My step mom's 2nd husband invented Careers. He made quite a bit of money off that game.
What was your favorite toy as a kid?
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easysurfer
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As a kid a brother of mine had a set I think called "Photo Football" which consisted primarily of cards (a group for offense and a group for defense) and we place on on top of the other and hold them over a plastic screen which was illuminated by a 100 watt light bulb to she the play unfold.
The game actually was pretty fun but it would take an hour after playing for us to get the image of the bright light bulb out of our eyes
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LitGal
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Nerd confession: the public library.
(And stopping by the general store for penny candy on the way home.)
(And stopping by the general store for penny candy on the way home.)
CoolChange
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I am not sure this qualifies as a toy.
Really nerdy confession, this was by far the most impressive thing for me in Amsterdam: Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This fact makes me wonder if I should turn in my red blooded American male credentials.
I also have very fond memories of my small, hometown library. That was the closest thing to the Internet for a rural kid back then.
Oh, I had a set similar to that. it was a nice assortment of simple classic games.
And someone else mentioned puzzles, I still love a good jigsaw puzzle.
scrabbler1
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My brother and I played that game all the time! It was a hoot LOL!
MRG
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Years ago I was at a buddy's house, his 12-15 y.o. boys were playing video football (Maddon or something). They asked what we had, was it like an Atari or something? My buddy deferred to me as he knew his kids would dought him.
I explained the vibrating table, well they wouldn't believe me either. Finally we found something on a dialup connection to show them. Their comments were something like it must have been boring.
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W2R
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I guess that I am still a kid, at age 65. My favorite toy is my 3DS XL portable video game console.
But really, you had toys when you were a kid? I would have loved playing with a box, if it had not been taken away from me.
But really, you had toys when you were a kid? I would have loved playing with a box, if it had not been taken away from me.
antmary
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Drawing pad and my first set of charcoal pencils - for Christmas when I was 12.
audreyh1
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Leggos! Followed up by the box of 64 Crayola crayons.
PhrugalPhan
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I was going to say Lionel train (and the competing Marx brand), but as a kid I didn't have much room, nor money, so I had to stick mostly with Tyco trains. I still have them all and show some in display cabinets.
Others would be Hot wheels and sports cards (yeah cards are not "toys" really, but reading the statistics on the backs of the cards taught me lots about math). And I have displays with these in as well. Why yes, I am a kid at heart
.My dad and I 'sold' my HO set to a family friend for his son once we had outgrown it. Many years later, when I had two young sons of my own, my dad 'bought' it back, cleaned it all up, wrapped it and gave it to me for Christmas. A most wonderful gift!
Lucantes
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I think my TI is still in my parent's attic, I don't know if it works but I think it would be highly probable as it worked when it went up there and it is fairly dry etc. Indar7 I think we had the same configuration! I used to do loads of BASIC/ExBASIC writing and modifying (remember getting the magazines with pages upon pages of BASIC code to be typed into the computer over many hours/days to get a simple lil' game to work?). I remember going to a party with my parents, and we had stopped on the way where I bought the extended BASIC (with my own money!), and all I did the entire day/night was sit in a corner with a soda and read the book back to front...over and over just waiting for us to get home so I could start using it! Last time I ever did any real programming was at college, when I realized that there were many more people much more talented than me that would make all the games I could ever want to play so i didn't need to try!
LitGal
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Yes---since toys inspire imagination, I found that Barbies, play houses, sporting goods, etc. could not compete with the infinite number of journeys my mind could take with every book checked out.
Solving mysteries with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, learning about Confederate and Union spies (and how they were hanged), reading about the childhoods of presidents, joining the tiny world of the Borrowers........ Wow! A Tree Grows in Brooklyn took me to tenements of 19th c. poverty. Gone With the Wind painted the agony of families during the Civil War, way better than the movie did. (So I read it several times before 12th grade.)
2nd place toy: building tree houses.
Badger
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Yes---since toys inspire imagination, I found that Barbies, play houses, sporting goods, etc. could not compete with the infinite number of journeys my mind could take with every book checked out.
Solving mysteries with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, learning about Confederate and Union spies (and how they were hanged), reading about the childhoods of presidents, joining the tiny world of the Borrowers........ Wow! A Tree Grows in Brooklyn took me to tenements of 19th c. poverty. Gone With the Wind painted the agony of families during the Civil War, way better than the movie did. (So I read it several times before 12th grade.)
2nd place toy: building tree houses.
One of my favorite pastimes was reading The Hardy Boys. I enjoyed them so much that a few years ago I started collecting them for about $3 each and reading them all over again instead of watching TV. I now have about 50. I bought the brown cloth cover with orange inside front and back cover. These were the ones that I read. Another series was the Landmark series of books about historical people. There must have been a few dozen of them.
I spent a lot of time outside riding a bicycle, making forts, hike in the woods, playing cowboys, Frisbee, etc. Inside we would play board games and make "things"
Cheers!
Redbugdave
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Looking back on it...I would have to say Leggos and MatchBox Cars!
LitGal
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Your town must have been much like mine. Wasn't it fabulous?!
I mourn for young people who are so tied to electronics, in one way or another. Granted, so many cities and suburbs are unsafe today, and parents must monitor their kids constantly. But, when we lived in CA, a "safe option" was to keep the kids entertained--- always indoors, of course---- with video and computer games, etc. Of course, today, there are even more ways for young people to enjoy virtual reality.
I wish more of them could enjoy the beauty of freedom in the woods, in parks, playing pick-up games of soccer or football with neighbor kids in their front yards.
Oh, and Badger, I envy you your Hardy boys collection! Maybe I need to check those out again. It hadn't occurred to me to read them as an adult. It sounds like they are still a lot of fun.
Enjoy!
Redbugdave
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And actually being retired makes me feel like a kid again. I have different toys now. Sorry for getting off topic...
Bestwifeever
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Yes, the Library first and always. My best friends Betsy and Tacy lived in the bookmobile that visited our apartments when I was five.
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ER Fireball
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Transformers
When I was in high school, we used to take apart television sets to get the copper wire that could be wound into electric motors and electro magnets. Of course, the audio transformers were always kept for the use of making shock coils. Simply touching and opening a 9V battery across the primary would induce an output spike of thousands of volts, which would be quite startling to the un expecting victim.
A book with aluminum foil covers, enclosing a buzzer and transformer was a joy to hand to somebody. Or a group of five guys would join hands, come up from behind one of the gals, and hold her hands from each side. A couple quick blips of the switch would create a group shocking experience!
Or the time we laminated a couple pieces of wire to the door knob with nail polish, then sand papered the varnish so we had one conductor on top and one on the bottom of the knob. When somebody opened the door, they had a firm grasp on the door knob, and a switch turned on the buzzer and shock coil.
Yup, transformers were good toys! I heard they made a movie about them.
When I was in high school, we used to take apart television sets to get the copper wire that could be wound into electric motors and electro magnets. Of course, the audio transformers were always kept for the use of making shock coils. Simply touching and opening a 9V battery across the primary would induce an output spike of thousands of volts, which would be quite startling to the un expecting victim.
A book with aluminum foil covers, enclosing a buzzer and transformer was a joy to hand to somebody. Or a group of five guys would join hands, come up from behind one of the gals, and hold her hands from each side. A couple quick blips of the switch would create a group shocking experience!
Or the time we laminated a couple pieces of wire to the door knob with nail polish, then sand papered the varnish so we had one conductor on top and one on the bottom of the knob. When somebody opened the door, they had a firm grasp on the door knob, and a switch turned on the buzzer and shock coil.
Yup, transformers were good toys! I heard they made a movie about them.
Although the book was written in 1913, it was around 1944 when Grandma Miller gave it to me. I was an addicted reader beginning in the third grade, and this was a magnificent bible of things that young men could do, build, or dream about. About 90% of the project were just "dreams", but I read the book... cover to cover many times. Take a peek at some of the pages to see how a young man could explore the world of imagination and curiosity.
A few years later, after the war, my dad dug up Volume 2 and 3... and this carried me through Junior High School.
I'd say I was a dreamer...
The Boy Mechanic - Volume 1 --- 700 Things for a Boy to Do.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12655/12655-pdf.pdf
A few years later, after the war, my dad dug up Volume 2 and 3... and this carried me through Junior High School.
I'd say I was a dreamer...
The Boy Mechanic - Volume 1 --- 700 Things for a Boy to Do.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12655/12655-pdf.pdf
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