I didn't realize the whole 18 year thing either, nice post Scott. I've mentioned it on here before, I was a little late to the POTF2 game, but I think it was a neat time for collecting. I like reading everyone's stories from those times, and wish I would have been paying attention to the hobby more at that point. I don't know that I am necessarily nostalgic for those He-Manish figures like I am for the vintage line, but I am sort of for that time in toy-buying.
It was so much easier to keep up (20 or less figures per year, at least in those early years). A much lower pricepoint (although, to be fair, lower quality), and it seems fairly easy to find things. Toy collecting has changed a lot since then, with so much more out there fighting for retail space, the continually climbing prices, and it seems more problems with distribution and availability. Plus, the whole "toy buying for profit" thing has much more of a following than it did in POTF2 days.
I know it can't ever return to that same scenario, but I sort of with the Star Wars line was simpler like it was in those days. As in, not so much to keep up with, lower prices, and easier to find. Plus, the entire focus on Original Trilogy made it appealing then too, but we've branched out since then understandably. I still like to go look at what the releases were for each year, and think how exciting it probably was when things first came out. Although many of them look silly (or even bad), I don't think the collecting community was quite as picky as we are today and maybe the hobby was a little more fun for everyone in those days.