The obvious reason would be that those three were the main three lines that shaped my childhood. Sure I had some of DC super powers collection some of Marvel's Secret Wars toys but it was nothing compared to Thundercats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Masters of the Universe.
Funny thing is that even then Thundercats was the weakest of all three. I had a few characters but but they were mostly third tier guys like the Berserkers the Tuska warrior. By the time I was paid For attention To ThunderCats (the small gap between 1987 and late 1988-early 1989... Not entirely sure the exact dates.) Stupid Stupid ass Bengali was clogging all the shelves.
But despite it being somewhat of a filler line, Thundercats earned a place in my heart. I'm trying to give some respect to ThunderCats but truth be told like most kids I graduated from He-Man into Ninja Turtles. The 1989 Batman movie ring night at some of my love into superhero toys but it wasn't enough to break me from the grasp of the turtles. Aside 1994 Krang Android body my breaking point for the turtles was in 93.
Somewhere between late 94 or early 95 all the way till early 97 or maybe a bit sooner like late 96 was the Dark Ages. Around that time I shunned my collector ways and thought of toys as lame things. But even in this dark era I still got a few toys. Mainly the GI Joe scaled Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat figures. I had a Ryu, a Johnny Cage, and they were really lame toys but they have novelty Factor.
After the Dark Ages exploiting KB Toys three for ten bucks special in toy Biz Marvel superhero toys why is how I got back in the game I did dabbled in other figures like stuff from McFarland that back then was more kickass statue like but really crappy quality toys. Play bizwest able to grab me because by that time I was reading a lot of Marvel Comics. Age of Apocalypse, clone saga, onslaught, 2099, all that stuff was reeling me in and toys based on classic characters and then we had the cartoons; well they had me hooked and then Capcom's Marvel Super Heroes coming out... It was a great time to be a Marvel fan!
Little did I know that in the early 2000s I would have to fight for my childhood. Toybiz upgraded their toys into a McFarlane Style level of detail but with super articulation with that Behemoth we now know as Marvel Legends. then Mattel brought back He-Man with we designs made by former McFarlane sculptors The Four Horsemen. Wild at Turtles did make a comeback in 2003 they lost the bottle for my money because it was tied up with Marvel Legends and He-Man...
Mattel killed teh lien and Marvel Legends shifted to Hasbro which caused me to lose interest in Marvel Legends. I won't go into detail with the whole on and off relationship with Marvel Legends because I already did that when I was looking back at Marvel Legends.
SOTA got some of my money with Street Fighter, Where I was unable to get a Ryu. I was introduced to NECA via the Turtles. But says they're wearing that many lines at all to collect I doubled it in Transformers mainly looking for stuff that somewhat resembled G1, because nostalgia.
Then
So the hipster toy company gets Thundercats rights via deals with Mattel and Warner Bros. They also managed to get the rights to make Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys based on the original Playmates Toys. And get this: the ThunderCats and Ninja Turtle toys I going to be compatible in scale and some body parts with the Masters of the Universe classics toys.
This is merging 1986 me with 1988 me and 1989 me. How freaking cool/weird is that ONE toy company has pretty much a monopoly on my childhood.
Sure, I've dabbled in Bandai stuff, Other Hasbro lines, Takara stuff, but nothing beats my "Toy Trinity" being compatible with each other.
But that's not all there's the NECA Turtle stuff which is mostly compatible with Marvel Legends. The SH Figuarts Street Fighter that somewhat blends with Marvel Legends...
I can display crossovers or separate displays...
Hell, Turtles are getting TOON BASED and movie based toys from NECA... While Super7 is doing vintage toy based MOTUC Compatible TMNT figures. It's insane!!!
It seems that the 10s and 20s will continue the trend of worshipping the 80s-early 90s kids...
So to answer my own question I keep getting drawn to them, because they keep making them. not to mention that the 80s kids we're basically in the Golden Era of toys. Not the 70s, not the mid-90s stuff... (Though Marvel Legends is cashing in on mid to late 90s nostalgia with the retro waves). Well, that is when we look at it from the supply and demand pov. There is another reason why I keep being drawn specifically to those three:
They jump-started my imagination when I was a wee lad.
No disrespect to Marvel, whose comics helped shape my imagination as well, but it wasn't until the early 90s when my grasp of the English language was good enough to actually READ THE COMICS AND NOT HAVE THEM READ/TRANSLATED TO ME.
With the toys I had the basic premise and the dubbed episode of the cartoons to help me get the ball rolling in the 80s.
Nostalgia is obviously a great Factor. Sans destroys basically are links to the Past two or more innocent time. Back when I didn't know about the evils in this world, Mom was alive and encouraged me to dream. And while they're not exactly the toys of my childhood they are a celebration of said childhood.
And now that Mom's gone, clinging to nostalgia is the only thing I have when I need to be comforted. That sense of familiarity when everything is changing at an alarming rate. Seeing old friends who have been there with me through thick and thin...
My only problem is: too many collectibles too little cash!
Sure, sometimes I can buy a toy because it looks cool, or has a curious gimmick. But I feel greater love for a toy that I have some attachment to.
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