[duralumin]

Kinda had a good chuckle on this one. Recently I've got a burr up my wazoo to get some of the SST Twilight zone and Outer Limits figures I'd passed up on a few years back. Before looking about on Ebay or whatnot I thought I'd go to Michael Crawford's reviews and see what he had to say about these figs, and in the overall value department the question comes up if the figures are worth the $30-$35 dollars or not (sometimes pushing the edge at $60-$70 for the two-figure sets such as the Doctor and Nurse from The Eye Of The Beholder Twilight Zone set).......son-of-a! I'd kill to have the prices hovering at those "atrocious heights" again...lol! So....remember when?......

 

[Davinator65]

It's all up to the buyer I think. Does he think it's worth that much for the figure? In most cases it is a "Yes," as evidenced on eBay. But I know what you mean. I wished I had bought the HT SOAR when I had the chance! I paid $80 for just the helmet and BDU's.

 

[duralumin]

Oh yeah, most certainly worth it in most cases...point I'm making is that I'd like to quibble over a figure being worth $30-$35 again...the good ol' days, eh?

 

[cdn_rhino]

Good old days.... Ultimate Soldier days, and older Star Wars for $20-25 , or less. And I thaught it was expensive then. I hear you Duralumin.

 

[saiko]

We reminisced the other day about when gas was 99 cents a gallon.
I miss b*ing about when it peaked at $1.29 one summer. :/

 

[rogerbee]

Yeah,

I do remember those times, I bought the SS Frankenstein Monster when it first came out.

CHEERS!

 

[Hollowpoint]

Oh yeah, the good ol days. Like 6 years ago. I could get bbi figs for 30 buck. 20 if they were on sale.

 

[duralumin]

I was thinking about good ol' Franky meself recently rogerbee...I bought mine at a local TRU for $25...as well as most of the early horror stuff from SST at Electronics Boutique(London After Midnight vampire, and Nosferatu fig if I remember right). All great licensed figures with accessories for less than $30....

 

[HeadRusch1]

I was digging through some old magazines recently and pulled out an issue of...hmmm.what was it called...that Toy "newspaper".....it was like toys and dolls and barbies and all that stuff, it wasn't a magazine it was more like newsprint..I forget the name of it now.....

Its what I bought when there was no new issue of Lee's or ToyFare (when that finally came out) on the shelves...hahahaa..remember when you used to have to go to a store to find a magazine? Hahaha..REMEMBER MAGAZINES? Times are a changin...BUT I DIGRESS.

Anyhow in the back were all these super-cool ads for these little customizers who had stuff you could buy.

There was a shot of a GI Joe HOF Grunt...you know the immobile super-thick barely articulated 12" Joes that came out in the early 90's, and you could get a CUSTOM GERMAN WEHRMACHT uniform for him.....the Tunic $45.00 Pants? Depending on the color or camo pattern $50.00......Accessory set (including webbing) $75.00



Now I think to today..somewhere out there....there are people.....who paid $150 or more for custom uniforms and accessories...for Hall of Fame GI Joes. Which you couldn't even give away to a kid at this point in time.

Now compare that to even a $50.00 dragon, or a $100.00 Hot Toys military figure....and I can say "Yes, its sucks to have to pay $100 for a military figure....". But maybe not so much when you put it into context as to what you get for your money. The $300 custom Grunt outfit? Or the $150 "shrink-ray" military or movie masterpiece figure from Hot Toys.

 

[duralumin]

Nobody's complaining HR1...just reminiscing. I pity the person who paid that much money for loose articles of clothing...as hard-up as I was to have WW2 Germans in my collection I never even would have considered it. I remember that toy newspaper as well...can't remember the name either...but it wasn't promoting that kind of stuff either or much before TUS and DML hit the shelves. I also remember classifieds in the back of that publication looking to sell toys/customizing services for way more than they were ever worth....they usually depended upon the desperation of the buyer. Once again...nobody's complaining...just reminiscing.

 

[rogerbee]

Your EB had figures!?

Lucky you! Back in those days PS1 was it for me!

CHEERS!

 

[duralumin]

Unfortunately, the word "had" is the operative term rogerbee...lol! I went in not long ago and the manager told me that at one point they were clearancing figures more than they were anything else. With the exception of one privately owned shop here in Indianapolis and maybe the occasional comic shop that gets "daring" there are no brick-n-mortars to go to for 1/6 figs (especially after the Suncoast chain dried up). Ouch...all this reminiscing is starting to make me wince...lol!

 

[rogerbee]

I've got two bricks and mortars to keep me supplied. One does DML the other SS. They both have to use the same distributor though and they have been very hit and miss with DML I've only seen 3 of the so called new releases and only one of them was what I wanted.

Mind you the SS guy is getting Indy so I can at least get me one of those

CHEERS!

 

[MigsGabb811]

i miss the "TUS @ TRU "days, and the "bbi elite forces" days

 

[Sixth Scale]

I remember all the old time customizers- Mark Cole, Dave Rogers, JoeBros,Auggie (whose still around),Tripwire Toys, Mike Maceda, Polo (before he hosed everyone)- those were fun times too. We used to walk the "pink aisle" at TRU, hoping to see something we could paint black or green.

Never did we imagine that all this incredible stuff would become available, never!!

Times were different, we are in the Platinum Age of 1/6th Collecting, that's for sure

 

[Randy of AFTIMES]

My sadness is that I was unemployed when SS sold HT's Colonial Marines and I could only afford two of them.

What didn't I get? You guessed right if you said Hicks!

It kills me to see how much it goes for now and you can still find Apone and Vasquez around if you look.

-sigh-

I'll keep looking for a reasonable pricd one.

And the "newspaper" the others were talking about was called "Toy Shop".

 

[Numbrsix]

Remember when? Let's see...

Ten years ago...

You could get a Soldiers of the World (American Revolutionary War, American Civil War, and WW1) figure for under $8(US) at ANY Target, W-Mart or KMart. You could get a uniform set with gear and weapons for under $5(US). A mounted figure sold for $20. :wideyes

The Ultimate Soldier VietNam sets were $4.99 at one store $7.99 at "the other." It was the COOLEST thing my GIJ ever wore.

The GIJ "Classic Collection" started popping up as blister-packaged basic figures, and then there was that first GIJ Coast Guard BOXED figure for $19.99! :clap

There was no such thing as a $100 action figure, unless you bought a one-off custom figure.

Female action figures (not dolls!), Cy-Girls, etc., were non existent, unless you bought a custom from Mike Cherry.

TRU started carring the basic "baby-faced Sam" Ultimate Soldier for $9.99.

A couple of aisles away Sideshow TOYS (not Sideshow "Collectibles") Frankenstein sold for $19.99.

Jimbob-wan's site was THE source for ALL my "how-to..." customising articles.

Media Play (remember them?) and Suncoast video was THE source for "exotic" 1/6 figures (monsters, film characters, anime...)

There was no Hot Toys, Toy Soldier, Soldier Story, BBi, DiD, Ignite, ITPT, Triad, NewLine Miniatures, Toyriffic, or Twisting Toys... :cry

A newcomer, DML would have their "Man called Hero" on the market before the year's end.

Star Wars 1/6 figures were available from Kenner, Planet of the Apes 1/6 were available from Kenner, Classic Universal Studios Monsters 1/6 figures were available from - (yup, you guessed it!) Kenner.

There was no WOH, Joe-lanta, or 1/6 figure collectors event. There was only ONE show, the GIJ Collector's Club annual convention (bless 'em for keeping the fires burning all those years).

I've probably left out a bunch of details, but hope you had as much fun reminiscing as I did. If I've left anything out just remind me

 

[duralumin]

Man, I really miss going into a Target and digging through the SOTW stuff! I must have a ton of their jeeps...one of my favorites is their SAS version. SOTW's last few outfit sets were really well done...especially the Nam stuff. Thanks for going pc Target...you bastitches!

 

[MERK]

How`s this for Ol`timey? Hasbro, SOTW, Cot`s, 21stC and custom! :shades