Random toy oddity found online: Kenner made both Strawberry Shortcake and Star Wars toys in the 80s. Somehow a batch of dark blue blueberry scented plastic got into the wrong place, and some collector online wound up with a Boba Fett that smelled permanently of fake blueberry.
This next one is based off my older brothers' experiences. Stretch Armstrong is a stretchy vinyl figure filled with cooked down corn syrup, that can be stretched to ridiculous lengths. The 70s ones were big ones that could take a lot of abuse, but eventually that vinyl skin would take too much damage and tear. The corn syrup would leak out, the figure would collapse, and then your Mom would pitch it out, Even if you found one mint in box, it would be halfway or mostly disintegrating and leaking. That vinyl skin just doesn't hold up. The website
stretcharmstrong.com recommended oiling intact stretch toys in box with silicon oil to try and keep them intact. Mego made knockoffs called "Elastic Heroes" that got them sued by Kenner, so they're even harder to find now. And yes, they ripped out and disintegrated too. Just to rub salt in the wound, the factory in New Jersey where they made the Elastic Heroes got a nasty rat infestation, thanks to all that corn syrup. (No, I never saw a 70s Stretch, he was long gone before I came).
