The 80's culture has made a big impact on a toymaker from Illinois.

When I was a kid, I loved my toys. Especially, action figures like Star Wars, Super Heroes, G.I. Joe, and many more. There was a great toy store where I grew up and I would beg my parents to take me there. I wish I still had them all today.

Unfortunately, my Mom sold a lot of them in garage sales. She probably got a buck or two out of them and now they are worth a lot more. I kept a few special ones but eventually sold them because there's only so much room in our house for stuff.

I just found out about a toymaker in Illinois based out of Chicago. It's called "Death By Toys." It's heavily influenced by 80's toys and their merchandise is so cool I might consider starting to collect again. Who am I kidding, my wife would never let me, but their toys and story are pretty cool, so check it out.

According to chicagoreader.com,

Who is the founder?

"Death by Toys is a microcosm of 80s weirdness. Dan Polydoris, the Chicago-based online shop's founder and supreme leader, is a collector with a capital "C." As he explains it, his passion for toy collecting started early: during his childhood in the 80s, when Steven Spielberg had an iron grip on pop culture and Saturday morning cartoons had a godlike status among the youth of America. "It was a time when the show and the toys had a relationship that they don't really have anymore," Polydoris says. "Back in the 80s, it was such a formula of 'make a TV show and make the action figures to go with it.'"

How did ti start?

"Death by Toys began in 2010 as Chicago Toy Collector, where Polydoris cataloged his love of the 80s merchandising and nostalgia. While waiting for the birth of his son (and in lieu of a project to pass the time) he repainted Star Wars characters to look like Nintendo figures. It turns out junkers are cheap versions of popular action figures, and an Internet search verifies Polydoris's estimate that there are millions of them floating around eBay and at flea markets. Polydoris posted the recast Star Wars/Nintendo figures to Chicago Toy Collector for fun, and a story about them was soon picked up by the video game website Kotaku. Almost immediately, he started getting requests to purchase the figures, and a company was born."

I think this could be my favorite one of his creations.

"He took some cotton balls and made The Fog as an action figure."He was expecting pushback from customers unwilling to spend $35 on cotton in a plastic shell, but the figures sold out in minutes."

Picture of The Fog from the "Death By Toys" Instagram.

For more information about "Death By Toys," HERE.


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