Favorite childhood toys and shet...

[NikiQ]

I earned my way through college working 3 summers at the Tonka Toy factory in Mound, MN. Summertime was when Tonka made their Christmas toys, so they'd hire a lot of college kids to work the assembly lines, therfore, I could claim that I was one of "Santa's helpers". Wish I had some of the Mighty Tonkas that I built.

Originally Posted by Grey Ghost

Tonka stuff I played the crap out of. Funny, I thought they were made and imported from Japan (by name, I guess)but, label says MN.

[erickpl]

Originally Posted by onedef92

I think Cox made a line-controlled F-4 Phantom, too, but I never owned that one.

Yep, they did. Mine made it exactly 1 flight before lawn darting into the street at Mach 2.

Then my dad let me try.

Um, dad, parts don't fly. I kinda need that engine over in the neighbor's yard. LOL

[erickpl]

Originally Posted by onedef92

We used to mod the feck outta' those Stomper 4x4 toys by Schaper (1980) and pull them in mechanical shop class when I was in high school. These toys were battery-powered vehicles with working headlights that ran on a single AA battery and featured full-time, four-wheel drive. They were driven by a single motor that turned both axles.

Had several of those! I liked the waterproof 4x4 pickups. We'd try to regear them to make em faster or climb more stuff. They worked in the pool too! I REALLY wish they'd release them again!

Other toys:
Models (of course) - I had a USS Constitution model. My sister knocked it off the stand and broke the masts! Old Ironsides was never the same, so we put it in the pool with some ballast (and a few cherry bombs), lit it up on fire and set her adrift. I was helping clean melted plastic and copper coloring from that pool the rest of the day and most of the next.

My neighbor had fullsize GI Joes. And LOTS of accessories (guns, tents, Jeeps, etc), so we spent many days stamping out the enemies.

Green Machine


I had a few AFX racers that we would also regear or try to find better magnets to make em faster.

Loved my Tonka Trucks. GI Joe used them frequently too to haul crap.

My dad gave me his 50's era Erector set and we'd build all kinds of bridges, cranes, etc. I also had his 40's vintage Lionel train. I still have that one.

For Christmas one year, I got one of these:


I think they were trying to tell me to become an engineer: Trains, Erector sets, Electronic circuit...

[Grey Ghost]

Originally Posted by NikiQ

I earned my way through college working 3 summers at the Tonka Toy factory in Mound, MN. Summertime was when Tonka made their Christmas toys, so they'd hire a lot of college kids to work the assembly lines, therfore, I could claim that I was one of "Santa's helpers". Wish I had some of the Mighty Tonkas that I built.

Very cool !

I have a box of those balsa glider planes. The marketing dept. at a company I worked for had some made up with the company name, etc..printed on them and handed them out at trade shows. They were cleaning house one day and throwing the box out. I snatched it.

[Torqaholic]

Remember these?

[NeedSpeed]

Along with the AFX tracks, we had Tyco as well. I remember when these came out, magnets were strong so they hung the track better

[markyerger]

[CubSmurf]

Originally Posted by markyerger

OMG, my Great Uncle had one of these and I played the CRAP out of it. I LOVED this damn toy!!


These jokers were my favorite. Loved MASK!

[Yamma]

Originally Posted by NeedSpeed

Along with the AFX tracks, we had Tyco as well. I remember when these came out, magnets were strong so they hung the track better

nice! I still have this set, in the box:



My dogs freakin' love it.

Here's Taco chasing after a car on another of my slot car tracks:

Rocco & the slot cars - YouTube

[erickpl]

OMG I remember Star Bird!!! The front part would come off and be just that and the engine 'cone' from the back. Even the fat part in front would come off to be even smaller and the vertical fins came off 'to fly on their own' (read throw at my sisters!).

[NeedSpeed]

Still break out this bad boy once in a great while.

[Yamma]

Who else had one of these?



I totally rocked some smurfs on it when I was 4.

[C5SilverBullet]

Originally Posted by TxAg

Tonka made an updated version of this one. Got it for my son. He loves it!

He also has an old, big metal Tonka blazer I played with and loves it too.

Got one for my son too.

[C5SilverBullet]

I had the entire Thundercats collection. All these and way more.

[Craig]

Legos was definately my favorite toy. I had a five gallon trash can full of them.

This it the old tv game console we had, a Fairchild; got it when I was in my late teens.

[onedef92]

Originally Posted by erickpl

OMG I remember Star Bird!!! The front part would come off and be just that and the engine 'cone' from the back. Even the fat part in front would come off to be even smaller and the vertical fins came off 'to fly on their own' (read throw at my sisters!).

Starbird was DOPE! One of my best buds in grade school, Alex Dixon, had one. He'd bring it to school and I loved the way it emitted electronic ascending/descending sounds depending on the angle of attack. It also made cool laser cannon noises.

[onedef92]

Big Bertha Deluxe Reading Corp 1965.wmv - YouTube

Ya'll recall the "Big Bertha" Toy tank made by Deluxe Reading Corporation in 1965 and shit?

Huge frikkin' toy! A 1/ 8 scale Sherman Tank!

It had a spring-operated cannon on one side that shot balls and had an adapter so you could shoot missles. On the other end was a double-barrel, crank-operated, machine gun that shot plastic BB's. The tracks were molded on and it had plastic wheels underneath.

My older brother had one and we played the ever-lovin' stool out of it. It was so rugged, we actually SAT on it while riding it. Indcredible toy! We built entire citites out of building blocks then pulverized 'em to the ground with Bertha's main cannon.

[C5SilverBullet]

Originally Posted by TxAg

Ok how many times did you play with it before giving to your kiddo?

I think I only did it a couple of times.

Only four or five.

I was walking through Toys R Us the other day, and just kept thinking, "Man, I can wait until he gets just a little older, and I get to play with all these awesome toys."

[NeedSpeed]

Originally Posted by Yamma

Who else had one of these?



I totally rocked some smurfs on it when I was 4.

I used to play on my friends a lot.

[onedef92]

My younger brother had a "Max Machine." It was manufactured in 1977 by Scherpa Manufacturing Company. The van is "sound controled" (telesonic) whereby the controller emits a loud clicking sound and triggers a sensor which steers the front wheels.