Long lost vintage toy memories

[subzero]

Thought this might be an interesting thread to start. Over the past couple of years iv'e been on a mission to build up a childhood collection of all the toys and things I loved as a kid, along the way iv'e rediscovered toys i'd completely forgotten about for 25+ years, toys that once i'd remembered them again couldn't believe they ever even got forgotten about for so long since I recall loving them so much. During searching for vintage toys every once in a while i'll see something and instantly think "holy **** I remember that", and all the feelings and memories around it, and what you was doing at the time and things you were thinking about when you had that toy, even specific tastes and smells all come flooding back in an instant, it's a very satisfying feeling to 'complete' that part of the puzzle of the past you've been trying to put back together through collecting, and then to finally buy and own it again.

On the other hand there's toy memories from around 10 years of age or younger that have been so vague and fragmented that iv'e spend years/decades wondering what that toy was, wishing I could somehow find out ( thank god for the internet ), the kind of memories where you know you was playing with a beloved figure or a robot etc but that's literally all you have to go on, so have to search for 'vintage figure' and spend days/weeks/months trawling through hundreds of toys hoping you'll eventually spot the one that sparks the memory again. Even as far as one of my local small toy shops that I used to go to less than 10 years old, I used to absolutely love going in that shop and for years always wandered what it looked like and what it was called, it was only through joining this forum last year I discovered in a thread that this shop was Zodiac Toys.

I cannot believe the amount of things iv'e forgotten about to rediscover again over the past 2 years, here are my long lost toy/collectibles/film memories iv'e rediscovered...

80's transforming robot wristwatch
Visionaries figures
Hero Gladiators figures
Saturn 'walking/missile firing' robot
Grandstand 'Firefox' electronic game
Systema 'Bank Raid' double screen electronic game
Muscle Men ( M.U.S.C.L.E. ) figures
WWF Summerslam trading cards
Desert Storm trading cards
PRO SET Premier League trading cards
Garbage Pail Kids stickers
Dando/Beano sticker album/stickers
Ancestral Trail 'fortnightly' role playing game magazines
Matchbox 'Sports Car Collection' single pack diecast cars
Rock Lords figures
Robotech figures
Transformers 'yellow Bumblebee' car
Kelloggs 'rubber popper' toys
Coca Cola / Fanta / Sprite promotional yoyo's
Starchaser 'The Legend of Orin' ( cartoon film )
Legend ( fantasy film with Tom Cruise )
Yie Ar Kung Fu ( C64 game )
Moontorc ( C64 game )

There is only one more vague memory of a toy I have that I have not been able to track down in years, an 80's black helicopter toy from when I was about 3/4 years old, that had a circle base underneath it that made the helicopter rise up and start spinning around with flashing red lights and sound effects, something i'd love to find again so if anybody has any info on that i'd love to hear it. But whenever I think iv'e found all the toys iv'e forgotten about I end up accidentally stumbling upon another, either through spotting it directly or via a vague memory coming back to life due to looking at a similar toy, it's been an exciting journey, rediscovering and preserving my history and the things I loved to do with pop culture is something iv'e always been very passionate about throughout my whole life, I even used to feel nostalgic about my past before I was even in my teens.

What toys or collectables ( even films or cartoons ) have you recently rediscovered that you'd forgotten all about?, and also are there any vague memories of long lost toys that you'd love to know what they were?, maybe this could be a good thread to explain what you remember about it and get help from the community in finding it, through collectors who might remember exactly what it is.

 

[Snaketibe]

Was your childhood helicopter toy either of these?:

 

[subzero]

Was your childhood helicopter toy either of these?:

01.jpg
02.jpg

Thanks for looking for me unfortunately though it's neither of those but they are close, shape wise the smaller looking one on the bottom pic is the same as the one I had with that 'sleek look', but it was about the same size as the larger one in the top pic.

There also wasn't any stickers on my one, and the base it rose up on was cylinder in shape, and if I can remember right the windows were all blacked out solid black plastic and not see through, just like the rest of the body.

 

[yoda]

Was your childhood helicopter toy either of these?:

01.jpg
02.jpg

Thanks for looking for me unfortunately though it's neither of those but they are close, shape wise the smaller looking one on the bottom pic is the same as the one I had with that 'sleek look', but it was about the same size as the larger one in the top pic.

There also wasn't any stickers on my one, and the base it rose up on was cylinder in shape, and if I can remember right the windows were all blacked out solid black plastic and not see through, just like the rest of the body.

Did it rise up on a platform and spin around? And then go down again repeating the cycle every 10sec or so? And could the blades be pulled up and detached?

 

[subzero]

Was your childhood helicopter toy either of these?:

01.jpg
02.jpg

Thanks for looking for me unfortunately though it's neither of those but they are close, shape wise the smaller looking one on the bottom pic is the same as the one I had with that 'sleek look', but it was about the same size as the larger one in the top pic.

There also wasn't any stickers on my one, and the base it rose up on was cylinder in shape, and if I can remember right the windows were all blacked out solid black plastic and not see through, just like the rest of the body.

Did it rise up on a platform and spin around? And then go down again repeating the cycle every 10sec or so? And could the blades be pulled up and detached?

Yeah that's exactly it, I remember it rising and slowly spinning for about 10 seconds or so before it went back down for a short while, and kept repeating the same cycle, it rose up on a cylinder base about the width of a toilet roll tube, which had a wider lip around the bottom of the base for stability. I can't remember anything about the blades though.

 

[yoda]

Thanks for looking for me unfortunately though it's neither of those but they are close, shape wise the smaller looking one on the bottom pic is the same as the one I had with that 'sleek look', but it was about the same size as the larger one in the top pic.

There also wasn't any stickers on my one, and the base it rose up on was cylinder in shape, and if I can remember right the windows were all blacked out solid black plastic and not see through, just like the rest of the body.

Did it rise up on a platform and spin around? And then go down again repeating the cycle every 10sec or so? And could the blades be pulled up and detached?

Yeah that's exactly it, I remember it rising and slowly spinning for about 10 seconds or so before it went back down for a short while, and kept repeating the same cycle, it rose up on a cylinder base about the width of a toilet roll tube, which had a wider lip around the bottom of the base for stability. I can't remember anything about the blades though.

Yep I had that myself also it was around 14-18 long? I always wanted a helicopter because I loved Airwolf but couldn't find one. I got that helicopter one Christmas and always felt it look more like Bluethunder.
I'll find it on the web once I know now what I'm looking for.

 

[subzero]

Did it rise up on a platform and spin around? And then go down again repeating the cycle every 10sec or so? And could the blades be pulled up and detached?

Yeah that's exactly it, I remember it rising and slowly spinning for about 10 seconds or so before it went back down for a short while, and kept repeating the same cycle, it rose up on a cylinder base about the width of a toilet roll tube, which had a wider lip around the bottom of the base for stability. I can't remember anything about the blades though.

Yep I had that myself also it was around 14-18 long? I always wanted a helicopter because I loved Airwolf but couldn't find one. I got that helicopter one Christmas and always felt it look more like Bluethunder.
I'll find it on the web once I know now what I'm looking for.

Yeah around 18 inches I reckon, I know things can seem bigger when you're only 4 or 5 years old haha but that does seem about the right size, plus with the poor technology back then it most likely used several D size batteries to power such an operation so it must have been a decent size.

Looking forward to see if you come up with any info.

 

[yoda]

Yeah that's exactly it, I remember it rising and slowly spinning for about 10 seconds or so before it went back down for a short while, and kept repeating the same cycle, it rose up on a cylinder base about the width of a toilet roll tube, which had a wider lip around the bottom of the base for stability. I can't remember anything about the blades though.

Yep I had that myself also it was around 14-18 long? I always wanted a helicopter because I loved Airwolf but couldn't find one. I got that helicopter one Christmas and always felt it look more like Bluethunder.
I'll find it on the web once I know now what I'm looking for.

Yeah around 18 inches I reckon, I know things can seem bigger when you're only 4 or 5 years old haha but that does seem about the right size, plus with the poor technology back then it most likely used several D size batteries to power such an operation so it must have been a decent size.

Looking forward to see if you come up with any info.

:lol: yeah those batteries we used to throw them around at each other thinking we were in battles using grenades :? Surprised no one ended with some sort of fracture. I am already searching the web for it. It's going to be a hard little bugger to find. Nothing is coming up looking anything like it. Have you been searching much for it?

 

[subzero]

Yep I had that myself also it was around 14-18 long? I always wanted a helicopter because I loved Airwolf but couldn't find one. I got that helicopter one Christmas and always felt it look more like Bluethunder.
I'll find it on the web once I know now what I'm looking for.

Yeah around 18 inches I reckon, I know things can seem bigger when you're only 4 or 5 years old haha but that does seem about the right size, plus with the poor technology back then it most likely used several D size batteries to power such an operation so it must have been a decent size.

Looking forward to see if you come up with any info.

:lol: yeah those batteries we used to throw them around at each other thinking we were in battles using grenades :? Surprised no one ended with some sort of fracture. I am already searching the web for it. It's going to be a hard little bugger to find. Nothing is coming up looking anything like it. Have you been searching much for it?

Lol definitely almost as deadly as real grenades :lol: they seemed to be a lot heavier of a battery too back then compared to today's D size.

It comes back into my mind once every year or so and I have a good look for a day or two then give up again, i'm starting to fear that it was just a cheapo Chinese made no-name toy that wasn't really known by anyone so not many people had it, which is why it might not be find-able.

 

[Dr_Ball_MD]

This is one toy that bought back memories, might have to find one again.

Slam Bam Sam, 2 remote control VW Beetles. The bumpers and wheel arches came off when you bashed them together.

 

[subzero]

This is one toy that bought back memories, might have to find one again.

Slam Bam Sam, 2 remote control VW Beetles. The bumpers and wheel arches came off when you bashed them together.

Never seen that before, I can see that being many hours of fun as a kid.

 

[poncho]

i remember playing with a dump truck with balls and a race track vivid fond memories

i was searching palitoy on ebay one day for starwars and it came up

 

[Ruby2511]

I had fond memories of the A team figures and van and also He-Man and his cronies, good times

Russ