G.I. Joe
(Hasbro)





These five figures (and maybe "Zartan") were the "best of the best", in my opinion, when I was collecting "Joes" in the 80's. "Beachhead", "Firefly", "Storm Shadow", "Snake Eyes" and "Law" were, to the best of my memory, my favorites. Partly, because of the sweet costumes, in addition to the weapons and accessories like "Timber" and "Order". This should open up the comment box for "G.I. Joe" rants and raves. These toys were very rare to me and I kept them safe from my Mom's garage sale pile.

Transformers
(Hasbro)




I lost many a great "Transformers" to the dog and yard sales. Only "Rodimus Prime" and "Jetfire" survived the times. In addition, "Topspin", "Steeljaw", "Ramhorn", and "Seaspray" are all that remain in what once was a great collection. I have no "Deceptacons" as you can see. "Ravage" and "Laserbeak" were lost in the sand at school as a kid.

Silverhawks
(Kenner)




To my surprise when re-opening my toybox, the majority of my "Silverhawks" were still intact. However, "Mumbojumbo", "SteelWill" and "Quicksilver" had been sold or stolen. Either way, "Copper Kid", "Bluegrass" and "Hotwing" were still holding strong with very few paint chips. "Monstar" and "Buzzsaw" were also there as well. "Copper Kid's" "Spybird" and BG's "Sideman" guitar hawk was in a ziplock bag with a few random "TMNT" weapons. Remember how "Spybird" was a whistle? I got "Copper Kid" for Easter in 1987.

Thundercats
(LJN)




My cousin Adam (a.k.a. "GingerKid") who is on this site, literally had every "Thundercats" figure, vehicle and playset. The lair was sweet! Since he had the majority of the toys I never needed to get many except for a few staples like "Bengali", "Lion-O" and "Mumm-Ra". I remember getting "Ma-Mutt" and "Snarf" from "Toys R' Us". All the weapons were lost except "Lion-O's" orange claw.

M.A.S.K.
(Kenner)

"M.A.S.K." was one of my favorites! "Condor", "Firefly", and "Pirahna" were classics and I was amazed that all the helmets were still on the figures. "Matt Tracker", and "Miles Mayhem" were lost I guess, along with "Hondo" and "Dusty".

Voltron
(Panosh Place & Trendmasters)



The crown jewel of my attic discoveries is weathered and flawed but still intact. "Voltron" was awesome and the little weapon variations on each lion was killer! All I remember was how heavy it was.......like 3-4 lbs! That's a weapon if you chuck it at some kid! I'm glad I still got it.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
(Playmates)




As mentioned before my cousin had quite the "Thundercats" collection. He carried that trend to "TMNT" as well. He had almost every toy and vehicle. So I got all the random weird ones that he didn't have. Most were all gone when I searched, except for "Slash", "Mondo Gecko" and "Metalhead".

Marvel: Secret Wars
(Mattel)




I had nearly the entire first series collection of Marvel figures minus "Wolverine", "Dr. Octopus" and few others. An older teenager in my neighboorhood named "Hans" had the "Wolverine" figure. I had never wanted a toy so desperately in my entire life. It was my "Holy Grail" and I never got it. He had the rare "black claw" variant as opposed to the more common "silver claw" version. Besides that, I always wondered why "Doom" and "Magneto" never came with capes? These toys minus a headless "Iron Man" are in a lock box in my attic.

Ghostbusters
(Kenner)




I had around ten "Ghostbusters" toys, so to find six of them in a "Converse" "Conosaurs" shoe box made me extremely happy. "X-Cop", "Mail Fraud", and "Terror Trash" brought back many memories of playing with them at my Grandmother's. The others were not my favorite, however a pleasant surprise nonetheless.

DC: Super Powers Collection
(Kenner)





Even though I never was a huge "DC" fan you would not know it from the nine figures I still have. Of course I'm missing the capes, weapons and "Luthors" armor.......but still, you can't have everything. Oh yeah, my first dog chewed on "Darkseid's" arm so it is quite funny looking albiet a sad deformity.

X-Men
(Toy Biz)




The end of the 80's ushered in a sense of maturity and the end to most of my toy buying.......but I'll be damned if I'm not getting my "Wolverine" figure that escaped me years ago! It was 1991, "X-Men" was peaking in popularity and the cartoon was all the rage. I was getting older but I still liked action figures. So I got "Wolverine", "Colossus", and "Magneto" on my birthday. Flash forward to today and they are still neatly tucked away in my toybox. A little worn but not lacking the original charisma that made me want them in the first place.

Thanks for the loyal readers.


I'm getting married November 8th.........maybe something new will be posted in December??

Have a happy Halloween and if you have not, check out "Behind the Masks" my Halloween article from awhile back, to get in the festive spirit.

Later,

Riphard