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GASTONIA, N.C. (WJZY) – With so many people spending much of the past year at home, hobbies are at an all-time high. That includes collectibles of course. With 1980’s and 90’s nostalgia back in fashion, action figures are flying off the shelves.
Brandon “Red” Ross opened Red Genesis Toy Store in Gastonia earlier this month.
“I’ve got Ghostbusters, Transformers, Masters of the Universe, anything horror related,” says Ross. “I’ve got something for everybody that’s into this stuff.”
It’s taken Ross years to collect the inventory that now fills his Wilkinson Boulevard store. Now that it’s popular again, he’s eager to sell it. And with nostalgia going strong it’s not a hard sale.
“It’s all back from the ’60s to the ’90s. Those kids are grown up and want to buy their childhood back,” Ross said.
But Red Genesis isn’t the only game in town. Just down the road, Jim Waugh of Collector’s World has been dealing in nostalgia for decades.
“We got a little bit of everything really we do sports cards, old signs, old toys, comic books,” Waugh said.
Which makes Gastonia something of an old stuff “honey hole.”
“People wanna get away from the real world and the hobby helps them think of positive things,” Waugh said.
So, if you’re searching for the Creature from the Black Lagoon to some old baseball cards, you’ll find it all along Wilkinson Boulevard in Gastonia.
