Mid Week 5 Questions -- Simpler Time Edition

Off Topic
#1

Having lived through yet another election cycle, I find myself at time wishing to return to simpler times. This got me thinking about the joys of childhood.

1. What was your favorite, or one of your favorite, toys as a kid?

2. Was there a toy you wanted but never got?

3. Are there any “kid’s toys” that you still play with?

4. What’s your current favorite board game?

5. Are there any toys from your childhood that you wish they’d bring back?

BONUS: Share a YouTube link to a toy commercial from your youth.

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#2

My Robot Commando (I still have it.)

Not really. I didn’t think all that much in terms of toys.

Chess and, sometimes, Go.

Can’t think of any.

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#3

[quote=“Steve_O, post:1, topic:5277”]
1. What was your favorite, or one of your favorite, toys as a kid?
M.A.S.K. Playset

2. Was there a toy you wanted but never got?
I think there was a plastic bullet shooting robot that was recalled after choking hazards.

3. Are there any “kid’s toys” that you still play with?
If I have them, Legos perhaps.

4. What’s your current favorite board game?
Sadly, don’t have a favorite board game right now. The game I love playing is DOTA2 but it won’t work on my current laptop and poor Internet.

5. Are there any toys from your childhood that you wish they’d bring back?
I’d love it if Todd McFarlane Toys made a revisit to my Mask playset.

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#4

Here’s an earworm for you.

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#5

Any/every kind of miniature car, especially race cars, and especially ones I could race. We had a set like this one that I ran into the ground.
image

Ehhh, I was probably fairly spoiled, and as 3rd in a line of spoiled kids, there were a lot of handed-down playthings. My ‘never-got’ stuff stemmed from my desire for something better than toys; I wanted a real football uniform, real musical instruments, etc. The toy versions of such things never fully satisfied me.

I have a real hobby bone; scale models, model railroads, in fact almost anything miniature intrigues me, but I don’t seem to have much time for that stuff these days.

I supposed I’d have to say Scrabble, although I do not-so-secretly hate it.
Oh wait! How 'bout pants-wetting laughter playing Don’t Wake Daddy! with my granddaughter…
image

I’m reaching deep down, but there’s nothing there. I don’t think I ever developed that level of attachment.

I grabbed this for the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, bu there are a lot of other crazy memories here too.

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#6

1. What was your favorite, or one of your favorite, toys as a kid?

Hands down, Legos was the toy for me.

2. Was there a toy you wanted but never got?

I can’t think of anything.

3. Are there any “kid’s toys” that you still play with?

A few years ago, my kids bought me the Lego Fallingwater set. I’ll occasionally build it, let it sit out for a few days, and then tear it down.

4. What’s your current favorite board game?

I do enjoy Scrabble. Any sort of game where you draw. My wife recently picked up a new game called Ticket to Ride that’s pretty fun.

5. Are there any toys from your childhood that you wish they’d bring back?

No that I can think of.

BONUS: Share a YouTube link to a toy commercial from your youth.

I had this game as a kid. Boy, we’ve come a long way.

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#7

1. What was your favorite, or one of your favorite, toys as a kid?
I’d say legos in general.

2. Was there a toy you wanted but never got?
Not that I can remember

3. Are there any “kid’s toys” that you still play with?
Well, I have 3 kids, so I play with them form time to time. But no, I don’t play with any kids toys by myself.

4. What’s your current favorite board game?
Hmmm, I’m an avid “board game” player, especially “euro” games. But for some that are more accessible I’d say Kingdomino or Splendor. Ticket to Ride that Steve O mentioned is a good one too.

5. Are there any toys from your childhood that you wish they’d bring back?
Not that I can think of.

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#8

1. What was your favorite, or one of your favorite, toys as a kid?

Atari 2600

2. Was there a toy you wanted but never got?

Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots

3. Are there any “kid’s toys” that you still play with?

Video Games

4. What’s your current favorite board game?

Axis and Allies

5. Are there any toys from your childhood that you wish they’d bring back?

No. Physical toys are bad for the environment. Video games of my childhood suck in comparison to what they have today.

BONUS: Share a YouTube link to a toy commercial from your youth.

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#9

Boy, all these responses are really making the memories come flooding back … I’m gonna have a lot of ear worms today lmao :smiley: THANKS!! :smiley:

1. What was your favorite, or one of your favorite, toys as a kid?

You know, it’s hard to say or know if I even had one in particular. I loved my toys. But, I was never attached to any of them I don’t think. I had a pretty good mix of a few toys and an outdoor life where I made my own toys. I loved being outside and building houses (My type of forts) I would make living rooms and kitchens from rocks and wood stumps, old sheets and scrap lumber my Dad had around. So if anything that was my favorite thing to do as a kid. Other than that I loved my little record player that looked like a suitcase. I also loved my miniature doll house that my Dad made for me.

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2. Was there a toy you wanted but never got?

Lots! LOL :smiley: I too am from the Sears Wish Book days. I would check the mail every day just waiting for it and then pour over it for hours. So “Wish” is very appropriate. That’s all it ever was :wink: I never had Barbies (My Mother hated them), I always wanted an Easy Bake oven and a rock tumbler to make Jewelry and Barbies Dream House. I was lamenting of never having the oven several years ago and a dear friend actually sent me one. I about fainted LOL … needless to say it wasn’t the same, but it certainly healed an old, childhood wound :smiley: :wink:

3. Are there any “kid’s toys” that you still play with?

There are lots of kids in my life … so yes. I play with plenty of kids toys :smiley: When there are no kids around though … no I don’t.

4. What’s your current favorite board game?

I don’t really have one anymore. I like to play Yahtzee and play card games. I love Monopoly and always will … but I am far too competitive. I’m like Rose on the Golden Girls. Mild mannered, sweet and a little dumb at times … but when it comes to winning a game … I’ll cut you!
:smiley:
I’ve said it many times … after the great Monopoly incident of '85 no one will play with me anymore :stuck_out_tongue:

5. Are there any toys from your childhood that you wish they’d bring back?

Not really … but I’m from the era of banned toys :smiley: I had Jarts, Clackers, Creepy Crawlers … hey they toughened you up. Nothing says fun like the threat of impaling, broken wrists, a chipped tooth or 3rd degree burns! :smiley:

I really enjoyed the fun little games of my youth though. Kerplunk, Pick up Sticks, Jacks, Dominoes, Etch-a-Sketch and my Yo-Yo etc.

BONUS: Share a YouTube link to a toy commercial from your youth.

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#10

I forgot about LightBrite. There was another one too with solid plastic tubes you could make futuristic cities and light them from below… We just did a project that involved a LiteBrite concept, only bigger. Much bigger.

Jarts, clackers (we had the clear acrylic ones that were said to shatter, but never did,) creepy crawler ovens… You could make the most wonderful elastic-powered projectile shooting weapons with Tinkertoy stick kits. SuperElasticBubblePlastic smelled GREAT! No bike helmets, no seatbelts, no carseats. It’s a wonder we survived at all. LOL.

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#11

RKK, my sister had Barbie and Ken dolls. Their little red plastic car was far more able to take the abuse of riding it down the hill (in the street) than any of our Tonka trucks ever did. LOL.

Physical toys are bad for the environment? I suppose. I was digging in the garden at the last house I lived at and a little StarCom astronaut came up attached to the shovel by his little magnetic feet (he lives on the fridge now, LOL.) I have no idea how many matchboxes we lost out in the sand heap cities we made out back as a kid.

Real toys are preferable to brain rotting lard making video games though, at least IMO. A simple wooden stick and a little imagination were sometimes all the toy we had or needed. Tin cans and rocks were great for eye-hand coordination. An old piece of cloth, even better, as a sling for rocks aimed at tin cans. Making ever-taller stilts out of 2x4s and learning to walk with them was a days-long summer project. Some wheels and scrap wood became a go-cart. Minus the wheels, it became a fort for apple fights with real crab-apples. Snowball fights in winter. Kids need to get outside more, use their imaginations more, eat more dirt.

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#12

Oh, I totally forgot my all-time favorite toys as a kid: my Estes Rockets.

My friends and I would head down into the fields below the house and launch these things into the sky. It was all kinds of fun.

The fun ended when I violated the Estes rocketeer’s code of ethics and loaded up the nose cone payload of one of my rockets with some of my friend’s dad’s black power. We aimed it at the side of an old cow shed on the far side of the field. The impact blew a big hole through the wall of the shed. It was awesome and very loud, but it also ended my rocket career.

I don’t know what became of my set of rockets — I suspect my dad threw them away. I never saw them again after that incident.

#13

Tinker Toys! I love Tinker Toys! … and yes… we were destined to survive with what out childhood was filled with … and what was lacking LOL :smiley:

I used to love the smell of that bubble stuff too haha! :smiley:

#14

That is something I try to come to terms with … and not be a grouchy old person. “These kids today” … But, kids just don’t get outside enough. They need it to grow and flourish. A kid having an iPad today at 5 years old … or younger is the equivalent of going back to my day and being handed a set of car keys at 5 years old. It’s tooooo much. Let that little mind be a little mind and give their legs time enough to grow to reach the pedals. I also realize I’m on the losing end of that argument with most folks I know … so I tend to keep my cranky, old trap shut :wink:

And again … never had anything Barbie … but my Brother had that big Tonka dump truck and we loved it. We lived on a big hill and we would kneel in the back and go racing down and then flip ourselves out of it before we got the main street. LOL … again … it’s a miracle we are still here :smiley:

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#15

Oh B … that is a riot! The inner 10 year old in me wants to go do it too LOLOL :stuck_out_tongue:

If it makes you feel any better I was always getting in trouble for doing stupid stuff.

  • I poked holes in my new swimming pool because I wanted to go water skiing and used real skis and poles.

  • I would dress the neighbors dog in my Grandfathers tee shirts … they all had his name in them… so they culprit was easily found.

  • I would deliberately jump on nails with any plastic ball I had … just to see if they could take it lol :smiley:

  • I would take things apart to see how they worked. One day I decided to do it to my mothers radio … that was rather a bad move on my part.

I could go on and on :wink:

#16

We had Centuri rockets here, though Estes showed up much later.
That was more a high school club thing rather than a kid’s toy. Lots of adventures with those things. Sent a Big D clear over the Merrimack river. Never did find it again. Had another one bend the launching pole and go off horizontal across the field, then it blew its second stage even further into the woods. Fun times!

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#17

1. What was your favorite, or one of your favorite, toys as a kid?
For actual toys I probably played with my Hot Wheels the most. I also spent hours plinking around with my Daisy BB gun. Especially fun was setting up elaborate battle scenes of little green army men and taking them out.

2. Was there a toy you wanted but never got?
Too many to count. Oh that Sears Wishbook…
One toy that comes immediately to mind is a battery powered Big Foot truck made by Playskool. this one

3. Are there any “kid’s toys” that you still play with?
I play and collect quite a few older video game systems. I still really like the Atari 2600. I also build Legos with the kids.

4. What’s your current favorite board game?
Not a board game exactly but Apples to Apples is pretty popular in our house. I also like Scrabble. The Boy is starting to become fairly competitive if I spot him a few points.

5. Are there any toys from your childhood that you wish they’d bring back?
Not really.

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#18

1. What was your favorite, or one of your favorite, toys as a kid?

Architecture Erector Meccano Sets!
…and…
Hot Wheels!
…and…
Table hockey game!

2. Was there a toy you wanted but never got?

Nope!

3. Are there any “kid’s toys” that you still play with?

All the above!

4. What’s your current favorite board game?

Chess!

5. Are there any toys from your childhood that you wish they’d bring back?

They’re all still going strong!

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#19

Stay Strong … Toy Strong! ©

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#20

I loved that too. I didn’t mention it because I wasn’t a kid when I had it :wink: It was a hand-me-down from my cousin and I was already out of school. They gave it to us when they got the Nintendo that just hit the market. Of course I still had a young brother and two very young sisters. But, I was the one who played with it the most, whenever I had free time. I loved so many of the old games, Centipede, Galaga, Tank, Asteroids, Pac Man etc.

I loved it so much after I worked a bit I bought a Nintendo system as well :smiley:

I really wish I had those old systems because I hateeeeee the new systems with a passion. To me they are just too complicated for my hands or fingers or something. I just can’t work them :frowning: Needless to say I haven’t owned a gaming system in at least a decade. I’ve used other folks and haven’t found any joy in any of it.