My lad recently became a teenager. Yeah, pray for me. But it got me to thinking about the toys enjoyed by them, in comparison to myself. I list my top 5 toys of my youth (in no particular order), what are yours, and why?
1.Transformers - coupled with the TV program I had a huge collection, and used to love changing them from robot to vehicle or otherwise. Favourites were Soundwave (tape recorder), Starscream (F15 jet) and of course the mighty Devastator who was made up of 5 mini robots/construction vehicles! Honourable mention goes to the Dinobots. 2. Lego - come on now, who doesn't love Lego??!! (no,not Legos, it's not sodding plural like that). My favourite themes were Space, and Fire & Rescue (still love Lego... I don't think you can ever out grow it).
3. Micro Machines - tiny little cars and vehicles! I used to love these, even had tiny aircraft and a storage box shaped like an aircraft carrier!
4.Star Wars figures and vehicles by Kenner. What's not to love about being able to play with your own Wookiee?
5. ViewMaster - put in the circular slideshow in the viewmaster, hold up and see images of all sorts from your favourite tv shows, films and places. Loved this.
I of course speak from a boy's perspective, at the time (80s), there was very much a distinction in the shops with blue and pink aisles, unfortunately. Although I did like Cabbage Patch Kids, Polly Pocket, and She-Ra to play along with He-Man and Skeletor...
Did anyone ever have one of these? I remembered having this exact one. Played it for hours before I got a Super Nintendo.
I think we sold it for a couple of quid at a car boot sale. Just seen them on EBay for over £700 quid 😖
Here's a robot I built from the kit. I modified the design with tank tracks, which were in a previous Mindstorms set I bought years ago.
I bought my daughter the Lego Robot Inventor Kit, which is a Technics set you can build and program robots. This is how I know for sure that she's not into computers and tech. Because it really doesn't get much cooler than this.
So what do you think I did with that set? Yup, play with it myself.
ooh good thread. Here's my 5:-
Action Man. We had just about every available accessory, including the armoured car and tank. Flippin awesome! Must have given my parents ideas for many Christmasses.
Lego. What can I say, probably one of the greatest toys ever. And back then all we had were the basic bricks, not the special sets they do these days. You had to really use your imagination.
Train set. Not Hornby, but a bigger size track, that I used to build between bedrooms and across the landing. It had these switches that could reverse the direction of the train.
Snooker table. Probably the greatest Christmas present surprise for me and my brother. Not a full size one haha! It was on the dining room table. I remember that Christmas, we'd opened all our presents in the living room, and my Mum said put the kettle on. We went into the dining room and saw the table. Wow! They never did get that cup of tea :)
Toy cars. I had a huge collection of Dinky toys and other types. I used to put them in long lines. I'd get upset if someone moved any of them, and they were often left in place overnight. My parents were very tolerant.
Hounerable mention to Airfix and Scalectrix. Also had a games console, but we are talking pre Nintendo, it was very primitive and played games like Pong, and Space Invaders.