MOC and MIB Collectors in the Eighties?

[He-Man]

Was anyone collecting MOC or MIB back in the 80’s? Obviously, most of us were kids. We got new MOTU toys, ripped into them, and the packaging got thrown away. We weren’t thinking collector value, just as our parents weren’t thinking collector value with the baseball cards that are actually worth something today. It would be interesting to hear if someone was actually collecting in this way, back then. Maybe someone a little older may have collected this way? How did a lot of this stuff survive? Was it excess inventory that just never got sold? Even when I started buying MOC and MIB, around the year 2000, this stuff was still pretty old. Some of it was approaching 20 years.

[Captain Atkin]

Looking back, I sure wish I did!

As a kid, I couldn't get the toys out of the packaging fast enough

[Mechanizor]

I didn't even know if there was even such a thing about collecting unopened toys when I was a kid. I've heard of people collecting coins, stamps, sport cards, comics, watches and antiquities.
I've had a good amount of toys but not the action figure kind, expect for MOTU, it was the only action figure line me and my brother had, other than a few giant robots here and there... And I lost all of them due to the constant moving, many were donated to other kids and the rest were thrown away against my will.

[man-e-faces]

'80's kid here. I collected numerous toy lines during that decade, including MOTU, G.I. Joe: ARAH, Star Wars, etc. And, I never considered keeping the figure(s) on the card. All of the toys were opened - even all of the vehicles. These were plentiful at the time, and there were a lot of retail stores (including of course TRU) that carried these.

It wasn't until the '90's that I thought about keeping toys carded/in the box (without opening them up at all). I think that by the '90's, a lot of these toys were becoming "valuable" (whether the value was just perceived or actual), so MIB toys/figures became much more sought-after.

[MIDOR]

Typical kid of see how fast I could tear into the packaging.

Never dawned on me nor never thought of or wondered what if.

Sure, it's super easy as we got a bit older to say "I wish I would of......." or "if I would have known....." or "if I had a time machine..."

But now that I'm made to think about it, think about it. How well would that have gone over with your parents? 7 year old you trying to explain why "X" figure/toy could be worth something in 10? 20? or even 30 years.

And there are those kids who wanted, say He-Man, but couldn't because their parents thought it was demonic or satanic. Ain't that a kick to the groin for any and all collectors?

[Andy]

I had some bendies or bend 'ems of the universal monsters figure that I had when I was little which I never got to open. I think they looked cool in their packaging anyways but Mom ended up selling them in the garage for sale eventually I think