I remember getting a pair of 'Hit Stix" for Christmas around 88/89. The gimmick was that they had a little amplifier and you were supposed to be able to play them in the air. It was impossible to not miss a beat! I also remember the Pogo Ball being fun occasionally.
I was 100% all in on Captain Power. My parents hated the line, but I scrimped and saved to buy the relatively expensive ships/playsets myself. I also had a huge pile of Construx, which, for some reason, I used exclusively to build buildings for my Super Friends to destroy. The only toys carried by the hardware store my Dad hung out in were the Starriors, so I had a huge chunk of that line (and I loved them). I had a weird version of the Mighty Men toy. Mine was called "Little Van Go", and instead of creating monsters or superheroes, you assembled the plates to make pictures of custom vans. It was super weird, and I have no idea where it came from, meaning it was probably a hand-me-down from an older cousin. I spent hours making low-resolution images of 70's conversion vans.
My sister and I had Monster Maker and fashion plate. We had endless fun swapping plates with each other and make really crazy creations. The planes didn't fit into each other set but we made do. They need to bring that back
Great list. I had a bunch of Starriors growing up. I also had Captain Power, though that came as a gift. Recently I got to meet Captain Power himself at JoeFest this year. Got a signed photo and a replica of the badges they wore to power up in the field.
@@RetroDaze Well, it was his first convention appearance in roughly 20 years, and quite a few people did stop by the table to talk with him. He was great to talk with and my brother even has his email to further communications with him.
There are so many more wonderful forgotten toys from my childhood: Sectaurs, Crystar, Chubbles, Dungeons & Dragons action figures, Wrist Racers, Stomper 4x4, Blackstar, Penny Racers, Key Cars, Tyco Cliffhangers, Creepy Crawlers, thanks for the nostalgia
Thank you for watching! Wow, you listed a ton of great forgotten toys there. I myself (Tony G.) had Sectaurs, Crystar (just Crystar, nothing else from the line), lots of Stompers (love them!) and Creepy Crawlers.
Construx was one of my favorite toys as a kid, great building set, hours of fun and imagination. I think this one mostly went away because of Legos, they were more plentiful, came in a variety of colors, had more diverse play sets and themes, and tended not to wear out as quickly(the plastic connecting joints would often break or wear down over time).
@@timebaby3 That was very likely the case, though Construx was just better if you were wanting to make bases or vehicles for use with your action figures.
@@RetroDaze very true, but I found them best for making vehicles, especially space ships, since many of the sets had a space theme to begin with and came with little astronaut figures.
Starriors and Captain Power….nice. Still have some of the toys. Spinjas I always wanted to get but by the time I found out about them they hadn’t been available for years. 😢 This at least explains why Mega Bloks turned into Mega Construx. I don’t remember that line yet I feel I should since it was right around my childhood….interesting.
Welcome aboard CDR! Thank you for checking out the video! Construx definitely had a lot going for it in terms of versatility and longevity of play. You could do so much with the sets.
There was an automobile version of the monster maker called something like "Little Van-Go's" where you used 3 different plates to make a custom van. A friend of mine had the monster & the van one, otherwise I probably wouldn't remember them.
My grandparents had an old box of construx that I remember playing with whenever we would go to their house to visit. I’m guessing they were my uncles when he was little. Had some good memories just messing around with them in their basement around Christmas time.
@@RetroDaze Yes, but we didn't watch the show over cable, we had the VHS tapes. I would imagine the blinking lights could be affected by broadcast quality? I don't think the show was on for very long.
I remember having a few Starriors. The brown one with the drill and that purple one with the saw blade. They were perfect with gijoe adventures as a kid! Had a couple zoids too. Those captain power figures were actually decent. Had captain power. Kmart had all that stuff and usually ended up on clearance. And this kid loaded up back then!
@@RetroDaze my brother still has his. I remember being disappointed that the weapon he came with didn’t look like the one on the show. The only Captain Power toy either of us ever had.
I had the mighty men and monsters toy. It was actually really good for someone who couldn't draw squat. The first thing to do was learn how to follow the lines with the crayon so you got only the outlines on the paper and not a fuzzy blob. After a while I gave it to a friend of mine who was even more interested in drawing comics. He loved it to death..
I remember Starriors, though not specifically by name. I think I had the good guy one with buzz saw, and I specifically remember the bird things that flip over and turn into a speeder. I also loved my Mighty Men and Monster Maker. Pretty sure I gave that away or something. Wish I still had it.
I had a ton of Construx. I got them for Christmas & my birthday multiple years. My friends & I had so much fun building our own stuff. Most of my Construx survived & my 2 sons played with them too.
I'm so late to the party, but I had a Robot Man doll as a kid and I loved him so much. I remember the heart on his chest opened up to reveal (I think) a four panel interface, but only one panel was a real button. That's how the theme song was played. Also, my older sister had the Fashion Plates. I was only mildly into that tho
I don't remember the Captain Power TV show but I remember the VHS tapes - we'd play with those. The Monster plates were sold through the 80s - that commercial was from the 80s. I had that and my sister had the fashion plates one. Many hours coloring with those things
I remember Starriors Wastors. I love how you get to wind up and activate their lasers, saw blades, screws, etc. It's a shame it didn't last long because of the Go Bots and Transformers line. I also didn't know it was based on a Japanese toy line called Zoids.
No the pain of both matter of fact I wound up running across 2 constructs pieces when sorting through Lego of mine the other day literally like 2 days ago. The pain depending on the piece could be about equal although some pieces worse than others especially a certain Lego pieces. And yes I have seen plenty of discussions online about which is the most painful Lego piece to step on and I'm pretty sure what are the Batman helmets might be up toward the top even the old Two by Two by Two brick is a contender. I remember usually when I step on a Lego piece I'd make this horrendous sound that I could not reproduce otherwise and yeah you almost couldn't breathe for a second all you can do is basically suck in air and sometimes no sound would come out when you almost scream or try to that is seriously
Construx were an amazing toy for the time. I built so many things with them when I was young. For example, I was a huge Doctor Who fan in the 1980s and I actually used the construx toys to build a working Tardis console. Its moving central pillar was motorized and driven by the power pack and motors provided in some of the kits. For children with an imagination these were amazing toys that you could build all sorts of things from. Other than Motu it is the strongest toy memory from my childhood.
I LOVED my Constructs! They were an endless form of entertainment for me as a child... Lots of little pieces sacrificed to mom's vacuum cleaner though... 😂😂
I loved my set of Construx and I used them all the time as a kid. I built ships, space stations, laser blasters, race cars and lots of other things. It was an awesome toy!
Me and my brother were nuts with captain power, we had lot of sets, main ships n all, the tapes, and we would eagerly await using them on show every Saturday lol, was great for the time IMO, I remember I started to get so into shows story, that I would vhs tape episode, so I could re watch 2nd time without shooting at screen so I could pay attention better lol, we even had like the dress up battle armor stuff where we became characters playing
Construx was a good mid point between Lego and Technix when I was young. At that point Technix was much more advanced than today. Contrux was awesome for unstructured building and could build almost anything. I built helicopters, buildings, scuba gear, rifles, space craft, glasses, planes, and even a stand to sell gum. Thanks for showcasing it.
8 of my family members and I packed into a van and drove from Michigan to Mississippi to see other relatives. I brought my Spinjas on the road trip. They were a great time killer.
Monster maker I never got me into drawing but remembered it from when I took an archeology class in high school. My private school I attended had that class and the teacher used the monster maker as a hands-on approach on learning how to stone rub.
We had Robotman comic strip in the San Jose Mercury News, San Jose, California. I had forgotten about it until watching this video. It was a good strip back in the day.
A funny thing about me was I rarely got toys, but I frequently consumed the expanded universes if comics and animated series. I read the Starriors conic (I still have the whole series) and loved the Captain Power TV show! Though am I misremembering the series ending an issue early? Either way, now you have me wondering about these Starrior mini comics that I've never read!
I had Robot Man!! My mom bought it for me at a small chain store, one of those stores that sold everything. From clothing to school supplies, to toys I actually, accidentally (under line that!!) Found my 🤖 Robot Man. It was in the the basement, in the cupboard. I opened the door-and, SLAMMED it!!-laughing, it was a day before my 9th birthday. My though..what's she laughing at?? 😮-Then she realized-I found my birthday present!! So, I got it a day early. The following year, I got a Cabbage Patch Kid with a "dummy" in its mouth. My mom half-assed wrapped it..and-put it on the top shelf in the spare room, where I couldn't get into it..or see it. She learned her lesson!!😅
Megabug Gladiators. Now, they were released in 1979, but they were by far some of my favorite toys growing up. I had all three: scorpion, spider and dragonfly.
Subscribed. I remembered watching the first pilot commercial for “Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future”, as it aired as a commercial within a commercial, or rather, it was made as an “interruption of a commercial” and a “message from the future” given by Captain Power himself. I had only the figure of Captain Power and I also remembered the TV shows, too. The last episode I remember watching was one of Power’s soldiers sacrifices themselves and I was shocked and saddened that it happened.
Thank you for subbing! But yeah, the TV show was really well done, and the million dollars per episode is apparent. Too bad season two didn’t make it to production.
Great Video! I don't know if Construx, Captain Power or Starcom from the part one video are really forgotten though. Mega Force is one Forgotten Toy line I would like seen covered , but that may be early 90s.
What a great Video.... I remembered all of these except Robot Man... Sadly, I never owned any of them - But I remember them! I do think I used to come across Construx at Primary School... And sadly, Captain Power never took off here in the UK. I do remember teh toys being released, but I never had any interest in them!
Thanks for making this! I had a few of these toys. I was describing Starriors to someone earlier, and they had only the vaguest recollection of it. Speaking of "forgotten toys," I sometimes feel like I'm the only one who remembers Robotech Robolinks, haha
I think they were going for a combination of LEGO and Transformers. Essentially, little robots that transformed into blocks, with a bunch of guns, wheels, and wings to use as accessories. In Japan, I believe the line was called "Combination Warrior Blockman," and had nothing to do with Robotech/Macross.
Oh man! I had quite a few Starriors as a kid. These days I just have the mini-comics, the Marvel comics mini-series, and the books that used to have records with them. I had several Construx sets, including some of the military ones. I would build for hours with them, making bases and vehicles for my other toys. I remember even making a version of the Tigersharks airship since I thought that was cool, but a toy version didn’t exist. I definitely had the Mighty Men & Monster Maker. I would swap the plates around so much and make up stories for my creations.
Captain Power was a pretty cool line I used my Lord Dread and Soaron a lot with my Joes. Starriors I had a lot of them they were pretty cheap to get at Kay Bee back in the day.
I second Bone Age as a previous commenter already mentioned. I'll also add the Super Naturals made by Tonka I think. And the most obscure toy line I can think of. The Gammasite Parasites made by Matchbox.
I had Captain Power and Construx. For Construx I even had the giant glow in the dark space set. I also had some Zoids and the Starrior Sawtooth, though I always wanted the giant cobra shaped battle station.
I owned and have great memories of the first four-most of them probably sold at a yard sale for much too little (I though nobody remembered Spinjas!). I never had any Robotman merch, but I recall loving the design, plus watching the cartoon and reading some of the comics. Alas, that Monster Maker set was before my time (a bit much in 1978 for a 2-year old!), but I recall the girl's fashion version in the 80s. I wonder if anyone else remembers Squarbles, the square marbles? Literally little heavy cubes you shot at each other with a spring-loaded device.
@@RetroDaze Not at all. I think I wanted a Voltron or a Transformers lunchbox, and that was what my parents got me. It was probably my first "WTF" moment in life.
So I think you might have gotten one thing wrong, Mega Construx to my knowledge isn't supposed to be a rebirth of the Construx toy line, but rather a rebrand of their mega bloks line, that's why they look like Legos. Construx was a great line and came with some great figures, most rare is the lizard man figure only released with their T-Rex kind of creation. Sadly Construx don't hold up overtime the plastic gets weak and breaks easily now days.
The history of Jim Meddick's Robotman comic strip is incredibly fascinating. In the beginning, the strip was just one prong of the company's attempt to turn Robotman into a multimedia sensation in the vein of Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Brite, etc. In the beginning, the strip was about Robotman living with a human suburban family. Most of the gags were about Robotman's bafflement with human culture, or Robotman being in love with electrical appliances. Then after a few years, they had stopped making the Robotman toys and videos, and the comic strip was the only thing left. At this point, Jim Meddick (having no corporate oversight aside from his syndicator, and probably assuming that the strip could be cancelled at any minute) turned Robotman into a sci fi parody strip. Robotman would travel through space and time, meeting characters like Mr. Spock. Eventually, the strip would settle down a bit, with Robotman moving in with an inventor named Monty. The focus of the strip then became Monty's wacky inventions, and his sad-sack personal life. Robotman would continue to appear as the straight man of the strip, until he was replaced (for various behind-the-scenes reasons) by an alien named Mr. Pi and the strip was renamed "Monty". It's a real shame that "Robotman" strips (especially from his creative peak in the 90s) are so inaccessible these days. The earlier (pre-2001) strips aren't archived online, and there were precious few book collections. There are a couple books covering the earliest strips of the 1980s, but only two books were released in the 1990s. "Cyberpunktrek" has selections from the period when Robotman was a wacky sci-fi parody strip, and "Primary Crullers" collects highlights of the "Robotman and Monty" era.
@@daviddalrymple2284 Thank you, David, for that wonderful look back at Robotman’s roots. We greatly appreciate that. It is unfortunate that he didn’t quite catch on like the other characters he was meant to emulate the success of.
I still have a rubbing plate kit that I got for like my 8th birthday called little van goes. You can create variations of tricked out 1980s style vans.
Starriors my brother had one of the toys and had the four comics still do. I also watched Captain Power I found show fun to watch and well written. Even if never got a toy to play with the show I liked the story in was enjoyable without the toy. I got DVD and still watch them to this day.
I remember having at least one of the “Starriors”. I was so young though, it’s difficult for Me to distinguish which line some of those toys belonged to as I got them mixed up with son many other similar i.p.s Sure do wish so had still had those mini comics though that came with so many toys and games!
I loved the Starriors, I had most of the regular figures and I was even super into the 4 issue Marvel comic series which went above and beyond the comics that came with the toys themselves. I always thought they should have been a bigger franchise than they were
@@sarahpounds6064 It’s weird to see how successful the spinning top battle games are these days and realize that Spinjas are basically forgotten completely. If anything they should have made a comeback by now.
@@RetroDaze Yeah, it was our kinda way to play as Wolverine. We'd create a box-like frame to go around our lower arm and wrist, extend a bit to go over the hand for grip and then make claws to attach to the front. problem was, trying to get the right size, the longest parts were too long for the width of our wrists/arms and the regular size were too short. we kinda had to work with the regular and small size even if it was a little loose around our wrists/arms hence why we did the hand grips to help keep it in place when we played with them.
@RetroDaze I have complete sets with few broken pieces. I always took care of my toys. Some of the Construx have yellowed though. My favorite were the glow in the dark space ones. I used to make bases for my other toys as they were great for making large space ships and buildings.
I had monster maker. I currently have 1 Starriors figure mint on card and all the Marvel and mini comics. Not something I'm really into but I have a lot of vintage robot toys. For years I mispronounced the name. I would say "Starios" like it was a breakfast cerial. There are many forgotten transforming robot toys I have such as Chargertrons...powertrons... convertors... roadbots... zybots... transistor robots...and many others. Some are pretty bad others are pretty cool.
@@joshuachristian5443 Starios? We’d buy that cereal! It just sounds yummy! And maybe if it came with a free mini robot figure inside we’d buy two boxes! 😆
I had a Ninja Turtles version of the Mighty Men and Monsters creation idea. So obviously someone remembered it. Sadly I don't know where it went over the intervening decades, but yeah that's how it goes.
It might not be from the ‘80s but it’s from the late 70’s AMSCO had the “Mobile Crime Lab” that I asked for one year at Christmas & got. I had hours of fun with it.
I was just talking about Spinjas with a younger co worker the other day when he brought up Beyblade. I thought they were awesome toys; you could get a portable self-contained battle set for about the same as a single larger figure.
lol the top spinning game. I never care about those, but do remember them. Stareos! I remember the commercials! Never had one. Did see them in a store… Captain Power! Great show and toys. Never had one. But friends did and we had light battles! Constux! I had that. Couldn’t remember that name. Space set and glow in dark parts! Robotman! lol I forgot about him and his GF! Not too bad! One of five I forgot! The fashion plate at the end…. Didn’t care about that sit lol.
@@decadentdave The R.A.T.S. Seemed like a bit of departure from Starriors. Kind of like a repackaging with some new, animalistic characters. Tribots felt more like a Zoids meets Transformers line. All three had some great toys though!
Erector, construx all that was good stuff. Took a lot of time to build and then take down. I remember my late cousin had an erector set, built cranes and bridges. Some classmates had brothers that had construx Some of the few friends i knew had some of the toys in this YT clip.
You really had to appreciate the building toys that allowed for a wide range of possibilities. Construx took the concept and updated it for the ‘80s and it was a hit… for a little while.
I loved Construx as a kid! So much so that I gave away ALL my Legos to a friend. I must have had close to a dozen sets. I built a robot taller than me. I built my own Transformers. The space sets were my favorite. I built a space carrier battle ship...it wasn't as big as the U.S.S. Flag, but it was taller and maybe half as long. I built fighters for it that could launch from it and I built a couple different types of fighters. I had some of the Captain Planet toys. I had the bad guy's plane. I had one of the VHS tapes. The plane's lightgun being interactive with the tape playfeature was a bust for me. It never worked. I never got into the show itself. I liked the action figures though.
I remember getting a pair of 'Hit Stix" for Christmas around 88/89. The gimmick was that they had a little amplifier and you were supposed to be able to play them in the air. It was impossible to not miss a beat! I also remember the Pogo Ball being fun occasionally.
Both of those were for sale in a local vintage toy store some years ago.
Same here!!! I can still feel the plastic and see the bright colors in my mind
Always Great Content? Thank you for the 80' upload! 👍🏻🇺🇲
Cptn. Power show was surprisingly deep and dark, loved my Dredd throne lol.
Makes one wonder what they had in store for season two before it was cancelled. 🤔
Man I loved Spinjas, they worked so well! I remember having crazy battles at school with these toys.
They were very fun! It kind of carried over into Beyblades. The fun of the spin top battles.
I was 100% all in on Captain Power. My parents hated the line, but I scrimped and saved to buy the relatively expensive ships/playsets myself.
I also had a huge pile of Construx, which, for some reason, I used exclusively to build buildings for my Super Friends to destroy.
The only toys carried by the hardware store my Dad hung out in were the Starriors, so I had a huge chunk of that line (and I loved them).
I had a weird version of the Mighty Men toy. Mine was called "Little Van Go", and instead of creating monsters or superheroes, you assembled the plates to make pictures of custom vans. It was super weird, and I have no idea where it came from, meaning it was probably a hand-me-down from an older cousin. I spent hours making low-resolution images of 70's conversion vans.
Using Construx as a battle area for action figures is perfect!
Now that Little Van Go toy needs to be Googled. We must see this.
@@RetroDaze I Googled after making this post. It appears the actual name was "Little Van Goes". Not sure I got the pun as a six-year-old.
Nah that would have gone right over our heads.
My sister and I had Monster Maker and fashion plate. We had endless fun swapping plates with each other and make really crazy creations. The planes didn't fit into each other set but we made do. They need to bring that back
😂 I can only imagine how some of those must have looked.
I had that Construx helicopter! Wow. I had forgotten all about that.
Glad we could help jog your memory of that!
Great list. I had a bunch of Starriors growing up. I also had Captain Power, though that came as a gift. Recently I got to meet Captain Power himself at JoeFest this year. Got a signed photo and a replica of the badges they wore to power up in the field.
That is awesome! Bet he never thought he’d be signing autographs as a result of that show nearly 40 years later. 😆
@@RetroDaze Well, it was his first convention appearance in roughly 20 years, and quite a few people did stop by the table to talk with him. He was great to talk with and my brother even has his email to further communications with him.
Gosh I love zoids so much.
Zoids definitely went on to greater popularity than Starriors ever had.
There are so many more wonderful forgotten toys from my childhood: Sectaurs, Crystar, Chubbles, Dungeons & Dragons action figures, Wrist Racers, Stomper 4x4, Blackstar, Penny Racers, Key Cars, Tyco Cliffhangers, Creepy Crawlers, thanks for the nostalgia
Thank you for watching! Wow, you listed a ton of great forgotten toys there. I myself (Tony G.) had Sectaurs, Crystar (just Crystar, nothing else from the line), lots of Stompers (love them!) and Creepy Crawlers.
Construx was one of my favorite toys as a kid, great building set, hours of fun and imagination. I think this one mostly went away because of Legos, they were more plentiful, came in a variety of colors, had more diverse play sets and themes, and tended not to wear out as quickly(the plastic connecting joints would often break or wear down over time).
@@timebaby3 That was very likely the case, though Construx was just better if you were wanting to make bases or vehicles for use with your action figures.
@@RetroDaze very true, but I found them best for making vehicles, especially space ships, since many of the sets had a space theme to begin with and came with little astronaut figures.
Starriors and Captain Power….nice. Still have some of the toys. Spinjas I always wanted to get but by the time I found out about them they hadn’t been available for years. 😢
This at least explains why Mega Bloks turned into Mega Construx. I don’t remember that line yet I feel I should since it was right around my childhood….interesting.
Yeah, Construx sure did change over the years. From an erector style building toy into Legos, basically.
Fellow toy collector here, wow! Awesome video! I had so many Construx as an 80’s kid! Would play with those forever
Welcome aboard CDR! Thank you for checking out the video! Construx definitely had a lot going for it in terms of versatility and longevity of play. You could do so much with the sets.
Yes! Definitely hours of fun! Now I race Hot Wheels on my channel for fun! @@RetroDaze
There was an automobile version of the monster maker called something like "Little Van-Go's" where you used 3 different plates to make a custom van. A friend of mine had the monster & the van one, otherwise I probably wouldn't remember them.
Yes! Someone else commented on that as well! Seems like there was quite the variety.
I Remember all of them, had some of them and still have a few. I have one Starriors and a couple Captain Power toys.
That’s awesome! Do they still work?
Yep. The Jet XT-7 is in working order. Other than that I have a Capt. Power figure. And my little Starrior pull back still rolls.
My grandparents had an old box of construx that I remember playing with whenever we would go to their house to visit. I’m guessing they were my uncles when he was little. Had some good memories just messing around with them in their basement around Christmas time.
That’s awesome that these toys enjoyed a second life with you during the holidays.
I LOVED Starriors! I had the “snake base” and used it for my GI Joes because my parents wouldn’t get me the Cobra Command center
Not a bad stand-in!
Every kid on my block had Captain Power, they were AWESOME.
Did it work like it was supposed to for you?
@@RetroDaze Yes, but we didn't watch the show over cable, we had the VHS tapes. I would imagine the blinking lights could be affected by broadcast quality? I don't think the show was on for very long.
Spent so many hours building with constructs.
@@davidbelanger7278 There was just so much you could do with them. Endless cool things to build.
I remember having a few Starriors. The brown one with the drill and that purple one with the saw blade. They were perfect with gijoe adventures as a kid! Had a couple zoids too. Those captain power figures were actually decent. Had captain power. Kmart had all that stuff and usually ended up on clearance. And this kid loaded up back then!
Starriors actually would have fit in well in a G.I.Joe play session. Pretend they are man-sized robots created by Cobra to take out the Joes.
Soaron “digitizing” people was legitimately terrifying. I absolutely wanted one of the good guy’s suits, though!
Imagine finding one up for auction somewhere!
@@RetroDaze my brother still has his. I remember being disappointed that the weapon he came with didn’t look like the one on the show. The only Captain Power toy either of us ever had.
Did it at least work correctly?
I LOVED Construx!
I had the mighty men and monsters toy. It was actually really good for someone who couldn't draw squat. The first thing to do was learn how to follow the lines with the crayon so you got only the outlines on the paper and not a fuzzy blob.
After a while I gave it to a friend of mine who was even more interested in drawing comics. He loved it to death..
Yeah, depending on your skill with using it, the figure could end up turning out fine or looking like an absolute mess.
I remember Starriors, though not specifically by name. I think I had the good guy one with buzz saw, and I specifically remember the bird things that flip over and turn into a speeder. I also loved my Mighty Men and Monster Maker. Pretty sure I gave that away or something. Wish I still had it.
Starriors had a great variety. Too bad it didn’t find more success.
Being from the UK, I wasn't familiar with the majority of these toys but still enjoyed watching :-) Everyday is a school day!
Thanks again for watching Jayme!
I still have my construx. Those were so much fun I spent hours with those.
Those building type of toys made for endless possibilities and endless fun.
I owned 2 Starriors figures, both long gone, and still have my 2 Spinjas sets. And they still work!
That’s awesome! Which Starriors did you have?
@@RetroDaze The brown and tan one with the drill (he featured in all the comics) and a white and blue one that had twin buzzsaw that scissored.
We got the Starriors base at a discount store, and it was amazing. It was very easy to adapt it for other toy lines.
Yes! Especially lines like M.A.S.K. And Dino-Riders!
I had a ton of Construx. I got them for Christmas & my birthday multiple years. My friends & I had so much fun building our own stuff. Most of my Construx survived & my 2 sons played with them too.
That is awesome! Passing down the fun to the kids.
Spingas! We had those and I totally forgot about them. We'd gamble for Jolly Ranchers with those things 😃
😆 That was some serious wagering!
@@RetroDaze Ha yes!
I had so many Construx, forgot all about Monster Maker. Thank you for uploading this! Also had a pile of Gobots, bunch of Starriors, good times.
There were so many great toy lines… it’s unfortunate that more didn’t really catch on. Some of the less remembered lines were so fun and well made.
I'm so late to the party, but I had a Robot Man doll as a kid and I loved him so much. I remember the heart on his chest opened up to reveal (I think) a four panel interface, but only one panel was a real button. That's how the theme song was played. Also, my older sister had the Fashion Plates. I was only mildly into that tho
I had Construx and Captain Power toys as well. I remember all these toys
Awesome! Both toy lines were a lot of fun and had some great features.
I don't remember the Captain Power TV show but I remember the VHS tapes - we'd play with those. The Monster plates were sold through the 80s - that commercial was from the 80s. I had that and my sister had the fashion plates one. Many hours coloring with those things
They were great fun, but you ended up wishing there were expansions that you could buy that had more plates!
I remember Starriors Wastors. I love how you get to wind up and activate their lasers, saw blades, screws, etc. It's a shame it didn't last long because of the Go Bots and Transformers line. I also didn't know it was based on a Japanese toy line called Zoids.
I loved Starriors. My little brother had many, and I think I messed with them more than he did.
People who complain about legos have never stepped on a Construx rail or blue square.
@@believein1 😆 They don’t know true pain.
My god the pain, my kids play with my old sets
No the pain of both matter of fact I wound up running across 2 constructs pieces when sorting through Lego of mine the other day literally like 2 days ago.
The pain depending on the piece could be about equal although some pieces worse than others especially a certain Lego pieces.
And yes I have seen plenty of discussions online about which is the most painful Lego piece to step on and I'm pretty sure what are the Batman helmets might be up toward the top even the old Two by Two by Two brick is a contender.
I remember usually when I step on a Lego piece I'd make this horrendous sound that I could not reproduce otherwise and yeah you almost couldn't breathe for a second all you can do is basically suck in air and sometimes no sound would come out when you almost scream or try to that is seriously
D4
This😂
Construx were an amazing toy for the time. I built so many things with them when I was young. For example, I was a huge Doctor Who fan in the 1980s and I actually used the construx toys to build a working Tardis console. Its moving central pillar was motorized and driven by the power pack and motors provided in some of the kits. For children with an imagination these were amazing toys that you could build all sorts of things from. Other than Motu it is the strongest toy memory from my childhood.
@@jaredjurkiewicz4006 That would have been epic to witness! A Tardis console from Construx! So cool.
I never knew about that Mighty Men Monster Maker, I would have loved that when I was 9!
There were other, similar ones, but they all seem to be mostly forgotten today. But they were so cool!
My older sister and I had a couple or these including the doll one, we had so much fun with them!
I LOVED my Constructs! They were an endless form of entertainment for me as a child... Lots of little pieces sacrificed to mom's vacuum cleaner though... 😂😂
That blasted vacuum was always lurking around... just waiting to rob you of your favorite playthings. A creation of pure evil! 😆
We use to build armor and weapons out of ours and my brothers and I would have battles
I have the yellow spinjas set. They were indeed pretty fun.
Still are if you can get your hands on them!
I loved my set of Construx and I used them all the time as a kid. I built ships, space stations, laser blasters, race cars and lots of other things. It was an awesome toy!
@@mariox20 It really was! Construx were great for using with all your other toy lines.
Do u remember Kinects?
Monster Maker was the best toy ever! Thousands of sheets of paper as I tried to find the perfect combinations.
Many more trees were sacrificed once Monster Maker hit the shelves. 😆
Me and my brother were nuts with captain power, we had lot of sets, main ships n all, the tapes, and we would eagerly await using them on show every Saturday lol, was great for the time IMO, I remember I started to get so into shows story, that I would vhs tape episode, so I could re watch 2nd time without shooting at screen so I could pay attention better lol, we even had like the dress up battle armor stuff where we became characters playing
Awesome memories! Great idea to record the episodes. 😆 It would definitely be hard to concentrate on a story while shooting at the screen. 😆
Construx was a good mid point between Lego and Technix when I was young. At that point Technix was much more advanced than today. Contrux was awesome for unstructured building and could build almost anything. I built helicopters, buildings, scuba gear, rifles, space craft, glasses, planes, and even a stand to sell gum. Thanks for showcasing it.
Wow! You definitely were taking advantage of the versatility of Construx! Nice.
8 of my family members and I packed into a van and drove from Michigan to Mississippi to see other relatives. I brought my Spinjas on the road trip. They were a great time killer.
Didn’t lose any in the cracks of the seats? 😆
@@RetroDaze O yea! That was half the fun looking for them haha.
Monster maker I never got me into drawing but remembered it from when I took an archeology class in high school. My private school I attended had that class and the teacher used the monster maker as a hands-on approach on learning how to stone rub.
That’s such a cool memory and creative use of the toy!
Robotman/Monty was a strip in my local newspaper I always loved. Such good memories.
@@waspinator5361 Where was this? What paper?
@@waspinator5361 Where was this? What paper?
@@RetroDaze I'm in London, Ontario, Canada so it was in our newspaper "The London Free Press." ☺
We had Robotman comic strip in the San Jose Mercury News, San Jose, California. I had forgotten about it until watching this video. It was a good strip back in the day.
A funny thing about me was I rarely got toys, but I frequently consumed the expanded universes if comics and animated series. I read the Starriors conic (I still have the whole series) and loved the Captain Power TV show!
Though am I misremembering the series ending an issue early? Either way, now you have me wondering about these Starrior mini comics that I've never read!
I also watched the Robotman special, too.
Definitely check out the mini comics. Not sure how closely they tie to the comic series.
"Starriors" is what I came here hoping to find! Could not remember that name!
Awesome! Happy to be of some service. 😊
I had Robot Man!! My mom bought it for me at a small chain store, one of those stores that sold everything. From clothing to school supplies, to toys
I actually, accidentally (under line that!!) Found my 🤖 Robot Man. It was in the the basement, in the cupboard. I opened the door-and, SLAMMED it!!-laughing, it was a day before my 9th birthday. My though..what's she laughing at?? 😮-Then she realized-I found my birthday present!! So, I got it a day early.
The following year, I got a Cabbage Patch Kid with a "dummy" in its mouth. My mom half-assed wrapped it..and-put it on the top shelf in the spare room, where I couldn't get into it..or see it. She learned her lesson!!😅
@@NikkiDeJonge We could be quite the little detectives when it came to scoping out gifts. 😆
Megabug Gladiators. Now, they were released in 1979, but they were by far some of my favorite toys growing up. I had all three: scorpion, spider and dragonfly.
Wow! These need to be Googled.
Subscribed. I remembered watching the first pilot commercial for “Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future”, as it aired as a commercial within a commercial, or rather, it was made as an “interruption of a commercial” and a “message from the future” given by Captain Power himself. I had only the figure of Captain Power and I also remembered the TV shows, too. The last episode I remember watching was one of Power’s soldiers sacrifices themselves and I was shocked and saddened that it happened.
Thank you for subbing! But yeah, the TV show was really well done, and the million dollars per episode is apparent. Too bad season two didn’t make it to production.
Construx was my favorite toy as a kid!
Such a fun building toy.
Great Video! I don't know if Construx, Captain Power or Starcom from the part one video are really forgotten though. Mega Force is one Forgotten Toy line I would like seen covered , but that may be early 90s.
We will add that to our list! We may do a third someday.
What a great Video.... I remembered all of these except Robot Man... Sadly, I never owned any of them - But I remember them! I do think I used to come across Construx at Primary School... And sadly, Captain Power never took off here in the UK. I do remember teh toys being released, but I never had any interest in them!
Many of them didn’t enjoy success on either side of the pond. StarCom was maybe an exception.
Still have my Mighty Men and Monster maker kit along with Little Van Goes.
@@scotth4713 That Little Van-Goes keeps getting mentioned! It must have been fairly popular.
Had Zoids. Loved them
Thanks for making this! I had a few of these toys. I was describing Starriors to someone earlier, and they had only the vaguest recollection of it. Speaking of "forgotten toys," I sometimes feel like I'm the only one who remembers Robotech Robolinks, haha
Robotech is definitely memorable but what was the Robolinks version?
I think they were going for a combination of LEGO and Transformers. Essentially, little robots that transformed into blocks, with a bunch of guns, wheels, and wings to use as accessories. In Japan, I believe the line was called "Combination Warrior Blockman," and had nothing to do with Robotech/Macross.
Ahh okay. Gotcha.
Oh man! I had quite a few Starriors as a kid. These days I just have the mini-comics, the Marvel comics mini-series, and the books that used to have records with them.
I had several Construx sets, including some of the military ones. I would build for hours with them, making bases and vehicles for my other toys. I remember even making a version of the Tigersharks airship since I thought that was cool, but a toy version didn’t exist.
I definitely had the Mighty Men & Monster Maker. I would swap the plates around so much and make up stories for my creations.
@@StarJoes Very cool! Seems like almost everyone who had some Construx sets were using them to create bases and vehicles for their action figures.
I had a bunch of Starriors. Played with Spinjas. Awe the 80’s
Starriors were awesome. Not too expensive and a lot of variety.
Damn! Mighty men and monster maker!! Haven’t thought of it in 40 years or more…
Well we do enjoy bringing back some forgotten memories! Nice.
I'm in the second half of my 40's and I still have a Spinjas set (the green one) that my kids still play with occasionally.
That’s awesome! There’s nothing like sharing the fun of a childhood toy with your own kids.
Captain Power was a pretty cool line I used my Lord Dread and Soaron a lot with my Joes. Starriors I had a lot of them they were pretty cheap to get at Kay Bee back in the day.
Both of those toy lines were actually very cool and top quality stuff. It’s unfortunate that neither found success enough to continue on.
Construx was amazing. I never had the Real Ghostbusters Firehouse as a kid, cause I'd make my own with Construx.
Yes! Why buy one when you can make all your own bases!
I second Bone Age as a previous commenter already mentioned. I'll also add the Super Naturals made by Tonka I think. And the most obscure toy line I can think of. The Gammasite Parasites made by Matchbox.
Wow! Now that Gammasite toy is one that definitely fits with the "forgotten" theme, if it was even ever discovered in the first place by most folks.
Spinjas yes! Been trying for years to remember what it was called.
Glad we could be of assistance!
I had Captain Power and Construx. For Construx I even had the giant glow in the dark space set. I also had some Zoids and the Starrior Sawtooth, though I always wanted the giant cobra shaped battle station.
Here’s hoping that Starriors makes some kind of comeback. Perhaps Nacelle will get on that. They seem to like bringing back obscure toy lines.
I owned and have great memories of the first four-most of them probably sold at a yard sale for much too little (I though nobody remembered Spinjas!). I never had any Robotman merch, but I recall loving the design, plus watching the cartoon and reading some of the comics. Alas, that Monster Maker set was before my time (a bit much in 1978 for a 2-year old!), but I recall the girl's fashion version in the 80s.
I wonder if anyone else remembers Squarbles, the square marbles? Literally little heavy cubes you shot at each other with a spring-loaded device.
@@snukastyle Oh wow! That is definitely a new suggestion. Need to look those up!
I had a Robotman lunchbox when I was in Kindergarten in '84-'85.
Were you aware of him aside from his presence on your lunchbox?
@@RetroDaze Not at all. I think I wanted a Voltron or a Transformers lunchbox, and that was what my parents got me. It was probably my first "WTF" moment in life.
So I think you might have gotten one thing wrong, Mega Construx to my knowledge isn't supposed to be a rebirth of the Construx toy line, but rather a rebrand of their mega bloks line, that's why they look like Legos.
Construx was a great line and came with some great figures, most rare is the lizard man figure only released with their T-Rex kind of creation. Sadly Construx don't hold up overtime the plastic gets weak and breaks easily now days.
Thanks for that info William! Agreed, the plastic could be a bit brittle over time.
Construx! I miss those!
They were fun and versatile.
One toy line I remember was 1988 Kenner Bone Age. I had fun with them as a kid.
Wow! Definitely a forgotten line there.
Captain Power's greatest contribution to pop culture was teaching J. Michael Strazinski how to do low budget television.
He cut his teeth on He-Man a bit as well.
@@RetroDaze And Real Ghostbusters.
The history of Jim Meddick's Robotman comic strip is incredibly fascinating. In the beginning, the strip was just one prong of the company's attempt to turn Robotman into a multimedia sensation in the vein of Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Brite, etc. In the beginning, the strip was about Robotman living with a human suburban family. Most of the gags were about Robotman's bafflement with human culture, or Robotman being in love with electrical appliances. Then after a few years, they had stopped making the Robotman toys and videos, and the comic strip was the only thing left. At this point, Jim Meddick (having no corporate oversight aside from his syndicator, and probably assuming that the strip could be cancelled at any minute) turned Robotman into a sci fi parody strip. Robotman would travel through space and time, meeting characters like Mr. Spock. Eventually, the strip would settle down a bit, with Robotman moving in with an inventor named Monty. The focus of the strip then became Monty's wacky inventions, and his sad-sack personal life. Robotman would continue to appear as the straight man of the strip, until he was replaced (for various behind-the-scenes reasons) by an alien named Mr. Pi and the strip was renamed "Monty".
It's a real shame that "Robotman" strips (especially from his creative peak in the 90s) are so inaccessible these days. The earlier (pre-2001) strips aren't archived online, and there were precious few book collections. There are a couple books covering the earliest strips of the 1980s, but only two books were released in the 1990s. "Cyberpunktrek" has selections from the period when Robotman was a wacky sci-fi parody strip, and "Primary Crullers" collects highlights of the "Robotman and Monty" era.
@@daviddalrymple2284 Thank you, David, for that wonderful look back at Robotman’s roots. We greatly appreciate that. It is unfortunate that he didn’t quite catch on like the other characters he was meant to emulate the success of.
I still have a rubbing plate kit that I got for like my 8th birthday called little van goes. You can create variations of tricked out 1980s style vans.
We’ve had a few others mention that kit. Seems to have had some fans out there.
I wanna say that car themed version and the clothing one stuck around a bit longer that the monster one.
Starriors my brother had one of the toys and had the four comics still do. I also watched Captain Power I found show fun to watch and well written. Even if never got a toy to play with the show I liked the story in was enjoyable without the toy. I got DVD and still watch them to this day.
The show’s budget and premise made for good entertainment with or without the toys (Captain Power).
I remember having at least one of the “Starriors”.
I was so young though, it’s difficult for Me to distinguish which line some of those toys belonged to as I got them mixed up with son many other similar i.p.s
Sure do wish so had still had those mini comics though that came with so many toys and games!
They were so great, and the comics really did a great job fleshing out everything.
Thank you. I had the starriors armored battle station as a very young kid. I barely remember it, and have been trying to find info on it.
The base that looks like a brown snake?
The Starriors story had so much potential. Really wish it had got a chance.
@@nDndAd As do we! The toy line could also have been so much more.
I had the orange starriors and a construx when I was a kid.
Starriors was a very cool line. It stinks that it didn’t really catch on or result in an animated series of some kind.
I had one Zoid and remember Captain Power
These were all great and I remember each (but I didn’t have most). How about a Power Lords, MegaBug Gladiators, or Metal Man (Zee Toys) video?
Two of those three are on our list of more to come! Metal Man is a new one though. Looking into that one. Thank you!
They look like imitation Micronauts. For years that’s what I thought they were!
I loved the Starriors, I had most of the regular figures and I was even super into the 4 issue Marvel comic series which went above and beyond the comics that came with the toys themselves. I always thought they should have been a bigger franchise than they were
Perhaps if an animated series had actually been made it could have done a bit better.
I had all the Spinjas and so did my brother. We loved them. But we didn’t have the stadium.
@@sarahpounds6064 It’s weird to see how successful the spinning top battle games are these days and realize that Spinjas are basically forgotten completely. If anything they should have made a comeback by now.
Micronauts were my favorite with anything Star Wars
@@brianhays1797 Micronauts have been mentioned several times! Lots of fans out there.
1:18 God that brought back memories. My brother used to own a Construx set. We'd spent most of our times constructing clawed gauntlets.
Now that is a cool use of Construx! 😆
@@RetroDaze Yeah, it was our kinda way to play as Wolverine.
We'd create a box-like frame to go around our lower arm and wrist, extend a bit to go over the hand for grip and then make claws to attach to the front.
problem was, trying to get the right size, the longest parts were too long for the width of our wrists/arms and the regular size were too short. we kinda had to work with the regular and small size even if it was a little loose around our wrists/arms hence why we did the hand grips to help keep it in place when we played with them.
I still have my Constructs. I also really liked Capsella.
That’s awesome! Are they mostly intact?
@RetroDaze I have complete sets with few broken pieces. I always took care of my toys. Some of the Construx have yellowed though. My favorite were the glow in the dark space ones. I used to make bases for my other toys as they were great for making large space ships and buildings.
Nice! It isn’t unusual for those Construx pieces to become brittle unfortunately.
I had monster maker. I currently have 1 Starriors figure mint on card and all the Marvel and mini comics. Not something I'm really into but I have a lot of vintage robot toys. For years I mispronounced the name. I would say "Starios" like it was a breakfast cerial.
There are many forgotten transforming robot toys I have such as Chargertrons...powertrons... convertors... roadbots... zybots... transistor robots...and many others. Some are pretty bad others are pretty cool.
@@joshuachristian5443 Starios? We’d buy that cereal! It just sounds yummy! And maybe if it came with a free mini robot figure inside we’d buy two boxes! 😆
I had a Ninja Turtles version of the Mighty Men and Monsters creation idea. So obviously someone remembered it. Sadly I don't know where it went over the intervening decades, but yeah that's how it goes.
Unfortunately yes. Stuff gets sold off in yard sales or handed down to other relatives and then disappear into oblivion.
It might not be from the ‘80s but it’s from the late 70’s AMSCO had the “Mobile Crime Lab” that I asked for one year at Christmas & got. I had hours of fun with it.
Nice! That would fit right in with the items from our Christmas “Holy Grail” video too.
@@RetroDaze awesome!
I was just talking about Spinjas with a younger co worker the other day when he brought up Beyblade. I thought they were awesome toys; you could get a portable self-contained battle set for about the same as a single larger figure.
Without Spinjas, would there even have been a Beyblade?
There was also Supernaturals and Visionaries.
lol the top spinning game. I never care about those, but do remember them. Stareos! I remember the commercials! Never had one. Did see them in a store… Captain Power! Great show and toys. Never had one. But friends did and we had light battles! Constux! I had that. Couldn’t remember that name. Space set and glow in dark parts! Robotman! lol I forgot about him and his GF! Not too bad! One of five I forgot! The fashion plate at the end…. Didn’t care about that sit lol.
Thanks for watching! Glad we could spark a few good memories of some great toy lines!
Could you do a vid on vintage stuffed animals? I love stuffer animals.
The Tomy Starriors line continued with R.A.T.S. (Robot Anti Terror Squad) and Tribots triple changers
@@decadentdave The R.A.T.S. Seemed like a bit of departure from Starriors. Kind of like a repackaging with some new, animalistic characters. Tribots felt more like a Zoids meets Transformers line. All three had some great toys though!
@@RetroDaze regardless of the branding on the shelf they are essentially the same Starriors/Zoids aesthetic and are a fantastic extension of the line.
Agreed! All are very cool.
I got spinjas on my 6th birthday early 1988.
They made for tons of fun at that age!
Erector, construx all that was good stuff. Took a lot of time to build and then take down. I remember my late cousin had an erector set, built cranes and bridges.
Some classmates had brothers that had construx
Some of the few friends i knew had some of the toys in this YT clip.
You really had to appreciate the building toys that allowed for a wide range of possibilities. Construx took the concept and updated it for the ‘80s and it was a hit… for a little while.
Now, please, do Unifighters, Zero Hour, Army gear, MegaForce and Food fighters!
Great list! Writing all these down.
Construx were the cat's pajamas. Had a bunch of 'em.
@@csj9619 Fun part was making fortresses and other things to use with your other toys!
I loved Construx as a kid! So much so that I gave away ALL my Legos to a friend.
I must have had close to a dozen sets.
I built a robot taller than me.
I built my own Transformers.
The space sets were my favorite.
I built a space carrier battle ship...it wasn't as big as the U.S.S. Flag, but it was taller and maybe half as long.
I built fighters for it that could launch from it and I built a couple different types of fighters.
I had some of the Captain Planet toys. I had the bad guy's plane. I had one of the VHS tapes. The plane's lightgun being interactive with the tape playfeature was a bust for me. It never worked. I never got into the show itself. I liked the action figures though.
Hey, if you couldn’t get Santa on board for a U.S.S. Flagg, then building your own is a stud move! Respect. 😆