Happy Sunday (which is when I am writing this)
I wanted to get this out yesterday, but other things came up, so here we are!
So when I was younger I was in an apartment fire, which is a hell of a way to start a story.
I personally lost everything, but luckily I was able to get out and so was most of my family, we lost our dog Noodles. I have held onto this pain for decades and have been uncomfortable around open flames (Fire pits, bonfires, etc) ever since. While I have been getting better at being around fire I know it can still trigger me and there is a lot of shame and guilt around it. (I promise this isn’t a completely depressing post despite how it’s going).
Some things were salvaged overall, but not much compared to what we had, and there was no replacing my dog. (this will not be that last time the fire is mentioned)
Eventually we moved forward, as best as we could.
We obviously moved, we did get another dog (Buddha), rebuilt our lives but it didn’t bring back what I lost. I wrote out a tribute to her memory for school and since then I have had pets come and go and learned how living things can’t be replaced or substituted, realistically you’re just redirecting your love. It was a tough lesson to learn but a valuable one I’m sure, even if I didn’t see it then.
But this particular blog is about stuff.
Not important stuff in the grand scheme of things, but stuff that was important to me as a kid, specifically me toys. Growing up I had to share the big stuff with my older brother, which means usually I didn’t get to use it unless he was gone; but my toys were mine and I had some cool stuff. Some were with me for ages, some were thrift store finds, most were gifts because I was a kid, and I didn’t have any real money. Usually my favorite stuff was bought by my mom, step-dad, and aunt. They didn’t spoil me, but they did what they could. Once my younger half brother was born, my dad didn’t do as much as they did (which I’m sure affected my relationship with him and the step side of things, which will also be mentioned in another blog).
While I was fond of a lot of my stuff as a child, the things that carried over from that time (the early to mid 90’s) were Star Wars, Power Rangers, X-Men, Batman, Gargoyles, and Biker Mice From Mars, amongst many others. I still collect Star Wars Stuff, and it is still very important to me for many reasons, some with Power Rangers (and now Tokustasu in general), and some Comic book stuff. But recently some companies revived part of my childhood I never thought I’d see again. Disney (for all it’s good and bad) has Gargoyles on its streaming service and Neca Toys has remade the Gargoyles figures!
A little back story about the Gargoyles.
I loved that show as a kid (mostly), and my step-dad somehow got a case of figures to split between me and his son from a previous marriage. Those were some of my favorite toys, so when Neca started releasing them I of course would get them or one of my best friends would track them down for me If I couldn’t find them. Seeing this from my childhood felt like it did something for my inner child. I didn’t realize how much they meant until I held them again.
In another amazing twist of fate, the company Nacelle released the Biker Mice from Mars figures recently. And thanks to my friend and his brother I was much closer to getting them. So for the Eclipse this year we went out of town to an eclipse party and stopped by to visit our friends toy shop (Faraday toys in Indianapolis ,Indiana) just to say hi and he told me an anonymous person (another friend) already paid half of these off and I was so happy and ready to pay for them to FINALLY have another piece of nostalgia back into my life. Well his mom convinced him (basically paid for) the other half as an early birthday gift, and I about cried. I was speechless. For years I would go on Ebay just too look at some of the old toys I had or see if I could find them for cheap, usually no such luck.
Now Thanks to my friends I have reclaimed a small piece of my childhood. I will also have a chance to read and maybe see the Biker Mice again in new adventures thanks to Ryan Reynolds (weirdly enough). While I don’t have the bikes, that is a future endeavour.
So Thanks Nacelle Company for making them, and Ryan Reynolds for backing this
Thanks to NECA Toys for bringin the Gargoyles back
But the biggest thanks goes to the team at Faraday toys, and my friend (who I will keep anonymous). I don’t think you’ll ever understand how much these mean to me.
If you are going to be in the area, please give Faraday toys some love: https://www.faradaytoys.com/
Nacelle and Neca have an online and in-store presence at select retailers
And Ryan Reynolds is a cool dude from what little I know. I’m not all up in his business, but I feel like I owe him a hug, handshake, or high five.
It’s nice to help heal the inner child. I don’t know if younger me would think I’m cool, and I’m definitely not living the lifestyle he would have wanted, but I am live a more realistic one and hopefully he would be happy for us. I you want to see some fun photos I do as a hobby (when I can) check out my other IG page here
Later da-….
Actually
Let’s Rock and RIDE!
~Owl
The World Through My Eyes 