Dear collectors, Nothing haunts us like……..



Nothing haunts us, like the things we didn’t buy.

I saw these words of wisdom on the front wall over at a book store the other day and I immediately said to myself that this would be a good discussion topic for my blog. As a toy collector, I can totally relate to this (in fact, my wife still hasn’t forgiven me for not picking something up on the cheap many years ago despite having the chance to do so) and I’m sure MANY more of you can too.

So what I’m gonna do is list down some stuff, as far as my memory permits me, that eluded my collection due to my reluctance/spur of the moment inability to spot a gem/plain stupidity/sheer ignorance. These may not mean much to some but as of date these are still part of that hole in my collection.
   

   1) Kenner’s Jedi Spirit 3-pack (Obi Wan, Yoda & Anakin) – this deserves top spot simply because this was THE item that sparked my interest to start this article in the first place! And yes, my wife still haunts me about them every time I talk about hard-to-find collectibles. To further add salt to my injury, it was then only RM20 or a mere USD5 by today’s forex rate. It was the ONLY Jedi Spirit set amongst a sea of Jabba’s Skiff Guards set but I somehow chose to pick up something which was not only in abundance but obviously a per warmer. Years later, the Jedi Spirit set remains a favourite among collectors despite the Power of the Force action figures being totally outdated and laughed at due to its funny body proportions and cartoony face sculpts. I often get reminded of that moment in time every single time I reach the end of Return of the Jedi i.e. that Ewok celebration scene on Endor. Hasbro has yet to re-visit the Jedi Spirit set and thus the PoTF version still holds its relevancy till today. Yup, I'll never hear the end of it.
   2) Coleco’s Starmax Bomber – This is probably my biggest toy regret back in the 80s. I was a huge Starcom fan back in the day and this was naturally a must-get for any fanatic of the cartoon show. Many of my friends at the time had already gotten their mitts in the uber cool Space Marine vehicle piloted by that even cooler Capt Rip Malone but I was struggling to find one at my local TRU. After a couple of failed search attempts due to unavailability of stock, my late dad (God bless his soul) asked me if I’d want to give the TRU store another chance during the weekend. Being the impatient little man that I was, I declined the offer and bought myself a Starwolf instead (That’s the little foldable aircraft that fits into the Starmax’s cargo hold) and a bunch of other random stuff which incidently amounted to what the Starmax would’ve cost anyway. Not one half an hour later we made our way to another retail store in the same shopping complex (OMG I totally forgot it exists!!!!!!) and there in their crowning glory were endless stacks of crisp Starmax Bombers boxes. I knew I couldn’t get another toy until the next weekend but guess what? All of those stocks of the ‘Bomber was gone too by the time we made the visit the following weekend. I never got to own a Starmax Bomber despite it being so high up on my want list until today.



   3) The Real Ghostbusters: Firehouse Headquarters – The year was 1987 and Kenner had just released the huge Ghostbusters HQ for your cartoon versions of Peter/Egon/Ray/Winston. My late dad (again) played a monumental role in almost getting me possibly one of the coolest toy playset ever that came out from the 80s. When I said ‘almost’ I meant to say that I had the chance to own this but seeing that I was very much into M.A.S.K. and G.I. Joe at the time, I chose to get some other things instead (totally forgotten what they were) because everybody else in school has had most of the latest M.A.S.K./Joe toys already. I can vividly remember the Firehouse sitting pretty at retail and I think they stayed there for a considerable amount of time since most boys were venturing into other adventure-type of cartoon series by then and the toys from the likes of Thunderhawks/GI Joe/Cobra/Centurions etc. My dad offered to get the Firehouse for me (I’m assuming now that it was on some sort of sale) but I simply fell into buying what was popular and widely available at the time. Stupidest decision ev-er!



So, what about yours? Would be great if you could list down your ‘regrets’ and link them up in the comment section below.

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