What age do you guys feel makes a toy "classic"?

[Earth 2 Chris]

I consider those lines classic, but I'm 38. I bridge the gap between the Mego years and the 80s toys. I think MOTU gets a little more attention here, as it was coming up just as Mego was fizzling out as a company. Same for GI Joe: RAH. Transformers and MASK came after this, so there is less talk of them. Super Powers is the successor to Mego's WGSH (at least the DC characters) so it comes up on occasion.

Chris

[VintageMike]

The Turtles are vintage already.....they turn 30 next year. If they would have started in 1938, 68 would have been their 30th anniversary...Superman was already vintage then. Turtles are now, and even though I was already 19 when they started, I still have their first issue toys that came out a few years later, I have my own nostalgia about them, I was in college and had to have them. My daughter is the current owner of those figures and she plays with them non stop.....lol

Value wise I think that's the exact cutoff. Late 80's was the last of the lines that seem to be thought of a collectible. Afther that point everyone was saving everything which is why early 90's toys aren't worth anything, while Megos, Star Wars and earlier toys rose in value early on and continue to hold their value to this day.

[torgospizza]

And my collection goes WELL beyond figures or superhero themed products. I've got stuff from Corgi cars to Peanuts soap products (by Avon) still in the box from the 60's and 70's. But that's me capturing those memories when I was small child. It's like the soundtrack of my life. There's nothing there I need others to like. It's how it makes me feel that brings me satisfaction.

That's exactly why I have stuff like Avon's Batman and Superman hairbrushes (I really need to get the Wonder Woman mirror), Chu-Bops' Billy Joel "Glass Houses", photonovels, GAF View-Master sets...stuff like that. The last two items especially (to me) sort of exemplify life when entertainment was considerably more limited. If you missed the Star Trek re-run on Saturday night or Star Wars had left the theater, you were out of luck, because there wasn't VHS or DVD available; yet, these things (and Kenner hand-cranked Movie Viewers and Give-a-Show Projectors) could kind of tide you over until it came on again. It's more about the memory than any inherent quality of the product.

[kingdom warrior]

Value wise I think that's the exact cutoff. Late 80's was the last of the lines that seem to be thought of a collectible. Afther that point everyone was saving everything which is why early 90's toys aren't worth anything, while Megos, Star Wars and earlier toys rose in value early on and continue to hold their value to this day.

True, 90's figures, I don't see as vintage as much although, I seem to have no trouble selling Toy Biz X-men and Marvel Superhero carded figures on Ebay. I've had customers tell me they had them when they were kids and wanted to have them again. Which is fine by me, i have no probs unloading those....and the BTAS figures seem to also sell well.

[jwyblejr]

Heck,even Power Rangers are starting to get old.

[Access]

Well I appreciate all the comments! I've never seemed to have 'grown up' in the classical sense so although I'm also in my late 30s I remember when my little brother were getting TMNT and I thought (and still do) that they were cool. There are many modern toys that are awesome and very collectable like Marvel Legends, Transformers (especially the alternators and masterpieces) Beyblades, and tons of other stuff.

I think classic just means 'awesome' LOL. Because there were plenty of toys back when I was a kid that arent very collectable or valuable, same from every generation. Some toys just 'rise to the top' regardless of the age.

There probably isn't an answer to this question, otherwise these toy manufacturers would only make "Awesome stuff" and we all know that aint happenin!

[MIB41]

I think if there is an "answer", it's that you feel good collecting whatever you seek. That's all the reason you need.

[brannon86]

I dont know, it depends. Im 46, and grew up playing with toys from the late 60's-70's. I think I quit playing with toys around 78-79 era was the cut off for me. Even then, I was mostly skateboarding, building models, things like that. I would say, (just me) classics are from that era(60'-70s) although there are many classics from years way before my time, 40s, 50s. I think some 80s stuff are classics now. It just depends.

[HardyGirl]

I think you summed it up very nicely Tom. For me, classics are anything within my childhood, and before. Classic gives me that warm fuzzy feeling when you're remembering your childhood. And since this is a Mego board, and Mego was in its heyday in the 70s, that's gonna be the main focus for most (though not all), of its members. We've often stated that everyone feels the best era to be a kid, is when you were one. For a lot of us here, that's the 70s.

^^^ Oh I don't want you thinking I was snubbing the 80's toys with my comments. It's all relevant. I was just illustrating why I had no bond with it due to my place in life during the 80's. I had moved on from toys to that cultural phenomenon known as music video and similar minded...subject matter? So while I might have been 18 in '83, others here might have been 5 or 6. So it's always going to be nostalgic based on when you came into the picture. And my collection goes WELL beyond figures or superhero themed products. I've got stuff from Corgi cars to Peanuts soap products (by Avon) still in the box from the 60's and 70's. But that's me capturing those memories when I was small child. It's like the soundtrack of my life. There's nothing there I need others to like. It's how it makes me feel that brings me satisfaction. But having similar minded friends to share it with certainly makes it shine brighter. That's why the retro figures are so much fun. They may be new toys, but the licensing is old school.

[brannon86]

Totally agree with that.

[Lee9977]

Somerthing about the 70's where toys were in the forefront of the Kids wishlist so the era holds a special place. early 80s on kids wanted video games for Christmass and Birthdays which is why today so many 20 and 30 somethings love and collect video games both modern and vintage. The low tech stuff had a hard time competing with video games from 83 on although there are many exceptions.

[HardyGirl]

To me, toys and kids have always gone together. Today when I walk into the after school program at my child care center, and see most of the kids playing w/ Kindles, Nintendo DS, and Ipads, it just makes me sad. Time was when kids brought dolls, action figures and toy cars to the after school program.

Somerthing about the 70's where toys were in the forefront of the Kids wishlist so the era holds a special place. early 80s on kids wanted video games for Christmass and Birthdays which is why today so many 20 and 30 somethings love and collect video games both modern and vintage. The low tech stuff had a hard time competing with video games from 83 on although there are many exceptions.