March means lots of things. There’s March Madness. One of my dearest friend’s celebrates a birthday in March. There’s also St. Patrick’s Day. We never really celebrated St. Patrick’s Day growing up aside from making sure we wore green. I remember vividly one day in elementary school. I forgot to wear green and this boy from my class ended up pinching the heck out of me during recess and ever since I make sure I always wear green on that day, whereas, most people are concerned with drinking green beer. (Some things just haunt you, what can I say?) Since St. Patrick’s Day occurs in March and the color green is practically everywhere, I thought it would be fun to check out some of my favorite green retro items.

Double Trouble

Double Trouble is like a cool glamorous double agent that does double duty as a cool would-be Leprechaun. This member of the She-Ra toy line was always fun to look at for me because of all the green. From her green helmet, to the green gemstone on her chest, I always liked her color scheme as it really stood out in my collection growing up. Pink has always been my favorite color, but the addition of some green in the mix was always welcomed. On a side note, whenever Madonna had her long blond ponytail from her Blond Ambition Tour, my first reaction was, “She totally stole Double Trouble’s hair!”

Good Luck Bear

Though not my favorite Care Bear, I do recall how I came across this mini plush Bear as a kid. We were visiting my aunt and uncle for dinner. We all went out to dinner and inside my aunt’s Cutlass was the above pictured Good Luck Bear. My aunt had no idea how the Care Bear was in her car, but she gave it to me explaining that the four leaf clover on his belly was good luck and that if I ever found a four leaf clover I’d have good luck too. That soon became something my aunt and I would do. If we ever saw clovers we’d always go looking for a four leaf one. I’ve never seen one in my life, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up now. I also sometimes think that my aunt had intended to give me that Good Luck Bear while pretending that it just magically appeared in her car. (I mean come on, how do you not know how a Care Bear ends up in your car?) Also, this Care Bear was a very interesting one because he was winking his right eye, unlike most of the other Care Bears who had both eyes open.  

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Many reasons can be had for why the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toy line was such a great joy to behold. Partially that joy stems from some of the details that have gone into making TMNT an enduring success. One of the things I always loved about the original turtles was their unique shades of green. Michelangelo had a nice, almost, blue green skin tone that I always liked. Maybe blue green is the wrong color; maybe it was more like a jungle green. Remember that Crayola color? I just really liked the shade for Michelangelo and as a kid it felt so special that the Turtles had their own green, almost more unique than their color coded bandanas.

Patty O’Green

One of my regrets with the toys of my youth was that I never got into Rainbow Brite as much as I would have liked. The Color Kids and Sprites were beyond fun and full of so much color. I had a few of the books and a Sprite or two, but I just never got into the Rainbow Brite plush toys; which is a shame, because Patty O’Green would have been a fun toy. When I think of the 80’s I do certainly recall the look these characters had and Patty O’Green with her green hair and mischievous personality is truly a stand out. I wasn’t a tomboy like her, but we did share something in common. We always had Band-Aids on our knees. (Well, I was pretty accident prone so I had Band-Aids all over me growing up)   

Pidge

The last fabled green item from my youth is probably the dorkiest. My cousin Joe introduced me to Voltron and with just one look at Allura and her pink pilot suit I was hooked. However, I also had a slight fascination with Pidge. I liked his glasses and he seemed like a toy that would also collect toys. I felt as if we were kindred spirits. Trying to collect Voltron was difficult for me because I got into the line late in the game. The popularity had already fallen by the wayside and all I could find were the villains. Though there was one time I was at Toysrus and they had a wall of clearance items. One of the items was a beat up box of Pidge and the Green Lion. I for sure thought my moment would be at hand and that I’d get to take home a lovely Pidge and Green Lion. Sadly the Pidge figure was missing from the box so I did not end up with the green pilot, which is ok. I always have a soft spot for the geeky ones in glasses.

Enjoyed going green? Share some of your favorite retro green toys as well as your own memories about St. Patrick's Day. I know there are more, and I look forward to reading what you all have to share. As always, stick around. There’s more fun to be had on Retro-Daze!