One of the main things I remember related to vintage toys is trading for things. I am sure this is a big part of how toys got distributed, and it was very much a double edged sword. Most of my memories on this vein came from spending time with a particularly capricious friend who did sometimes try to do something helpful. He was more than a little like Sid from Toy Story, and I had little doubt that many of the things I traded (including an extensive set of the original Start Trek: The Next Generation figures) ended up burned, broken or blown up. But he had what must have been an extensive collection of toys a few years old, and I was canny enough to negotiate for things I not only liked at the time but have held onto to this day. The one trade I can remember most clearly is when he apparently at random opened a box of random junk. I saw one particular item, and quickly started bargaining (I still can't think with what). As a result, I became owner of my one and only Robotech figure. Here's a couple closeups.
As mentioned previously, I grew up aware of Robotech but with a limited enough knowledge of the franchise that I assumed a couple unrelated toys in my possession belonged to the line (see Dropped Pilots). However, I never doubted that this one was the real deal, and it was awesome, notwithstanding the fact that my friend's dog had chewed off a good part of one foot. I visualized this as a wound from some legendary earlier battle, if it figured in my play at all. The big problem was that there were no weapons that fit him. Eventually, I mangled an ancient He Man sword to fit his hands, and for a while I had a big capsule-toy revolver that just about worked. Usually, he simply served as muscle for various villains, but I still thought of him as a hero. At one time, long after I was playing with toys (at least often), I had a vague ide of a storyline that would have featured him as the sentinel of an interdimensional portal against some vague monster from beyond.
Eventually, I acquired another figure at a ludicrously low price. Both before and after that acquisition, I looked up more information, and found that he was called the Bioroid Invid Fighter, later revived in the Exo Squad line. I further discovered that he is not highly thought of by Robotech fans and collectors, and I can appreciate their complaints. By the critics' accounts, he was either loosely based on a character from the show or merely a composite of several. He also represented a midpoint in size and price for the line. I have also personally concluded that the quality is a little bit hazy. The plastic is thin and has a brittle feel, especially in the limbs, though it is clear from the damage on my specimen (the worst of which won't even be visible in these pics) that it didn't simply break at a little rough play.
By the standards of 1980s toys, however, this guy was and is mind-blowing. In the growing nostalgia surrounding the era, it's easily forgotten how many things were out of reach of ordinary kids. Anything at all anime-related was especially elusive, with even Transformers being outside the price range I usually got in any size bigger than a Hot Wheels car. But the Robotech guy was big enough to stomp anything short of my Definitely Dinosaurs and the Dormei Godzilla, and he was detailed and articulate to boot. He certainly gave me more play than I ever got from most of the things I might have traded for him.
To wrap things up, here's a few more pics of my pair with the Truckstop Queen and a few others.
Robotech, Robotix, Robotix, Robotech...
Who needs guns when you can have a dance off?
For links, you can see the CollectionDX review of the figure. That's all for now!
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