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Generation X Discussion (Born 19651979) - We actually played with toys!
- Thread starter DarkJediKnight
- Start date
Rockandrollclown
lookwhatyou'vedone
Why the fuck are those C.O.P.S. toys $9 each? I really liked that show back in the day.
KibblesBits
Member
Looking through this thread has helped me realize I have some dust in my eyes. Whatever. I'm over it.
Whatever.
Whatever.
CrudeDiatribe
Member
Do you identify with Gen-X? Most of the toys I see posted I remember from the older siblings of my friends.
As far as the identifying with millennials, I'm thinking of things like very conservative investing and job and career hopping in my peer group.
cr0w
Old Member
I had it bad for Nightshade.
Rhomega Beta
Member
I remember my Castle Grayskull being dope AF:
M.A.S.K, Go Bots, Transformers, Ghostbusters Star Wars...
I had a little bro, so I remember a lot of younger-skewing stuff too like Shirt Tales, Gummi Bears, Care Bears, Pound Puppies, etc.
The WWF saturday morning cartoon was great along with Space Ghost
(Lol, I had that ALF lunchbox ^)
M.A.S.K, Go Bots, Transformers, Ghostbusters Star Wars...
I had a little bro, so I remember a lot of younger-skewing stuff too like Shirt Tales, Gummi Bears, Care Bears, Pound Puppies, etc.
The WWF saturday morning cartoon was great along with Space Ghost
(Lol, I had that ALF lunchbox ^)
Wag
Member
This was the ALF lunchbox I had.
Did you have a catburger for lunch?
Cartoons almost solely existed back then just to sell toys! And they were still super stupid!
There's definitely a lack of charm, in everything, due to cutting costs / the introduction of the internet. (i.e. getting lost at a video store vs staring at a Netflix queue)
Yes!Was it this one?
I had the same one, but I'm a dirty millennial.
Wow!
And the funny thing is, I've seen repeats of Alf on MeTV.. and I don't find it all that impressive.
KibblesBits
Member
It really WASN'T that good at all.
Small Wonder was better. ALF was just aimed at children, despite the somewhat raunchy and bizarre jokes. It was like a more terrible version of MORK.
Rhomega Beta
Member
We got the first season on DVD, watched 2 episodes and never touched it again. I should go back for it.
79 to 83 is the overlap period with millennials.
cr0w
Old Member
It definitely doesn't hold up. The Mom was super hot, though.
A few years back the guy that played Willie Tanner was photographed smoking crack and having sex with homeless guys in some random crackhouse.
That catalog was my Christmas wishlist. I'd circle what I wanted and leave the pages open for my parents.
Anyone remember the Consumers Distributing catalog? Amazon of the 80s.
Man, I loved that thing and flipped quickly to the toys section.
It was a Canadian retailer where you'd go in and fill out a form for what you wanted then they'd go to the back and get it for you. The store was barebones to supposedly pass on the savings to consumers. They went bankrupt a long time ago.
KibblesBits
Member
I bet you won't make it through two more.
That sounds just like Service Mechandice... which produced a shockingly similar looking catalog...
chromatic9
Member
I had a Roland Rat lunch box (UK)
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
This thread doesn't have enough Radio Shack references. Disappoint.
One Christmas i got Snake Mountain AND Castle Greyskull, you couldn't tell me shitI remember my Castle Grayskull being dope AF:
M.A.S.K, Go Bots, Transformers, Ghostbusters Star Wars...
I had a little bro, so I remember a lot of younger-skewing stuff too like Shirt Tales, Gummi Bears, Care Bears, Pound Puppies, etc.
The WWF saturday morning cartoon was great along with Space Ghost
(Lol, I had that ALF lunchbox ^)
KibblesBits
Member
Snake Mountain was SO much better than Greyskull.
soundscream
Member
I feel I can relate with Gen X way more then the vast majority of Millennials. How many Millenials remember watching Johnny Carson, or using a typewriter?
Yeah, they were similar stores. The worst thing about those stores was filling out the form and waiting then finding out the item you wanted was OoS.
There's probably an inverse proportion between the amount of times one has used a typewriter vs amount of times one has used a fidget spinner.
chromatic9
Member
I was besotted with this.
Remember doing reports for school with pen/paper first then being really careful when typing it out so you didn't make any mistakes? Good times.
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
I was born literally right at the end of 1979. Just before Christmas.
I remember my Castle Grayskull being dope AF:
I wanted that so bad when I was a kid. Never got it though.
I was born in 79, which is either Gen X (by some accounts) or some weird limbo between Gen X and the Millennials. In either case, I definitely identify with the Gen X generation more than the Millennials.
I know that everyone thinks that their childhood was the best time to grow up, but the 80s and early 90s were definitely the best time to grow up. We still had Saturday morning cartoons, the NES was a thing (and a big thing at that - younger people certainly understand that the NES was popular, but it's hard to understand the degree of cultural phenomenon it was back in the late 80s), and I could walk more than 10 feet away from my house before my parents started freaking out about all the strangers out there. If I wanted to jump on bikes and go with my friends to a park or some stores a few miles away? No problem, as long as I called to check in every so often.
Sgt. Kabukiman
Banned
Jubilation Lee.
You guys didn't appreciate her enough so us dirty millenials had to step in.
Toys? Are they those things featured in the Toy Story films? Gross.
You guys didn't appreciate her enough so us dirty millenials had to step in.
Toys? Are they those things featured in the Toy Story films? Gross.
I had a Roland Rat lunch box (UK)
Loved his TV show!
Rockandrollclown
lookwhatyou'vedone
80's cartoon redheads were special. Its weird how like every major 80s cartoon had hot redheads. Except maybe Transformers, could just be forgetting.
DarkJediKnight
Member
Same Company.
Biggest memories
- Tomy Armatron. Bloody fully working robot arm but entirely mechanical. It was amazing, right up until the moment I took it apart to see how it worked and then not being able to put it back together again
- watching computers evolve. Our school got a commodore PET. 1 for the entire school which was wheeled around on a trolley to classrooms. Then BBC micro and learning to program BASIC. Then consoles and the Amiga. Didn't get the internet until maybe my 20s
- Tomy Armatron. Bloody fully working robot arm but entirely mechanical. It was amazing, right up until the moment I took it apart to see how it worked and then not being able to put it back together again
- watching computers evolve. Our school got a commodore PET. 1 for the entire school which was wheeled around on a trolley to classrooms. Then BBC micro and learning to program BASIC. Then consoles and the Amiga. Didn't get the internet until maybe my 20s
I was besotted with this.
I have one in the loft - bought it from eBay a couple of years ago. It was like magic at the time. It's Lego but a working engine, gearbox, adjustable seats.
No it wasn't.
chromatic9
Member
I remember my Castle Grayskull being dope AF:
I only had the He-Man action figure. Would've loved the castle.
I was born in 1979 and feel more towards the Gen X, especially with lots of older kids around in my area and friends older brothers and sisters. BMX bikes, playing in the woods, gone from home miles away at a young age.
Also very popular in the 80s here in Manchester was B-boy hip hop and electro, older kids would be dancing on vinyl on a street corner.
Commander Jameson
Member
I spent so long playing with my Dinky toys.
Space 199 Eagle Transporter
Thunderbird 2
I lusted after that Lego Technics car too.
Space 199 Eagle Transporter
Thunderbird 2
I lusted after that Lego Technics car too.
GitarooMan
Member
Yup, I had that, it was awesome. I also had the awesome Snake Mountain set with the snake microphone. I had a huge He-Man collection.I remember my Castle Grayskull being dope AF:
Service Mechandice, the only store I saw a Virtual Boy set up and playable.
It was awful. Hope they didn't invest too heavily in that flop...
Oh...yeah wait, they're bankrupt and shut down now...
s_mirage
Member
Born in 81 and I feel the same. I think the date range used to classify Millennials is too wide, and there's a dramatic difference in experience between those born in the early '80s and those born in the early-mid '90s. Someone born in '95 would likely have had a completely different childhood to someone born in 1980.
The same is true for the older Gen Xers compared to the younger ones. My oldest brother was born in 1970 and his childhood was completely different from mine.
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