Step into the wayback machine...

Dateline: 1982. Jessica Biel is born, compact disks are introduced, wars rage in the Falklands and Lebannon... but still no world wide web! So how did people order stuff from the comfort of their own home? The Sears Catalog, of course. It was a huge, phone book sized directory of everything from clothes to toys. And it is of course the toys that we are most interested in. 1982 was actually a banner year for toys, with the debut of the "modern" G.I. Joe line as well as He Man. And of course Star Wars merchandise was selling like hotcakes in preparation for 1983's Return of the Jedi. The Sears catalog no longer exists, but here is a look back at some of the highlights from 1982 collectable toys from Sears (click the thumbnails to see the full size pics). The more of these toys you owned, the more your parents loved you.