80s Toy Memories

[Earth 2 Chris]

Cindy and I talk about our favorite 80s Toy Memories in the latest episode of Super Mates!

Masters of the Universe, Barbie, Strawberry Shortcake, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Cabbage Patch Kids and more!

Also, a brief, spoiler-free review of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Come back in 2 weeks for part 2!

http://supermatescomic.blogspot.com/

Thanks for listening!

Chris

[wayne foundation 07]

Great stuff, just liked your Facebook page.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Hey thanks! We're really having a lot of fun with it.

Chris

[Werewolf]

Neat! 80s toys are a passion of mine.

[Werewolf]

Okay, I just finished listening to it. I feel little bad for your wife. The 80s was an explosion of wicked cool toys for girls. Strawberry Shortcake, Glamour Gals, Jem, Rainbow Brite, She-Ra, etc. and she didn't get to enjoy most of it. That's a bummer. I never really got into got into Cabbage Patch Kids, though. But I did have one of the Cabbage Patch Pets. I think it was a kitty.

I was pretty lucky and got to play with and collect the best the 80s had to offer. From Masters of the Universe to Strawberry Shortcake. When my Mom was a child there wasn't a lot of choices of toys for girls. Mostly a lot of toy ironing boards and dishes. Whee!! Girls got to play doing chores. My Mom grew up on a farm in a very rural area and she actually played with and collected little plastic animals and die cast tractors and stuff. Oh and she also had a cap gun. She loved westerns. So, when I was little, my Mom was never of the mind set of you can't play with this or can only have these toys.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^That's very cool of your mom. My Mom was a bit of a tomboy too. She loved The Adventures of Superman, so she definitely encouraged me into super heroes. Our daughter has as many Imaginext Super Heroes as she does Disney Princesses, so we're doing our part as well.

It does sound like Cindy got the shaft, but to put it in perspective, I was SPOILED ROTTEN. Well, amazingly, I never took the amount of toys I had for granted, so I guess I wasn't rotten, just spoiled. Cindy grew up on a farm too, way out in the county, and her parents took less shopping trips into town. It was more of a weekly thing. I think that had something to do with it too. Many of my purchases were "impulse buys" or "shut up toys", much like Rack Toys are meant to be, but I got some good stuff.

We do get into Rainbow Brite and Jem a bit in Part 2, and also Care Bears, My Buddy, and other items of interest, so check back in!

Thanks for listening, and the great feedback!

Chris

[Werewolf]

She loved The Adventures of Superman,

Oh, cool! My Mom loved that show too and she had a bunch of Superman comics as well. She also really liked the Disney comics.

BTW: I can relate to you story about getting Castle Greyskull and a bunch of MOTU figures for Christmas. The year they came out I got the castle and the three pack with He-Man, Teela and Ram Man plus Skeletor and a bunch of other figures for Christmas. I still remember the first time I saw MOTU figures. I was always into Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons and Ray Harryhausen fantasy movies. So the first time I saw He-Man and Skeletor at department store, my jaw dropped. Then I flipped over the card and saw Teela and the others on the back and thought to myself "Wow, these are the best toys EVER!"

[Earth 2 Chris]

^Yeah, MOTU was seriously untapped toy potential there. By sanitizing it somewhat, and aiming it at kids, Mattel hit a nerve with kids who loved that stuff, but some of it was a bit beyond our reach, until then.

There's a part of me that prefers that early MOTU that was a bit more...dangerous!

Chris

[Werewolf]

I totally forget to mention this MOTU story.

This was after She-Ra and the Horde had been introduced. I was shopping with my Mom at Montgomery Ward. I got to pick out a present. I found a Slime Pit on sale. For those not in know, its this wicked looking dragon skull thing that drips slime. What's not to like? So, I go up to the checkout counter and my Mom gives me the money. I hand it to the checkout person and they go "You want this?" and I was like "Yeah, it's awesome! My Mom is getting it for me as a present." The checkout person then said "If I had gotten a Slime Pit as a present I would have cried."

My Mom and I still get a laugh out of it.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Ha! That's a great story. It's the flip side of my She-Ra story in the episode. Cindy got great joy from "outting" my She-Ra days. Hey, it said "Collect Them ALL!!!".

Chris

[Earth 2 Chris]

It's Part 2 of our Super Mates trip to the 80s Toy Box! Super Powers, My Buddy, Secret Wars, Care Bears, Transformers, My Little Pony, M.A.S.K., Jem, and more galore!

Check it out! And thanks for all of the great feedback on Part 1!

http://supermatescomic.blogspot.com/

Chris

[PNGwynne]

Ah, the '80s--I will not apologize for buying Super Powers, MOTU, & Sectaurs when I was in high school.

[Werewolf]

A few thoughts.

1 Your Mom was totally awesome to you.
2 Again, I feel bad your wife missed out on so much 80s goodness. Not even Rainbow Brite.
3 Your wife is SO wrong on Jem. I still have a Spectra doll. Jem dolls are way better quality.
4 Transformers the Movie soundtrack did indeed rock. I still listen to it.
5 The M.A.S.K. cartoon was okay. But the theme song is awesome.

[Earth 2 Chris]

A few thoughts.

1 Your Mom was totally awesome to you.
2 Again, I feel bad your wife missed out on so much 80s goodness. Not even Rainbow Brite.
3 Your wife is SO wrong on Jem. I still have a Spectra doll. Jem dolls are way better quality.
4 Transformers the Movie soundtrack did indeed rock. I still listen to it.
5 The M.A.S.K. cartoon was okay. But the theme song is awesome.

1. She most certainly was. I couldn't have asked for a better Mom.
2. I know. We talked about how these shows were making her look deprived, compared to my spoiled-rotten self.
3. I knew that would touch a nerve! That just came up naturally in the conversation, I figured she would take up for her. Not so much!
4. Same here...on vinyl!
5. Agreed! That's why I picked a commercial that used it in the background. Great stuff.

Thanks for listening, and your great feedback!

Chris

[Werewolf]

We talked about how these shows were making her look deprived, compared to my spoiled-rotten self.

Nah, you don't sound spoiled. You, like me, was just lucky enough to have a great mom who loved toys. I had a lot of toys. But I appreciated them and treated them like gold. It also helped that my Mom collected toys as well. She had the My Buddy and Kid Sister dolls you mentioned. Unfortunately the Chucky movies totally ruined them for her.

Considering your love of MOTU I am surprised you didn't really talk about LJN Dungeons and Dragons figures in this one. Unlike MOTU, which was a mix of child friendly fantasy and sci-fi, D&D was a pure sword and sorcery line with of Paladins, Elves, Wizards, Dwarves, Goblins, Ogres and Death Knights.