The toys that made a difference to you...

[amazinblue82]

member Big_John made me think of another toy that captured my building instinct

my first memories of my father are him helping me build these things, like the "sports car" mid-lower right. and other things that probably resembled nothing in the pictures but Dad told me they were "nice" anyway.

for some of our younger members born in the 70's and later (NO offense intended please), these were "Tinker Toys". still around today i think in some form, but the photo below is straight outta the mid-1950's to early 1960's

 

[Big_John]

I had a Tinker Toy set too!

Hot Wheels were after my time, but my kids had buckets of them. They hurt like hell to step on with bare feet!

 

[tbm3fan]

Would be my Aurora HO road race set that I got in 1966. When we moved to San Diego I set up a 10x12 ft. table in the garage that could be folded up out of the way. On that table was a very elaborate road race set similar to what train guys would do. Needless to say it was very popular with friends in the neighborhood. No longer have that house, nor that table, but I still have the entire set packed away in my office today.

The other that sticks in my mind was my chemistry set where the sale of most of those chemicals today would be banned. Had beakers, flasks, retorts, test tubes, mortar and pestle, pipettes, alcohol burner and on and on. Combined with my microscope, which is somewhere, I was quite the scientist.

 

[tallhair]

My Dad brought me one of these home from the Firestone company store in the trunk of his 69 RR. it was my 7th birthday and i was totally surprised !! Looked just like this yellow one and had Firestone tires. The rear one was a street slick with two groves in it.

 

[patrick66]

I have the truck my Dad got for his third birthday. It's a little art-deco-style truck and trailer, made of cast aluminum, with solid rubber tires. He and his brothers played with that in the '30s and '40s, then me and my brothers had it through the '50s and '60s. My sister ended up with it when I joined the military, so I had lost it for over 30 years. Her son then played with it, then it got put up until five years ago, when I got it from my sister. I have it on a bookshelf. It is going to go to one of my adult sons one day; probably the one who has a kid first.

 

[Zymurgy]

I had a Tinker Toy set too!

Hot Wheels were after my time, but my kids had buckets of them. They hurt like hell to step on with bare feet!

That made me laugh. I had hot wheels and Tinker toys, I can remember my dad yelling at me for leaving the Hot Wheels on the floor and him stepping on them in his bare feet.

 

[300rag]

I still have a couple of Dinky Toys from the late 50's - early 60's.

Old Euclid dump




Tank and transporter

 

[72Fury]

A neighbor had about every Corgi toy (and anything similar) ever made. I used to go over just to play with those. Terrific detail. One that I absolutely hated getting was Lincoln logs, but the dog loved them . I held them up with the same reverence as the Marry Janes (that peanut butter chewy junk wrapped in the orange and black wrapper) during Halloween.

 

[Bryan]

I grew up outside, so Tonka toys were my favorite. My dad built my childhood home when I was 3. I had a huge sand pile left over from our brick house construction and it remained in the backyard for many years until I quit playing with them.

I got one at Christmas several years in a row. The loader was by far my favorite. The crain was the biggest disappointment the strings were always twisted and eventually broke. It also took too long to move the sand, compared with the loader.

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This and Matchbox cars is what I usually had as I grew up.... I had a great time and a great childhood, but the one thing I dreamed about and never did get was................................



Dad could never justify the price for it. Nine kids did not justify over 10 bucks for one plastic toy that probably wouldn't make it for long.

 

[Bryan]

We still have a yard full of Tonka and Nylint trucks. Here's a picture of some of the grand kids playing with them today. And a picture of my MG with some taken a couple years ago.

 

[amazinblue82]

This and Matchbox cars is what I usually had as I grew up.... I had a great time and a great childhood, but the one thing I dreamed about and never did get was................................

View attachment 34640

Dad could never justify the price for it. Nine kids did not justify over 10 bucks for one plastic toy that probably wouldn't make it for long.

you made me think of something. Mighty Matilda was $10 in 1961...she would be $80 in 2014.

when i looked up my Orange Krate and saw the price was $87 in 1968, and then i thought about why there werent many in the "working class" neighborhood I grew up in, so adjusted for inflation that bike would be almost $600 in 2014 dollars.

no wonder I was "da man" for a few months in 1970, and maybe unknown to me I was the last kid my friends parents wanted to see come over with my fancy wheels. :silent:

my folks were by no means wealthy, and I had three siblings, but a $600 bike for a kid in today's terms is still kinda pricey. we of course dont think about that stuff "as" kids..we sure do when we "have" kids.

i dont know what bikes cost today, and my kids are in their mid 20's, but I recall getting their "little girl" bikes (pink and white, tassels on the handle bars, flowers on the baskets, etc.) for like $100 each in early 1990's at Toys R Us..and still thought I was getting "rooked"

that still feels about right to me now, or maybe my "fogy-ness" is showing.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Had this Buddy L Dump truck


I ran the wheels off of this thing then I put different wheels painted it about 5 times, not much has changed just size and type. I remember my Dad complaining about me wearing the grass out running laps around the house. I always wanted one of those Schwin drag bikes had a Huffy single speed with cheater slick in the rear till it and I got hit by a Maverick of all cars, after a couple of months in a body cast I salvaged what parts I could get from the bike and tossed the rest.

 

[70NPORT]

Even bigger impact than bikes.....video games!! Played these for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours.........

 

[70NPORT]

and it just kept getting better and better with faster consoles with faster chips....some of my favorites.

 

[70NPORT]

And now modern games are absolutely sick (that means good).........

 

[amazinblue82]

hey brother...you left me behind right here. Mid-70's I already had cars to drive, but still the video game i recall was Speed Race.

The boom in the arcade business in the 80's left me behind too..i was in college and just couldnt get hooked.

Today's stuff..my patience to learn them has waned with age. Nieces/nephews tried to get me to play, but they (the games) leave my head spinnin. but youre right -- they are stunning creations!

 

[70bigblockdodge]

My brother-in-law on my wife side is a big gamer, I liked that red dead revolver game, also with feedback steering wheel setup I spent hours cruising a plymouth Superbird around the nurinburg ring at speed on Gran Turismo, go see how much that would cost in real life.

 

[70NPORT]

hey brother...you left me behind right here. Mid-70's I already had cars to drive, but still the video game i recall was Speed Race.

The boom in the arcade business in the 80's left me behind too..i was in college and just couldnt get hooked.

Today's stuff..my patience to learn them has waned with age. Nieces/nephews tried to get me to play, but they (the games) leave my head spinnin. but youre right -- they are stunning creations!

I like to sit now and again and go at with my "BLACK" game, but yea I hear you I don't play video games anywhere near the amount of time I used to, just don't have idle time anymore lol.

 

[66Monacovert]

Wow you guys are bringing back my childhood memorys,the two that come to mind are my 1970 schwinn Cotten Picker,boy i wish i still had that one there commanding some good coin today.And I remember playing for hours with my sizzlers cars that were rechargable with the juice box...oh to be young agian,i cant even get my kids from thier lap tops ,video games,and smart phones...heres some pics. John

 

[70NPORT]

My brother-in-law on my wife side is a big gamer, I liked that red dead revolver game, also with feedback steering wheel setup I spent hours cruising a plymouth Superbird around the nurinburg ring at speed on Gran Turismo, go see how much that would cost in real life.

I killed Governor Griffen on the roof of the state house a bunch of times, lol.