You can never go back.
>>11249087For me, peak was G.I. Joe 25th, Transformers, and Clone Wars/TVC all on shelves simultaneously with the ocassionally good marvel figure.
>>11249087Yeah, I know. We peaked in 1998 but I would have settled for living in 2005 or 2007 forever, too.
>>11249087Don't get me wrong, it was plenty of fun running around toy stores as a kid. But as an adult, I'll take the convenience of having whatever figures I want delivered straight to my door instead.
>>11249087>implying we dont still have toy isles and that shitty movies don't still get toylinesThe lightyear movie was dogshit but I loved the toys and still had fun going to the store and collecting them.
>>11249087why should I go back?
>>11249138Didnt marvel have that 3.75 line then? I think transformers had a universe series but either way it was a fine time to collect.
>>11249087I dont know anon.I'm from europe and here we have cool stuff - Sonic and Pokemon and Mario action figures for cheap.And cool lego stuff.I like visiting our toy store.the only 90s stuff i miss is those action mutant/animal cartoons like biker mice from mars/street shakrs stuff.Also yes - i miss old 2d disney cartoons and their merch...
>>11249087I've been to select Walmarts where the shelves are actually full. Targets even 20 years ago? Never.
>>11249087For my dad, it was during the Star Wars and Burton Batman era where toy isles peaked.
>>11249087Don't want to, there weren't enough anime toys in the 90s and I was getting tired of shitty batman repaints with stupid gadgets.
>>11249087That still looks soulless. Now an 80's TRU, that's the GOAT.
>>11249534
>>11249534Looks like Ollies, kek.
>>11249536
>>11249538I want to go and buy so much of this. Just for myself.
>>11249482being an anime fan before the figma age was suffering. Not everyone had everything, and if they did, it sucked.
>>11249677lol, mousecuck
I don't subscribe to the>THINGS USED TO BE BETTERmentality in regards to most aspects of my life, but toy isles are genuinely depressing now. They got a whole section in each store for this Mr. Breast toys and they don't seem to move units at all.
>>11249536This image is arousing my kid spirit. Id carry my catalog leaflets with me when we went into town so id remember which figures i wanted most. Too bad i didnt realize the catalog was out of date so only new figures were on the shelves. I never got to go to a tru as a kid, just kay bee on a few occasions.
>>11249222There was indeed a time within that period when they had a few 3.75 lines. Unfortunately it only started to get really good around the end of it's Marvel Universe run. A lot of it's early figures had poor articulation and some quality issues.
>>11250160Lol. I remember little statues or Mattel figures with like 11 POA were basically the best you could hope for even for the biggest series pre-Figma & Figuarts. Dragon Ball was the only one that had a pretty extensive lineup between Jakks and Irwin. Now kids have Anime Heroes, Ultimate Legends, Total Anime, McFarlane, and even $35 SHFs.
>>11249148>I would’ve settled for living in 2005 or 2007 forever2005 for sure. The cracks were already starting to appear in 2007: internet really started consuming souls that year.
>>1125053707 the year I got on 4chan...... fuck that was a mistake02-05 was fucking peak, goat format for yugioh absolute units of beyblade in engine gears and HMS god it was peak.
>>11249170Anon, light-year was 10 years ago ....
>>11249087To what? Absurd crowding? I am so glad I don't have to use stores anymore. Too many people exist these days for the tiny space they want to give aisle. It isn't 1997 anymore and the population has grown by billions.
>>11250808>Absurd crowding?It's not even that bad.
>>11250707And now it's flooding Ross today
>>11249087So? I wouldn't like most of this today anyway. I mostly collect Imports now. Would be funny to see the janky ass old American toys again I guess. Could scalp a few and hurt them in a treasure chest somewhere to reopen and sell in the future.
>>11251970>jankyMore solid than any import
>>11252001Thats cause old toys barely have articulation.Domestics have regressed even more. All that gummy plastic they use for joints can be sheared right off and feels like putty. Import joints are at least solid.
>>11250320I'm lucky to have been only a Digimon/Pokemon fan back then. Sure I discovered handful other animes, but not a lot I really wanted toys of even to this day. Still, Mattel was just the wrongest company to license to with nothing but 5poa shit all the time, while Toybiz, SOTA, Squenix and even Playmates were trying to evolve
>>11249087>Anon wants a return of the 5POA shit paintjob, 100% inaccurate brick daysCan you go be retarded somewhere else?
>>11249087>>11249534>>11249536Lol, LMAO even. If you were not going to local you toy and hobby shops, I feel sorry. Floor to ceiling with model kits, army men, war games, Warhammer before it got ruined, Gunpla, Hot Wheels, Matchbox and Johnny Lightning all in the same place, trains, slot cars and RC everything, not to mention some action figures and that sort of thing too.I live in Florida, but if you get a chance, of you are in NJ or NYC area, go to Ridgefield Hobby and you will see what I mean. In Florida, there is Graves RC, but that is just for RC stuff. Either way, you will get the gist of what I am talking about.
>>11249164You forfeit the ability to choose the best looking figure with that choice though
>>11252236You sound like a sad person with no imagination
>>11259503Then youre saying those toys are worthless since we have an imagination anyway
>>11250320I never understood why Irwin bothered with the random weapon accessories in their repackaged Dragon Ball figures. They weren't sculpted for the toys so 90% of the time they couldn't even hold the things.
>>11259584I was going to suggest use with other toys, but what other toy could even hold that gun?
>>11259584they just ahead of the curve.
>>11249536Damn...This scene is the reason for my hobby.. chasing those days in the 80s.
>>11251379Try living in an area with a metro of 16 mil
>>11249087>nothing but 5 p.o.aeww no
>>11249087As someone who worked in a toy store for a very very long time I can tell you most of the pics are rose-tinted goggle myths.Realistically, when you get to a certain point in time computers started taking over and knew exactly how much of what to order to not overstock.All the unsold stuff from OP's pic would just go to Big Lots or similar stores instead of an Ollie's or would be heavily clearance out after a time.
>>11259779>and electronics plus real feel Oh, yeah!
>>11249164So you are the person ordering Dunkin Donut's coffee to be delivered by an Uber Eats person?>>11249534>>11249536>>11249538Those do look like well-stocked Big Lots, before the kids have torn through the aisles, and certainly not in the middle of December.
>>11259783not the americans anon, but ive never seen full shelves at american toy stores. Otherwise, the landscape for toys in general was only memorably vast back when TRU was the last store ever...at least now I notice after being long gone
>>11259875>but ive never seen full shelves at american toy storesStores barely bother to stock toy sections anymore. Even now during Christmas, it's pretty fucking abysmal at how barren the shelves get. And they sit that way for months.
>>11249087Target sucks now but the toy offerings in 1997 were kinda piss. Those Batman & Robin figures were trash, and not just because the movie was poor (except for Bane's figure, he was kind of cool and resembled his comic counterpart more than the movie version).
>>11259875I never see the boxed Mario stuff like that. Jesus our stores suck.
>>11259925What do kids even do these days, if they do not have any toys? Is it just sports?Also where do people even buy toys in the current year? Standalone toy shops or comic shops?
>>11259497Fair point. I mainly order imports nowadays, though, so cherrypicking for paint apps is less of a concern. I usually buy non-imports from Amazon since they make it easy to return for a replacement if there's any significant paint defect.
Remember, you will probably see the renaissance of the toy/merch industry since Funko is fucking themselves over the past week
>>11260105what did they do now?
>>11259875>>11259925This is the end result of not wanting to pay TRU or KB Toys prices. Wal-mart and target have no competition, so they don't need to order low-profit items like toys. Hope you liked saving $1 on Transformers toys.
>>11260137Retards tried taking down itch.io for some reason
>>11260040video games, tiktok, discord. Sports are probably dying too. There's normie late zoomies/alphas who got pushed into doing it, and pro sports won't die in a generation, but it's not as big a deal to white kids as it used to be.
>>11259925>>11260040>>11260481America truly is a degenerate shit hole
>>11260481Oh well, I was hoping that it was either a sport or a creative activity (art, music, etc.). I guess I am speaking more from my heart than with my mind, but damn it, I was expecting much better from other youngsters.I might as well share that I am 20 and I am frankly quite disconnected from people my age, I just thought that late Zoombies and Alphas (I would call them Alfalfas, but I do not think anyone below the age of 75 would get it) would live more interesting lives. When I was 10, mind you, not long ago at all, I used to play with Army men, Meccano/Erector Sets and toy cars/planes and an Air Hogs (or something akin to it) helicopter which was my favorite toy.Kids should be playing and going outside. I will go back to my retirement home now, I guess.But still, what video games do they play? Arcade machines Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger or Mario? Or is it computer stuff like Pharaoh? I am assuming that most of these kids are going to arcades, but that was like a special event for my family. Do people just do that regularly now?>>11260502I guess, it would be nice to see kids in parks and the like, few things outside are sadder than a deserted playground, methinks.
>>11260522>I might as well share that I am 20>But still, what video games do they play? Arcade machines Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger or Mario? Or is it computer stuff like Pharaoh? I am assuming that most of these kids are going to arcades, but that was like a special event for my family. Do people just do that regularly now?
