80's Toybox: April 2010

Remember Your Toybox?

When you were a child, your whole Universe was contained within the toys you played with and collected. Obviously I can't talk for the ladies of the 80s, but us lads now in our late twenties and early thirties and beyond still have an enormous hankering for toys from the 80s.

I don't know how many times I've been in a grown up situation, talking about the new exhibit at the Nelson and next thing you know someone is saying "Ah man, I used to have Castle Grayskull and every He-man figure, and then when I went to college, my Mom sold them all at a garage sale for nothing, imagine how much that shit would be worth today." Then someone else would chime in with their 80s toy story.

This blog is going to chronicle toys I find and toys I already have. I'll try to keep to the 80s, but I know I'll wander into other time periods. And if you come across any great finds and want to share them, please be my guest.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Used Millennium Falcon, low mileage, 1 owner

I was walking through the City Market Antique Mall with the wife when we both spied this hidden treasure at the same time. I nearly sh*t my pants when I saw the asking price was only 18 bucks.

The second I picked it up a guy made a B-line straight for it. "Are you taking that?" he asked with puppy dog eyes. "Yes, I sure am" was my cheeky reply. He wanted it sooooo Bad...but too bad.

I didn't care that it was a 1995 reproduction of the Falcon and not an original, for the price it could have been made from egg cartons, I was ecstatic. It has to be by far the most desirable Star Wars toy and I finally had one.

Just say the name: "Millennium Falcon." That name holds a certain amount of magic and conjures up so many images in the mind. The old junker of a ship that held the Empire at bay, the ship that saved Luke, Leia and Han's collective butts a million times, the ship that made the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs!

And now I have one...god I'm drunk on power...this must have been how the Emperor felt.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Transformers - 3 from a box at Comicon

I found these three orphans in a box at last week's KC Comicon. The Dinobot did not have a sticker on it, so the guy selling them gave me a lump sum price for all three. The box was filled with Transformers in various conditon, but my selections appeared to be some of the best.

There were a few other box-condition Transformers for sale, but they were way out of my budget.

When I got these home and tried to "transform" them I felt like what my dad must have in 1985. I struggled to change them from one form to the other and thought I was going to break a limb with every bumbling twist.

I knew one was a Dinobot, Grimlock was the only name I could remember; another was the NEW version of Optimus Prime from the movie; the third I hadn't a clue, but it looked cool and that was enough for me.

My apparent lack of knowledge on one of my favorite childhood toys forced me to scan the internet.

My search showed that my Dinobot was Slag/Snarl depending where in the world you lived, as Slag is basically the same as saying "Slut" in the UK and Ireland. This particular version of him comes from the Transformers Animated series.

The jet fighter is called Storm Jet and is a 2002 homage to the original Jet Fire and I still haven't managed to change him into his robot form. Felt like I was going to snap his head right off.