toy collectors prior to 1990

[Bionic Joe]

In the early to mid 80s comic books and sports cards stamps and coins were the accepted hobbies and old tin toys were popular with some. I rember a few comic book guys buying star wars and super powers figures but they were considered the super hard core comic book fan or star wars fan, Sadly back then i didn't go to K-BEE toys and stock up on the kenner star wars figures marked down to three for a dollar and even though i liked the super powers figures i passed on buying them D'OH. Around 86 i went to a star trek con in south Phillie and a guy had 8 inch MEGOS star trek MOC priced at $15 each so i brought Capt Kirk and MR SPOCK and i still have them today but sadly the bubble on MR SPOCKS card lifted off the card

[mego73]

i have always been fascinated by the collectors of the early days but maybe it's because i hate most of the toys made now i had a family member who collected mostly star trek and superman items and this was in the late 80's or early 90's but he did have some nice mego things those aliens were real rare back then. so please share some memories u have from the good old days of collecting.

I started collecting in the mid 80's. First by rediscovering Star Trek and getting some Star Trek Mego stuff from Brad and Jeannie Taylor of Third Planet Collectibles.

Getting a book about celebrity dolls allowed me to see again, many of the other Mego TV and movie figures and got me started.

[goldenryan]

In the early to mid 80s comic books and sports cards stamps and coins were the accepted hobbies and old tin toys were popular with some. I rember a few comic book guys buying star wars and super powers figures but they were considered the super hard core comic book fan or star wars fan, Sadly back then i didn't go to K-BEE toys and stock up on the kenner star wars figures marked down to three for a dollar and even though i liked the super powers figures i passed on buying them D'OH. Around 86 i went to a star trek con in south Phillie and a guy had 8 inch MEGOS star trek MOC priced at $15 each so i brought Capt Kirk and MR SPOCK and i still have them today but sadly the bubble on MR SPOCKS card lifted off the card

kb must of been the place to go to back in the mid-80's discounted megos and star wars , plus secret wars and super powers .

[Bionic Joe]

kb must of been the place to go to back in the mid-80's discounted megos and star wars , plus secret wars and super powers .

I never saw any MEGO'S at the KB near me but in the mid to late 80s i saw secert wars,super powers, star wars, indiana jones mostly just the sword guy, later they had the robotech figures and ships i brought those but passed on star wars and super powers D'OH

[goldenryan]

i wonder if there were any comic book fans in 70's who left the toys in the packages or maybe openedthem just for display back then.

[Neutron X]

YES therer were. I opened Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica and later Flash Gordon and displayed them on my dresser. The boxed Megos I bought later I left inside box because you could see through the window boxes.

I see people forgot to mention that OLD Toys were often sold at Sci Fi conventions like Star Trek and Dr. Who back in the ealry 1980s. I worked at Fantasty Books in 1984 and we had cases of Japanese model kit imports when the dollar was doing well against the yen. Dr Who was huge so we would get UK toys in form our buyers.

In 1986 when ownership of Fantasy Books changed, (we eventually became a chain of 4 stores,) The new boss loved toys. I remember unloading a 1,000 MOC Super Powers figures. They were going on clearance and my boss Nick was buying them up for .25-$1.00 each as he traveled the country doing Sci Fi shows. It wasn't uncommon to have multiple cases of Star Trek crew memebrs to fill orders with. My favorite shipment came in a giant box from UPS It was a refrigerator box cut in half filled with Pin Pin Mego figures MOC
Fantastic Four, Hulk, and Spiderman. If that wasn't enough we had 300 MOC Star Wars/ESB/ ROJ/POTF/ figures MOC in the back. I like Bobba Fett and rd8 so I bought them.

To be honest I had to get a second part time job to afford all my Comics and toys.

12" Gijoes were the absolute hardest thing for me to find. I had to go to 32 antique stores before I found anything vintage Gijoe. The prices were crazy with Cottswald back then. No pictures just a list sent out with prices. A nude painted head Gijoe was $70!!!!!!!! The good news is Ebay has driven down prices along with Hasbro's reissues. I now buy vintage gijoes cheaper than any other time ever.

[MysteryWho]

See, that's interesting. I mean, it's always been best to get the stuff cheap when it's being thrown away by retailers before it all ends up in the secondary market. But I do remember the prices being really high for some things even at a time when they really shouldn't have been. Are we better off, as collectors, now than at any other time. Is it, overall, cheaper/easier to collect today than way back when. I think we all romanticize about what it would have been like to be collecting back in the day, but then again it might have been a royal pain. Also, if we had had the wherewithal to collect at that time, we wouldn't have a reason to, 'cause the fun would be gone. It's like a time travel conundrum, if you see my meaning. It has to be the way it is.