80s memories

[Lear60man]

well, is it the music? the fashion? tv series? toys? celebrities?

Heck yea it was the toys, music.......eh on the clothes hahah. Some of my favorite internet stations are 80's new wave music.

Kids focused their energy on the culture etc because they werent being distracted by the above mentioned electronic devices. Im not putting down tech. But kids growing up now will define their decade with selfies and the video games they played, not how they stuffed 10 firecrackers into a model airplane and launched it off the roof or turn a couple of 2X4's into a jump.

My friends were real, not an Avatar on a screen. You could trade a centerfold for an action figure or make a fort.

Is this the part where I say get off my lawn hahahah.

 

[vintageslant]

Right out of the 55 things on the list I can identify with 1 2 3 4 24 28 33 45 and 48 everything else didn't fly on this side of the pond. Extra special attention to no 24 as this was the actual book that my junior school teacher provided for us to "find" :unsure

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

It was the last decade where kids were bored and found things to do. After that it was the internet, smartphones and video games.

No kidding. Last Sunday I was at my mom and dads and my nephew, who is 11 and got his video games taken away, kept whining that there was nothing to do. This is a kid who is spoiled to death and has tubs of LEGO stuff, 100s of SW figures, and a massive playhouse we made for them. Two floors, a bridge, swings, climbing wall, three slides, etc. and he's bored.

 

[The Terminator]

Go Bots? Never heard of even.
A lot if not most of those were very much part of the 80's in Sweden as well.

They did miss a couple of obvious things though. The A-Team, Knight Rider(who didn't want a talking car?), Airwolf... hmm POGS

Really miss those, the REAL ninja turtles!

 

[Philly]

I still giggle at number 13 :lol

 

[dropshipbob]

"No kidding. Last Sunday I was at my mom and dads and my nephew, who is 11 and got his video games taken away, kept whining that there was nothing to do. This is a kid who is spoiled to death and has tubs of LEGO stuff, 100s of SW figures, and a massive playhouse we made for them. Two floors, a bridge, swings, climbing wall, three slides, etc. and he's bored."

My sons are the same way. If they have video games/computer time taken away, they act like the world is over. Never mind they have a closet full of all kinds of toys. Heck, I'll even make suggestions of stuff they can do like draw, build things with LEGO's, Playdoh, etc...only to have each one shot down.

And for the record, I was totally against introducing video games into our household for this very reason.


Back when I was a kid, we had an ATARI and a Tandy Radio Shack computer with a handful of games on it...and while I enjoyed playing it, I don't remember it encompassing my life. I still had time to play with my GI Joe figures, ride bikes, play "Army" outside...all kinds of stuff.

 

[YenChih Lin]

Yeah, there's something you might be right on the money - but please DON'T say "get off my lawn" you making me feel old - I'm still 25 at heart

Heck yea it was the toys, music.......eh on the clothes hahah. Some of my favorite internet stations are 80's new wave music.

Kids focused their energy on the culture etc because they werent being distracted by the above mentioned electronic devices. Im not putting down tech. But kids growing up now will define their decade with selfies and the video games they played, not how they stuffed 10 firecrackers into a model airplane and launched it off the roof or turn a couple of 2X4's into a jump.

My friends were real, not an Avatar on a screen. You could trade a centerfold for an action figure or make a fort.

Is this the part where I say get off my lawn hahahah.

 

[Lear60man]

Dropshipbob sez,
"Back when I was a kid, we had an ATARI and a Tandy Radio Shack computer with a handful of games on it...and while I enjoyed playing it, I don't remember it encompassing my life. I still had time to play with my GI Joe figures, ride bikes, play "Army" outside...all kinds of stuff. "

Me too. When video games came out, Pong or Asteroids were entertaining to a point. Then you got bored and went outside to play.

Fast forward to todays video games. They immerse the player into a whole another world. From graphics, game play to story line and levels. The good ones put you into the story like the hero of a great movie. I played my first 'modern' video game at the ripe old age of 38. Resident Evil 4. I sucked me in like crack. I would stay up until all hours of the night playing that stupid little game. Turns out, it is reviewed to be the gold standard of shooter games. I still play video games for an hour or two when im really bored and I dont have a household project staring me in the face.

I would venture to say that the video game industry had made a huge dent in the toy market. When it comes down to it, they are a blast to play.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

Of course we have their Kryptonite now though! Muahahaha!

I'm 37 so we had Colecovision, then Atari, Nintendo, and SEGA Genesis. I still went out and rode bikes or played outside the majority of the time up until I was around 17. By then we were still outside playing Football even when it was freezing cold out. I agree the games are way more immersive now, but I still couldn't sit around all day like some kids do if you don't give them a kick out the door.

 

[ghostryder]

http://www.plaidstallions.com/toystores/toystores.html

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

I think I actually had that Rambo Uzi! That looks like maybe 1985 because of the POTF SW figures. Now that I look at that again, I think I owned something from all those properties except Thundercats and Infaceables (sp?).

 

[Lear60man]

I saw my old Winnebago Tonka. That thing was awesome. I used it to make a jump for my bike. After that it always made left hand turns.

 

[Moviefreak]

Man I miss that Shogun Godzilla. I gave mine away to a coworker when I worked on Space Jam and I wish I could get it back.

 

[trooper]

fond memories of the big track and the star bird

 

[0neiros]

I'm lucky, I have the BSG Viper and Small scout ship (It's the stellar probe minus the long cylinder in the middle) from those sets. I was at a rummage sale around 1992, and found all the pieces in various boxes. I paid $2.00 total. Best part, these were the ones where the missiles actually launch, yes, I still have the missiles. For those of you who aren't familiar, the Kenner BSG toys had these red plastic missiles that were spring launched from the toy. Well a kid managed to choke to death on one, so after that they made them to where they would pop out of the launcher, but could not fly or be removed from the toy. Funny story, a friend got one of the non-firing ones, we were around 12 at the time. Well we took the launcher apart, and saw that what they did was put a flange on the back of the missile to keep it from being removed or flying. So we just Dremeled off the flange and Presto, flying missile.

Check these pics for reference - http://www.toysyouhad.com/Bstar.htm

 

[bwayne64]

Ah man ! The Big Trak. I still have mine. I had to pay half the 50 dollar price to get that for my birthday. No way my parents were going to pay 50 bucks for a "toy" LOL.

 

[blewis17]

Lots of 80s and 90s goodness here.

(I also liked Owl City's "When can I See you again?" from Wreck-it-Ralph )

 

[crabra comander]

I had Castle Grey Skull playset AND I had an X-Wing, Rancor, Skystriker, the RC Voltron that was like 3 feet tall, AND the Rolling Thunder...

And to rub it in I had the Interrogator Droid from Star Wars, OH SNAP...

Not sure which one I cherished the most. Probably my Rancor, but I do wish I had my GI Joe sets again...

I really loved the Swamp Thing series and toys as a kid!? :confused

Scary Stories to tell in the Dark...loved those illustrations. Made me the horror buff I am today along with any mythology books that were illustrated...

And choose your own Adventure was the most violent book for a elementary student. I remember one were the outcome was getting shot with arrows and a nice little illustration of you of course...:eek

 

[Daniel Nelms]

Oh so many great personalities, Mr. T, Hulk Hogan, Fat Albert, and lets not forget about Saturday morning cartoons! What's not to love?

We had toy stores and arcades in the malls, ball pits at Chuck e' cheese, you could ride your bike down the street without worrying about being kidnaped and sold as a sex slave to some pervert on the other side of the world. And our biggest fear was "the Russians", not millions of insane terrorists.
We played outside, with sticks, and we liked it! We walked 10 miles to school, in the snow... well maybe that part isn't true.
We didn't have to be constantly entertained with electronic gadgets, tv, youtube, etc.
We used our imagination, we built things, we learned to be creative rather than consume.

The first prop replica I ever made was a star trek shuttle craft, I was around 7-8 or so. I made it with a milk carton and some of my dads discarded BIC razors for necelles. We were poor and at around age 4-5 I made a back pack blower using a discarded 2l cola bottle and some string. We made our own fun.

Kids now they still build things, but in minecraft. At least it's something.

But really truth be told we see the 80s like our parents saw the 50s or 60s. It was a time when we were children, before we understood how rotten this world can really be.
Before the stress of jobs, mortgages, etc. That is why the 1980s will forever be, in my mind a perfect utopia.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

:lol Yeah the Russians were always invading our neighborhood. To add to that, the entire neighborhood would be playing with toy guns, without orange tips, and we all turned out normal!