When I was very young (like 25 or so yrs ago) I got a Batman 45 called something like “Look Out for the Batman.” I remember it with great clarity; the chorus went something like:
Look out for the Batman
And when he’s around
Look out for the Batman
(solo female) 'Cause the Batman will get you
If you don’t watch out!
It vaguely scared me—why did I have to look out for Batman? I was a good guy! Anyway, I’d love to hear that record again—it’s probably bloody awful.
Looking at those takes me back! I know I’ve got some of those in a box somewhere. I played with them all the time, and the capes were usually one of the first things to go. My sister would always steel Superman to date her Barbies.
My sister and I have been collecting books we read as children, but lost, left behind, or read to pieces.
Follow My Leader
The Great Pyramid Mystery
Firehunter
The Enormous Egg
The Chronicles of Prydain
The Forgotten Door
Katie John
Homer Price
The Mad Scientist’s Club
…and many more
There have been many editions of the LOTR but we wanted it in the paperback edition we first read it in, from the later 60’s, with the blue/purple/ red Daliesque coverart
Maybe books. I’d have to browse around eBay to jog my memory for toys.
I still have a bunch of books, the Scholastic bookclub books that I bought in elementary school. *Little House on the Prairie, Stuart Little, Ribsy, *, all the Beverly Cleary books, stuff like that.
My mom kept them, and I took them years ago when she moved into an apartment.
They’re those hardcover books, about the size of a trade paperback, no dustjacket (not lost, they never had one), and have the cover art printed right on the cover.
Just out of curiosity… I have no intention of getting rid of them, but are they worth anything? They’re all in good shape.
That’s the funniest typo I’ve ever seen. 
Heh. I didn’t even realize it. Nice catch! 
Recently just bought Soundwave to add to my budding collection. Bought the movie on VHS several years ago and bought it again on DVD last year.
When I was a kid, the record player was my “toy” of choice. I still have most of the 45s I owned as a boy, and the ones that were stolen have been almost completely replaced. I’ve also got CDs with many of the 78s my mom had, all restored from mint discs or the original metal stamper parts. Too bad she wasn’t alive to see them reissued. She would have loved the Doris Day box set.
When I was in Grade 3 (1965), I took my favorite 78 to school for Show And Tell, and it got broken on the way. I looked everyfreakin’where for a replacement - for 38 years. Finally, I was able to get an original 45 pressing of the same record, on the web, for seven dollars! Woo hoo! Can you imagine having an object as #1 on your Most Wanted List for just short of four decades? And then finding it for unbelievably cheap?
So here I sit in my Music Room, with my Shrinyl To Vinyl, in excess of 12,000 pieces, including just about every song I’ve ever heard growing up. Now, of course, my toys are the equipment to reproduce and preserve them properly.
Last year I picked a fair copy of Andy Buckram’s Tin Men by Carol Byrie Brink.
I’d read the book as a kid and enjoyed quite a bit.
Looking back, it’s just a tad sexist.
I bought Uncle Sheldon’s ABZ Book recently on Amazon; it was one of my favorites from my twisted youth.
Let’s see…as a few others have said, I’m in the process of collecting The Three Investigator series. I also have about 20 or the *Tom Swift Jr. * books, and want to finish out that series. And of course the standard Hardy Boys series. These three series were the ones I read all the time as a child, and the ones I most want my child to have as well. Toys aren’t as much of a big deal to me, as I spent much more time reading, than playing with toys.
Oh, and BiblioCat , I don’t know about the ones you have, but for my Tom Swift books, which are like you describe (art printed on the hardcover directly), I pay about $7 to $10 per book for. So I don’t know that I’d consider that a lot, but if you have a lot of books, it could net you a tidy sum.
Age: 49
Still have the two most important stuffed animals from my childhood, my transitional object, a Steiff tiger that’s worn to a nubbin, and a large dog (with a huge snout) named Soda Doda, who sits next to the fireplace dressed in overalls and a gimme cap. (Should I mention the stuffed bunny I’ve been sleeping with for the last 18 years or so?)
Replacements: some of the Freddy the Pig books, Half Magic, Gone-Away Lake, and a few others. I still have a small but significant proportion of my childhood library, though.
I was so happy to find a copy of Star Circus by A.M. Lightner on half.com a few years ago - it was the first science-fiction book I can remember reading. It didn’t quite hold up to subsequent readings, but oh well.
Keep an eye on church rummage sales, charity tag sales, and library book sales. Valuable and rare books turn up at places like that all the time. You’d be surprised.
I give all my childhood favorites at the used book store a lingering glance, thinking, oh, well, I won’t enjoy them as an adult.
But now I have a nephew.
Now I have lost the ability to walk past any Curious George, Encyclopedia Brown, Madeline L’Engle or Beverly Cleary marked less than $2 without buying it.
He’s 10 months old now. If he doesn’t turn out to be a reader, it’s going to break my heart.
Age: 39
Toys: It’s all about the fisher price Little People! My twin babies are only 6 months old, but I’ve already got their 3rd Christmas all planned out courtesy of eBay (by then they’ll be past the choking hazard stage). Airports, planes, school, buses, hospital, farm, Main Street town, houses, playground, merry-go-round, and Sesame Street. With accessories. If they don’t love this, I’ll just keep 'em!
Books: I’ve kept my absolute favorites all these years, although they’re in storage for now; a couple of Nancy Drews, most of Beverly Cleary’s, a few Beany Malones, a Great Brain or two, some Judy Blume, a couple of Henry Reed’s adventures, and of course Harriet the Spy.
Age: almost 31
A few months ago I got a hair up my bum and started looking for a collection of books called My Book House. I had a set of these when I was a kid and I remembered just how obsessed I used to be with them. I had told my husband about them many times over the years and swore to myself that if I ever found a complete set (12 volumes) in good condition I’d snatch them up in a heartbeat.
So, I hopped on Ebay one day and there they were, at a reasonable price, in excellent condition…and they were on my doorstep a few days later.
In the last couple years I have bought '50s and '60s editions of the board games Monopoly, Careers, and Clue (the one with the drawings of each room on the board), and I want to get the 1975 edition of Payday.
This is silly, but I always wanted one of those Fisher-Price Great Adventures Castles, with the knights and the dragon and the royal family. Someday.
Age 27
Replaced: All books in the Bunnicula series, most books in the Harold and The Purple Crayon series.
Looking for reasonably priced: The Heart Family Kiss and Cuddles and The New Arrival sets; Horsman dollhouse family with the little boy doll; newborn baby Simba.