Blogzilla 1985: Mom, Can I have That?

I am thrilled that The "Toys that Made Us" series on Netflix has new episodes. The first season nailed it, covering Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Barbie and He-Man. I was actively watching every episode. Being slightly judgmental on some statements made. I got pretty worked up over some Barbie controversies and a comment concerning She-Ra's origin.

I think these new episodes will be just as good. We're getting Star Trek, Transformers, Hello Kitty, and Legos. You can not go wrong with any of these. Yet there are so many more that I hope they cover. Honestly I'm surprised that they chose Hello Kitty before My Little Pony.

I have composted a list of other toy lines that I think are must have episodes for this fabulous series. Most of these will be more toys that have stood the test of time, and no matter how many times you think they're done they roll right back around. Others just have a large fan community that is still thriving and hungry for any new products we can get.

Since I mentioned it before we'll start with the obvious.

My Little Pony

I loved My Little Pony, and still do. I have a large collection of the first generation. Added to it when the third launched, hitting my nostalgia needs after the failure that was generation two. Plus I'm continually growing my stash with the Friendship is Magic crew. These pretty little colorful equestrians draw you in with cuteness and promote imaginative play with there simple designs.

I would spend hours in my room having adventures in pony land. I only had a dozen or so of my own, but if I got to go play with my cousins we had a massive herd of color. Being the youngest of our trio I also ended up inheriting most of the others as they were out grown.
I've never out grown them, and started actively collecting the older ones when I was in high school. I would love to have a complete set. but that is a very tall order. So I've lowered my sights to completing three main sets.

Mimic..... I WANT THIS SO BAD!

The 1983 series, it was my birth year and I'm only missing about five or six ponies.

The Princess Ponies that came with Bushwoolie buddies. I'm only missing two of these ponies, but I still need three of the ever elusive Bushwoolies. I want them more than the ponies to be honest.

Lastly the Twinkle Eye ponies. These all had little plastic crystals for eyes, and four different colors in their hair. This will be the truly hard task because Mimic is very hard to find and she is not cheep when you do. I could have gotten one a few years back for $100, but I couldn't bring myself to spend that much on one pony.

I'm still kicking myself for not just doing it.

Ninja Turtles

This is a must! Almost everyone I know loves Ninja Turtles in one form or another. Being a first grader with it originally aired as a cartoon, I didn't get the toys. They were "boy's" toys. Whatever I played with my cousin's turtles when we all got together. He had a massive collection too and I'm pretty sure is kicking himself a bit for just letting them go at a yard sale when he out grew them.

We played with the toys. We played the impossible video game, and the arcade game ate so many of our quarters. Our minds were blown with that first movie. Still love that movie so much.

In first grade it was so major that everyone in class loved it. We had a thing with out Book It program that every time you finished a book you'd get a paper cut out to color. It was just a circle over a book, with the title of what you read written on it. The idea was to color it so it looked like you and they got taped up in the hall way. Everyone made their's into ninja turtles. The whole hallway was practically lined with reading turtles that year. I still remember someone made Leo reading their copy of Yurtle the Turtle.

To this day I still love Ninja Turtles. I buy Shannon a new Leo for his collection every Christmas. The last version on Nickelodeon was amazing, though I still need to finish watching it. I even want to watch the new version, though I have some reservations on their design choices.

Also if you've never seen the Japanese take on the cartoon you need to look it up on You Tube.

Rainbow Brite

This is a personal request really, but I know there is still a large collector community out there. If not Halmark wouldn't have brought her back as strongly as they have. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about it, but my wallet...

This little girl and her friends charged with keeping our world filled with color was a favorite of mine growing up. I didn't like baby dolls. My Rainbow Brite dolls were the closest thing to them. I had the 12 inch versions where one of my cousins had the larger dolls. I was totally jealous of her bed set and curtains. I did get some awesome Rainbow Brite hand-me-downs from her in the fashion department though. The 80's were a good time to be a younger cousin.

I just recently got my hands on the complete tv series, but as a kid these dolls were my first true collection. At the time my mom worked at J.C. Penny's in our local mall. From time to time dad would take me out to see her at work and if I behaved we'd go to Kay Bee Toys. Mom told me when we'd come back through to head home I usually had a new doll with me.

I was a tad bit spoiled before I got a little brother.

I still have this collection, though most of my dolls didn't survive my childhood very well. Guess I went though a phase where I drew on my toys with blue pen went I got mad. Mom and I have tried everything to clean that ink out, many times over the years, but it's just embedded to well. Only the last three that I get are still almost pristine. I still have all the outfits and accessories. I just need to find some clean faced dolls to make a better display.

Hot Wheels

Now I'm a girly girl, but I had tom boy habits too as a kid. We all played with toy cars, I had my dad's old metal ones. I didn't play with them a lot, but I'd dig them out of the toy box from time to time and push them around the kitchen floor.

However once my little brother came onto the scene it was a whole new game. So many cars! I can't tell you what we had, but I know there was a purple one I liked a lot. He had a large plastic play mat that covered most of the living room floor. We'd spend hours just "driving" around that little town.

I'm pretty sure his whole collection is still in our parents attic. Unless mom's made a trip to his new house recently. I hear he's getting all his stuff soon if she has a say in it.

Power Rangers

Talk about a series that won't stop. Powers Rangers was an instant hit when I was in elementary school. It got talked about daily. We argued over who was the best. We pretended to be Power Rangers at recess. I really liked the show and it became some shared TV time for my bother and I. He made out like a bandit in the toy department too. I had a little help with that.

Several Christmases in a row I talked mom into getting him various zords to play with. The white falcon zord is still a personal favorite. Between holidays, chore money and happy meal toys there were so many Power Ranger goodies in our home. They were well played with too.

To this day I still pick op random Ranger toys for my brother. Several have found homes on his desk at work.

Power Rangers is still thriving and looks to have no end in sight yet. So many teams, and so many kids that love them. Power Rangers is right up there with the best.

Pokemon

Another personal favorite. Pokemon was designed for the collector. "Gotta Catch 'em All" is too true in my case. Between toys, cards, games and plushies there is an almost never ending mass of cuteness and money to be spent.

I know Pokemon hasn't been around as long as the other toys that have been covered. However it also doesn't seem to be going away any time soon. For a while after generation three it was hard to come by items but not any more. Most big box retailers carry Pokemon, as well as specialty stores. I can think of at least 7 stores in our town alone that I can get my Pokemon from. That's not even counting the Pokemon Center online.

I love the Pokemon Center. So many great plush toys....

There are so many toy lines that I want to get attention I could go on all day, but I'll leave you with a rapid fire of the rest. Who knows maybe I'll go into more detail on my own later.

Sailor Moon