G1 Optimus Prime. Believe it or not, my Autobots went leaderless for two years before I got Optimus Prime at a yard sale in 1986. I had wanted Optimus since the beginning, but for whatever reason, I was just never able to get one - early on, he was too expensive, or later, he just wasn't available in stores anymore.
I remember pulling up to the sale and everything was set up in the front yard. I did a quick scan and saw a bunch of stuff all laid out on blankets- no toys at all. I remember thinking, "well, this sale is a complete bust."
Then I spotted him, sitting on the far-right end of a picnic table bench, still in his mint-in-sealed-box glory.
We were still pulling in, but that didn't matter, so, naturally, I flung the door open and jumped out of a still-(albeit very slowly) moving car. I ran up to him, immediately grabbed him, and then noticed the price.
$10.
Now, $10 doesn't really mean too much these days, but, growing up, our family wasn't financially well-off by any stretch of the imagination, and in 1986, when our entire garage sale budget for the day was right around $10, it sure meant a lot.
Don't get me wrong, I had an awesome childhood, but spending $10 bucks on a non-birthday/Christmas purchase was a big deal.
Luckily, it was right after payday, so, after some persuading (aka begging), my mom indulged me and I was allowed to buy him.
The car ride home seemed like it took forever, even though it was really only about ten minutes. Once we got home, I cut the tape, ripped that sucker out of the package, and then proceeded to cut out the tech spec and the box art as that was the fate that a fairly decent percentage of my early G1 boxes met back at the time.
Finally, my Autobots had their leader. It would be years before I would track down his counterpart, finally getting a Megatron some time in the '90s, but I was always an Autobot guy as a kid, so that didn't matter too much.
So, yeah, G1 Optimus Prime...that's the best toy in my collection. Nothing else comes close.
MIKE
engledogg
