BUILD YOUR ARMIES! RetroBlasting Vintage Action Figure Review

[@squidsminion]

I had 2 Chewbacca’s growing up so I could recreate those “great” scenes from the Holiday special.

[@Knightrogue24.]

Cort Foss; it wasn't that bad, yeah everyone looks like they're not wanting to be there especially during the holiday season which is winter. The cartoon was pretty good; the introduction of Boba fett/The super armored stormtrooper character in concept idea's was pretty good for an Empire strikes back prequel before boba was brought into the movie. The only thing that was a mess was the imperial scenes; the cantina scenes, any of those scenes of which were a mess. If only there were subtitles for when the wookies were talking to each other.

[@Certified-lacmac-moment]

Fat O O F

[@T.R.R.Jolkien]

😂

[@a.calder8217]

Transformers had army builders in the form of Incecticons, Scourge and Gnaw.

[@xwing-isaac]

I was given my parents' old star wars figures, and it gave me a royal guard, capeless vader, an at-at driver, farmboy and bespin luke, bespin leia, tusken raider, snaggletooth, ackbar, gamorean guard, and a bunch of others, but it had two snowtroopers as well! It was nice having large armies for the rebels and imperials to use in play. It also gave me lots of figures to develop on their own.

[@ravendjaxis]

this was why i both adored flea markets and masters of the universe. loose and cheap made it extremely easy to army build, and you were usually only a cheap baggie away from arming said army. one of my "best" childhood finds was a bag of 8 stormtroopers for $4. had to break out the paint and glue to make them fully ship shape, but was soooo much worth the effort. on the motu front, despite the prevalence of armies in the show, they almost exclusively ignored them for toys. by either licensing snafus or choice, they kept the heroes and baddies almost 1 to 1 using unique characters. best of both worlds for me. that being said, the newer motu classics line, had issues, but offering amazing army building options was not one of them.

[@christiancampagna2229]

Back in '96, Toys R Us had a $2.99 sale on all Star Wars figure. My buddy Mike bought 22 Storm Troopers in one shot. They sat in the trunk of my Camaro for two months.

[@delvis7842]

I am making peg figures for my son, and am going to include multiples of the same figures for this reason!lol

[@delvis7842]

yep. 1 1/4" peg dolls figures approximately 4" tall. he's 2, so they are about perfect for him

[@LucasBuilds]

I grew up on the 2nd Power of the Force line-- I had 0 stormtroopers, so stormtrooper luke had to pull double duty as a regular stormtrooper.

[@Hurricanelive]

My first army builder was 10 v.2 crimson guardsmen. Early 2000s I got way too many 2, 3, and 6 pack troop builders and mailed away for dozens of BAT Boxes through alt addresses. Got sick of infantry, vipers, and bats so fast.

[@cliffyk3380]

Great video, but transformers also shared the same problem. The Insecticons could clone up to the 1000's which would make playing out certain episodes impossible. Then in the pilot megatron is surrounded by dozens of Reflector clones and Purple Seeker jets, which they later wrote out but still Shockwave must of had an army of these while still on Cybertron. Also the Reflector clones turn up again only with truck alt modes which I always thought Kupps mold was originally planned for, oh god and Movie Sharkticons aarggh it goes on.

[@KasumiKenshirou]

There were also the guardian robots, which were blue and white versions of Omega Supreme.

[@cliffyk3380]

RoboP at least though with gi joe there were plenty of KO solider figures also to build up generic troops, though with other lines you were screwed

[@wanderingoryx3710]

Part of me disliked army building because of finding multiples in collecting card packs. Looking back it could have been something.

[@RetroGamePlayers]

Barbie Man Package LOL

[@MozziMono]

I only have one Cobra soldier and is enough for me. When I take pictures of combat situations I duplicate him with photoshop.

[@scarman470]

Sooooo trruueeee!!!!!

[@wakuseimoe]

I was lucky enough that my dad was into lots of the same things growing up. He had the 12 Joes when he was a kid and knew the pain of not having enough badguys. He recognized standard troop figures and made sure I at least had 2 of them, especially the villains which I always found more compelling. He even went so far as Frankensteining new figures out of broken ones, sometimes even painting them up as new characters.

[@wakuseimoe]

@@Forest_Giant Dad was born in 1950. Joes were great for posing for artwork. I don't see anywhere in my comment that specifically said Star Wars, but seeing as how I was a toddler when the films started releasing I see no issue. I can't recall exactly what age I was when the figures actually got into my hands, but it was probably around the time Empire released. My dad was a big comicbook fan and took me to all the original releases. I was a very well behaved kid.

[@OIFEagle]

When I was a kid I got the Death Star playset and FIVE Stormtroopers. Best parents ever!

[@davidstevens6705]

THAT is lucky! You did have the best parents!

[@rubbersausage344]

OIFEagle I had an at-at and a couple of snowtroopers and it was great

[@Certified-lacmac-moment]

😒lucky

[@SecretGalaxyTV]

Every collector has their piece that they just can't pass up whenever they see it. For me, it's vintage Boba Fett. Nice job on the tribute to a different kind of collector.

[@Strawberry92fs]

I find it amusing that you had the idea of having a large number of boba fetts before the clone wars established that's exactly what Emperor Palpatine was doing. Collecting as many clones of Jango Fett as possible. Thinking of it...I've never seen you and Emperor Palpatine in the same room...Suspicious.

[@cerethpainting6606]

Love toy galaxy! Love retro Blasting! So much great content

[@mightybluespider]

I buy Star Wars brand lightsabers ONLY at garage sales every time I see one for $1

[@smallmanbigmouth2699]

I was literally just going to comment about the Boba Sett and Dan over at Toy Galaxy...a GREAT channel÷

[@theCAPOSHOW]

Just scored a 79 boba fett for 15 bucks! The hunt is fun and adrenaline rushing!

[@toypolloi]

Like all collecting you can get sucked in to paying to much for army figures. But the collection I have, the one you showed in the video, has cost me very little. If you are patient you can army build for next to nothing. I have 180 figures in my imperial army. None cost more than £2, and that includes x2 imperial dignitarys, x2 luke storm troopers. If you are impatient, it will cost you. There are hundreds of thousands of these figures out there. Just wait and they will turn up.

[@JosephProductions]

P.s your channel is great for restoring. I'm in the US but to me £2 is cheap for Kenner stormtroopers Also you have a great collection.

[@UNCVTTARCHIVE]

JosephProductions that's pounds dude

[@UNCVTTARCHIVE]

JosephProductions it's around $2.50 usd

[@JosephProductions]

I know what pounds are. I found out the prices :)

[@JosephProductions]

Well we aren't talking about the prices of the figures today, We're talking about the original price.

[@wyatt2673]

It took me 9 years to find a stomtrooper on the pegs... I still remember turning down the toy isle and seeing a grown man shoveling stormtroopers and at-at drivers in to his cart and then I realised why I never see any troopers.

[@bluedonkey9963]

What an asshole

[@robotech987654321]

I just used chalk as my Stormtroopers

[@Emperor_mtn_Dew]

You poor, poor soul

[@Ilse446]

HA SOME same

[@mangodoesntcare]

Very relateble

[@Certified-lacmac-moment]

That must've sucked

[@dandondayrit4471]

That is why LEGO is the best

[@franciscahernandez3678]

Thats ture

[@mangodoesntcare]

Yeah, there is battle packs, my brother wanted to buy FIVE OF THE 501 BATTLE PACKS, TO MAKE A MOC

[@RealMasterpieces]

@@mangodoesntcare I would if I could honestly

[@bluedonkey9963]

@@mangodoesntcare them things are impossible to find

[@TaylynneArchive]

True

[@formbx257]

Great video! I never really thought about army building like that. I think the you-already-have-that-one philosophy stuck with me into adulthood, sadly.

[@retroblasting]

Thanks man! Yep, for me as well. Though I did get my squad of Stormtroopers back in 2008 finally. Now I've gotten my Cobra squad together.

[@TheUnboxer073]

All I wanted Squads not 500 infantry.

[@mattleuty5285]

Just watched and see, I was right. A fantastic video and the comment about rich kids and Stormtroopers is completely accurate. My best friend at school of course had the AT-AT, the Falcon and between him and his brother, must of had at least twenty Stormtroopers. To be fair, he did let me take a couple home after a sleep over at his, which was good of him. Finally can I just say that it was great seeing Melinda and my, what a huge cat you have!! As always, love and support to you both.

[@retroblasting]

+Matt Leuty thanks Matt!!! Hope to meet you in person one day!

[@mattleuty5285]

Now that would be a dream come true!!!

[@Forest_Giant]

Of all the comments here, most of being either poor memories or lies, your comment is the most genuine.

[@1314Bn]

Try army building with hot toys storm troopers

[@cameroncarr3413]

*shudders*

[@soterioncoil2163]

no, that's scary. I'd have to be stinkin' rich.

[@innercircle8014]

Ballin

[@jefffox1012]

That would be TOTAL cancer for the wallet.

[@BubblesTheBard]

RIP to my wallet and dignity. I so badly want a Hot Toys Hellboy, but goddamn theyre all $500+

[@Gootie29]

For my birthday in 1978 I got a whole bunch of Star Wars action figures. I guess my cousin had gone to a department store to get some of the brand new toys and had to practically fight her way through the aisle to get them. She just grabbed whatever she could and rushed to the register without looking at them. Since all I got for my birthday that year were Star Wars toys I ended up with 4 Stormtroopers, 2 Jawas, 2 Sand People, 2 Han Solos, and 2 Death Squad Commanders, Greedo, Snaggletooth, Walrus Man, and Hammerhead. I was just a dumb kid though and remember being disappointed I didn't have Luke. Still, all those proof of purchases went toward getting Boba Fett in the mail.

[@darrellr267]

Would have been nice to have some vintage Rebel Fleet Troopers to battle the Stromtroopers. Thanks Kenner for not making any until the 90s

[@rogerclarke1398]

More gold from Retroblasting! Thanks Michael and Melinda! One thing not mentioned, and it might be just unique to my own childhood; I dunno. But it seems that unless you specifically make certain requests for Christmas and birthdays, people tend to default to whatever character/item is available from the heros side. For me, I've had plenty of good guy characters (but nothing generic) for both my GI Joe and Star Wars figures as well as vehicles. Never any Imperials or Cobra troops. Perhaps there's some psychological inclination to go good guy when it comes to gift giving? I wonder if anyone else ever experienced this.

[@retroblasting]

Interesting point. I know I was always a good guy fan as a kid.

[@Tex-hh9rx]

And here's the inevitable Tex comment, just a few (ahem) months late... 11:09 KITTY!

[@TrixiLovesYou]

I got a second Bespin guard from my mom and when I said that I already have one, she was like: "ok, but aren't there more than one guard on Bespin?" But I never had even one standard stormtrooper.

[@kennethmalone4689]

We weren't "rich" but I didn't have a problem aquiring army builders because my parents went to garage sales. I still have my stormtroopers and other figures.

[@johnbutler1323]

I sacrificed buying aliens to buy a couple of extra stormtroopers in 78. So I had three stormtroopers to hang out with Darth Vader and the Death Squad Trooper. I never had any more than that, though.

[@80sfreak42]

You're still awesome

[@bentonrp]

I've had enough! As of this yesterday, I have been sculpting AND cast molding my own stormtrooper army using polymer resin. Rebel soldiers too. So far, so good, and I finally have a stormtrooper in an action pose, not with his legs together like a toothpick. I should have done this a decade ago!!! Your video was prophetic to show up on my feed- Well done.

[@koshar44]

Wow Mike. Your credentials shine through! Great episode. Why am i emotional? The same reason we still play(collect) with toys. lol Takes us to a simpler time when adulting and reality weren't such a damned priority. Keep it up!

[@retroblasting]

Thanks man!

[@JosephProductions]

Michael seriously... You need to be a toy designer. I would buy everything you designed.

[@cybertronnation9247]

JosephProductions yes he does need to be part of a toy company! Then the 1980's will be back?

[@sackofham]

I vote in favor of the army of cats.

[@p.mc.4449]

An army of cats like Melinda's, no vacuum would be safe. Hahaha.

[@markgreenwood5604]

Says the person who won't have to care for, feed, and clean up after them...

[@gc6096]

sackofham same

[@TheReverendJonnyNemo]

No stormtrooper ever crapped on the rug

[@bent540]

lol! the 3pack stomtroopers blew my mind!!!!

[@1980StarWarsGuy]

You can also pass pilot Luke Skywalker as a regular x wing/snowspeeder pilot

[@tankacebo9128]

i always asked for the troops. i grew up in the prequels era, and i was always asking for more clones, stormtroopers, and battle droids. i'm more of a vehicles guy, even now. i still collect and have some from my childhood. my dad loved that too, he would always get me one more model of my favorite tank, one more clone, stormtrooper, or super droid. he passed away a month before my birthday, and while cleaning out his closet, i found my birthday present he intended for me. mind you, i'm 23. he always morally supported my hobbies. he got me an ARC trooper. the expanded universe kenner branding one. he even left the price sticker on it. i honestly didn't know how to feel about it, on the one hand, my dad died, and this was probably something he bought a week before his heart attack, and on the other, even pretty much at death's door, he cared about me and my hobbies. plus the trooper is by far my favorite figure, red being my favorite color. either way... it's got a nice space on my shelf separate from the rest of my collection. My dad was one of those guys who nobody disliked. nobody could say a bad thing about him when he died. he was a good man, and the world is worse off without him, not something that can be said for a great many people these days.

[@skabcat242]

Back in the day even just getting two stormtroopers would make me happy. As an kid having a small army was what made playing with action figures awesome.

[@tonywilliams6428]

Likewise, Birthdays and Christmas were my best bets for army building thanks to a complete and total lack of communication between my parents and relatives/friends. One Christmas I got two Snowtroopers to go with the one I already had. On the flip side, I likewise ended up with two Admiral Ackbars and General Madines :/

[@TheJohno95]

What kept me in multiples of a few figures were those awesome Sears toy catalog collections. My mom and dad would get those things. So, the playsets would come with a few figures and the figures would in three packs, too. So, I tended to have a couple of each enemy. I loved my multiple Cobras. Which meant the Cobra troop and officer that came with the Cobra Command center. And the ones that came in the packs. Had to love Sears back in those days!

[@Badgers0710]

Growing up and having a job means living out what you wanted as a kid. Hence why I aim for around 3 troops to flank the named bad guys. Maybe this is why I'm broke often...

[@johnr7279]

Yeah, a 3 pack would've been a SUPER idea. Even the idea of having the 3 pack troopers have some slight variations between them although that would have come with a price. I think if this had been done this with the original Star Wars, it would have totally caught on with other toy lines.

[@leeprice2849]

The Valor vs. Venom Gi Joe line was what was needed in the 80's I picked up several different ones when they came out.

[@secracium]

I remember using logic on my parents at five years old whenever I wanted another Stormtrooper. I only had maybe four of them, but I specifically remember my mom shooting back with "Don't you have that one already?" and I countered with something along the lines of "there's hundreds of them in the movies and I only have one. That's hardly a match for Luke and Han."

[@karlepaul6632]

Oh yea...I have a pretty insane "At-At for Christmas" story I'd be more than happy to share sometime (hint:I had to stay under an allotted amount of "demerits" from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day!)...and sorry for the War and Peace novel length comments...

[@joeriveracomedy]

2 things. 1. More Melinda. 2. It NEVER occurred to me ep 7 had toys. Im dumb

[@retroblasting]

That's up to Melinda. She doesn't like being on camera much.

[@ImRobertFinnerty]

From one introvert to another, I totally understand that.

[@brianomdahl8377]

Episode 7 and Episode 8 had toys. And the toys - like the movies - sucked.

[@danieljohn4355]

My dad worked night shift, slept during the day. We were middle class, but I guess he spoiled me cuz he wasn't always around. He hooked me up with: at least 2 stormtroopers, 2 tie fighter pilots, 2 tie fighters, 2 speeder bikes, 2 biker scouts, 2 cobra troopers, 2 cobra officers, and more multiples I can't remember, plus tons of other figures and vehicles. Thanks dad, loved all of it. I sure as hell appreciated it, but I sold it thru my teens. Sucks.

[@danieljohn4355]

oh yeah and 2 cobra eels. freakin' sweet childhood.

[@slowmoe1686]

2 Tie Fighters DAMN! He was real generous :D Anyway, my 90s TIE fighter that I had somehow turned green in storage, so I feel your pain lol

[@TheYottaTube]

An Army of Cats, haha. Or an Army of 20.000 Subs.

[@retroblasting]

Dang right! haha

[@TheYottaTube]

***** Thanks :)

[@1980Triumph]

LOL, I am guilty of HOARDING I guess, I have 20+ Silver plated Cobra Commanders and 20+ Super Powers Superman's...these were my favorite characters and toys from the 80's so I FOCUSED....LOL.

[@davidstevens6705]

I'm guilty of hoarding Velociraptor toys!

[@timh9834]

My big thrills as a child was somehow obtaining 3 GI Joe crimson guards and 2 Star Wars snow troopers. Otherwise, I was the type you described that had to choose between getting a new figure or getting a duplicate figure. Consequently, I ended up with four or more different Luke Skywalkers, but only one Storm Trooper! Regarding the adult collectors who army build with the original 1980s toys, I've long suspected that much of what drives toy collecting is the thrill of being free to do what one was constrained from doing as a child. And, for what it's worth, it's a lot cheaper and simpler than collecting mistresses like some adult males do............

[@kumachan9311]

I used to wish they'd make plaster molding sets [For Stormtroopers] so you could make loads

[@elijahblechman8633]

my dad never paid attention when i would start to army build, if he would begin to notice i would tell him, since it was my toy and i was the one finding enjoyment he did not care how many of the same toys i had.

[@robertdanker6193]

I also want an army of cats!

[@gabriellaaidan]

You have your fifth birthday at showbiz pizza place now that's cool and receiving Star Wars action figures awesome so retro blasting keep up the good work I love your videos 😀

[@Daldi564]

army building is pretty common on the Doctor Who toy line as well. with the Doctor having fought so many enemies, army building was and is a thing. as a Dalek fan I can't stay away from a Dalek toy because like Stormtroopers, I'd like an army of them

[@YourUncleBenis]

To be fair, though, I don't think there's gonna be a Dalek shortage anytime soon.

[@Daldi564]

Ben_ToaofFire indeed. the Daleks have never truly disappeared and they will most likely remain so as long as Doctor Who exists. where there's a Doctor there's always a Dalek

[@Daldi564]

Larry Bundy Jr that's true. because he/she (Missy) is a Time Lord that means that the Master will also never truly disappear due to regeneration being important to the show

[@Daldi564]

Larry Bundy Jr indeed but she never made much of an impact as the Master did anyhow

[@lukehammond8160]

@@Larry we need the Meddling Monk back!

[@seibervideo]

Fantastic video! As for Star Wars, I played a fair bit of Star Wars Miniatures game and have a ton of generic troopers. Good times for RPG sessions at least. Really wish I had an army of Cobra Vipers. I'll have to start hunting. ;)

[@TheNightBadger]

Ahhh... good times with RB! There was a guy on YoJoe (I think) that had a thread about collecting as many Snow Serpents as he could. He said he wanted to see if he could impact the going rate for the figures (not sure how true that is - it still seems crazy to me). He had something like 40,000 of them I think. I only ever managed about 2 Cobra soldiers and maybe three or four Stormtroopers (a couple good condiditon, a couple I'd swapped that were beaten up). Congrats on the 20,000 subs.

[@retroblasting]

Thanks Badger!

[@wuebboltc]

I've got a small squad of stormtroopers (albeit from the lines of the past few years, but hey, I'm a millenial so I can't help it) -- 8 mooks plus a sergeant. I'm always open to receiving more.

[@FrankieDeCellio]

I'm 11 and I love ur vids and I have allowance and when I save up ten dollars i go to the store and buy a Stormtrooper from ep 4,5,6 ext...... Now I'm at 5 and I'm asking for some for my bday next week and then x-mas and then I'll post a vid

[@JosephProductions]

Star Wars Nerf Blogs I hope you do kid same as me

[@FrankieDeCellio]

JosephProductions thanks I'm giving u a shoutout in my next video 😀😀👍👍

[@FrankieDeCellio]

JosephProductions nice😀👍

[@RaytheMagician]

Hey Mike and Melinda! Thanks for another great show, and yet again, bringing back some wistful memories of my childhood! You two are the best! Actually, I was pretty lucky in the sense that though my folks were happy to get me a Star Wars action figure when they could, but I was caught between maximizing the variety of figures in my collection versus building an army of Rebel or Imperial forces. And it wasn't easy to do that when there were only so many figures available at any given time. Plus, couple that with me wanting to maintain accuracy (i.e. not having Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot double as a generic Rebel pilot) and it was a conundrum. Therefore, the most I ever ended up with as far as Imperial stormtroopers went was three. Imperial snowtroopers: two / Rebel Soldiers: two / Imperial Biker Scouts: two Fortunately, Hasbro has made army building considerably easier. If one was to get one of every Imperial Stormtrooper release, and all the variations, you'd have a battalion easy. The same with Rebel pilots, whom Hasbro has been releasing as specific pilots. And not just Luke, but Wedge, Porkins, Biggs, Garven Dreis (Red Leader), etc. And as far Clone Troopers go? Good grief almighty, I've lost track! LOL!

[@1991pullo]

Late to the party but I have changed my focus from vintage action figures to modern miniature soldier modeling. Definite emphasis on the army building aspect and it's a hobby that let's you live within a grand narrative.

[@maxbrandt6]

We need to find a time machine and send Michael back to 1980 and then put him in charge of the Kenner Star Wars line! THEN the correct decisions could be made to make the original toyline perfect with none of that myopic soccer mom bs they did.

[@retroblasting]

Let's work on this!

[@WyzGyzEntertainment]

When I was collecting I always wanted loads of OG stormtroopers and Biker scout troopers. Every time I watched the movies I’d get jealous of the emperors mass armies.

[@joeforce432]

As a kid the only troop building I ever accomplished were those Micro Machines packs of military soldiers and then the SW ones of the Ewoks, Stormtroopers, and X-Wing and TIE Pilots. For Kenner 90's SW figures I managed to get that Jawa 2 pack so that was the only 3 3/4 troop building I did as a kid. When I graduated high school right after AOTC and started working more I got that Entertainment Earth four pack of Clones and that's when I first started troop building as an adult collector. I have more clones than imperials I think. I have several Rebels of various types. I got like 3-4 Rose Ticos when they went on clearance cause her body is a great techy body. And I have like 6 TVC Klatuu's cause they were clearanced and I wasn't finding many of the skiff guards. My most favorite or coveted troop building has been the Legacy era SWEU Spacetroopers. I have six of those bad ass motherfuckers. Basically a stormtrooper encased in powered armor. I also try to get multiple figures of any TVC styled mandalorian characters for customs. But with recent price hikes that's gonna be less and less. Would love to get a four pack of sand people or bespin ughnaughts.

[@thomasdoubting]

I wanted enemy figures un-articulated in fighting poses like the arfix and matchbox armymen. I came 2 or 3 logical stepps away from realicing them in polimer clay, before my intrests... chifted (🥳💋) Maby I revisit them...🤫

[@alectuddles5845]

I turned 12 in late 1989. At that point, I was allowed to work on my own. I really wish that it would have awarded me many more Night/Frag/HEAT & Alley-Vipers...Instead it all just went to Pizza Hut and Phar-Mor to RENT copies of NES "Yo Noid!" and "Silver Surfer" for months...

[@yvngschema6991]

I found my fathers box of old vintage Star Wars toys, and he said I could keep them! He made his own money doing chores and going around his neighborhood doing lawns and walking dogs, so what to my surprise when I find a smaller box full of thirty or forty stormtroopers!!! I’m talking good condition too!!! He said I could sell some if I wanted, but no more than five or six as they had sentimental as well as monetary value to him. There was Darth, Luke, Han, Leia, Chewy, the like. Even the original Boba Fett... I don’t play with him, because I don’t want to damage him... lol.Tie pilots and THREE of the original tie fighters, two X-wings, the falcon, the AT-AT, even the B-wing, and (sadly) a few pieces of crushed printed paperboard from the play sets. I love playing with them, and I’m thirteen! Lol!

[@rictusmetallicus]

Try fleet building with TIE Fighters...i did.

[@retroblasting]

Yep. Have six. And I have three Skystrikers and Rattlers.

[@skyedragon6379]

Still have the same problem today. I do superhero displays and there are simply a lot more hero figures than villains. Perfect example, I have managed to build a 40 member Legion of Doom. Sounds pretty big until you realize in heroes I have a 25 member Justice League plus another 5 reserve, 12 members of the Green Lantern Corps, 8 Outsiders, 15 Titans, 12 Legionnaires, and 3 each Doom Patrol and Metal Men. So I try to get minions. But they cost usually the same. As a result I only have 2 Kree and 2 Skulls for example. Right now, thanks to a certain store, I am trying to get some Parademons for Darkseid as there I can get 4 for about what one would regularly cost. To offset the heroes numerical advantage I hit flea markets and buy up wrestling and robot action figures to use as various minions. Some day, you guys should do a video of the days before action figures when all we had pretty much were the 'green guys'. I probably had 200 or so and like 20 Germans and 8 Japanese plus about 40 cowboys so yeah, they each died like 40 times every battle too. 1960s, gotta love 'em. :)

[@philipwilcox6737]

I army built for quite a while, my poisons were 83 troopers and officers, 86 vipers, and 85 crimson guards, with 4 or 5 man squads of figures like night and alley vipers to spice it up. It was almost a mania- I couldn't have any Cobra figures that weren't distinct personalities without having at least 4...even hydro vipers and technovipers! the CGs and 86 vipers alone sat at around 100 +or -. Funny you should mention fire- an evacuation in my area ( good old flammable California Sierra Nevadas) opened my eyes and I sold them upon returning home. I now have just 1 pristine example of each, and a lot more room! I do miss having them displayed pouring out of the Terror drome ( however improbably) like pissed-off ants though...

[@admiralstone2456]

I have about 2 Stormtroopers in my army of vintage figs to guard Vader, as well as an AT-AT Driver, Death Squad Commander, Snowtrooper, and an Imperial Officer.

[@623professormartino]

I think I bought every stormtrooper from my friends for a dollar. Today I have 40 Stormtroopers. I also never lost a single weapon. When Kenner ran that four proof of purchases for Boba fet, I was able to send off for 12 of them. Because the advertised rocket didn't actually fire, they offered to exchange any figure in it's place. I opted to keep all 12 just the same. I am 50 years old today, and Hurricane Katrina robbed me of most of my old toys. But I actually evacuated with my collection of Star Wars figures, micronauts, Tudor electric football ( there were only 28 teams back then), and my AFX race set. Unfortunately I only brought a third of my cars due to an oversight. Good times, good times

[@LordAngron]

The Crystar figure you mention is actually an individual character named Koth, who was one of Crystar's captains. Kind of the Han Solo of the group. The others besides Warbow (bald) were Kalibar (purple features) and Stalax (turquoise featues as a standard figure and also as the non-poseable dragon rider).

[@mikesumner2827]

I had it bad as a kid, my mom would order the "generic" Action figures from the SEAR catalog. They came in something like 15 to a box. I had G.I. Joe's but only a couple vehicles.

[@jimtilley1158]

I remember when GI Joe was in it's 5th or 6th year. The Woolworths in my town stared selling year one GI Joes for half the price of the new joe's in other stores. They didn't have cobras, just the joes. So I did everything I could to raise money. I eventually had a shoe box of grunts, zaps, short fuses, rock n rolls. and thee stalkers. My buddy down the street was little better off and had a lot more vehicles. and more figures, however when he saw my joes with a small army of generics, all he could talk about was my army and wanted to know if they had any more. Nope I took 40 bucks and bought them all LMAO However these were the straight arm versions I wish I keeped a few in the the packaging.

[@jamesgarrison7397]

I had 15 Stormtroopers and 2 Biker Scouts as a kid, my Mother worked at JC Penny and one year got me a 12 pack of Stormtroopers, something I think only Penny's was selling, it was a great Christmas!!!!

[@soterioncoil2163]

Haa-haaaa you're so right!! I may've at most had two Stormtroopers and always remember wishing for more! I've slowly started collecting modern day Joes; even in my forties, if I gather enough I'll role-play with them (I don't care who thinks I'm crazy!).

[@DCFixxer]

I had like 10 Stormtroopers, 3 Snowtroopers, 2 Emperor Guards, and 2 Biker Scouts, but only one Gamorian Guard, Imperial Officer, Hoth Rebel, and the Black Man and White Man Bespin Guards.

[@Barada73]

The only vintage Star Wars figure I recieved multiples of as a kid was Lumat. So I had two archers for my Ewok death squad. Not exactly going to impress anyone with that set-up. My dog definitely wasn't intimidated, since she went into my room while I was at school and chewed the leg off of my Paploo figure.

[@donhoggard604]

I hit a ton of garage sales as a kid, building a decent cobra army for my few GI Joes (because they were always outnumbered) but around 11-13 I used them all as real canon fodder, shooting pellets and .22s at them, and making booby traps with fireworks. sorry guys who collect now

[@StewyAdamRules]

Okay, that one at 9:36 is ridiculous. How many Stormtroopers does one guy need. That’s probably like a fifth of all that were made or something.

[@captdan7876]

I've been addicted, ok... not "Addicted" but I really have a this draw to never pass up the AT-ST driver or Stormtroopers... LoL great video !!

[@Thor13332]

I admit that I had the army building bug for a few years. I built a large force of Stormtrooper/Clones and a even larger army of Cobra troops. Recently I've sold a lot of them due to space issues. I love the vehicles but those Skystrikers have wide wingspans. I've settled on a nice representation of certain types of troops. Not huge armies. I had four Rattlers but I slimmed it down to two.

[@ImRobertFinnerty]

I didn't have enough toys as a kid in the 80's for army building, but it would be a thing for me years later when I started playing Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. I still have some figures from when I was a teenager, but it was usually one figure for my character and then maybe a generic castle guard or goblin,etc. We made do with using dice as stand ins for other enemies, because it got really expensive and everyone usually had bags bulging with dice. Then you've got games like Warhammer or Warhammer 40k, that encourage you to buy large numbers of figurines and have a point system basing your army strength on certain characters. They at least had starter sets with several figures in them.

[@joejupiter4138]

Force building was pretty darned tough with Transformers, too. Good luck getting your parents to buy you a couple more Thundercrackers to match the padded Decepticon ranks in the first season of the show, or a bazillion Scourges for the movie and third season.

[@RMAILLER]

When I was a kid if I've gotten more stormtroopers I would have been disappointed because I already have one, I would have prefer new characters, now that I'm adult I think otherwise, so I disagree on your comment... the three pack stormtroopers would have been nice thou.

[@5poawesome238]

I'm such an army builder we actually 3d model army builders that were never made or are now very expensive or were out of scale and print them so I can have huge armies of things I love. (I only have 1 video on my channel but it's the first 5 figures.)

[@dukeofluns]

I think I'm in the minority in that I never minded having "one" troop builder. I just used my imagination and pretended that one was an entire army. Also, if I ever did end up with a duplicate "unique" character then one would invariably be a robot duplicate.

[@patrickfriel7957]

I remember having a small army of Stormies, but mostly just single figs. However, GI Joe blue shirts I had a small army, but it was the CGs and BATs I had a ton of. Now I still have a small army of all and if I see a good deal on Stormies (yellowed or not) or blue shirts I will drop everything just to bid them into my collection. If the seeker jets were not so costly I would buy a few extra to represent a few of the outliers seen in the early cartoons.

[@warface4881]

As a kid I had 2 Stormtroopers and 2 Snowtroopers so I felt like I was doing good. My friends thought I was lucky.

[@dbeas5]

I always wondered why Kenner never made a Rebel Fleet Trooper for the old Star Wars line. I would've loved an army of those guys. Has anyone tried to make one by swapping heads and repainting a Han Solo and a Death Squad Commander?

[@k.j.mascurus9212]

Always wanted a squad of cobra crimson guardsmen just so I could play out the infiltration storyline from the animated movie...

[@UnitSe7en]

6:40 Ho-Lee-Sheet. My eyes when I saw this. Can you _IMAGINE_ getting this at an 8-year old. Wow.

[@scottbinns318]

I painted my AT-AT driver black because I didn't have an AT-AT but did have a Tie Fighter. And does anyone remember the dome Death Star set made of cardboard?

[@TeddXplosion]

I collect Toy Biz X-men, I'm tempted to try Sentinels lol

[@StewyAdamRules]

I wasn’t around for Kenner but I did play with some of the more modern toys put out by Hasbro. I had six or seven generic clone troopers and another one or two special variants, but I only ever had one super battle droid for them to fight, so in my mind, the republic heroes fought a lot of generic earth army men hired on by Count Dooku.

[@magemarshall3139]

Some ... well the stormtrooper cabinet... is crazy My wife would be more than a little upset Lol

[@totalrobot]

Thanks to you army building jerks I gotta pay premium prices for a common Cobra Enemy. Leave some for the rest of us!

[@ilikecomicstoareallyproble8617]

My K-Mart had like 15 Parademons on clearance for like $2.00, and I bought all of them.

[@kennethmalone4689]

Army building was so easy for me. My parents went to yard sales just about every weekend and would pick up figures when they saw them.