Ahhh, toys. Who doesn't (didn't) love toys? (And I'm not even referring to adult toys, which is another subject for another time.) Shit, I still have superhero toys all over the fucking place. Although I don't actually play with them.
I came across a story about the most recent items inducted into the Strong National Museum of Play's National Toy Hall of Fame: the ubiquitous stick, the Baby Doll and the skateboard. A hall of fame for toys, who knew. A big fan of toys to this day I thought I'd go through the inductees.
Alphabet Blocks - a worthy entry, for both its dual role of amusement and education. And spelling out dirty words was a gas.
Atari 2600- oh yeah, the first real video game console. I never had one -- I had Intellivision -- but my friends did and we spent countless hours gaming on them. The best game hands down was "Adventure".
Baby Doll - I have no experience with them, but I guess girls have maternal instincts even from such a young age.
Barbie - I imagine this would be most chicks' all time favorite.
Bicycle - I don't consider a bike a toy, but we did have an awful lot of fun on these. The best ever was tying a rope to them, building a ramp and jumping them into a rock quarry turned lake.
Cardboard box- ummm, this must be a ghetto thing.
Candy Land - never got into this, or Chutes and Ladders.
Checkers - definitely a classic. Can still be played as an adult to kill some time.
Crayola Crayons- what would we have done without Crayola Crayons? How much time was spent drawing and coloring with these as young ones? How fuckin' cool was the built in sharpener on the box? And the names of the colors are priceless. Timeless.
Duncan Yo-Yo - I couldn't and still can't make a yo-yo go up and down (I'm retarded, what do you want), so this was useless to me.
Easy Bake Oven - as far as I'm concerned it can't hurt to lead young women to bake. Comes in handy later in life.
Erector Set - don't really know why, but it never did anything for me.
Etch-A-Sketch - pretty cool shit. Although I wasn't any good at anything other than straight lines. How people were able to make crazy things like this blows me away.
Frisbee- I don't remember using them much when I was a kid, really got into them in college. Have yet to try frolf (Frisbee golf). Or train a dog to catch them.
G.I. Joe- now we're talking. And the Joe with the kung fu grip, not that lame cartoon shit. Joe and I were tight when I was a lad.
Hula Hoop - before my time. And a waste of time in my mind.
Jack-in-the-box- meh, I could take them or leave them. There's not really much suspense after you try it the first time.
Jacks- to us fellas jacks were stupid fuckin' nuisances that ruined your day when stepped on with bare feet.
Jigsaw puzzle - Still cool to this day. Love me a good jigsaw puzzle.
Jump rope - They're supposed to be great exercise so I'd love to use the leather one I own but like the yo-yo it's out of my realm of ability.
Kite - We used to tie our kites to our fishing rods and send them up hundreds of yards. Great stuff. Best friend Rick and his sister Amy busted one out earlier this year but we didn't have much luck getting it airborne. *Sigh*
Lego- a true hall of famer. Who didn't love Legos? Even these new Lego video games get great reviews.
Lincoln Logs - my grandparents Nat and Ruth kept a set at their place and I played with them every time I was there. I think they still sell these.
Lionel Trains - I don't think I ever owned a train set. I don't see the allure.
Marbles - before my time, but my they were huge when my parents were young.
Monopoly - how'd you like to own a piece of this franchise? A toy for both young and old. We were playing Wii Monopoly recently at cousin Bruce and wife Becca's. I've got four Monopoly games: DC Comics, Batman, Miami Dolphins and USC. They sell a game for everyone.
Play-Doh- another no-brainer. And who has never eaten Play-Doh?
Mr. Potato Head - Never did anything for me.
Radio Flyer wagon - before my time, but if I had a kid I'd by them one.
Raggedy Ann and Andy - next!
Rocking Horse - if I had one I was too young to remember, but I guess a kid would enjoy it.
Roller Skates - would have been cooler if we had hockey down here back then, but roller hockey didn't come along until I was an adult
Scrabble - still great fun. Every home should have a set. I love letter and word games.
Silly Putty - didn't see what the big deal was. Sure, you could put it over a cartoon from the Sunday paper and copy it, but then what? And the smell sickened me.
Skateboard - like the bike I don't really see this as a toy, but I loved skateboarding. I rode a board to class in college. I never got into tricks -- I was never a fan of falling and hurting myself -- but it was a great conveyance.
Slinky - what's the big deal? Maybe if I lived in a house with stairs...
Stick - most fun when used along with a dog.
Teddy Bear - a toy?
Tinkertoy - great stuff as a kid. A young kid.
Tonka Trucks - ahhh, Tonka, my first love. My Mom swears I had every model they made. Cousin Bruce bought cousin Mason his first Tonka recently. It brought a tear to my eye. Almost made me want to have a boy of my own.
View-master - cool technology at the time (early to mid 70s), but wasn't all that entertaining.
After going over this list I can't help but think of all the great stuff that's missing from it. Plastic army men, Mego superhero action figures (they weren't dolls!), Clue, Operation, electric football, matchbox cars and Battleship. What am I leaving out...
I guess I was ghetto... A cardboard box with a few holes and a couple of gerbils? Good times.
And then there was the refrigerator box. Instant castle/clubhouse. I still can't pass a refrigerator box on the side of the road without thinking about taking it home to play in the back yard. Maybe that's just creepy...
Plastic army men were great. Even better once we found out what happened when you set them on fire...
Posted by: Larry "The Snake Guy" | November 21, 2008 at 09:18 PM
Whoa... you playing with gerbils in a cardboard box? What were you doing, playing gay night club?
Posted by: Creepy | November 22, 2008 at 12:08 AM
Somehow, I knew you'd go there. :)
Posted by: Larry "The Snake Guy" | November 22, 2008 at 12:57 PM
How could I not?
Do tell how a box and gerbils equates to "good times."
Posted by: Creepy | November 22, 2008 at 02:56 PM
Cut a few "doors" and "windows" in the box, let the gerbils go exploring. Or maybe I was just easily entertained...
Maybe not as fun as knocking birds off the power lines with a slingshot...
Posted by: Larry "The Snake Guy" | November 23, 2008 at 03:04 AM
Be careful where those gerbils "go exploring." :0)
Hey, maybe that's what happened to Richard Gere! He was innocently playing a game of "Cardboard Box Gerbiltown" and all hell broke loose.
Posted by: Creepy | November 23, 2008 at 10:13 AM
Snopes is your friend: http://www.snopes.com/risque/homosex/gerbil.asp
Posted by: Larry "The Snake Guy" | November 23, 2008 at 02:56 PM
That's supposed to convince me that you and/or Richard Gere shoved gerbils up your butt? Please.
Posted by: Creepy | November 23, 2008 at 08:19 PM
??? Did you not read far enough, or did you just miss-word the last reply?
Posted by: Larry "The Snake Guy" | November 24, 2008 at 03:23 AM