Everybody, at one time or another, has wanted something they can’t have. Often it’s something other people can buy, but you’re not able get your hands on. As an adult, maybe it’s a high-end car like a Ferrari. As a teenager, maybe it’s the latest video game system. And, when you’re a kid, it’s usually a toy.
We all had those toys. Well, not “had” them literally, but figurately. The toys we desperately desired. The ones we would ogle at the store. Items we’d circle in the catalog and leave on the table for Mum and Dad to see. The toys we secretly hoped would appear during the holidays but never did.
This is an article about those toys. And, as a child of the 1980s and 1990s, most of them are of that era. Some are my personal selections, but many others came from like-minded users on X. Check them out, and get jealous all over again.
USS Flagg from G.I. Joe
While the Joe’s aircraft carrier was certainly expensive when it was released (around $US100), it was kind of the size that made you both want it, and not able to have it. It was like five feet long and three feet wide.
Technodrome from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
We all had one or two Turtles, maybe even the full line-up, but who among us had the $US50 play set? Not many.
Black Seas Barracuda from Lego
My first personal pick is this $US110 Lego set that, at that price, was just way too expensive for a kid. Lego later remade it, we suspect for that exact reason.
Metroplex from Transformers
Any Transformer could turn into a truck or a dinosaur. But this one turned into a city. It only cost about $US30 when it came out but several people online told me it was one of their most wanted.
Millennium Falcon from Star Wars
Again, this only cost $US30 or so when it came out but it might as well have cost $US30 million. It was the ship everyone wanted, but not everyone got.
Voltron
The problem with Voltron was you needed five toys to fully recreate him and you were lucky if you got one toy, let alone five. And who was buying all five at once?
Diplodocus from Dino-Riders
One of the biggest Dino-Riders toys was only about $US30 upon release, but massive, awesome, and totally worth it.
A WWF Championship Belt
Back in the golden age of wrestling, you couldn’t get an authentic-looking replica championship belt. It just didn’t exist. There were toy versions but they were plastic and not that cool. So this one you simply couldn’t have, no matter how much you wanted one. Now though, you can, and they’re still mostly out of reach at about $US500.
Bio-Flesh Regenerator from Terminator 2
The reason we didn’t have this one was because it surely got a little too gross.
Boulder Hill from MASK
Keeping in the theme of “you had the toy, but not the playset because it was too big and expensive” comes Boulder Hill.
Titanus from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
It was hard enough to find a single Power Ranger toy in the early 1990s. There was no way you were getting this bad boy, especially not at $US50.
Defiant from G.I. Joe
The aircraft carrier wasn’t the only sought-after mega G.I. Joe set. The Defiant, their very own spaceship, was that too. It cost $US100 when released.
Devastator from Transformers
Like Voltron, you were lucky to get one toy, let alone six to make Devastator. These did come together in a set sometimes—but for $US30 or so? Too much.
Fort Legoredo from Lego
We all loved building forts with pillows and stuff. And we all loved building Legos. So a Lego fort? We wanted it. But at about $US90, it was way too pricey.