The Joy of Collecting: A Conversation with Nostalgia Nate
One of the greatest joys of producing a pop culture nostalgia blog and podcast is meeting people from around the world who appreciate it as much as I do. One of those people is our pal and supporter Nostalgia Nate. A must-follow on Twitter, Nostalgia Nate shares his vast collection of pop culture memorabilia from the 80s, 90s and beyond. I especially look forward to the monthly theme of his display case located in his basement in northern Ontario. Nate’s collection is a museum of treasures. His easy-going nature, frugality and genuine love for retro culture make Nate a true pleasure to interact with. He’s the kind of guy I’d like to drink an Amaretto and Diet Dr. Pepper with (his favorite drink, which happens to be the same as my podcast co-host Milo). I called him up in his Nate Cave to learn more about our mutual love for 80s and 90s popular culture, as well as give me a chance to have a virtual tour of his awesome collection.
Why do you collect? What got you into collecting?
“I collect a little bit of everything. A lot of stuff from my childhood. Everybody just kind of gets regret of, ‘Oh, I should have kept this, and I love the memory of this; I love the memory of that.’ I'm not huge on in the package. If I find something for a good deal in the package, that's absolutely fine, but I love that ‘played with’ look or experience. You know, somebody's enjoying it, or this toy’s been through war or two, or possibly got thrown at somebody. So, yeah, I just really, really enjoy that feel of it and just finding something and bring back a memory. Whenever I have guests over at home or just even sharing things there [Twitter], when somebody sees it, they're like, ‘Oh, I remember this!” and you see the smile on their face and it just brings them back to good times, whether it be something from last year, something from 40 years ago. So, it's just nice to hunt down and look for those things that bring a smile to people's faces.”
Halloween decorations and collectables set up for the month. A little bit of spooky Nostalgia to enjoy October. pic.twitter.com/s0brrQ26iM
— Nostalgia Nate (@nostalgia_nate) October 2, 2022
Where do you find your stuff?
“Oh, it depends. Over the years, a lot of it's just whatever I find in person. It’s a little bit limited with being where I am in Canada. So, some conventions, garage sales… A lot of my friends know that I collect this stuff, so if they know anybody that's getting rid of anything there, they kind of push them my way. I used to do a lot of eBay, but in recent years, it's got really expensive to do things on eBay. Everybody thinks that they can get rich on collecting. Oh boy, no. Even if I do find a good deal, shipping nowadays is absolutely crazy. I won a few items the other month for a dollar each, and I still ended up paying $30 for everything by the time it was said and done! So, yeah, this is only a dollar, but it'll cost you $10 to ship it to you. It's even worse in Northern Canada here, up in Northern Ontario. Yeah, I'm up in northern Ontario. Shania Twain's hometown. Timmins, Ontario.”
What kind of things do you like to collect?
“One of my biggest collections is probably Ninja Turtles. I have a lot of Ninja Turtles. I have a lot of He-Man. I have separate 80s and 90s months because I have enough miscellaneous stuff for them. Considerable amount of Legos. I have my Marvel collection for superheroes, comics, all that kind of stuff. That was just last month that I did that. Disney. I don't have as much, but I'm starting to get a little bit of older pieces there. I just recently went down to Ottawa for a trip last weekend and got a couple little Disney things and trying to get my Disney collection up there because, between movies and all that old stuff, hard to find some good collectibles. People are usually willing to pay a lot for the Disney stuff, and I try not to break the piggy bank when I collect.”
Helicopter, Turtle Van, submarine. The Ninja turtles had to have made some serious money somewhere to get these vehicles.#TMNT pic.twitter.com/VUvoZ7Wb10
— Nostalgia Nate (@nostalgia_nate) July 21, 2022
Let’s toss Wrestling and the Ninja Turtles together, why I don’t know but I’ll just enjoy! #Wwe #TMNT pic.twitter.com/hmNn1RYrwo
— Nostalgia Nate (@nostalgia_nate) July 22, 2022
I know that you're a big fan of Colossus. How did you get introduced to Colossus?
“Living in a small town, I lived in southern Ontario growing up in just a little town, the corner store would get comic books. So, I had saved my nickels and dimes for a little bit there and got enough to get some pops and chips and a comic books at that corner store. It just so happened that the one I absolutely fell in love with was the art. It was a Colossus being held back by Bishop and Iceman I believe. I just the appreciate the art, and just the character himself. He was the strong, silent type and he was always ready to do whatever he had to for the team. He wasn't a bragger. He knew what he had to do. Yeah, I always liked how he was just kind of this silent muscle dude. But if you kind of mess with him, like, he can turn his skin into metal. It's so cool. The cartoon. I think that was another point where I was like, ‘Oh yeah, this guy is so awesome’. The 90s X-Men cartoon. He was only in a few episodes there, but every time there it was like, yep, that is so cool. So, I have a lot of stuff of his.”
Colossus vs Juggernaut. My fav statue I have . Anyone got any favorites they have ? Let’s see them , post in the comments. pic.twitter.com/TNqNvfPrPZ
— Nostalgia Nate (@nostalgia_nate) September 24, 2022
Colossus from the X-Men
— Nostalgia Nate (@nostalgia_nate) September 8, 2022
Can you tell he’s my favourite!#Xmen pic.twitter.com/jkJXChvrme
Was that a one-of-a-kind thing in the 80s and 90s? Has the whole joy of popular culture changed or shifted in a way?
“I guess we don’t see it much anymore with younger people. Well, I mean there's different things now, because when we were young, cartoons were literally targeted towards us to advertise for toys. Now that's actually not even legal to do. I mean, they still do it, but you can't be absolutely blatant about it. I remember watching a documentary. They literally had the toys made before they even had like a cartoon made! They said, ‘Yeah, yeah, we got a cartoon. We can do that for you. We have a comic. We can do that for you.’ So that's where a lot of the mini comics and then the TV show came from because they completely BS the people that they could provide that because everything had to have a TV show to be marketable. I remember the Thundercats. I believe, even if a character was only in there for one episode, there was a toy of at least every figure, like every person there was ever in the show. Wow!”
Classic henchmen at it’s finest!#Thundercats pic.twitter.com/n8Bs0MZYhQ
— Nostalgia Nate (@nostalgia_nate) May 6, 2022
Nate and I chatted further about remakes and reboots, where he has a far more optimistic attitude about it than I do. It’s almost infectious and makes me feel a little guilty for being so critical and pessimistic. We also discussed the possibility of a “Nostalgia Nate” podcast which I think would be a spectacular show!
It was a genuine pleasure to meet Nostalgia Nate. From his basement is northern Ontario, he’s been sharing his collection and love for popular culture which has touched many people, including myself, during these isolated times. If you aren’t following him on Twitter and other social media platforms, you should do that right now.
We’re joined by Sarah Reichert and Kerrie Flanagan, authors of “Back to the 80s” to discuss what makes the 80s special.