What were/are your favorite toys?

[Evo]

Moonbear got me to thinking about the toys I played with when I was little. What were some of your favorite toys when you were growing up?

Here are some that I played with the most.

Superball, colorforms, lincoln logs, etch a sketch, spirograph, creepy crawlers, erector set, lego, barbie, Mr potato head (back when you used a REAL potato) cootie, scrabble, monopoly, play doh, thingmaker set, silly putty, slinky, The Game of Life. My absolute favorite was my Flinstone playset, it was the entire town of Bedrock, it was in mint condition until I gave it to my kids to play with and they destroyed it.

I forgot Water Wiggle.

 

[Moonbear]

One of my favorites is what I just got my nephew (one of the many things I just got him...I'm vying for favorite auntie)...weebles! They weeble and they wobble, but they don't fall down!

I was feeling very nostalgic in the toy store today. Some of the best toys are still made. Cooties and Don't Break the Ice. I liked Operation. Creepy Crawlers was definitely a favorite, especially since everyone else thought it was gross that I wanted to make bugs! Oh, heck, yeah, that whole list Evo put up (um, except Mr Potato Head was a plastic potato by then). Oh, and Toss Across. I loved board games, but didn't get to play much...the only one I had to play those with was my sister (my parents weren't exactly the get involved and play games together as a family type), and since I always won, she would start to cheat. It wasn't much fun then. I had a science lab kit that came complete with a preserved frog that my parents wouldn't let me dissect I was just dying to get to cut it up and find out what was inside. You can't believe how happy I was when I finally got to 7th grade and they let us dissect a frog in science class! I think I was the ONLY one who was looking forward to it.

 

[Math Is Hard]

SEA MONKEYS!
and mr. potato head (of course!), lite brite, magic rocks, erector set, inchworm, barrel of monkeys, legos, and hot wheels and matchbox cars (I wish I still had those - they'd be worth some money now).

 

[Janitor]

I too had a spirograph. I also snuck my brother's Erector Set out of his closet now and then.

Do plastic models count as toys? I glued together and painted several 1/32nd scale models of World War II fighter aircraft. But the most satisifying of all may have been the moon bus model from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

 

[Janitor]

The Slinky was great fun too, until that danged Jack S. across the street took it and ruined it by stretching out the wires so that it no longer acted right. I think he was the one who tore the leg off of my Gumby too.

 

[Evo]

Do plastic models count as toys? I glued together and painted several 1/32nd scale models of World War II fighter aircraft. But the most satisifying of all may have been the moon bus model from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

How could I forget? I used to spend countless hours sanding, gluing and painting model airplanes and cars. I even had a couple displayed at school. My brother got jealous and after I brought them home he and his friend heated up ice picks and poked holes all over them and then told me they were hit by enemy fire.

 

[fourier jr]

spirograph, big wheels, lego

no nintendo or atari, but some of my friends had that stuff

 

[Math Is Hard]

How could I forget? I used to spend countless hours sanding, gluing and painting model airplanes and cars. I even had a couple displayed at school. My bother got jealous and after I brought them home he and his friend heated up ice picks and poked holes all over them and then told me they were hit by enemy fire.

That is just SO messed up!
I hope you got revenge.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Wow, most of the above less the yucky girly stuff.

I also had this really cool cannon that fired plastic projectiles at a wall that blew up [spring action] when hit. That and toy dart guns were favorites. I really got hooked on walkie-talkies as well.

And, don't sink my battleship!

 

[Moonbear]

How could I forget? I used to spend countless hours sanding, gluing and painting model airplanes and cars. I even had a couple displayed at school. My bother got jealous and after I brought them home he and his friend heated up ice picks and poked holes all over them and then told me they were hit by enemy fire.

That made me laugh so HARD! That's the sort of thing I'd do to my sister's toys...well, not quite...I didn't do anything to permanently damage them, but she'd find her favorite stuffed toy (that I really liked too...a purple rabbit with a big buck tooth that looked so goofy you couldn't help but love it) bound and gagged, or with aluminum foil braces on its tooth. She had some sappy name for it, like cottontail, I can't even remember, because I called it Fang, and then even my parents would call it Fang...that rabbit was never the same again.

 

[Evo]

That is just SO messed up!
I hope you got revenge.

No, my mother always condoned everything he did saying he was "just a boy". He destroyed everything I owned, when he wasn't knocking me unconscious, breaking my arm, knocking my teeth out and shooting me with pellet & beebee guns that is. I don't talk to him.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Oh wow, I just remember my electric slot cars. I got my uncle's old set at about age ten. Now those were cool! I also liked to play with the rubber-band powered balsa wood airplanes. Then again, torturing my brother and sisters was equally fun.

 

[Math Is Hard]

No, my mother always condoned everything he did saying he was "just a boy". He destroyed everything I owned, when he wasn't knocking me unconscious, breaking my arm, knocking my teeth out and shooting me with pellet & beebee guns that is. I don't talk to him.

GOOD LORD! I thank my lucky stars that I didn't get any siblings until I went off to college.

 

[Evo]

That made me laugh so HARD! That's the sort of thing I'd do to my sister's toys...well, not quite...I didn't do anything to permanently damage them, but she'd find her favorite stuffed toy (that I really liked too...a purple rabbit with a big buck tooth that looked so goofy you couldn't help but love it) bound and gagged, or with aluminum foil braces on its tooth. She had some sappy name for it, like cottontail, I can't even remember, because I called it Fang, and then even my parents would call it Fang...that rabbit was never the same again.

Now that's FUNNY!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

told me they were hit by enemy fire.

I'm sorry Evo but that's hilarious.

 

[Evo]

SEA MONKEYS!
and mr. potato head (of course!), lite brite, magic rocks, erector set, inchworm, barrel of monkeys, legos, and hot wheels and matchbox cars (I wish I still had those - they'd be worth some money now).

Ooooh, those are great ones too!

Ivan, slot cars were so much fun! I am remembering so many more toys now! Balsa wood wind up planes! Do they still make those?

MIH, you were an only child until college?

I remember my youger sister's Transformers. Those were cool.

I forgot paper dolls.

 

[Moonbear]

Oh wow, I just remember my electric slot cars. I got my uncle's old set at about age ten. Now those were cool! I also liked to play with the rubber-band powered balsa wood airplanes. Then again, torturing my brother and sisters was equally fun.

Oh, that reminds me...I had a toy, I don't even know what it was called, it had these little dragster cars that were the same on both sides (top and bottom), you'd line up 4 of them, and race them down the track. At each end of the track, there was a battery operated contraption that pulled the car in from the bottom and shot it out the top to go the other way, along with a lap counter on one side. So, you could race your cars. I remember the sound the cars made as the whooshed through that turn that flipped them in the other direction (That's why they were the same top and bottom). I just loved that toy.

Oh, and does anyone remember kerbangers? Two hard balls at the end of strings that you clack together until your mom screams for you to stop because you've given her a headache. They were really popular when I was a kid, and the trick was to get them to clack both up and down and see how many times in a row you could keep it going.

And I can never forget the old classic...hula hoops!

 

[Evo]

I'm sorry Evo but that's hilarious.

Yeah, he was very clever at covering his tracks. Like when he drew a nasty scar across the face of my Patty Play Pal doll with a Magic Marker and told me she had been in a car wreck.

 

[tribdog]

one toy I didn't have when I was young but got recently is the "Airzooka" everybody needs one of these neatest toy I've ever seen.
I hated weebles. (last name's Whipple) Whipple's wobble but they don't fall down~jerks
magnets and magnifying glasses
whipple balls, i mean, wiffle balls
all the electronic handheld games-football,racing,baseball, basketball.
He-Man, skeletor, Masters of the Universe
Uncle Wiggly
skateboards
KISS dolls
chinese checkers suck
Sno-Cone machine
Green Machine
playing doctor with the neighbor girl-Cammy D.~sigh.
tape recorder

 

[Ivan Seeking]

kerbangers knocked out a lot of teeth. Those were really dangerous.

I know the cars that you mention...crud...I can't think of the name. Those were cool.

What was that water thingy called? You hooked up the hose and it darted all around. It was for summer water play.

...and Slip and Slides!

 

[Moonbear]

Yeah, he was very clever at covering his tracks. Like when he drew a nasty scar across the face of my Patty Play Pal doll with a Magic Marker and told me she had been in a car wreck.

Sounds like that kid in Toy Story 2...what's his name? Sam? The evil one that destroyed all his sister's dolls. That one, though, does sound like a typical boy. I just magic markered make-up onto my dolls ( how girly of me!)

 

[Janitor]

...Oh, and does anyone remember kerbangers? Two hard balls at the end of strings that you clack together until your mom screams for you to stop because you've given her a headache. They were really popular when I was a kid, and the trick was to get them to clack both up and down and see how many times in a row you could keep it going...

Around these parts, they were known as 'Clackers.' Lawyers put a sudden stop to them. The resin balls were capable of fragmenting and lodging a chip in a kid's eye.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Yeah, he was very clever at covering his tracks. Like when he drew a nasty scar across the face of my Patty Play Pal doll with a Magic Marker and told me she had been in a car wreck.

Okay now I'm really sorry but I really like your brother!

 

[Evo]

Oh, and does anyone remember kerbangers? Two hard balls at the end of strings that you clack together until your mom screams for you to stop because you've given her a headache. They were really popular when I was a kid, and the trick was to get them to clack both up and down and see how many times in a row you could keep it going.

I used to call them clackers.

And I can never forget the old classic...hula hoops!

I was never coordinated enough to keep one going for long. I couldn't do anything with my Duncan Yo-Yo's either.

There was a toy with a plastic ring that went around your ankle that had a plastic string with a ball at the end that you were supposed to swing around and jump over...couldn't do that either.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Uncle Wiggly

I don't know if "playing with Uncle Wiggly" counts as a toy.

 

[tribdog]

Oh, that reminds me...I had a toy, I
Oh, and does anyone remember kerbangers? Two hard balls at the end of strings that you clack together until your mom screams for you to stop because you've given her a headache. They were really popular when I was a kid, and the trick was to get them to clack both up and down and see how many times in a row you could keep it going.
!

We called them klackers. Or wrist busters.
I never should have seen those Australian Aborigines throwing something that looked a lot like my klackers. The first time I went hunting with my klackers I spun them over my head and smacked myself in the forehead. The second time I tried to throw them around my brother's legs as he ran away. smacked him in the elbow. didn't get to throw them a third time.

 

[Evo]

Okay now I'm really sorry but I really like your brother!

I can see the two of you getting along great. He was also a motorcycle enthusiast. He actualy made up to me starting when I was 16 and he is an absolute riot, although I still have a bit of a grudge about the first 16 years.

 

[Moonbear]

Around these parts, they were known as 'Clackers.' Lawyers put a sudden stop to them. The resin balls were capable of fragmenting and lodging a chip in a kid's eye.

Stupid lawyers, ruin the fun for everyone. I never heard of anyone breaking one of the balls; we did hit ourselves with them a lot, but you learned quickly to hold them at arm's length.

 

[Janitor]

Down Memory Lane...

I had a metal gyroscope for a while. Wind a string up around the shaft and pull hard on it to spin it up, and for as much as a minute or so it would stand on end. (Not to be confused with a top, which was cool in its own right.)

Which reminds me--a neighbor kid had Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. Pull on your robot's strings and make it knock the head off of the other robot.

 

[Moonbear]

I don't know if "playing with Uncle Wiggly" counts as a toy.

Sounds more like an adult toy than one for kids to play with.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

but you learned quickly to hold them at arm's length.

oh.

 

[tribdog]

I loved my duncan butterfly yo-yo. For about 2 hours, then it was so tangled up that the only think it was good for was hunting with, Aborigine style.

 

[Moonbear]

I loved my duncan butterfly yo-yo. For about 2 hours, then it was so tangled up that the only think it was good for was hunting with, Aborigine style.

I never really got the knack for yo-yos. I managed to make them go up and down, but not much more. Mine lived in the bottom of the closet...probably the only toy that was actually in the closet where it was supposed to be.

 

[tribdog]

best toy: empty refridgerator box

 

[Evo]

Paddle balls. Those wooden paddles with the rubber band stapled to it and attached to a small rubber ball on the other end.