Why I Oughta...

Over the years, I've shared a couple of creative situations that our very own Elf on the Shelf named Goldie has gotten himself into in the overnight hours.  Last year (well...actually in January of *this* year), I posted a photo of him having a little breakfast croissants with a little dollhouse doll.    And in 2016, Goldie got a little confused and didn't end up enjoying the dog treats .  What a ham.   But this year?  He's leaning way into the fun by applying what I'd call an unconventional figure-four wrestling move on the Hulkster - Hulk Hogan.   I'm sure that the Elf did this to entertain the kids, but I also was the benefactor of my childhood memories being used to build shared memories. I've posted a few of my childhood WWF LJN wrestlers here on the blog over the years including Nikoli Volkoff (in his USSR red sweatshirt) , as well as a Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake MOC LJN wrestling figure and a Jake "The Snake" Roberts LJ...

All of the childhood feels with this one.  I've posted other LJN World Wrestling Federation Wrestling Superstars here on the blog.  Here's a Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake one that is mint-on-card, too.  And another of Nikolai Volkoff that my kids now play with as part of their toys. This one is of Jake "The Snake" Roberts and isn't one that I played with as a kid, but do have as an adult.  Weird, right?  This one has French (I think?) on it, so it was sold in Canada, maybe? Off you go to a good home.  While collectors like me have disposable income.  Don't want to become the Model-T of action figures, right?

That title is full of a bunch of jargon - when it comes to collecting action figures.  The "MOC" means "Mint on Card" and that's the way I'd describe this WWF Wrestling Superstar Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake.  But, why am I posting this?  Welp, it is because that Brutus, along with a more than dozen of his brethren are down in my basement.  All in boxes and still mint in their packaging/on their cards - unlike the set of wrestlers that I played with like this Nikoli Volkoff that I posted a few years back . There are stories about kids in the early 80's going hog wild on their Star Wars figures from Kenner.  I mean...there's even that documentary series on Netflix all about the toys.  But, I was born in 1978, so I was too young for the early Star Wars stuff.  But, I wasn't too young for the 80's-version of GI Joes.  And I loved them.  But, they aren't my 'toy touchstone' when it comes to my youth.  Nope.  It was thes...

Last Christmas, my parents moved out of their home down in Frankfort that I grew up in and lived all the way through my post-college years.   As part of that move, a bunch of items that my Mom had been 'keeping' for me came out of their attic and closets and ended up at our current place (and some in our storage unit).  Mixed in amongst the youth soccer trophies, press clippings and other artifacts of my childhood were a bunch of my 'wrasslers'.  That guy above - Nikolai Volkoff - is one of them. These were my most favored toys in my entire childhood.  Like....nothing came close to them.  Until the Sega Genesis.  But before that, these things captivated me like nothing else.  More than Legos, more than even GI Joes.   It was these bendable wrestlers from the WWF.  I had so many of them and loved them. And now, they're in the mix there amongst my kids toys.  I stick them in with their toys in their rooms.  The King of the Ball...