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Toy show delights collectors
By Barb Blake
Asheville Citizen-Times
ASHEVILLE - Barbie was there, in a big way. So were Betty and Veronica, Flash Gordon
and Captain Action, Darth Vader and R2D2. Shying away from the limelight were Betsy McCall
and Baby Freckles, but Popeye, Minnie and Mickey were loving the attention.
To stroll through the National Guard Armory on Brevard Road Saturday was to experience
a blast from the recent past, as dealers at the 21st Western North Carolina Toy show
peddled action figures, comic books, collectible dolls, racing memorabilia, wind-up toys,
kites and tops and dozens of other articles of whimsy.
"It's nostalgia,'' said promoter Ray Mozingo of Inside Pitch Promotions, which
brings the toy show to Asheville every March and November. "These are things people
collected when they were younger, or things their parents had. It's a hobby, and it will
always be there.''
On Saturday, people were swarming up and down the aisles inside the armory, hoping to
find that missing Marvel Comic or Flintstones lunch pail or '68 Mustang in its original
box. Robert Delaney of Toy Town Antiques in Nashville, Tenn., was selling exquisite metal
wind-up toys from the '30s and '40s, with prices up to $1,500. Dale Earnhardt and other
NASCAR stars were hot, along with Hot Wheels and countless other miniature vehicles.
But perhaps the hottest of them all was Barbie - in every imaginable incarnation. There
was Wedding Barbie, Army Barbie, Easter Egg Hunt Barbie, Bowling Barbie, Air Force Barbie,
Boot Camp Barbie, Victorian Barbie, and even Halloween Party Barbie accompanied by Ken,
both resplendent in pirate regalia.
But Barbie wasn't the draw for Linda Smith of Knoxville, Tenn., who was carefully
monitoring her husband's shopping as he examined comic-strip action figures.
"If it were up to him, he would buy everything here,'' she said. "But his
particular favorites are the Green Lantern, Iron Man and the Green Arrow. Me? What I'm on
the search for is space to put all the stuff he buys at these shows.''
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