Confessions of an 80's Hoarder - Vol. 1

Were you a child of the 1980's? If so then maybe you understand my love for the decade. Sometimes I can't remember why I walked into a room, but I can clearly remember my days of childhood from the late 1970's and early 80's. I have a special fondness for 80's toys, collectibles and memorabilia, and I've managed to hang onto many of my own belongings from that time period. I thought it would be fun to use this Momma Musings post to take a walk down memory lane. Want to see what I've hoarded away all of these years? I'll share with you as long as you don't laugh at what I've saved.

This post is part of a series on my site called Momma Musings, where I share personal thoughts and feelings. I hope you'll check out my other posts, too, especially if you enjoy this one.

Here are the rules for our walk down Memory Lane: No touching or removing items from packaging (they're worth so much more MIB!). Nothing is for sale so don't ask. And don't question why or how I saved these things for so many years because I really don't know the answer. Okay, now that we have the rules squared away, let's go! Keep your hands safely inside the vehicle at all times, please. We're off!

That's me in the 1980's, sitting by the pool and reading a library book!

First stop on 80's Memory Lane is my entire sticker collection. Sticker books, extra stickers and all. Some are still in the original packaging (you can actually see more of my sticker collection here). Some of them I considered so rare that I didn't want to trade them, and kept them in my sticker file folder (alphabetized, of course), waiting for that perfect trade to come along. Apparently, I'm still waiting!

Next up is an actual boxed version of Cat's Eye, which was one of my favorite games as a kid. My sister got this for me at a flea market recently because I had to have it. Now I'm not sure what to do with it and my husband keeps moving it around the basement, probably questioning why he married me.

In the hall closet you'll find my original collection of Matchbox cars. I affectionately called them "Carzees." My sister and I played Carzees often; not so much with dolls or typical girl toys. I loved my Hot Wheels and Matchbox! Some of these cars had names or belonged to imaginary drivers. Oh, look, here's Aunt Betty and Uncle Ron's car, a green flip-top Corvette (which was nothing at all like their real car, much to their dismay, I'm sure).

And there was nothing I loved more than this fold-out Hot Wheels Country Life mat. It came with plastic houses and I loved the smooth feel of the road under the car wheels when you drove them around. My son actually played with this when he was little, too. It's one of those toys that never gets old. You could box it up, snap it closed and carry it like a suitcase.

I couldn't possibly get rid of the beautiful dollhouse that my dad built for me (it even has LIGHTS!!), so it's also in my basement. The Manilow family lives here- Barbara (who is a Betsy Clark doll), her husband Chocolate Mouse, and their two sons, Fuji and Beary. Beary is famous- perhaps you've heard his music?

I have several (okay, many) of my childhood stuffed animals, including Softy the Panda (which I recently put on my bedroom shelf because his color markings resemble our dog Spot). I also have an entire collection of 1980's Sanrio and Hello Kitty items. I never wanted to use the erasers *too much* in case they ran out completely- and thank god I still have them 40 years later, because it's so hard to find good erasers these days!

If you're looking to do some light reading, you can grab this copy of Star Hits Magazine from 1985, which somehow remained untouched under my childhood bed for most of my life. I saved it when I moved out because, well, there was a pull-out John Taylor poster in there and who could possibly throw that away?

Doesn't everyone still have their original lunchbox from elementary school? No? Well, here's my Shirt Tales lunch box complete with Thermos and my name labeled on the front with a label maker! Boy, those things are durable!!

You never know when you're going to need a cute notebook, so I saved these Sanrio and Hello Kitty "rare" notebooks for 40 years in case a massive paper shortage sweeps across the earth.