Favorite 80's Toy / Cartoon

[targetrasp]

I'm such a nostalgia freak its ridiculous. This talk around a Hasbro cinematic universe has really gotten my hopes up, only to have them continually crushed, put on hold, and crushed again.

I has ignited tons of people like me as well as hardcore toy collectors, buying up 80's toys for insane prices on eBay. I've been watching auctions, reading fan pages and online articles and frequenting thrift stores and yard sales as often as possible just to get back some of that old 80's magic.

I would imagine a large part of the CDG group grew up in the 80's, not only living the video game resurgence but also the last great age of toys and Saturday morning cartoons of said toys.

After spending an hour looking at M.A.S.K. toys on eBay I was really curious about what toy / cartoon line does everyone else remember fondly?

[Kinikko]

I always remember playing with GI Joes and transformers toys at my cousin's house. We would take his giant tote of Legos and build bases, then like draft our roster of fighters and fight them.

[BLUEVOODU]

Inspector gadget and transformers...  I remember those quite well.   But I also remember Fraggle Rock... Iiked watching that. 

<a href="https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0085017/">Fraggle Rock - imdb.com</a>

Obviously GI Joe - and the GI Joe cartoon.

This was also the decade Lego was starting to make their larger and more intricate designs...  leading up to what we have today.  I had the Black Seas Barracuda.

<a href="
https://wehavekids.com/parenting/legoships">Lego Ships - Wehavekids.com</a>


Obviously this was the decade Super Mario Brothers hit the arcade. This was back when about every hotel had a game room with arcade machines.  When we traveled... I would be there when the arcade opened... a few had the original Super Mario Bros arcade. 

Good topic! 

[targetrasp]

The arcade was glorious in the 80's! Every hotel, campground, and even gas station had some cabinet. The local pizza huts had cocktail cabinets, one had some iteration of pac man and the other had breakout or alleyway.

GI Joe was my favorite. I still pick up figures when I see them in the wild and actually just found a GI Joe Monopoly game.

Mask, Thundercats, Transformers, HeMan, SilverHawks, and Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors were some of my most favorite toon / toy combos. The TNMT cartoon was fantastic as well, but I never really bought into the toys. By 1989 when they came out I was already 8 and more interested in video games and sports. I think I may have ended up with one of the original ralphs somehow.

Sadly, I missed most of the early Star Wars toys when they were new. I did find some used at flea markets and yard sales but never any to amount to anything. I vaguely remember a Roses having Jabba's palace on clearance for 5 - 10 dollars and I BEGGED for it, but my please fell on the deaf ears of my parents.

[Mai Valentine]

I mostly played with Legos, Ninja Turtle figures, and Matchbox cars when I was younger. They're mostly still around lol

[targetrasp]

Legos were awesome. I got tons of them but never wound up with a pirate ship, a castle, or the most coveted monorail.

I'll have to admit I still play with these things (all be it with my son)... we're currently working on the Millennium Falcon

[BLUEVOODU]

The Falcon is a great set. We had a lot of fun with the Lord of the Rings sets. Almost scored the tower or orthanc at one point lol.  Battle for helms deep!  The ships where the ghosts run off. 


The England bridge was a lot of fun too. We found it on super sale one. It took a very long time to make and it's huge.

[targetrasp]

I can't get either kid into LOTR. YouTube has played to their short attention span. They wont sit down and watch a three hour movie but they can watch three hours of DanTDM in 20 different clips. Hollywood has to be pissed!

[BLUEVOODU]

Lol yeah my son watches DanTDM.... Whats up with that!?  To be fair, he does a pretty good job with his segment

[CreepinDeth]

Voltron was my jam. It's too bad the cartoon doesn't hold up and the original toys contain lead in the paint, lol.

I think I'm going to splurge on one of the anniversary sets for my birthday.

[targetrasp]

The new voltron cartoon on Netflix is pretty decent, although I've not seen past the first season. For Christmas I got my son every one of the new lions (not the biggest size, but the one down) and we've now got fully assembled voltron in our "china cabinet." He chills out with all the amiibos, lego dimension figures, every star wars lego sets, and a random assortment of cool toys my son and I have managed to collect over the last 5 years.

[CreepinDeth]

I just couldn't get into the new ones. I watched 4 episodes and they didn't do it for me. Maybe I'll give them another chance. I'm also not a big fan of the new design. I do prefer the lions a little more squared up. The first 3D version that aired around 2000 was decent. I remember liking that one a bit.

[targetrasp]

Its like every other reboot ever.... you just have to manage your expectations. The magic that was the original voltron (I saw reruns in the 80s) wasn't there. Same with star wars, star trek, lost in space, gi joe, etc. etc. etc. BUT the premise is typically in tact and different can be good... Many times have I been soured on a reboot / rehash in tv, films, comic, because I went in with preconceived notions and high expectations.

No music is different. Its SELDOM I can enjoy a covered song IF I liked the original. There's two out now that make my skin crawl, Zombie and that one FFDP covered of the offspring's... Both originals I enjoyed, both covers I hate. On the reverse I didn't mind Limp Bizkit doing Behind Blue Eyes because I'd made it my whole life without hearing the original first. 

[CreepinDeth]

I thought I did manage my expectations. For sure I wasn't expecting greatness but when I watched it all seemed so... bland. Maybe I'll try again.

However, something that exceeded my expectations is Cobra Kai. Sooo good!

[targetrasp]

maybe it's dreamworks' that's ruining it?!

I just realized i'm advocating the show while I've not even watched half of what's available on Netflix... @CreepinDeth you may be on to something!

[mastermario]

Welp, I was born in '89 so I can't really contribute much to the 80's discussion, but when I was growing up K'nex were a hot thing and that was peak cartoon Mario Bros time so I was very content haha.

[targetrasp]

I most defiantly have all the Mario cartoons on dvd!

[mastermario]

Attaboy haha.

[BLUEVOODU]

Welp, I was born in '89 so I can't really contribute much to the 80's discussion, but when I was growing up K'nex were a hot thing and that was peak cartoon Mario Bros time so I was very content haha.

LOL..  @mastermario That's no Excuse!     So... K'nex was a thing?  I thought they didn't catch on that well.  I could be wrong on that.

I collected baseball cards.   The Strike of 1995 (I think it was) really killed card collecting.

[targetrasp]

The strike absolutely killed my love of baseball as well. I had a huge collection and watched every game I could. MICHAEL FREGGIN JORDAN started playing baseball, Tony Gwenn might have broken Ted Williams batting average record, and matt Williams was on pace to hit over 60 homers, YEARS before the Sosa McGwire steroid slugfest. We lost greats like Bo Jackson, Dave Henderson, Goose Gossage, and a ton of others. I even wanna say it was a big factor in Montreal losing the Expos and Jordan going back to the NBA (nevermind he was barely batting .200 in the minors).

It was 1994, Robbie Thompson and Will Clark were my heroes and I'd made a replica Giants team on Super Baseball Simulator 1000. I've been to 1 minor league game and watched 3 innings MLB since.

[retro junkie]

I was born in 1955. My favorite toy of the 80s was the Rubik's cube. I do remember some obscure handheld called the Gameboy as well. I think it had interchangeable games. 

My Daughter had fun with My Little Ponies and Care Bears.

[Grindspine]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles blimp!

[targetrasp]

In the new version the bombs have been replaced with hooks for each of the four turtles to rappel down on. We've almost taken everything military related out of toys now and still public places are getting shot up...

[Grindspine]

The original is still in a closet in my parents' house somewhere.

[BLUEVOODU]

The original is still in a closet in my parents' house somewhere.

@Grindspine You should find that and keep it safe lol.

@targetrasp I know what you mean.  Bring back the bombs! 

[targetrasp]

Sometimes I wonder if by demonizing things like guns and bombs just make them that much more attractive to the demonic...

[targetrasp]

@retro junkie I just walked out of Walmart's gifty section and they had a Reubicks Cube w/ only 4 panels per side...

I never could finish a real size one. Our kindergarten teacher had one that she'd send home with a different kid every night promising us something like $5 if we brought it back solved. As far as I know no one every did it. I think towards the end of the year I threatened moving the stickers.

[mastermario]

@mastermario  So... K'nex was a thing?  I thought they didn't catch on that well.  I could be wrong on that.

I dunno, I guess as a kid it seemed to catch on because of all the commercials and my friends that had them. But maybe it was more of a regional thing or maybe I misremember, who knows haha. I used to build the hell out of some of those elaborate models though like the functional ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds. Attempted to build one of the roller coasters but I lost the instructions and could never get to it.

[BLUEVOODU]

I'm resurrecting this topic... What else did you have or do you remember from the 80's?

What about Micro Machines?  Best Speed Talking commercials as well. You cannot get better than that.   They were pretty cool... especially when they brought the jets out.

[targetrasp]

micromachines were pretty cool. I do wish they had the star wars micromachines when I was growing up though