Gridiron figure

Erm, Steve Young. Never heard of him. The only Gridiron plater I've ever heard of is The Fridge, though I could not tell you his real name or who he played for. Okay, OJ Simpson and Dan Marino too, but I've only heard of them as they were in movies (and in OJ's case, the 9 O'clock news too.)

I did try watching Gridiron when it was pushed in the late 1980s, but I couldn't get in to it. The razzmatazz of the half-time shows didn't really get my attention and there didn't seem to be much content to the game beyond that. If I wanted to watch grown men wallop each other I'd watch Rugby (League or Union) as they do it without the Dynasty shoulder pads and with a lot more skill. I'm sure a few people here might enjoy it, but not me.

Anyway, back to the NGL Headliners figure, and we have this bloke called Steve Young playing for the red team wearing the number eight. This was given to me by a friend who I think must've got it from The States. Pretty sure it wasn't issued here in Blighty as catalogue has been spelt incorrectly. 😉

It's unopened though the blister packaging is a bit battered.

So, there you have it. Steve Young. Probably the 4th most famous Gridiron player in the world. Perhaps he needs a white goods nickname like The Tumble-Dryer as I'll never his real name!

Bendy Dinosaur

Here's another shelf-dweller for you, a bendy dinosaur. Let's call this one, ahem, a "cereal killer" because he came free with Kelloggs cereals in the late 1970s . Well, not free. You had to send away to collect them. Thanks again Internet for filling in the memory gap!

I think it's supposed to be a Bronotsaurus, but there's a fair degree of licence with the body shape and look of this particular beasty! By the title of this article you've probably gathered it can bend; Head, neck, legs, body, tail - all movable, so it is a little a little bit like a stop motion wire armature.

Quite cool, and this bendy dinosaur is still in decent condition too.

Star Trek 25th Anniversary Trading Cards

For the record, my preference is Star Wars all day long, but I like Star Trek too. So, that's possibly why I had some of these Star Trek 25th Anniversary trading cards.

There were two types of packet to collect, one was the Original Series and the other was The Next Generation. I happened to have a handful of packets of each - Naturally I opened them to see what was inside, but kept the wrappers too.

Thunderbirds

Dating back to 1992, these "Thunderbirds Are Go" cards by ProSet find themselves amongst my collection of random cards and stickers. They weren't something I was collecting, just like a lot of the things you may seen on this blog.

Shinpads

Seriously, the stuff I kept from my childhood amazes me. Perhaps I was keeping these shinpads from my youth for my kids, posssibly because they weren't in too bad a condition and maybe I would use them again, or perhaps..... no, I dunno.

They were probably kept for the same reason why I kept all my own football kits too; Posterity. Sure, I enjoy on occasion going through a hag of old kits and thinking "kits were better in my days" and "I wish new kits were still released only every 3 or 4 seasons."

Anyway, here's my first pair of shinpads from the late 1970s, early 1980s. Sadly I don't seem to have kept my next pair of childhood shinpads - Sondico ankle protecting shinpads endorsed by Bryan "Robbo" Robson.

Cadbury's - The Dandy and Beano card game

Some stuff you find and think "exactly how did I acquire this?"

This item falls in to that category. The "Cadbury's" bit helps as it would suggest it was a promotional item obtained through the purchase of chocolatey goodness, however, beyond that I'm stumped. I found out with some fine googling that it dates to 1990.

So, it's a card game with Dennis the Menace, Korky the Cat, Desperate Dan etc. I don't have the packet it came in (assuming it did have a packet) but a nice set of cards for a collector nonetheless.

Fiendish Feet

Do you remember Fiendish Feet from the early 1990s. Yoghurt in a novelty shaped pot, great marketing aimed at kids with persuasive powers :-)

To be honest I was in my late teens at the time, so I don't think I nagged for them but was more than happy to eat them!

Below is the "Fangs A Lot" mug.  Fangs was a strawberry flavoured yoghurt, which was my reward for eating lots of yoghurt and sending in some tokens from the yoghurt lids.

Dick Turpin!

Oh yes, ladies and gentlemen. It's everyone's favourite highwayman, Dick Turpin.....in colouring book format.

One of my favourite shows as a kid, I just remember watching it as a family and thinking Dick Turpin was cool. Dick Turpin was played by the wonderful Richard O'Sullivan.
Of course, when we played as highwaymen, complete with cap-guns and neckerchiefs, my brother decided he was Dick and I was his sidekick, Swiftnick, on account of my hair being blonder at the time. Happy days!

I think I've also got a Dick Turpin annual knocking around somewhere......

Want to find out more about Dick Turpin, or perhaps you fancy dressing and singing like a highwayman? Then check out these suggested items.

Dungeons and Dragons Hologram

Ah, the things you get free in a box of cereal! Most of these things end up in the bin, joining plastic packaging and nappies clogging up landfill and ultimately destroying the oceans and mankind (oooh, topical and political!).

Personally, I couldn't bring myself to chuck stuff, even if it was generally regarded as tat. Yes, eventually stuff would be binned but for some reason this one card evaded the waste basket and has found it self nestled in a shoe box full of cards and stickers.

Not much to say really other than it's a Dungeons and Dragons hologram foraged in a pack of Shreddies in 1986 (Thanks Internet for filling in gaps in my knowledge!)

An American Tail : Fievel Goes West

So, erm following on from the Alfred J Kwak pack, here's another random unopened pack of stickers.

So, as you can see, in Spansish conquers the west. The Pet Shop Boys would've been pleased.