The Good Ol’ Days: I (Also, 300th post!)

As I prepare to leave for college (25 Days!) I find myself getting a bit nostalgic and in turn, remembering events from my life that are memorable (duh), life-changing, or just a bit amusing. There are stories I’ve never told that I am just now remembering, so for the next couple of weeks I’ll be writing some entries into the series that I have lovingly dubbed “The Good Ol’ Days.” Enjoy!

The Power Rangers Toys ‘R’ Us Mob
I have this habit of collecting the latest, no matter what it is. I’ve done beanie babies (300, all in cases with tag protectors), Pokemon Cards (in a box in the basement, increasing in value every second), baseball cards (thousands), coins (hundreds), Pogs (I think I lost all of those :( ), and even those plastic furbies they gave out as toys in happy meals. The one collection that I didn’t mention, that is probably my most fun to play with, is my collection of Power Ranger toys. I’m not talking about all those new-fangled ninja warrior hyper extreme-oid power-up to the max ranger things, I’m talking about the original Power Rangers: Zach, Trini, Rachel, Tommy, Jason, and Billy. I have each of the characters, each of their zords(that all assemble into the megazord), I have the red blaster that turns into the dagger, I have the morpher, red-ranger gloves that make swooshing noises, tanks, bad guys (even a putty!), and countless other things. Here’s a quick gallery of some of my favorite toys:
































Yeah, it’s all pretty awesome! Anyway, getting all of these toys wasn’t easy, lemme tell ya. There’s one story in particular I want to share, and it happened when I was about 5 years old (the height of the Power Rangers phase). There was a rumor that Toys ‘R’ Us just got a huge shipment of Power Ranger toys in, so my family decided to go get some. We got there early, before the store opened, and waited in line. Yes, there was a line for action figures! Finally, the doors opened and the crowd of about 40 people ran in. I remember all of us stopping, one guy yelling to the counter “Where are the Power Ranger toys?!” and the guy behind the counter pointed to the back of the store.

Instant Mad House! Everybody just hauled, sprinting as fast as they could to the back of the store. I tripped and almost got trampled (I was 5, remember? Everybody else was an adult!) but scrambled back up and kept running. We got to the back of the store and they had 3 HUGE tubs in the middle of an empty area of floor, overflowing with boxes of toys. The crowd descended like vultures, grabbing toys and passing them off to family members with carts. They were screaming, stealing toys from each other, and generally acting in a VERY un-Power Ranger-like manner. In the end every single toy was taken and Toys ‘R’ Us was left in disarray as 40 people walked away extremely satisfied with their purchases. This is where I got my yellow ranger and my putty, which I still have to this day (see pictures above). That was my first “Wait in line for something in front of a store” experience and I loved it, which has led me to continue to line up in front of stores even now. I’ve lined up for Tickle-Me-Elmo, Furby, Wii (twice), Harry Potter (twice), and various Black Thursdays. I love it, it’s a part of who I am, and I’ll continue to do it in college!