Video Game Toys From Years (and Decades) Past

Protip:
Never throw away a box of supposed junk in the attic of a video gamer without first rummaging through its contents. The rewards could be substantial.

Throwing the notion of Spring cleaning entirely on its back, my brother and I decided to go through some of the many, many boxes we have stored in our attic in order to make room for more shit, basically. Upon doing so, however, I ran across some old toys from my childhood (and my siblings’) that I just couldn’t let go. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Straight out of Super Mario Bros. comes the Paratroopa! Now, I am not sure, but I think this might actually be a McDonald’s Happy Meal toy, but I could be mistaken. Anyway, pumping on the red air thingy will make the back lets of the little guy move, causing him to awkwardly hop about. Not much of a threat to Mario, but a cool piece of plastic nonetheless.

For some reason we had three of these Tanooki Marios sitting around in that one box (likely because there were three of us growing up, and naturally boys can’t share anything with their brothers). Oddly fitting considering the return of the Power Leaf in Super Mario 3D Land, these plumbers come with a plastic stand and a suction cup that pops and sends Mario up in the air.

I am positive this one was not my toy growing up, because it was made before I was even born. It’s one of those games where you flick the little metal ball down across plastic pegs and try to score points. Only in this version you try to move Pac-Man to swallow the balls up for points. Pretty neat actually, but it doesn’t quite move as well as I’m sure it did (or didn’t) when we first got it.

Now unlike the aforementioned Pac-Man game, these Mega Man toys are definitely mine. I was looking for these dudes for sometime, because I found my bigger figures about two years back and always wondered where these guys were. After the cartoon series (which in and of itself wasn’t too bad) came out, a bunch of Mega Man toys were released. I happy to see Dr. Wily in the mix, he really gets forgotten too often when referring to great video game villains.

And probably the coolest of the bunch was the stacks (and I mean stacks: there’s probably over 100 cards) of Nintendo video game themed cards. Each card is from a classic (well, I suppose when they came out the games were modern) Nintendo games: Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Punch-Out!!, and Double Dragon. Each game has a series of cards (1 through 10 or more) that you must follow in order to play the game. On the backs of each card are the goals on how to advance, and you scratch off a random circle on the front to see what you get. Sometimes you need an arrow to move forward like in Mario, or you might need a boomerang and a heart like in Zelda. Here’s some closer pics:

These cards are just awesome. The art is so retro, and the limited use of them makes them nice to have as a collectible. I just might have to find some of the ones I have extras of and give them a go. I wonder if they still are able to be scratched off: They’ve been in that attic for upwards of two decades! Each pack of cards (when they were still in their respective packs) also came with one game themed sticker that had a strategy or tip for the game on the back. I’ve also got a full collection of those! Sweet!!

So there you have it, all the game related stuff found right next to where I sleep every night. Strange…
Anyway, take care, and keep on gaming!

Laters,
Jsick