The title for this article may seem a little misleading.
Usually when someone mentions ‘big boy toys’ it refers to such
large ticket items like a new sports car, a speedboat and a luxury this and
that.
The saying goes, ‘Men do not grow up, they’re toys just
getter bigger and more expensive.’
While it is true I’ve never really grown up my taste for ‘expensive’
toys has not grown with me.
For one thing I can’t afford big ticket toys and I never was
one to care about impressing anyone with the ‘latest’, greatest, or ‘most
expensive’ toy or other more practical items like a house, fancy clothes or a
club membership.
I’m much too cheap for those things and far too practical.
My idea of ‘big boy toys’ are actually toys. The kind you buy in retail stores: action
figures, LEGOS, etc.
Of course, like comic books, toy prices have sky-rocketed
and forget about buying vintage toys-those prices will make me lose what little
hair I have left.
As you can imagine writing my website and blog and having
contacts with a plethora of publishers and manufacturers I tend to get review
samples.
Not nearly as many as I used to mind you, but enough to keep
me writing reviews.
One category I still get occasionally is toys-although that
supply is dwindling primarily because of the cost of manufacturing them and
sending them out. Something I completely
understand if I was a toy manufacturer.
I still have a large selection of action figures from the
days when toy review samples were more plentiful. I enjoy looking at them and displaying them.
They really brighten up my Man Cave and I’m still fascinated
by the sheer talent it took to create them.
What I really would like to obtain are toys from when I was a child. More than likely that will not happen primarily because of cost. Still, I can dream.
Here’s just a sampling of the toys I wish I could come
across:
- The Man From Uncle Attaché Case with Weapons
- The James Bond Goldfinger and Thunderball Figures
- The Bazooka
- Some Original G.I. Joes With Accessories
- Aurora Model Kits: Universal Monsters, Super Heroes, TV Themed
- Rat Fink
- Early Star Trek and Star Wars Toys
- And so on….
Why do I want them?
It’s pretty simple really. They remind me of when I was younger
and life didn’t seem so complicated and busy.
Times were slower, simpler and everything seemed so fresh,
new and alive.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m
not being morbid. If given the chance I
wouldn’t choose to go back to those times.
I enjoy being the age I am and where my life has led me.
I wouldn’t trade what I had now for those times.
Besides, there is so much to see in front of me. And who knows? Maybe, just maybe, tucked away in some corner
of a yard sale or thrift store I may find those childhood toys and better yet
some old comic books to go with them. Anything
is possible.
Wouldn’t that be something?