Dino Riders...Harness the Power of the Dinos

Here is another great toy line from the 80s. Back then, these Dinos were really expensive to acquire (at least for me). That's why i end up with the small dinos or gi joes.

I had a trip to my friend's house to see his Dino Riders collection. I noticed that I was only able to take photos of the protagonists. Next time I'll try taking photos of the Rulons. The collection is simply massive to fit into the lens of my point and shoot cam LOL.

Enjoy



The great brontosaurus...the largest dino in the toyline
Size comparison

Watch out! Stampede!

X-Men Silver Age

And i never thought i would have them.

Eversince i was a kid i was am X-Men comics fan. I still remember getting my back issues of comics at the Manila Bank Arcade in Greenhills for issues below number 100. And back issues were really expensive back then.

I stopped collecting during the 90s. That was the time when there were too many titles and i felt that comic books were concentrating more on profits by issues variants. After all these years i never thought comic prices would drop. Thanks to electronic media they are now within reach - still expensive but not as before.

Which now comes to my recent catches. Presenting...the x-men...



Well they are not really in mint condition but I'm still a fan of 60s artwork.





Everything was simple back then.

The closest I can get to issue number 1 haha





I got these from a local collector. Thanks buddy. I'll take care of these. I would have loved to get the other issues but i have to settle for these to keep my spending in check and of course to keep the thrill alive hahaha. A great throwback to those glorious years of comics.

Hasbro 1984 Catalog....Transformers was born

I had a chance to glance thru Hasbro's 1984 catalog this weekend.


I was fortunate that this was passed on to me. It was fun going thru the pages. Brings back the good old days of my youth.


Hasbro's 1984 line up for boys and girls.


Fast forward to my favorite lines... GI Joe and Transformers.

For GI Joe. Excellent cover



GI Joe line up for 1984


A word for potential distributors.


and for the Transformers first year

I must say beautiful artwork. The art most Transformers fans grew up with.



I noticed that the artwork did not contain any autobot or decepticon insignia. Maybe still going thru that transition stage.



What they had to say to market the Transformers product. Well, it was a success. And they say the rest is history.







Autobot Cars and Minibots


Optimus still had the Diaclone sticker on him and the trailer they used was the one that had a pegless roller. I wonder if they really released such.



And onward to bluestreak. I see that his hood is black.



Sunstreaker on the other hand still had red missiles and sides.


This is a milestone year for Hasbro. You may not have toys anymore but these catalogs keep everything alive.

G1 Optimus Prime - the No Stamp Puzzle

I am hooked into collecting 1980s g1 primes with all the various trailer stampings they had back then. When i was small all i ever saw was the dark blue rollered prime and i thought that was all that existed. With the help of the internet i learned that there so much much more than meets the eye even back then. Even the dark blue ones had various stampings on trailer. That curiosity started it for me.

And i thought i'd seen it all (well, almost all - and with the help of the internet).

A friend of mine offered me this rather interesting piece.



It's a g1 prime with a T2 stamping at the bottom of the trailer. Now what made this a puzzle for me is the blocked out stamping where the Takara or Japan stamping should be. No, this is not the fake g1 primes released by the latter part of the 2000s. This one is way much older. You can't easily get the old look and you would know old when you see one.

T2 Stamping at the bottom. Notice the block out on where the TAKARA JAPAN should be.


The cab has the number 3 stamp in between its legs.





The same number 3 stamp appears on the trailer sides and back door, the roller and the fists. So I'm pretty sure the cab and trailer were the original matches.





The cab also has a rub sign.

I also noticed that the styro itself is different from the typical american and japanese styros. Instead of a solid block it has dent spaces inbetween.








Now where in the g1 line does this fall? I've heard of the Chinese g1 releases during the 90s but my friend says that he bought it during the mid 80s.

Small Toy Stuff From the 80s

Here are some almost forgotten pieces of my 80s childhood. They were cheap but each time i get to see one those it pleases me the same way robots or gi joes do. And up until now it's the same thing. Sometimes these were free at the bottom of powdered drinks or snacks like ovaltine (i remember the construction trucks), milo, TANG (Ziggy figures you put on top of your pencil), Chikadees (i recall gi joe stick-ons), Cheezums,...Almost impossible to find them nowadays.

I also recall those motorbikes and helicopters in which you slide a plastic trigger to make them run. Very vague now but if i get to find those i'll be posting pictures as well.

Then there are those small cars which you insert some sort of key and eject them. Like these...



And then there are those freebies from fastfood chains like Tropical Hut. Do you remember these?


This plane comes connects with other planes to form a bigger plane. Now only one survives...hehe


From Ovaltine...the constructicons...err construction trucks


Ah sweet small stuff! I hope some of yours survived as well.

My thanks to Nath and Dennis for extending me a couple of these survivors!

Toy Catch March 27, 2011 - GI Joe Terrordrome

Just when i resigned to collecting vintage gi joe figures only due to lack of storage space a TERRORDROME was offered to me. At first i had doubts, this is too good to be true to be available locally unless it was acquired internationally and the seller will probably sell it to me at a price as huge as the playset itself.

Well, it was offered at a good price but I had to see it to believe. AND I SAW IT...And up to now i still can't believe i have one. I fell in love with it at first sight. I never thought it was this huge. All my reservations were replaced by awe. In my childhood only the very rich ones can afford this. Now I'm fortunate enough after almost 30 years to acquire one. This is one giant playset. I've had the joe vehicles back then but nothing made me struck like this (well, i have to see the USS Flagg after this).

Presenting....from the ashes literally...



Time for major cleanup...This makes a good project.



Now I'm back to my problem...where do I put this? LOL

Toy Catch April 12, 2011 - Diaclone Red Alert

My latest catch (April 12, 2011) - Diaclone Red Alert. Well Red Alert will always be special to me as it was one of my first ever transformers as a child. You see, I chanced upon this at a local e-classified ads post. Turns out that the owner is the same one i got my March-April toy catches. At first glance on the posting, I thought i saw Red Alert. But how come he had black colors instead of red? Curiosity got the better of me and i suspected this might be a variant or a Diaclone release. The Diaclone line was the original name of the Transformers toyline prior to it being named as such. Now, this thought really got me going and I just got to have this...in any condition lol. I called the seller but was informed that he had already sold this. Luckily, he still had the contact number of the buyer.

Hmmm...will the buyer entertain me? Again I got lucky. Turned out he did. He offered a trade just so i can have this baby. And well he also bought some of my old extra tfs. But i didn't mind it as a concession just to have this.

It may be this worn out. Check it out the first time i got it. Thick dust. Chrome wear. Paints chips.

Here it is after a few dust ups here and there.


The best i can do at the moment. He may be worn out compared to the others but that doesn't put him on the rear end of my collection. Boy, it feels good to have him back.




With the rest of the crew.