What is your best "adult" discovery of a childhood toy?

[Captain Big Trousers]

The Takara Henshin Cyborg line. The history is fascinating - the links between GI Joe, Action Man, Takara Cyborgs, Denys Fisher Cyborg/Muton, the Micronauts and the Transformers... it's like a toy family tree.

[TrekStar]

My discovery of Kirk and Spock in A small shoebox in our attic, we never go up there, it's just insulated
but my Mom some 35 years back must have put some other things up there and one day about 5 years ago
I went up just for curiosity to see what was up there, it's a small attic, have to keep my head slightly
lowered, noticed some old records and junk stuff, a woman's shoe box, took a peak inside and OMG there were
Kirk and Spock in the shoe box, no weapons though, but my obsession thus began to start collecting them
again.

[PNGwynne]

Oddly, I knew about the SI because I recalled the catalog ad. (We did A LOT of catalogue shopping in the '70s & '80s, as a small-town family.)

But the Teen Titans & Tarzan were teen discoveries for me as I started re-collecting.

[Mr.Marion]

To be honest with toy shows and the magazines in the 90's there is not too much I didn't know about. The Fleetwood Ghost Rider is a good example of one that flew under my radar. The guiliver marvel and dc pvcs. The Lincoln monsters I didn't know about until later. Zorro from John's book. I do remember seeing a palitoy carded Torch at a show the seller was high as a kite on everything else but I think he wanted $175 for him and I did buy an fantastic 4 vhs from him. This was in the late 90's.

[MIB41]

I think discovering there were secret identity Megos was a major buzz for me. When I first saw that in Tomart's 1992 hard back price guide, I was blown away. I NEVER knew Mego had actually released an official version of Peter Parker using Shazam, which I myself used as a kid. The irony in that still makes me shake my head to this day. The early forms of customizing were in play even with Mego themselves.

[Gorn Captain]

This hand's down. I'm still shocked...

https://patchesofpride.wordpress.com...d-in-backyard/

What? No stake through the heart?

[Gorn Captain]

I discovered women late in life.
Didn't have know any as a teenager.
Does this count?

[mahseer]

At first I thought the title of this thread was: "Childhood discovery of adult toys". That's a whole other story.

[hobub]

This hand's down. I'm still shocked...

https://patchesofpride.wordpress.com...d-in-backyard/

[acrovader]

I'd probably say the 'Darth Vader' figure from the Space War series. I had the toy when I was about 5 or 6. My mom bought it for me at some close-out store. I vaguely remember it breaking one time (after all, these toys are cheaply made). However, the toy was lost to time and I hadn't seen it in probably over 30 years. I forgot what the figure looked like, other than it resembling Vader. I still had his shield after these years. Then after doing some research, I found out about him and the toy line it came from. I was never sure of the toy company or the name of the toy line. But alas, I bought him off ebay a few years ago (along with some of the other Space War toys). Then about not quite 20 years ago, I found the Knight of Darkness form Star Team line at a second hand toy store. I remember seeing him at a dime store back in the late 70's and wanting him. I forgot all about him for nearly a couple decades, but didn't pass up the chance to buy him second time around. And I guess, I got reacquainted with the Mini Silver Warriors over the last couple years. I had the silver robot as I kid. But I recently bought him on the card along the other two figures in the toy line. And finally, Enco's Viking 2 playset. I never had one as a kid, but remembered playing with it in Kindergarten.

[PNGwynne]

The Lone Ranger line is beautiful, it puts the Furies to shame. I could get stuck on it easily. (I do have the Dodge City German playset for my Mego AmWest set.)

From what I've learned, the Gabriel bodies sometimes need work, like vintage GI Joes.

Ian, what do you mean by Marx' LR--do they do tie-ins from Johnny West molds?

[EmergencyIan]

^ Same with me, Chris. I too was born in 1974, so my Gabriel Lone Ranger, Tonto, Silver and Scout were the 'reissues.' Then, I saw some old Sears catalogs (around the same time) that had other figures and horses. I was fascinated and then obsessed. What a great line! At one point, in my adulthood, I had quite a bit from this line including some of the Marx and Hubley (which I think is Gabriel) stuff.

- Ian

[Earth 2 Chris]

The Gabriel Lone Ranger line. I had the reissues of the Lone Ranger and Silver, and Tonto and Scout from the "Legend of the Lone Ranger" movie launch. I had no idea Gabriel had made a friggin' WORLD in this line just a few years earlier! Sometime in the early 90s I picked up Tomart's huge Guide to Action figures, and there was a full-color page of the whole line. My mind was blown. I think that line may be the most "complete" toy line ever created, with just about everything you'd want or think of (and a lot you wouldn't) from the license. Plus the toys AND packaging are just beautifully done.

I've picked up a boxed single Lone Ranger and loose Tonto to go with my surviving childhood horses. I recently got a boxed Butch Cavendish and a loose Dan Reid. I love this line!!!

Chris

[Werewolf]

My greatest toy discovery as an adult has to be Sectaurs.

Sectaurs are awesome. The sculpts still hold up and wouldn't look out of place in TRU today. That line seriously needs to be brought back.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

As cliche as this will sound, but 8 inch Megos if I stop to think about it. Until about 6 years ago, I didn't even know my childhood WGSH still existed in storage. My seven year anniversary of joining the Museum is coming up and the amount of knowledge about Mego Corp is far far greater than anything I knew prior to.

As for wanting to collect something today that I didn't appreciate as a child, I can't really think of anything.