Random Retro: Holy Grails

A look at some of the items that are my Holy Grails.
On
April 21, 2011


Every average nerd probably has a few items of geek culture that they have always wanted but for some reason have never owned. There are many reasons why an item may never be added to a collection. Sometimes a wanted piece may be almost completely unheard of by the rest of the nerd population. Other times the price or even the size of something may keep it out of reach. Whatever the reason, I am sure many geeks can relate and have their own list of personal favorites that they have yet to be able to get.


Dino Riders T-Rex


This is something I have wanted since the late 80's and sadly I don't have a good reason for not owning one. I have several of the other dinosaurs in the line but I have always let this one escape me. It is expensive but it's not as pricey as some of the other things I want and do actually buy. This is just something I need to crack down and get the next time I run across one.



This is a beautiful toy. It has everything that a kid could desire. It's a huge, ferocious dinosaur covered in armor and weapons and it's being mind controlled by an ugly little dude. The toy came with 3 figures, including the leader of the bad guys and his second in command.



The T-Rex and several other Dino Riders toys actually walked which definitely added to their already highly ranking cool factor. This is the top of the line in radical late 80's boys toys.

Masters of the Universe Eternia Playset


Masters of the Universe had some really great playsets from the larger Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain to the slightly smaller Fright Zone and even the Slime Pit. These were all awesome and more than alot of toylines could have ever dreamed of having as part of their assortment. Masters of the Universe wasn't happy settling with only those though, it needed one playset that could bring all the others together and that playset was Eternia.



Eternia had a tower to go along with Castle Grayskull, a tower to match up with Snake Mountain, and finally a huge center tower which I suppose represented the royal castle for King Randor. There was also a monorail track that went around the entire playset.

You could even argue that the center tower with its huge lion head could help unofficially bridge the gap between Masters of the Universe and the Thundercats. I'm sure that if I had been able to play with this as a child I would have put Lion-O right there alongside He-Man in Eternia. Sadly, for me at least, I have never seen a complete Eternia playset. I have managed to see a few pieces here and there in the wild and I know somebody who claims to have once owned this awesome playset but I myself have to settle for pictures online for the experience.


Crystal Pepsi


Not everything I want can be toy related. I also have a strong desire to own some Crystal Pepsi. The drink itself may have few fans but I count myself among the small cult of its followers. It isn't extremely hard to come across online but I haven't physically seen a can or bottle in almost twenty years.



Crystal Pepsi was a clear soda that was unlike it's transparent brethren such as Sprite and 7-Up. This was not a citrus soda but was actually a cola like it's big brother Pepsi.



I would happily take a can of Crystal Pepsi and display it proudly on a shelf that I'm sure nobody would ever look at but what I really want is a glass bottle so I can always look inside and see that it's marketing slogan was right, "You've never seen a taste like this."


Delorean DMC-12


Perhaps the ultimate thing that I may never have is a Delorean. It's one of the cars that is instantly recognizable as retro and nerdy but also flashes cool. Even if it were never featured in the awesome Back to the Future movies it would still be an awesome car.



These cars aren't impossible to own even 30 years after they were released but my fears of keeping one in top running shape have always kept me from diving right in and buying one. I can always imagine though and in my imagination I am cruising around in my DMC-12 with some Huey Lewis and the News pumping in the tape deck.



The Delorean is an icon amongst nerds, right up there with the Ecto-1 and the Batmobile. It looks like it's from the future even though it first came on the market three decades ago. This is one real life time machine even without a functioning flux capacitor.
22
More Articles From sivart
An unhandled error has occurred. Reload Dismiss