goodbye toys, hello teenagers

[palitoy]

I think too kids play less with toys and more with video games. His action figure days were far less than mine, and he never got as connected to any toy. I can't even say what his favorite was.

I don't feel that way, I think mine both had good runs with toys in general and both have stuff they'd never sell. My son has JLU and the clone wars while my daughter has a plush collection that is all named. We played a lot with them so that probably had a hand in the relationship.

[EMCE Hammer]

Better go watch Toy Story 3 and have a cry Brian.

[palitoy]

Better go watch Toy Story 3 and have a cry Brian.

That movie was the cause of my "Putting the Fisher Price sets in storage" meltdown of 2015.

[Godzilla]

I'm right there with you. My 13 and 11 year old boys, still "play" but really we're clinging to Legos and that's about it.

I agree with you, my kids had a great run of toys and I've enjoyed watching them play and playing with them.

[hedrap]

Crazy how we're all going through this at nearly the same time.

Coincides perfectly with the TRU story. We're the generation that made the toy industry and Mego was a huge foundational piece. And just as our kids phase out and into teen years, TRU implodes as we have no reason to take them. Almost symbiotic.

I didn't want to part with my Mego collection, but a few years ago medical bills made it mandatory. That made my kids understand things they don't play with anymore can be sold for new things they want. It's worked out pretty well as it's made them seriously consider what has personal value and what was a passing moment. It's a nice lesson and also makes them aware of spending wisely.

[Brown Bear]

My boys are 12 and since getting a PS4, the playroom is a deserted island. They do still play LEGO and Star Wars but it’s becoking scarce.
The first Santa list I get without toys on it will be a sad day for me. I still picture them laying on their bellies playing Thomas the train. 😞

[warlock664]

I still picture them laying on their bellies playing Thomas the train. ��

Omigosh, that's what I miss!
My son and I used to spend hours and hours building track layouts with the wooden Thomas track and accessories. It was a very sad day for me when I boxed up all the track and buildings and the dozens of trains and vehicles because he had "outgrown them". I hadn't !

[cjefferys]

It's funny, my son was never really into playing with toys too much, even though I tried to be a bad influence on him and bought him lots of figures (and was very sad to see that he didn't share my love of superhero toys). Lego was his gig, but he quickly outgrew the normal Lego stuff and never really cared about the characters or anything and instead progressed to the Technics stuff and Legos with motors, lights and pneumatic pumps (I had to go to Lego's educational website for that last one, wasn't going to find it in stores that's for sure!). Now he's nearly thirteen, has a room full of Legos he rarely touches (hate to think what was spent for them all!) because now he's into building computers and programming/coding. We're trying to figure out the best way to get the most money we can out of all the Legos.

[rche]

cjefferys - I would suggest selling on the Bricklink site or something similar. My son has recently started to purchase lots from our local yardsale type boards and then sort and sell them. He has done pretty well with it, tho he does have a tough time deciding which ones he wants to get rid of.

[rche]

My 13, soon to be 14 yo kiddo still has her super heroes and monster high collection on her shelf, tho it is showing a bit of dust. She has parted ways with most of the 'explosions of pink and purple' girl toys, but will not let go of the 3' tall stuffed duck her grandfather gave her for her first birthday. It is a trying time in the rche teen household. The thing she seems to want to jettison that makes me the most sad is her custom miniatures. She is a fantastic sculptor and was really into creating dioramas and dollhouse type rooms for quite some time. I admit to having some Harryhausen aspirations for her, but that interest seems to be fading fast. However, the seeds were sown early in her young, creative mind; so maybe all of this will come back to her in a more adult fashion after she has gotten thru the uncomfortable throes of adolescence.

[drquest]

My now 19 year old daughter (just had a birthday) still hangs onto things that mean a lot to her, some are toys, some are not. My 15 year old son seems to have a bad case of whatever collector affliction I have but he's a huge computer and video game kid, loves it! My 9 year old son still plays with toys off and on, but would rather be designing games on his computer, or playing with his Switch. He latest thing he does is take Microsoft Powerpoint, and make interactive games with it. I need to look under the hood of Powerpoint to see how he's doing it but it's rather staggering what he's able to do.

My wife and I are left with thousands of dollars of toys, Thomas, Lego, Star Wars, Spongebob etc... Some are boxed up in storage, some are still out and ready for use.

[TrekStar]

These days, PlayStation, X Box and DVD blu-Ray and online computer games have taken the place of action figures, toy trains and race car play sets, maybe not completely but almost.

But if we had back then what the kids have now, action figures might not have been that popular, the Mego Corp might have gone in a different direction.

[jacoblb]

I can relate.

My teenage daughters went through the Monster High post Barbie doll stage in a blink of an eye. All their toys are in storage and I don't know if as adults they'll want their Barbies and everything else.

My oldest got over toys in a hurry early in her childhood. My youngest likes some toys for display, but like most teenagers goes through fads left and right.

Unfortunately, I think my toy collecting and what I've turned the house into with stacked boxes was a major turnoff and they won't be collectors like myself.

[cjefferys]

cjefferys - I would suggest selling on the Bricklink site or something similar. My son has recently started to purchase lots from our local yardsale type boards and then sort and sell them. He has done pretty well with it, tho he does have a tough time deciding which ones he wants to get rid of.

Thanks man, I'll have to check that out!