Accidently threw it out (or donated it) thread

[LadyAmalthea]

Another Care Bear story!

My mom told my sister and me to go through our toys and send what we didn't play with to the Salvation Army. When we asked what that was, she replied, 'they take old things and fix them up so that people who can't afford nice toys can have them.' I truly believed this, and went on this big crusade to find things for these hypothetical children who didn't have any toys.

I found my most cherished comfort toy, my plush Baby Tugs Care Bear, and knew he was kind of in 'loved' condition, but I thought if this place was able to fix things up like new, maybe some other child would be as happy as he made me. I knew I was really past the age of sleeping with a plush, but I remember tearing up as I put him in the bag. But I tried to tell myself I was helping someone.

I found out years later that what my mom said was a lie. They don't fix things up...they sort through the donations and whatever is acceptable for resale, they put on the shelves, and what isn't gets dumped. I was heartbroken to know that my favorite toy didn't go to a happy home with a needy child, but probably ended up in the landfill. I kicked myself for my naivete, and was angry at my mother for not pulling him out of the bag, knowing that I would likely regret getting rid of him.

And thus began my long history of holding onto things and regret if and when I ever do let anything go.

[goddessofpeep]

I had the paper die from the mail order Baby Blue Ribbon Adventures in Ponyland set. Got it in a lot, and had no idea what it was.  It floated around my house for a while before disappearing at some point. I assume it got tossed.  I found out what it was a few months later and tore the house apart looking for it. No luck:(
My current policy is now to keep 100% of the items I get from accessory lots.

A friend once sent me a birthday gift that included the last piece of ponywear I needed(the cap from the baby bathrobe/duck set).  It was tucked in there as a surprise somewhere.  Apparently it was too much of a surprise. I didn’t see it, and tossed it out with the packaging.  I didn’t find out about it until much later when my friend asked me about it:(
The “don’t throw out packaging until everything is checked over and accounted for” policy came out of that one.

[Featherwurm]

While I don't really have anywhere to put them now so it's pretty minor - I do rather regret donating my original LPS toys (these were the very first versions from the 90s and I think the cutest.  I had a lot of them, of all kinds of critters.)

I did also donate a 'My Little Kitty' set at one point, but changed my mind, and purchased it again as an adult.

I accidentally donated the ducky from the Scrub-a-Dub Tub with a bunch of barbie stuff (which I do not regret - I was never into Barbie), and again, bought it to make the set complete again later. 

Post Merge: July 30, 2022, 09:29:25 PM

I kept most of my childhood MLP brushes/combs in a Happy Meal bucket (McDonald's used to give out buckets for Halloween and Easter instead of toys).  I think I kept most of my pony ribbons in there too.  There was a time when I sure I'd never be in to ponies again and I got rid of all of the contents of the bucket. If I had realized, then that I would one day love ponies again I would have kept them.  I have a few brushes/combs that survived but not many. 

I also regret getting rid of my Lullabye Nursery even though it was broken. I wish so much that I had kept it now.  I also gave 2 ponies away to a little girl. 


Ponyfan

Oh man!  I accidentally donated all of my ponies ribbons too!  (And I don't exactly regret it - but I would rather have kept them.)  They were kept in a purple plastic Easter basket with the ribbons that were used in my hair - when my mom stopped tying my hair up with ribbons (switching to elastic bands), the whole basket was donated as scrap for sewing projects.

[applejackbunny]

I was once given Wigwam as a gift by an ex. I'm afraid through a combination of being annoyed that he had presumed to know which ponies I wanted, and the fact that it was early in my collecting days, he ended up being unceremoniously dumped in the bin 

I regretted it not long afterwards as I realised that I did, in fact, want to collect the boy ponies and I needed Wigwam, and because I realised I had done the unthinkable and taken a valuable collectible pony out of circulation forever.

I learned my lesson, however, and will never, ever, EVER get rid of a pony in that way ever again and if I do, I will at the very least donate to charity so someone else can have the delight of finding him/her in the wild.

[toyjunky]

lol did 80s parents just hate Care Bears?

Yup, the parents had it in for them, they were tired of hearing "Care Bears Stare!"....just kidding.   
I think it's more that by the time the late 80's and early 90's came they viewed we were "beyond that age" of the Care Bears. The toys and other products started to come out in 1983, and the TV series ran from 1985 to 1988, and there was 3 films. Target audience was really young kids, so parents viewed we had "moved on" to other toys and tv shows.

The Care Bears were created by Those Characters From Cleveland (TCFC), the licensing division American Greetings (same makers of Strawberry Shortcake). There was so much Care Bear merchandise and products. I still can't go through boxes of random stuff at my parents house without finding something Care Bears here and there. Go up in the kitchen cabinets on the top shelf all the way in the back (you know, those cabinets you can't reach without a step stool and no one goes up there)... there it is, Care Bear plastic cups. Go up in the top of the linen cabinet, there are pillowcases. Open a random box of stuff, yup, there is a greeting card. Go out in the garage and start going through boxes, yup there it is a Care Bear key chain. I realize that I may be the odd exception here since my parents have lived in the same house for almost 40 years, and my mother tends to hold on to things.

At this point in time though, the Care Bears have been brought back so many times over the years. They were brought back in 1991, 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2019.

[Koudoawaia]

So this wasn't accidental just what I think was a dumb decision now but when I was in my late teens I threw out almost all of my Disney Adventures magazines. I really regret that now. Can't even find any in used bookstores and since I bought them so frequently from the grocery store checkouts,  my parents bought me a subscription to them so I had a lot of them starting with the Pocahontas issue. I do at least still have the  Brother Bear issue as well as the Lion King 1995 and Simba's Pride issues thanks to someone on a Lion King forum and the large Lion King issue that came out when the Lion King Special edition dvd did.

[Taffeta]

I have none of my childhood backcards up until around 1992. More galling is the sticker situation. I have all of my childhood stickers (either complete or partial) except the three mountain boy ones. The ones I can't replace.

We moved a lot around that year, so I'm sure that's why.

I can't think of any toy or anything specific I donated that I regret. I don't throw out toys. OH. But I did have to throw out a G2 advent calendar we found in the attic. It had somehow ended up with chocolate still inside it somewhere that nobody had noticed. I don't suppose I need to explain the rest.

I've got rid of/sold off a lot of toys and things I bought at carboots in the nineties and I don't really regret parting with them.

[Lady Frostbite]

So this wasn't accidental just what I think was a dumb decision now but when I was in my late teens I threw out almost all of my Disney Adventures magazines. I really regret that now. Can't even find any in used bookstores and since I bought them so frequently from the grocery store checkouts,  my parents bought me a subscription to them so I had a lot of them starting with the Pocahontas issue. I do at least still have the  Brother Bear issue as well as the Lion King 1995 and Simba's Pride issues thanks to someone on a Lion King forum and the large Lion King issue that came out when the Lion King Special edition dvd did.

I regret selling the merch I had of a specific TLK character I keep an eye out on sales just in case, but I don't think I'll ever get the figure or the photo frame back. I got some trading cards which are really pretty, and I'll probably get the antique plush someday.

[toyjunky]

So this wasn't accidental just what I think was a dumb decision now but when I was in my late teens I threw out almost all of my Disney Adventures magazines. I really regret that now. Can't even find any in used bookstores and since I bought them so frequently from the grocery store checkouts,  my parents bought me a subscription to them so I had a lot of them starting with the Pocahontas issue. I do at least still have the  Brother Bear issue as well as the Lion King 1995 and Simba's Pride issues thanks to someone on a Lion King forum and the large Lion King issue that came out when the Lion King Special edition dvd did.

My husband still has his Disney Adventures magazines. They take up more than a shelf in one of our bookcases. Due to the nature of them (paper magazines) I'd wager you were not the only one and that many people threw them out / recycled them so they would be difficult to find in a used bookstore. Ebay however has hundreds of them because of course they do.