I'm unsure if I kept my toy boxes for long or not. My memory is a lump of cheese.
I imagine I kept my Matchbox cars boxes as they were part of the fun of owning them and easy to keep.
It's bubble cards like Major Matt Mason's or Action Man's that I doubt I kept. They will have been binned early on in the play.
Huge boxes like the one the Major Matt Mason space station came in may have been held onto to keep the parts of the station in. That would make sense.
I remember my Project SWORD toy boxes but again I've no idea if they were retained to keep the toys in on my shelf.
What's certain is that everything got thrown out, toys, boxes, cards and all and this process was complete by late 1978. The majority of my toys will have been binned (by my parents I think but maybe it was me) by Christmas 1976, when I turned 16 shortly before I left Secondary school.
It's a shame I didn't think ahead and keep my old toys and their boxes but the boxes may have been chucked straight away anyway.
Did you keep your toy boxes as a kid or did they get binned early on?
I was a collector before I even knew what a collector was! I always wanted to retain the packaging to all my toys, but mom fought me tooth and nail.Looking back as an adult I see the reason was not an act of "parental cruelty"but simply lack of space in our tiny house.I didn't even have a room ,my bed was in a hallway leading to the bathroom!So, my toys either went on a shelf above my bed or under my bed.I disliked blister packages because you destroy it upon opening it, but I used to keep the backing, as it usually had cool artwork. Nowadays, I cut the bottom of the blister with a razor blade and slide the toy out...problem reasonably solved
ReplyDeleteGone as fast as I could open them! Matt Mason, GI Joe (I did have the wooden footlocker for Joe and his gear), Matchbox, Hot wheels, all gone as soon as they were opened.
ReplyDeleteJim
Sacramento, CA
If only we'd have kept the boxes and the toys eh Jim. Maybe they would have lasted longer? But kids are kids!
DeleteGenerally, I think the boxes were thrown out almost immediately, depending what the toy was. I may have held on to boxes for diecast cars for longer, but, like you, my brain turns to mush when I try to remember. I recall having a Daleks Rolykins box for years after the Dalek itself had expired, but the box didn't take up too much space.
ReplyDeleteThose little Rolykins boxes were lovely weren't they Kid. Maybe we need hipnosis to go back further in our memories!
Deletei have again some of my toys,but no more boxes.. ew
ReplyDeleteHey EW send me some pictures of your toys!
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