re: Vintage toys you still have

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In 1993 I found a few Return of the Jedi action figures at the Woolworth in the Southland Mall. I was hooked on collecting action figures at that point.

Every spare dollar I could get from every odd job I could get fed the habit.

That Woolsworth and the one in downtown Houma were my honey holes. Star Wars, GI Joe, Tron, Dukes of Hazzard, Masters of the Universe, obscure knock offs that had been out of the stores for years would pop up on the shelves there. I got all sorts of goodies when they closed up in 1995.

My biggest break as a toy collector came in 1994. I saw an add in the classifieds that said star wars toys. I convinced my dad to drive me to Kiln Mississippi to meet this old man who had some mint on card star wars figures. I got a Boba Fett, a 12 back Han Solo, and a few other Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back carded figures for $10 a piece my dad thought I was crazy. Most of these figures had .89 price tags on them. Over the years I bought 188 mint on card figures for that man for between $10 and $125 a piece. I have over 1,000 in package vintage Star Wars toys, and my Star Wars collection is worth more than I care to admit. I have about 800 other mint in package vintage toys from the 70s and 80s and thousands of loose pieces.

I sell some here and there, and if I could find someone to write a check for what everything is actually sellable for id get rid of it all right now. Instead I'm burdened by it.

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I was a loose start wars vintage collector for a number of years. I had just about every figure and play set from the 77-85 Kenner line. A lot of it was my originals from childhood but over time I was able to upgrade to higher quality pieces. It was a lot of fun for the time and money I spent. I had a couple of buddies who also collected and we’d hit up any toy/comic show within 250 miles of BR.

Your story about Woolworth reminds me of a local hardware store a short bike ride from my house had a bunch of Empire Strikes Back carded figures and boxed play sets just collecting dust on the shelves in the mid-90s. I bought them all with the quickness for close out prices and it was one of the most thrilling moments of my collecting days.

I sold it all about 12 years ago. Obviously much easier to move a loose collection than a carded but I was able to make back most of what I put in over the years.

Still miss those days sometimes. It was a lot of fun.