General Toy Nostalgia

[Spongyblue]

I thought it would be cool to look back at some oldies from as far back as you want. Whether it's to have your memory jogged, share good times or whatever, please share.

I'll start with a few:

Steel Monsters from Tonka.

I had a few as a kid. I never really knew the name of the line as a kid, I just remember getting 4 of these trucks, the two on the left, the bottom right and a motorized one in the second pic. I thought they where damn fun even though I didn't have many figures that size. I

Super Naturals from Tonka:

I never had any of these guys, but a friend of my had the hot rod and a few of the small ghosts and I just thought they where really cool.

StarCom by Coleco:

This set is the only one I had, but I loved the concept and the show. I guess it was at the time the closest to "Hard" science fiction aimed at kids at the time.

Legions of Power by Tonka:

I had a few sets as a kid. LOVED the customization. I don't think I ever made the standard sets, but I think I lost the instructions pretty early on anyway so I just winged it.

Golden Girl by Galoob:

My sister had a few of these and a book. Something about the absolute overload of 80's fantasy and hairspray in the art totally fascinated me.

Kenner Sky Commanders:

I liked the schtik, but how my house was made, I didn't really have a good spot to hang and zipline the one guy I got as a birthday gift.

Mattel GUTS

I had so many of these little dudes. They where like green army men, but colorful and on steroids.

Help me jog my memory folks. I'm looking for a late 80's early 90's line. It was a military like line, the figures where maybe 6 inches or so from what I could remember, they where a good bit taller than He-Man and TMNT. One was a black guy wearing green pants and boots, came with a green rifle and knife, I remember my dad saying he was the "good guy". The other figure I had was also a black guy in black pants and shirt, black rifle and knife. Totally 80's action vibe. Never knew the name of the line.

Another where knock off He-Man vehicles. One was a chariot pulled by a rhino, and another was a bigger chariot pulled buy some sort of monster I believe. I remember looking them up years ago, but the name escapes me.

 

[TheGillMan]

I only remember Super Naturals from this list. Never had any, as I was in High School and no longer getting toys, but I thought they looked really cool. Had they debuted when I was a bit younger, I would have DEFINITELY wanted some (though my ultra fundamentalist parents would NOT have been okay with me having toys with that name, for sure).

 

[Spongyblue]

I really want to know the origins of this line. "Hey let's use that new hologram sticker technology and make some funky ghosts. And lets throw in some big hotrod cars in there for some reason!"

 

[Ultra Seven]

I really want to know the origins of this line. "Hey let's use that new hologram sticker technology and make some funky ghosts. And lets throw in some big hotrod cars in there for some reason!"

I imagine toy companies back in the day just had a big blackboard labeled "things boys like" and just picked like, three or four of them at a time at random and tried to combine them into a single product.

Like Madballs: "boys like monsters, boys like sportsballs, boys like gross stuff." Put them together, see if it sells.

 

[Ru1977]

I sneered at Supernaturals when they came out because I was a Visionaries guy, and still am heh. That's one line I would be HEAVILY tempted by if they bring it back in 6 inch scale.

I did have some Sky Commanders and thought they were neat despite how nuts it is. I also had some dinoriders because of course, and some MASK, and since they were all the same size, I had a massive crossover. I tried that with GI Joe and Star Wars once and it wasn't nearly as fun.

I cannot recommend this youtube channel enough if you haven't already seen it:

It Came From The 1980's

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That's the 80s section, where they do more than just toylines that'll make you gasp "I remember those!" but also shows and movies. I binged the hell out of the 80s stuff over several weekends while doing chores and such, but it'll really get your nostalgic juices flowing. Even the McGruff one was entertaining.