Posted on 09/28/2005 5:58:42 PM PDT by pissant
For many of us, being a child was no picnic. Without the resources to take opulent family vacations, we instead spent our youthful summers painting fences, mowing the lawn, weeding gardens, washing the dogs, cleaning our rooms and picking berries to earn a pocketful of change.
When School started back up in September, the joy of seeing our friends again was quickly doused by the 2 hours of homework each night (Parochial School..ya know).
But the one thing we could rely on to put that spring back in our little feet was the trunk full of TOYS. Yes, those magical toys. Here at the Pissant Institute for Toy History and Youth (PITHY) we've compiled the definitive list of the coolest toys with which we pleasantly whiled away our precious free time. Sorry girls, none of your toys made the list (though a little Pissant did cut the hair off of his sister's Barbie).
Top 7 Childhood Toys
7. Major Matt Mason
The astronaut doll. With space helmut and rocket capsule! Inspired by NASA (or was it David Bowie?)
6. Stretch Armstrong
A goo filled, stretchable man. Good exercise, but the real joy was cutting him open to see what was inside...
5. Little Green Army Men
Countless hours setting up the armies for the ferocious rubber band wars with your brother.
4. Radio Flyer Wagon
The best part was loading 2 into the wagon and heading down a hill, only to realize how poorly they steered!
3. Legos
You could build some pretty nifty forts for your Little Green Army Men
2. Hot Wheels
Oh, the pride from having the fastest car in the neigborhood. Unfortunately, the orange track pieces made a fine whip for mom to beat us with!!
1. Tonka Toys
From the Road Grader to the Steam Shovel. Playing in the dirt and mud was every boys favorite pastime!
LOL, my sisters and I had the GI Joe (my mom, always the conservative!) with scuba accessories. Our Barbies swam with Joe. I'll be he liked that! And we built with Lincoln Logs all the time. Houses for Barbies.
the goo inside was corn syrup...supposedly you could rip his skin and place a bandage on it and it would "heal" cool huh?
1) One large nerf ball plus one wire hanger bent into a circle. Pinch the hanger between the top of an interior door and the door frame....instant basketball, even when it's below zero outside!
2) Spirograph
These were daytime toys. the rest of the stuff, Army men, Legos, Hot Wheels were evening toys.......left on the floor to toughen up Dad's feet.
We had scads of them. My sisters and I. And we played with them, too. We had lots of 'boy toys'.
My uncles worked in Detroit, in the car industry. So we had all the coolest, newest model toy cars. Pull back racers, too. I wish my mom had saved them.
I never really liked Barbie that much, but I remember the Samantha doll and her beautiful dress (I didn't get one either). I remember having a Chatty Cathy when I was little...she talked in a really disjointed voice, but I loved her :)
oh yeah. battle creek michigan cereal toys.
lots o fun
They still make and sell the green army men. We get ours at the Dollar Store. My 8 and 11 year olds love playing with them...and I can easily and affordably replenish the troops if our dog gets ahold of any.
I loved my etch-a-sketch, and a set of blocks my Grandpa made from bits of spare wood, brightly painted. And Play-doh.
Oh, I know! And a good thing. For a while, they were hard to find, but now, everywhere! I bought some for my nephew, 4. My sister didn't want him to have them, so I saved them. But he turned everything into guns and army guys, so she acquiesed.
They sell cowboys and Indians too!!! And the boys make Lego forts and teepees out of computer paper :)...I love the dollar store!
Now that I see this in print, I now know why my house is such a wreck...
I can still remember the smell of those insects you could make
Best toy I ever had was a large cardboard box left over from the delivery of a refridgerator. Turned it into a Mark V army tank.
Second best was Mr. Robot. Took him apart and reassembled him. Never worked quite the same after that.
Third best: the Erection Set.
It would be interesting to compare some of the older toys to the new version to see how they have adapted to try to prevent lawsuits.
That's all I'll add... ;)PaMom
I love legos! I would still enjoy them! Your boys are young enough, these toys are finally back (and you can 'help' with the legos, too!). For a number of years, it was impossible, ok very hard, to find cowboy hats and Indian headdresses. All PC and such. It was enough to find the errant sword! I remember my older nephew, now almost 11. My sister insisted no guns or army men. She's come around.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.