[scarecrow]

This is a good question.

I'm a bit younger than a lot of posters here, but I grew up with my grandparents and my uncles, so I was exposed to all the 80's stuff, be it toys, music, or television. I love all those things, not only because Transformers, Joes, etc. are cool, but mainly because of the memories I shared of these toys with my uncles, who were more like my big brothers.

Comparatively, the toys that I got into on my own, like Mighty Max, Fistful of Aliens, etc. died and they are never coming back. Although most new properties these days are cool in their own way, they just don't have staying power because they are rehashes of the same old. Not to mention a lot of these television shows will never be watched by fathers and sons, but put on as a means to get the kid to shut up.

In the same way the shitty music that's out today will always pale in comparison to David Bowie, Public Enemy, Johnny Cash, so on and so forth.

I think it's because all these things are cool because they are original and well thought out, and everything else beyond them never had a chance. The 80's toys are tried and true, and like music, we'll always turn to the originals because they have already proven appealing. I think it will be in a rarity in my generation for people to have the same appreciation for old things because they're always pushing forward. There's no time to look into the past.