Born in 77 and it was a great time to grow up (puts on rose tinted glasses). Watching thunder cats, he-man, smurfs, nightcourt, etc was awesome. Regarding the Catalogs, I was always excited to get the jcpenny Christmas catalog every year so I could make my list. Got the whole set of the original transformers as well as the metal Optimus prime and I was the shit in the neighborhood. Good times...
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Generation X Discussion (Born 19651979) - We actually played with toys!
- Thread starter DarkJediKnight
- Start date
Rockandrollclown
lookwhatyou'vedone
I'm sorry, but the original Jetfire was the ultimate toy.
What's this about Millennials not playing with toys? They didn't do butt stuff with them, did they? Seems like everything with Millennials is butt stuff.
My favorite transformer/robotech toy. I only saw it in stores one time. Somehow convinced my mom to buy it for me. It was broken in the box. Never saw another one to have her buy me.
SillyEskimo
Member
I remember trading these and Garbage Pail Kids in the same sitting.
Pfft. 40s will be great.
I feel like everyone knew that one rich kid.
Respect your elders.
Rockandrollclown
lookwhatyou'vedone
I remember trading these and Garbage Pail Kids in the same sitting.
Muscle men were so awesome. My favorite was always the brick wall dude for some reason. Knowing now that its based off of an anime, its shocking to me that no one picked it up for the US. Especially as hot as wrestling was in general in the 80s.
oh my god SOMEONE ELSE REMEMBERS CHILDREN'S PALACE
A toy store filled from top to bottom with every toy imaginable that was also a FUCKING CASTLE.
I loved that place.
Remember candy cigarettes? I felt cool as hell being able to ride my bike down to the corner store and walk out with a can of Bubble Yum soda and a packet of candy cigarettes.
Oh, and I was born in 1980.
The Shining carpet pattern strikes again
I remember my Castle Grayskull being dope AF:
I had a castle greyskull, but I don't think it was dope as fuck as this one was.
I just made it by 3 weeks or so for 1979.
I remember trading these and Garbage Pail Kids in the same sitting.
Man, I loved these things... and I still have my GPK's collecting in the attic. All organized by series in my trapper keeper.
Hellshadow
Member
I had a gigantic Voltron toy as a kid, (can't find any pics) was pretty rad.
It's cool... I just found out today, we're technically a "microgeneration"...
But not because we remember Micromachines and that dude who talked really fast, but because we don't fit in with Gen-X or Millennials perfectly...
We're X-ennials.
Capable of remembering life without the internet, Kurt Cobain's suicide, all while being young enough to be able to contemplate consuming avacado toast.
↑ A friend of ,mine had Jetfire and I don't remember coveting anything more.
My mom wouldn't get my GI Joes 'cause she was sure it was military recruitment propaganda. A friend got me Snow Job for my birthday and she never really realized it was a GI Joe and I never told her. If you hide the gun he's just some snow skier dude.
Y'all remember the MUSCLES wrestling ring?
Didn't take long to realize the thicker guys always one.
My mom wouldn't get my GI Joes 'cause she was sure it was military recruitment propaganda. A friend got me Snow Job for my birthday and she never really realized it was a GI Joe and I never told her. If you hide the gun he's just some snow skier dude.
Y'all remember the MUSCLES wrestling ring?
Didn't take long to realize the thicker guys always one.
Whereas I was born at the end of 81, and couldn't be more Millennial. I feel like people in their late 20s/early 30s are my people, while most other 35-and-older folk are too Gen Xey for me to click with. I have a totally different value set and worldview to them. To really boil it down, they're typically more cynical and pessimistic, less progressive, and less empathetic towards the less fortunate members of society. Way more progressive and empathetic than the Boomers, but less so than Millennials.
Edit:
I think the defining factor is the expectations Millennials were raised with. We were told if we jumped through hoops A, B, and C; we would get rewarded with life Z. This is why so many Millennials are accused of being "entitled". We were told we would be if we held up our end of the bargain (school, university, work experience, etc), which many of us did, only to find the certainties we were raised to belive in, and which motivated us through our teens and early twenties, weren't certainties at all. Despite what we were told, there are no guarantees in life. But crucially, we believe that there probably should be. Millennials typically feel that everyone is entitled to an awesome life; and have much more empathy for the impoverished because we know their economic circumstances aren't their fault.
I think we were also educated more comprehensively about issues of race and gender. I just got the tail-end of that, but not being triggered by words like triggered, and totally being triggered by words like triggered is a huge ideological difference between me and the Gen Xers in my life.
These things are much more significant factors in how I relate to others than the fact that I can remember life pre-internet.
Temeculan3000
Member
Only baby boomer kids will remember these:
I had these but they certainly were not the original 1960s version, but looked pretty much identical.
I had these but they certainly were not the original 1960s version, but looked pretty much identical.
Earthbound64
Banned
Earthbound64
Banned
This thread doesn't have enough Radio Shack references. Disappoint.
The GOAT:
Just seeing that makes me want to go out and find one...
tearsintherain
Member
As I grew older and out of toys in my teens this was my weekly, "man those were good times" item
Hey, I'm in my 40s!
Osukaa
Member
1980 here and I support your cause. Let us unite against the true villains.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
I'd say it's closer to 79 or 80 to 84. A lot of the mid-70s folks seem to generally align more with Gen-X despite some of the things you mentioned. Many of us were in college in the mid to late 90s and while we still did a lot of the activities you mentioned, we also still shared a lot of the other cultural generational events usually associated with the older Gen Xers.
Toys as a kid were great but it was my teenage years that were really special looking back.
Freedom to do whatever I liked, cheap drink and drugs lead to plenty of excess, but there was much less shit in circulation so you got what you asked for.
Sex but sensible enough so people weren't getting pregnant left right and centre and diseases were on a downward slope because of the fear of aids and awareness to contraception.
Music was just better. So much choice, so much originality, loads of new genres. Hip hop, indie (before oasis and blur fucked it all up), thrash metal, early house, techno and everything in between.
I did many things wrong, but learned so much. I'm a bitter old man now looking at younger generations now. To me, I felt great community spirit and adventure as a teen. From the outside, looking at today's teens, everyone is so insecure and desperate for attention. Really glad I ended up where I did.
Freedom to do whatever I liked, cheap drink and drugs lead to plenty of excess, but there was much less shit in circulation so you got what you asked for.
Sex but sensible enough so people weren't getting pregnant left right and centre and diseases were on a downward slope because of the fear of aids and awareness to contraception.
Music was just better. So much choice, so much originality, loads of new genres. Hip hop, indie (before oasis and blur fucked it all up), thrash metal, early house, techno and everything in between.
I did many things wrong, but learned so much. I'm a bitter old man now looking at younger generations now. To me, I felt great community spirit and adventure as a teen. From the outside, looking at today's teens, everyone is so insecure and desperate for attention. Really glad I ended up where I did.
SomedayTheFire
Member
Edit: fuck it.
Well then you should have said the 40s are great.
They're ok. Turning 45 is going to freak me out tho
Armoured Priest
Member
Was born in 75. I've got a couple stories:
I had friends (brothers). Clearly to prevent infighting, their parents bought them each one of everything G.I. Joe. That included two of the aircraft carriers.
However, I don't recall them having this thing:
I did, though. *smug*
I also did have a Castle GreySkulll (though no Snake Mountain).
My goto, though (until videogames became my go-to) was this:
Contrux. You could build some massive things out of this stuff.
I typically liked to build spaceships, and wearable power armor. Also liked to combine with my G.I. Joe and Star Wars toys to make "enhancements" and carriers for those vehicles.
I had friends (brothers). Clearly to prevent infighting, their parents bought them each one of everything G.I. Joe. That included two of the aircraft carriers.
However, I don't recall them having this thing:
I did, though. *smug*
I also did have a Castle GreySkulll (though no Snake Mountain).
My goto, though (until videogames became my go-to) was this:
Contrux. You could build some massive things out of this stuff.
I typically liked to build spaceships, and wearable power armor. Also liked to combine with my G.I. Joe and Star Wars toys to make "enhancements" and carriers for those vehicles.
bengraven
Member
Totally subbing to this thread.
Transformers boxes, to this day, make my heart start to race. I can't think of anything but sex that gets me that excited.
It's pure nostalgia, as cool as the boxes look, but I remember that getting a transformer was as awesome to me as a kid as finding out my girlfriend was willing to give me a handjob ("maybe just a few tugs") when I was a teenager. Those boxes meant I was going to open something awesome and could ride that hype for weeks no matter how dark my life got.
Transformers holy grail for us was this, I only knew one kid that had it.
Transformers boxes, to this day, make my heart start to race. I can't think of anything but sex that gets me that excited.
It's pure nostalgia, as cool as the boxes look, but I remember that getting a transformer was as awesome to me as a kid as finding out my girlfriend was willing to give me a handjob ("maybe just a few tugs") when I was a teenager. Those boxes meant I was going to open something awesome and could ride that hype for weeks no matter how dark my life got.
I remember trading these and Garbage Pail Kids in the same sitting.
I loved these stupid things.
I had that front loader too(older end of the Millennial spectrum). When I was little enough I used to sit on the back of it and hold onto that silver metal bar and ride it down the driveway.
I'm sorry, but the original Jetfire was the ultimate toy.
What's this about Millennials not playing with toys? They didn't do butt stuff with them, did they? Seems like everything with Millennials is butt stuff.
I had this, and it was pretty great. I had a fair number of the toys in this thread- Castle Grayskull, Construx, Blaster, Shockwave, GI Joe Hovercraft, Optimus Prime, Voltron, etc. My brother had the original Bumblebee. Now that I think about it we were actually kinda set when I was young.
Too bad they don't make great toys like these for kids today. The boys toys in particular are trash. Girls toys are still pretty great though!
bengraven
Member
I'm sorry, but the original Jetfire was the ultimate toy.
What's this about Millennials not playing with toys? They didn't do butt stuff with them, did they? Seems like everything with Millennials is butt stuff.
Oh my god, I found a Jetfire at my thrift store! Three bucks!
It's the only G1 I still have. Whites are mostly yellow and it's missing the accessories but it still transforms and has no cracks. It's standing proud in my display case.
My grail is Optimus. A friend is willing to sell me his Masterpiece for $100 complete so that may happen soon.
Gen Y are millenials, and Z is the one after that. No universally agreed upon age range for millenials, the one constant being that the classification always starts with early '80s, the US Census Bureau having settled for 1982-2000.
If someone was born in the '70s, then they are not a millenial.
chromatic9
Member
Or just a digital watch of your own was incredible.
cr0w
Old Member
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wei-Jiang-G...305678&hash=item41a130cebe:g:lWgAAOSwp5JWZFLI
Consider this one. No trailer, but it more than makes up for it with being actually better quality and twice the size of the official Hasbro one. I have this one and the black Nemesis Prime version and they KILL the official ones.
Ignatz Mouse
Banned
My favorite toys:
And later:
That last picture found randomly on-line is remarkably true to the experience.
And earlier:
And later:
That last picture found randomly on-line is remarkably true to the experience.
TheSecondSpitter
Member
chromatic9
Member
This was boys own stuff that I was lucky to have. I was on some Knight rider shit.
I was just in awe of this.
I was just in awe of this.
Mossybrew
Member
I'm sorry, but the original Jetfire was the ultimate toy.
What's this about Millennials not playing with toys? They didn't do butt stuff with them, did they? Seems like everything with Millennials is butt stuff.
Still have mine, plastic gone yellow with age.
Unfortunately one of the very few toys I managed to hang on to. Soooo much good stuff lost in the winds of moving too many times.
ryutaro's mama
Member
If you're on the later end of Gen X, you know this was the holy grail of toys.
I will fight you.
teruterubozu
Member
Born in 70 so my life has been conveniently segmented.
70s=disco childhood
80s=new wave/hair metal teen years
90s=grungy young adulthood
2000s=9/11 depression
2010s=pure shit
70s=disco childhood
80s=new wave/hair metal teen years
90s=grungy young adulthood
2000s=9/11 depression
2010s=pure shit
I still have one from 1979 
Found it at a flea market what must have been 1989 when StarWars was all but dead for the mainstream.
Found it at a flea market what must have been 1989 when StarWars was all but dead for the mainstream.
GI Joe wasn't the holy grail of toys for me, it was the Millennial Falcon
DarkJediKnight
Member
Not 40 yet but man does time fly.
I remember when the year 2000 hit, I was joking to my friends that even though we were 20, we had lived in 4 decades.
MagnaderAlpha
Member
Almost feels like we are fuckin' Freshmen. Too young to hang out with the "cool kids", too old do kiddie stuff. We are like that teen period where we are getting dumped with LOADS of responsibilities from our parents because "we're getting older", but aren't respected enough to be trusted or treated like young adults because "we're still too young". That period of life SUCKED.
X-ennials... sounds like a new X-Men related comic series to me! Cool!
Transformers holy grail for us was this, I only knew one kid that had it.
My grandma got me Omega Supreme for Christmas one year, and I loved that thing to death. I was so glad that my mom convinced her that I didn't like typical girl toys like barbies, and to stop wasting money on them. I always envied my older cousins' G1 Transformers, and it was awesome getting a big fancy one of my own.
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