Still have your originals?

[MrPliggins]

I have my most of my original comics and some other things, but all of my original figures are gone. I sold the loose ones in a lot on eBay in the early 2000s and the MOC ones between 2010 - 2015. Yes including Scratch
I only have one Bebop loose soft head now. Not from my original collection though.
Most of my VHS recordings of original airings of the ‘87 show and commercials are gone as well.

[I Crave Pizza No More]

I kept everything, including the original packaging. Kind of obsessive, I know.

[Leo656]

Heh, I still have a bunch of card backs. I was going through storage recently and it turns out I kept almost every single figure card for every action figure I purchased since around 1997, minus a few from more recent years.

Also, just an FYI update: I noticed my 1980s King Randor figure had some lingering sticky film on his legs even though I gave him a bath and scrub a few days back. I dipped a Q-tip in some nail polish remover and got ALL the film off in two minutes; it was invisible to the naked eye but enough to turn the Q-tip black without applying much pressure. He's perfect, now.

PLEASE do not throw out your sticky vintage figures without trying this trick to save them! So far I haven't had to lose a single one. It works on vehicles and such, too. So keep this in mind if you find old stuff that isn't in the best of shape; it's easier than you think to rescue them. A two-dollar bottle of nail polish remover can save you a ton of money in trying to replace things that might otherwise be perfectly fine!

[I Crave Pizza No More]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Also, just an FYI update: I noticed my 1980s King Randor figure had some lingering sticky film on his legs even though I gave him a bath and scrub a few days back. I dipped a Q-tip in some nail polish remover and got ALL the film off in two minutes; it was invisible to the naked eye but enough to turn the Q-tip black without applying much pressure. He's perfect, now.

That's awesome. Thanks for the (Q)tip!

[Leo656]

Anything to help. Vintage toys are important!

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Heh, I still have a bunch of card backs. I was going through storage recently and it turns out I kept almost every single figure card for every action figure I purchased since around 1997, minus a few from more recent years.

Also, just an FYI update: I noticed my 1980s King Randor figure had some lingering sticky film on his legs even though I gave him a bath and scrub a few days back. I dipped a Q-tip in some nail polish remover and got ALL the film off in two minutes; it was invisible to the naked eye but enough to turn the Q-tip black without applying much pressure. He's perfect, now.

PLEASE do not throw out your sticky vintage figures without trying this trick to save them! So far I haven't had to lose a single one. It works on vehicles and such, too. So keep this in mind if you find old stuff that isn't in the best of shape; it's easier than you think to rescue them. A two-dollar bottle of nail polish remover can save you a ton of money in trying to replace things that might otherwise be perfectly fine!

That sticky film will come back very quickly. It's a breakdown of the plastic from the acids inside the toy. You can't wash it away permanently. Try wrapping it in microchamber paper for three weeks inside an acid free bag.

[Leo656]

So far it has occasionally on a few but not on others. If it creeps back anytime soon I'll be sure and try that.

[Otter]

I kept Raph and Usagi. I also couldn't let go of Splinter and the Triceraton... though they're packed away. I wish I'd kept Ray Fillet.

Hoping Super7 does versions of each of them. Three to go. ????

[Powder]

Not all of them, but easily half or more of what I have is from my childhood, yep. As far as comics go, that can be said of only a handful. They took a real beating.

[D Piddy 1982]

Still got all of my TMNT figures from late 80's early 90's.

Maybe some missing bits, definitely a lot of broken rubber belts. Got most of the cut out card back profiles (always loved that somewhat crude art).

I think the last TMNT figure I bought was SGT Bananas. Purely because of the the sidekick figure.

They are all in storage at my parents. I'm desperate to get them back in my possession but they are blocked in by loads of other stuff and right now it would be too much trouble to go digging for them.

Also have all the original comics (that I owned, not ALL of the comics). In fact my old friend gave me a stash of original Archie comics that he found in his parents loft that he didn't want anymore. Result!

I still have lots of old figures. Ghostbusters (including the firehouse and ECTO 1 and 2). Power Rangers Mega Zord, various Transformers and GI Joes. Plus other random individual figures. One day I will get my hands on them and probably start up an Instagram page to show them all off! One day...


Edit: I have recently acquired a few figures from eBay that i always wanted but never had - Baxter, Wingnut, Tragg, Rat King. Still searching for a Ray Fillet in good condition at reasonable price...

[TCRI]

Wish I kept all my toys. I kept my favourites:

Wacky Action
Movie Star
and weirdly a bag of spares and weapons.

But had LOADS back in the day. Loads of random ones from relatives on birthdays and Christmas. To this day don't think I've ever seen a Triceraton, Fugitoid, Leatherhead or Metalhead in the cartoon... but I had the figures lol.

[garsh]

Speaking of broken belts, I REALLY regret that at some point I snipped the shoulder straps on my Leonardo and Donatello, presumably to make them more cartoon accurate.

I guess honestly it doesn't matter so much because the weapon holsters would probably have broken from normal wear anyway. Even the holster parts on Donatello's replacement belt I scavenged from his Wacky Action version are barely hanging on.

I trimmed some yellow utility tape into D and L shapes to non-permanently cover the dark, less legible purple and blue Wacky Action monograms. Someday I'd like to buy proper replacement belts.

They're all four soft-heads, by the way!

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by garsh

Speaking of broken belts, I REALLY regret that at some point I snipped the shoulder straps on my Leonardo and Donatello, presumably to make them more cartoon accurate.

I guess honestly it doesn't matter so much because the weapon holsters would probably have broken from normal wear anyway. Even the holster parts on Donatello's replacement belt I scavenged from his Wacky Action version are barely hanging on.

https://i.imgur.com/DYpiqtk.png

I trimmed some yellow utility tape into D and L shapes to non-permanently cover the dark, less legible purple and blue Wacky Action monograms. Someday I'd like to buy proper replacement belts.

They're all four soft-heads, by the way!

That reminds me of my original Real Ghostbusters. I clipped the proton streams off because they were annoying as hell. They interfered with play and it looked dumb to have the gliders on the proton packs but the streams were still coming out.

[garsh]

I'm struggling with that on the new retro re-release Real Ghostbusters. I've thought about buying some 3D printed proton packs I've seen. They have better looking, removable, proton streams. It's really too bad Kenner didn't make them removable to begin with.

[dragonside]

aw man.. the perfect time for original nostalgia.

I still have my thunder thrashin' leo.... from the next mutation without board (lost the board on a family fishing trip...floated down the river).

When I was a kid in 1998? 97? bought new from toysrus.

Still one of my favorites!

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by garsh

I'm struggling with that on the new retro re-release Real Ghostbusters. I've thought about buying some 3D printed proton packs I've seen. They have better looking, removable, proton streams. It's really too bad Kenner didn't make them removable to begin with.

I seen those. I'm pretty tempted myself, honestly. I still have my originals in "A little chipped up but still functional" condition, but I kinda wanna get those ones you're talking about for "spares" or whatever; actually they'd probably look better on display than the originals. I just recently cleaned up and re-packed my Real Ghostbusters figures, and I ordered some repro stickers for my Ecto-1A, so I kinda think I'm gonna jump on those as well since I'm on a streak of "cleaning up" a bunch of my old stuff from various toy lines - making sure I have all the accessories (whether vintage or repro), making sure paint and stickers look nice, etc. Those things do look kinda neat. I like that you can get glow-in-the-dark ones.

If you get 'em first, lemme know what you think. $30 after shipping kinda seems iffy at a glance, but I respect the time they put in, and they do look pretty cool. And I doubt I'd find four originals in pristine condition for that price. Maybe I'll get a set next week, I'unno. Definitely thinking about it.

[SilverNinja]

The only things I am missing from when I was a kid are my Giant Leonardo, 1990 The Movie t-shirt (with all the turtles in incorrect bandana colors) and a squeeze lollipop thing that I trashed before moving across the nation. I didn't want opened candy traveling with me, lol.

However I have replaced those two main items (the shirt and Giant Leo) within the past few years. I do wish I could find the original ones I had.

I'm so thankful I held on to pretty much all of it, with only one or two OG figures broken (like the leg to my Mutagen Man). I am still collecting the vintage line to this day, trying to get all the later figures I never picked up as a kid.

[nintendo2600]

Sadly, I don't have any of my childhood toys. I have repurchased what I want from each of my favorite lines though and they are not going anywhere. I made damn sure my son kept all of his toys. As he was no longer interested in each passing line I boxed it up and put it in storage for him to have when he's older. He's in his late teens now and one day if he shows interest in his childhood toys (as we all did) they will be here waiting for him.

[Zachatello00]

Originally Posted by nintendo2600

As he was no longer interested in each passing line I boxed it up and put it in storage for him to have when he's older.

That’s awesome. I did something similar. The day my boys were born, I went out and bought them a set of the four turtles, and haven’t even told them about them. I figured it was inevitable that they’d be turtles fans, so while they have some to play with now, they also have a nice fresh set for later in life.

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by Zachatello00

I figured it was inevitable that they’d be turtles fans

I don't mean anything by this, but I'm always baffled by this kind of thinking. In my experience, kids generally hate whatever their parents liked, at least until they're almost done with school and have the ability to think for themselves and reason objectively.

When they're very, VERY young, maybe. But between age five and age 18-ish, it's mostly "EWW, old stuff! Boring!"

Every kid wants to find Their Thing. And that's almost never their parents' or older siblings' thing.

I don't have any kids, but I do have a niece and nephew. We were really close when they were much younger, but we have nothing at all in common, now. My niece did like TMNT, very briefly, but I didn't expose her to it, nor did her Mom, she sort of just fell into it one day on her own. It didn't take, though. We briefly bonded over it Back Then but she only cared for like a year. I got her the three original movies on DVD and she was super into them in that moment, but I don't even think she ever watched them again after that. Last time the subject came up she admitted that she hasn't even thought about TMNT in over 10 years. Kind of a bummer, but that's how it goes, I find. Likewise, my nephew got into wrestling all on his own when he was like 4, but once he started going to school he got into football because "wrestling is fake" and all that. I don't think he pays any attention anymore. I WAS able to very briefly share some of the things I like with these younger people in my family, but sadly, they quickly grew out of caring and the fact that it was "My Thing" and not exclusively Their Thing was definitely a factor in that drift.

I'unno. It's just weird to me, is all. I'll never have kids, but I definitely would not expect them to be fanatical about He-Man or wrestling or Superman just because I am. I don't think such interests are genetic, and I find that in the long run "encouraging" them to like what you like can do more harm than good. Kids tend to push back on that stuff once they start trying to find their own identity.

I suppose there's no harm in trying so long as one isn't too heavy-handed in the approach. I just think it's a bit odd when people assume their kids will "inevitably" like the same things they do/did, is all. Sometimes Yes, Mostly No.