“I am the youngest of 4 boys. My mom had 3 boys with her first husband. I was born in the mid 80s and my father left us in ‘87. My mom worked 2 jobs and went to night school to become a nurse. That left my older brother’s to watch me at night. While other kids were watching Care Bears I was was forced to watch horror movies and listen to punk rock and metal. My uncle Joe was big into 80s Hard Core Punk in the early 80s and influenced us a lot through art and music. DRI, Misfits, Dead Kennedy’s and MDC spun regularly. Fuck, I miss the 80s/90s. I was the only kid in grade school with a Misfits shirt on in 1st grade 1991. I would dye my hair and wear Punk shirts to emulate my brother’s style. I loved the look and feel of Punk/Metal. I secretly loved the dirty looks people would give me. Of course I was singled out and made fun of in school for it. I eventually met others that were into the same stuff later on in middle school/high school.

Oh yeah, my Mom was and still is a huge fan of horror movies and Halloween is her favorite holiday. We used to go full out and decorate the outside of our house with scary stuff.     My uncle would form chicken wire around his arms and legs and we would make bodies to dress up as monsters. The neighborhood would love it.                                                           We used to keep the props in the attic next to my room. You would open the attic and see 5 bodies with Don Post masks on staring at you. My brother’s used to lock me there with them and I would be scared shitless. Good times!”

4. What is your top 5 toys you own and why?                                                                           ” No. 1: 1979 Xenomorph Alien by Kenner. By far my favorite piece I own. At 18” tall with an evil sharp chromed grin and a glow in the dark skull, how could you not love this classic Kenner toy! I love the history behind it too. When it was first released a lot of parents voiced their opinions on why Kenner would market a Rated R Horror Movie to kids. They said it was too horrific and scary. Kenner eventually caved and discontinued the entire Alien line.

                                    No. 2: 80s/90s Skull Force MOTU KO action figure by Toys N’ Things. I remember getting one at a local Big Lots back in the day. My grandma got him for me. She knew I liked Skeletor and MOTU so I guess she thought a bootleg was good enough lol. She was right. I loved it so much. His oversized skull with a gnarly crack dripping green (or red variant) blood. Fantastic bootleg.                                                  No.3: Ninja Assassins: Strikor by Select Toys 1985. I received this awesome MOTU KO action figure for my 4th birthday. He’s a nasty evil Reptilian Ninja Assassin with a complete arsenal of ninja weapons! This is such a nostalgic figure for me. It always reminds me of my grandparents.                                                                                               No.4: Original Purple Shorts/Halfboot Skeletor 1982. The OG Bonehead! He started it all. I loved creepy evil skeletons as a kid. Being a fan of scary stuff at such an early age, Skeletor was my go to bad guy.          No. 5: Super Naturals: Burnheart 1987. Another evil warrior! The bad guys always had the coolest designs! This guy looked like a walking furnace! I got the whole set for my birthday at Chuck E Chesse’s. Super Naturals were a huge clearance item after they were released. Since my mom was thrifty, she took advantage of that and bought the whole line for me. Great toy line!”

5.What is the one toy you are currently on the hunt for but have yet to find? Why has it been so hard to find?                                                                                                                     “One toy I am after is a version 1 Skull Man from Remco’s 1983 Warrior Beasts line. He is a Skeletor knock off. Mattel threaten to sue Remco if they didn’t change the head sculpt because it looked to similar to Skeletor. I have the revised version 2, but oh how I would love to get the first wave release! It’s an expensive piece that keeps going up and up in value. The longer you wait the more you pay, lol. Ugh. “