[Steevy Maximus]

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Originally Posted by K Dubious

So now fast forward 20 some-odd years to the technological age we live in now. I know there are still cartoons on today, but the toys that go along with them are hardly toys. I feel like there are more like statues, with little to no articulation. If you can't actually "play" with them why would a kid want it?

Ummm, you DO remember the toys you played with right? Aside from GI Joe (or lines derived from them), effectively EVERY TOY we played with, were 5 POA and largely unable to replicate what we saw on screen. Batman and Star Wars had DECADE long runs based almost entirely on 5 POA action figures.

We "couldn't play" with them either, didn't stop many of us from getting dozens of products related to them.

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Other than turtles which were brought back in 2013 I believe (I know they have been brought back a few times over the years) and are still being made by playmates the original company that made them in the 80's, I can't think of any other cartoon that makes quality toys based on the show.

Transformers (despite complaints) still makes damn solid toys based on its cartoons. Bandai's work on the attempted Thundercats reboot was pretty solid as well.
The sad fact is that there are simply fewer new "toy centric" cartoon properties being produced these days.

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I guess my point is that I feel the golden age of toys is over.

They are, and have been since the 90s.
Action figures are a declining segment, due in no small part to:
-increase costs from China, resulting in higher prices for the product
-Reduced retail competition (stores used to use toys as loss leaders, with less than half a dozen national chains actively carrying toys, and Walmart selling more than 3/4s of them, there is no incentive to keep prices as low as they had been), which has also lead to higher prices
-Combining the above to with a trend in the late 2000s to appeal to collectors (who generally demanded more articulation, paint apps and accessories) lead to further price increases. There is a reason a Star Wars Black 3.75 figure is now $12.99 compared to $5.99 for a Saga Legends figure (and no, it's not greed by Hasbro).
-Cultural changes (ie, the increased exposure to iPads and such)

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I wish that a new cartoon could be released that the future generations could stand behind and have it be their piece of childhood that could never be replaced. I like that we are still getting versions of TMNT, Marvel, and Transformers in movie form, I just wish that creativity still existed and that something new could come along and actually stick.

So...newer kids can't stand behind THEIR versions of TMNT or Transformers? We're reaching an age where kids who played Pokemon Red and blue are now adults with kids of their own. There are collectors on forums these days whose first Transformers series was Armada, which came out when I was in high school.

It's worth remembering that a HUGE reason we collectors even see stuff like Star Wars Black or Transformers Generations or Marvel Legends, is because there are millions of kids buying the Titan Heroes that help subsidize the cost of the collector stuff we so enjoy.