Like many suburban homes, Mark and Bea Manzo's Naperville basement is filled with toys.
But instead of Dora the Explorer and Thomas the Tank Engine, the shelves are lined with Flash Gordon, "Star Trek" and "Happy Days" figurines.
The Manzos now hope to help fill the shelves of other vintage toy lovers as well. The couple recently started online business Moonshot Toys, selling replicas of toys from the '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s.
"It's really cool because I'm able to relive part of my childhood .. and hopefully people when they see them relive their childhood, but not break the bank in the process," he said.
Mark Manzo, 39, who works as a copy director for a marketing and branding agency, started collecting toys about 12 years ago after Bea bought him a tin space toy for Christmas. But he quickly realized just how expensive vintage toys can be and how time consuming it is to find them. The couple now scours the Internet to find remakes, and envisions Moonshot Toys as a one-stop shop for other collectors.
The spare room in the basement of their south Naperville home is now the Moonshot Toys vault, with plastic bins occupied by "Six Million Dollar Man" characters, G.I. Joe action figures, retro Barbie dolls and Frankenstein bobbleheads.
"We just want people to be able to feel not only can they get something maybe they wanted when they were a kid or had but their brother broke, but they can really introduce their kids into this stuff," he said.
The Manzos' own two children, an 8-year-old boy and 11-year-old girl, have been checking out the toys in the collection.
"What's really funny is they're into modern toys quite a bit, but they have a special affection for some of the stuff," Mark Manzo said. "They were fascinated by it at first and then we broke open the "Happy Days" action figures for them and they were having a blast with them."
