Hello fellow toy collectors! My name is Matt Ridgway. I'm a backhoe operator by day, masked vigilante by night, and I have a crippling addiction to chicken strips. I live in northern Texas around the Dallas area now, but I spent many years as a record store clerk in downtown Denver, Colorado, where my love of street art blossomed into the passion it has become for me today.
The first toy I remember falling in love with was a Masters of the Universe Battle Cat I got from a garage sale when I was a just a kid. It was, specifically, the battle-armor He-man and Battle Cat figure set from Mattel, but mine was missing the armor and had a few good dings and scratches on it. Despite all that, just the fact that it was a badass big cat, green with orange stripes fit all of my childhood criteria. Even the fact that it had no articulation didn't hinder it's coolness. At 5 years old, anything with bright colors, loud sounds, and the inclusion of some sort of exotic animal or dinosaur hooked me instantly.
Disney-Pixar's Toy Story was released just before my 6th birthday and it changed my life forever. My parents told me it was all real, instilling in me the belief that my toys actually did come to life when I was away. They even went as far as to move them around while I wasn't home or when I was asleep. I hated having to see toys locked away in packaging on store shelves so I would always ask them to buy me as many as they could. I talked to and played with each and every one, making sure I gave them a good home. I was collecting Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles, and Dragon Ball Z action figures before I was even in school.
Fast forward 22 years into 2017 and the same thing still pretty much applies, only now I have to buy toys with my own money rather than begging my grandma in every store she used to take me to. Today I collect art figures, vinyl and resin toys, along with both vintage and modern retail figures, like Playmate's amazing Nickelodeon Ninja Turtles line. I still talk to and play with all my figures, although I no longer believe they are alive like in the movies. That's probably a good thing, too, because I'm sure you've all seen at least one horror movie about toys coming to life to kill us all. Maybe that's what happens when you stop playing with your toys? Food for thought.