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Life in the 1980's
A quick look back at a decade of fun filled gadgets and memories from toys, electronics to books and hobbies that i remember from my childhood and hopefully you will find something that rekindles your 80's experiences.
 Mall Life: Smoking in malls was a thing.Hard to believe now but there was a time that this was perfectly accepted.There was large upright barrel style ashtrays and also ashtrays built into the side of the bench's. |  80's Fashion: Love it or hate it, the fashion and styles of the 80's were statements of who you were and what you were into at the time.I miss the variety. |  Before Mobile Phones: Back in the 80's you had two choices for communicating between your friends..the telephone (which your sister was probably using all the time) or meeting up at the mall of the shops and planning your day or checking out what new things we each had. |
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 Cafeteria's: I remember going into the city to the dentist with my mum and afterwards going to the top of the Myer centre for lunch at the cafateria.They had the best milkshakes and burgers and you would shuffle along a bench with a tray and pick your food and pay at the cash register at the end.Stainless steel cups and salt and pepper shakers and crinkle cut chips and gravy. |  Video Stores: Before the video chain stores like Video Ezy and Blockbuster, video stores were owned by mom and dads and was a family owned business.This picture shows exactly how those stores looked.So many weekends spent skateboarding down to my local video store and renting all those awesome sword & sorcery, sci-fi and horror VHS cassettes.Be kind...rewind. |  This picture has a nostalgic charm..its like the perfect place for a video store in the 80's. |
 AP Skateboards: This was a rare find.I had to scour the internet for a whole day to finally find this picture.The "Jackal" and "Claw" were sold at K-Marts everywhere and had fast zzz bearings, plastic rails, risers, truck, nose & tail guards.My next door neighbor had one of these and it was fast.My first skateboard was one i bought from the local barbershop...back then i thought it was the best thing in the world.Funny how that works. |  CRT Monitors: This picture is an Amstrad 14" CRT monitor, the very first monitor i owned and was part of a 386 machine that i our family received from a relatives will.My love for CRT monitors to this day is because of that first computer system. |  Links Golf for DOS: If i had to pick a favorite sports game of all time, it has to be the Links golf series no question.The original "Links Challenge of Golf" released in 1990 as seen on a 286/386 computer with a CRT monitor is absolutely gorgeous to look at.Rainy days playing Links golf on a friends 286 machine were some of my most memorable times. |
 Toshiba RT-6015: My very first "Boombox".So many 80's cassette's were played on this thing.The RT-6015 was released back in good 'ol 1985. |  The heyday of the 80's Boombox revolution.Kids on the street with their ghetto's break dancing.Music had such a huge impact on people's life in the 80's.It was such a creative time and no wonder its hard to forget. |  Record Stores: I remember catching a train into the city, watching a movie and then going to the record store in the Mall and just spending like 3/4 of a day in there searching through cassette's of my favorite artists. |
 Backyard Ramps: This is exactly the type of ramp you would find in the backyard of someone's house in the 80's.Built from tin, ply and whatever could be scavenged from the factories...skaters would come from miles away to get to skate a ramp like this. |  Remote Control: RC cars as a kid was just plain awesome.All your friends taking your cars down to a dirt section in the park and doing laps and donuts.If this was under your christmas tree, you could expect to be the king of the street. |  Scalextrics: Also known as electric cars, these kits were way to cool.They came with everything you need to race at home with your friends, on an unused table.Half the fun was building the tracks and just seeing which of the cars you got in your kit was fastest.I think being in control of a whole raceway was pretty cool, pulling the kit out from under my bed on a rainy day and designing and racing cars for hours was always so much fun. |
 Coney Island Circa 1981: This picture is so 80's.I mean a rollercoaster, fish and chips a jetty and arcade machine centre on the beach...in one spot!I would love to go back in time to this day. |  Hawaii Circa 1980: This picture reminds me of something out of a Lesuire Suit Larry game.It's got that vibe.It also reminds me of the days our family would all pack up the car and head to the beach for the day, back then the beaches weren't crowded and the days seemed so long. |  Vertibird Chopper: This was the first remote controlled chopper i saw as a kid.A friend of my brother who lived down the street owned one and my love for RC everything just grew.I think this must have been in the early 80's, i wonder if he still has it. |
 Cockroach Wheels: If you were to have only one set of skateboard wheels as a kid, Cockroach wheels was it.The ultimate wheel plus it had all those little cockroaches on it, what's not to love. |  80's Converse Cons Hightop: This basketball *slash* skateboard shoe was one of the coolest high top shoes ever.There was always one or two kids in your high school that had a pair of these.The only shoe that came even remotely close to topping this was the Reebok Pumps, but considerably more expensive or there's Marty's BTTF self lacing shoes, lets not forget those! |  Powell & Peralta RIP Deck: You can say any of the Powell team decks were a great skateboard, but there's something about this board that has a special place for me. |
 Tonka Hand Command Plane: I think every 80's kid remembers Tonka, if you had a sandpit chances are you had a Tonka digger or some form of excavation truck.While i did have a few Tonka trucks it was this hand grip trigger action plane that was my most memorable.It was a pretty big plane as most Tonka stuff is, but what made this super cool is the grip you could hold on to and press the trigger to rotate the propellers as well as a nifty gear up and down switch on the top for the landing gear. |  Vision Street Wear: The iconic Vision Street Wear DV8 and DV9.The black and grey colorway is still one of the coolest high top skateboard shoes ever. |  Santa Cruz Wheels: You were either team Cockroach or team Santa Cruz when it came to skateboard wheels.Rarely did we mix the two, but Bullets were undeniably one of the best wheels on the market.I can't remember what version i had but it was similar to these. |
 Was it just me, or did girls in the 80's have a certain thing. |  Electronics Stores: Oh man, Tandy in the 80's and 90's...the electronic goodness at this store was mesmerizing as a kid.I am 100% positive this store single-handedly resulted in my love for electronics and computers. |  Radio Shack Armatron: There are few toys i remember being as cool as this, there was the Tomy driving simulator and the Armatron.This electronic arm took so many hours of my life, and i loved every minute of it. |
 Arcade Machines: The sound of coins falling into an aracde machine is a thing of beauty.There is something about the look and feel of these machines that make it equally cool to operate.How many 20c coins i funneled into these things i could have halfway bought a car.Saturday's down at the local indoor cricket centre playing arcade machines were great times. |  I like this picture mainly because it reminds me of how my local shopping mall used to be.There was a time when shopping malls weren't crowded and we would go there and just walk around to get one thing and leave.Hard to believe but the bigger and better things you were searching for were usually in the city, so local shopping malls weren't something of a hangout that they are today. |  Sectaurs & MASK: I never owned any of these, i was a diehard Masters of the Universe kid, but how cool is this, to see these things on the shelf in pristine condition.I remember my neighbor having a stack of the Sectaurs, which i played with and they were pretty cool.MASK was even more awesome, i remember watching the cartoon show on the weekend. |
 Gullwing Trucks: If you were asked what the most iconic skateboard truck in the 80's was, you would most probably get one of two answers...Independent or Gullwing.Both were great trucks, but the Gullwing's were the most memorable for there unique design.Paired with a set of Cockroach wheels this combo was the essential must have setup for ramp and street. |  Masters of the Universe: You were spoiled for choice for toys and particularly action figures as a kid in the 80's.I remember my mum going shopping and coming home around midday with a Masters of the Universe figure.Best days of my life. |  A picture of Times Square in New York, this must have been circa 1989.Batman and Star Trek V were on the big screen. |
 The trains of the New York subway system were hot spots of violence, crime and drugs.The 80's were pretty mean streets back then and it shows.Many of the early 80's action movies were filmed on the streets and they were like that in real life.Those classic police uniforms though...what a great picture. |  Street Rod 1989 DOS & AMIGA: Racing simulation games have come a long way since the 80's, but one of the earliest simulation games i remember playing was Street Rod 1 & 2.Not only could you modify your ride, you could then go to the diner and enter it in a drag or street race.The sound, the game play, the gorgeous pixel art graphics and the year it was set in with all those classic cars,all made this game one of the most amazing 80's car racing games ever made. |  Watches: The 80's were remembered for a lot of reasons, and one of them was the fashion.Mostly bad, but occasionally awesome.Watches in general were big fashion items back then but if you were in school in the 80's then you needed the one and only Casio Calculator watch.I wonder how many of these they sold, but i know i owned one.The watch that Marty wears in Back to the Future is the Casio CA-53W and i'm going to guess that Calculator watches were in huge demand after that movie. |
 Moorooka Skate Shed Circa 1990's: A very rare find of the Moorooka Skate Shed in the late 80's and early 90's.I remember skating this bowl and the ramps and learning so many ramp tricks because of this place.I remember being here when Hawk, Mcgill and Lance Mountain were demo'ing sitting at the top of the vert ramp (where this picture is taken from) and Hawk was almost hitting the ceiling catching air. |  Train Sets: If you were a kid in the 80's you most probably owned an electric train set.If you didn't your Dad probably did, and set it up in the basement.These were so much fun, building the tracks and getting everything wired up and making a little control station.If you were really keen and really creative you would probably have made a full landscape setting with tunnels and miniatures. |  I still have the full set of 1973 Childcraft books and i will never sell them.So what's so special about childcraft?.As a kid these were my go to books for making things and learning about the world in general.The hand drawn pictures are amazing and the whole way things are presented is just unlike anything i have found.Childcraft was first published in 1934, so it has retained the drawn illustrations that were made way back then even in later revisions.Trust me these books are super nostalgic! |
 The Ekka Days: The Ekka in the 80's as a kid, this was my favorite place of the year.I used to go in with a friend and we'd come back home with a few army or ninja showbags, some horror masks and whatever toys we found along sideshow alley.Got to love those smoke ads on the back of the cable cars.This is a great picture of the Ekka how it looked back then |  Miami Beach Circa 1980's: If i could choose a place to go back in time and visit in the 80's, Miami Beach, would would easily have to be up there.Memorable for a lot of reasons (Miami Vice) but surf, sand, art deco buildings and that nostalgic summer vibe.Check the google map below to take a trip along the famous Ocean Drive.Now where's my Testarossa parked? |  Miami Beach Circa 1964: Although my nostalgia revolves mainly around the 80's, this shot of a Miami Beach location from 1964 is amazing.Were the streets of the 60's all this nice?? |
 Slot Cars: Scalextric slot cars were one of the coolest toys you could get under your chrissy tree back in the 1980's.But then there was the next level slot cars where you could go to these racing events and compete for trophies and status.My friend was pretty big into slot cars back in the day, modding his motors and magnets.It was a great place to meet every week and talk cars and slots and to swap and buy cars. |  Skateway Roller Skating Ring: Oh wow, what a find!!.I remember when i was in primary school, some of my best memories are from this skateway.Friday night skate sessions and the Halloween skate nights were so awesome.I still have the original 80's box my skates came in somewhere in the closet. |  Rollerskating: You couldn't define the 80's without mentioning roller-skates.I think everyone had a set of these growing up.Roller-skating was actually a thing way before the 80's but it really reached its peak in the 80's with much faster bearings and more comfortable designs and roller rings in a lot of suburbs.I managed to photo this box of my skates before it fell apart. |
 Vintage Matchbox: It was part of everyday life as a kid, lining up your collection of Matchbox cars and driving around the tables and beds around the house or taking them outside to make a awesome town in your sandpit or driveway.Even today i still can't resist looking at them when i go past the toy sections in supermarkets.The classic 70's and 80's cars are worth keeping and collecting even today. |  Toy and Cap Guns: One of the coolest toys that carried over from the 70's were toy guns.I remember going up to my local corner store and finding the cap guns hanging on the hooks on the rotating toy carousel.I was obsessed with toy guns as a kid and was always running around the yard with my cap gun and holster.I have a small collection of diecast guns i started collecting a few years ago, so i'm always on the hunt for more. |  Age of Trackers: It was the budget music studio of the 80's and 90's.Tracking programs originated from the Amiga and became increasingly popular.I remember using Scream Tracker on my first Amstrad 386sx machine with an old amplifier and some Sony speakers i ripped from a mini hi fi unit.This program is what started my love for synthesizers and creating music.Musicians would upload there mod files to their local BBS to get their music out there. |
 Bulletin Board Services: Before the internet, there was a BBS or bulletin board service which you accessed with your dial up modem over your phone line.BBS's would host a heap of shareware or sometimes full games, mod music files, gif pictures as well as text based stuff all presented in glorious ANSI art.The sound of my 28.8kbit modem connecting to a BBS has been permanently locked into my brain for life. |  Go Kart: It was the perfect father and son bonding project of the 80's.Building a kart so you could fly down the street and just about kill yourself.I don't remember my kart being anywhere cool as the one pictured.Mine was built from wood and rope, but it was what we kids did when we weren't on trampolines or commodore 64's. |  Trampolines: Is this the perfect picture or what!!.I mean right down to your mum's rose garden in the background.I lived on my trampoline as a kid, every day i had to be on it.Flying high into the air on those bright summer days and potentially breaking something on your body was half the fun.This was my favorite toy i had the most fun on. |
 Tomy Turbo Simulator: The coolest electronic driving simulator ever!!.This little device was so special to me, only equaled in fun by Radio Shack's Armatron.The front of the simulator even looked like a real car, the only thing this was missing was working headlights!.That gorgeous lighted screen even had that vector neon 80's lines look.I need to get one of these in my collection again. |  SEGA Master System: You can't define the 80's without mentioning the classic game consoles.Everyone had a game console at one stage or another.These consoles were on all the store shelves and it was the gift that every kid wanted the most.While my memories are really of my Amstrad PC, i was really more of a computer geek, i did have the master system and a few games that i used to play and rent out at the video store.Wonder Boy in Monster Land was my favorite game. |  80's Collectible Books: When i think back on the cool stuff of the 80's, it generally doesn't include literature unless it was a novel of a 80's movie, but not something i remember well.But this group of books is one that i remember very well and used to hire out from the school library like once a month if someone hadn't got there before me.These books were creepy and the art work is amazing, i still own a copy of haunted houses, but the one to get is the large book with all three volumes. |
 More 80's Creepy-ness. This was the other set of books i used to hire out from my primary school library as a kid.These ones had some really creepy pictures and encounters of aliens and creatures.This one also had a large book of all the volumes, and definitely worth picking up if you can find them for a decent price.They fetch some pretty high prices on Ebay nowadays. |  Game & Watch Handheld gadgets were always great in the 80's.The game & watch series was the ultimate compact gaming unit.These things looked cool and they were just fun to play.It was also fun that they had a watch function and i had so much fun just working them out and setting of the alarm.I think i must have had about half a dozen of these which i sold off, mainly because the screens ended up not working. |  Kidco Burnin' Key Cars I have no idea how i stumbled on these on google search, i wasn't looking for them and totally forgot i had a few of these back in the 80's.These things were pretty rad, you could fit in the key and it was spring loaded and you would press the key and it would shoot the car.This thing totally blew my mind as a kid..so glad i found this. |
 Toltoys Smash-Up Derby: This is a great find...another one of my childhood toys that i loved.This is the set that i owned it was the chrome truck and beetle and came with the two ramps.You could power the cars by a ripcord and send them crashing into each other over the ramps.Parts could be put back together onto the car after crashing which made this even more cool.So glad i was able to track this one down. |  Well i have been searching for this thing for so many years i had just about given up hope.This was the electronic lighted laser rifle from my childhood with 4 distinct laser sounds and that cool 9v battery slot at the top of the gun, kind of felt like i was inserting a magazine clip.My favorite toy gun that brings back the most memories right here.Man the 80's nostalgia hits hard sometimes. |
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