League of Extraordinary Bloggers :: Prized Posessions

This week's League of Extraordinary Bloggers Assignment: "What is the one item in your collection you would save if your house was being swallowed by a sink hole, carried off in a tornado, and then swept away in a flood."

I've said it before here on Toyriffic and I'll say it again: If I could only hang on to one toy/collectible/piece of childhood ephemera in my collection as the world opened up and tried to swallow me whole I would hop on my bad motor(less) scooter and ride!

The Silver Bullet. My steed. My sidekick. My ride. My Batmobile. My Enterprise. My 'Last of the Interceptors.'

My '78 Schwinn Mag Competition Scrambler. My first bike ever, I got this beauty for Christmas 1980. My Dad worked with a guy who's teenager was selling it, Dad bought it off him and tinkered and polished it up better than new.

I remember peeking down the stairs Christmas Eve night and seeing it by the fireplace.

I remember Christmas day; my first attempt to ride a two-wheeler - Dad letting go of the seat as I drifted straight into his work truck and SLAM! I bounced off and onto the street, leaving a massive dent in the truck's fender...and Dad didn't get mad at me!

I remember riding it to school a mile in the snow - not uphill both ways but close enough to be a badass by today's sissy kid standards.

I remember all the dirt tracks and trails and jumps and curbs and scrapes and scars (still have one or two) from going over the handlebars.

I remember wanting dice valve stem caps and not being able to find any in stores, so Dad took a pair of dice to his drill and voila - and they're still on the bike to this day!

I remember my Dad always saying "Use the kickstand; Don't lay your bike on the ground; take care of your bike and your bike will last you your whole life." And he was right, it has.

I remember hanging my bike up in the rafters when I got my first car, and not taking it down until over a decade later when I needed a project, something good for my body and mind and soul after my first divorce. Dad and I together in the garage, repacking the bearings and replacing the tires and tubes. Polished it up to a beautiful shine. New pedals and a new seat.

Just a little maintenance and the Silver Bullet, like my soul, were good as new once more.

Yeah, things can be replaced. Toys and action figures, no matter how rare or hard to find, are not one of a kind. If they all burned up or melted or were stolen by some thief with awesome taste, I'd get over it. Eventually.

But my Silver Bullet is a part of me. My trusty steed. My friend. And I wouldn't give her up for anything.

And check out a few more from the League:

Lefty Limbo talks about his old school BMX ride too!
Life with Fandom talks about the (and his own) one and only He-Man!
and Branded in the Eighties talks about a very well loved Wicket!

That's when a bike was a bike...

...and crusin was cruisin!

I've posted about my '78 Schwinn Mag Scrambler before. My first bike, I still own and ride (and spin out, on occasion) to this day.

I recently stumbled onto this original Schwinn Scrambler ad somewhere online. When I got my bike secondhand in 1980 it had been stripped for racing, so it had no decals or chainguard or reflectors, and it had a reinforced custom seatpost. What I hadn't realized until I saw this ad was that my handlebars are different too. I'd have to see an original set in person to be sure, but I think mine were just reinforced (and chromed) and not full custom, but I could be wrong.

Anyways, here's to tank-strong Chicago steel and holding together for another 30+ years of hauling ass down streets and dirt tracks alike. If I was ever forced to whittle my possessions down to one single item, it'd be my Silver Bullet. I love my bike!

The Silver Bullet

I just discovered the location of a local bike/skateboard ramp park last night. Remember the good old days when the ramps and tracks were dug and carved out of the dirt in an empty lot or field?

Nowadays kids get fancy million dollar architecture to roll around on. In my day if a ramp was made out of wood it was made by someone's big brother, who likely had zero carpentry skills and absolutely no concern for the safety of others.

Those were the days.

So I think I'm going to drag The Silver Bullet over there real soon and try to relive some of that old school magic.

I think I'm going to break my neck.

Hi-Yo Silver, AWAAAAAY!

In honor of the first ever BMX events at the Beijing Summer Olympics, I'm revisiting one of my first ever ToyRiffic posts, and one of my oldest "toys," my 1978 Schwinn Mag Scrambler:


One of the first ever true BMX bikes, this 78 Schwinn Mag Scrambler is the Competition model, complete with Competition gooseneck and forks.

About six years ago I replaced the tires, the chain, the seat and pedals, added a repro Schwinn badge, and re-greased all the bearings. Otherwise "The Silver Bullet" as my cousin and I used to call him, is original to the day I got it on Christmas in 1980.

It never had a chain guard, and I don't know if the seat post or kickstand or grips are stock Schwinn, but they are what was on it when I got it. Sadly it had pads too, but those have long since gone missing.


This thing is a tank. I only replaced the seat for a cooler looking one, not because of damage or wear. The grips have held up amazingly well too. The only reason I even had to replace the pedals is because my dad actually backed into it once. It was his fault, he had moved it behind the car and forgot lol. The only thing damaged was one pedal, which I replaced with one I had laying around and rode it for about five years with mismatched pedals. When I gave the bike a "once over" six years ago I slapped some modern pedals on it.

I've gone over the handlebars my share of times, and "Bullet" has had his share of scrapes too, but I kept it inside, polished it on occasion, and always, ALWAYS, used the kickstand. That has been the secret to his longevity.

1978 Schwinn Scrambler

It is too a toy! My first bike - a 1978 Schwinn Competition Scrambler - I've had it since 1980. There aren't a lot of these around still, and mine is in pretty good shape.

I still have the original seat, but replaced it with a cool flame seat when I gave it a good "once-over" a couple years ago. And it still rides like a dream!