my Transformers in my grandmother's yard, and left them out when I came inside for lunch. Unfortunately, that's when my uncle decided to mow the lawn. You can guess what happened. I think 3-4 out of 30 or so came out intact. That was basically when I stopped playing with Transformers.

[parker1b2]

Star Wars, He-Man, GI Joe and Transformers!!! That sums up my childhood from 1981-1987 in a nutshell. 1988 is when sports and sports cards took over and began my addiction to the world of baseball memorabilia.

[jb217676]

Here's some additions I got back from my framer for you Star Wars fans! Always wanted a few vintage posters to place around the collection, I think they are a great compliment to the vintage Kenner figure line in a display.

• 1985 ROTJ Re-Release Half Sheet Poster
• 1981 Two Weeks Only SW Half Sheet Poster
• Original Selby 1978 Fan Club Cantina Poster (My Favourite!)

[ALR-bishop]

Just went through this thread for first time. Mind boggling. Incredible collection