The toys that made a difference to you...

I am kid of the 80's and as such he-Man was a big part of my Saturday afternoons. heman.jpg

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Is it just me or did any of the rest of you do this with the comic strips --plus all the other cool stuff Silly Putty could do?

This toy held my attention roughly kindergarten to third grade. 30 years later my kids played with the stuff.

somewhere around my house are "things for the grand-kids (when I finally get some)." With my kids' toys and baby clothes, etc., is Silly Putty I bought in roughly 1988 for my oldest daughter then almost two (my youngest was under a year old .. she just wanted to eat it).

when I find it I will post a pic. last time I saw it (five years ago when it was 23 years old, it hadn't changed a bit EXCEPT it lost the comic book color pickup thing (or maybe they are using different ink in newspapers now?)

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxdfoJoWNE4
 
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Anyone have an austin magic pistol they want to get rid of

wow...this was real. never had one..never saw one. that thing woulda gotten me in trouble.

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/11/chris-dumm/obscure-object-of-desire-austin-magic-pistol/

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of that list of ten, the ones in my childhood were Clackers (yes, every bit as dangerous THEN, looking back, as they routinely exploded in use), Creepy Crawlers (tons of fun, no issues), and Lawn Darts (didn't perceive the obvious danger as kids BUT we could NOT play with them without adult supervision - so the folks knew the deal).
 
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I'll dust this thread off just because I discovered a new skill looking for brochure photos. You'll see the relevance in a sec I hope.

Spring 1971, Fifth Grade. I was on my third or fourth Wham-O Super Ball. I finally got the nerve, on a dare, to do what the old man forbade: Hit it with a baseball bat. I had already bounced it by hand over my elementary school building, breaking a window on the second attempt .. but I digress (I confessed my crime 10 years later).

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Enter now my elementary school and the playgrounds around it and across the street. Though the school is long closed and the fencing around it gone, the baseball backstop is still in the same place and the building still standing.

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Me with my "Harmon Killebrew" Louisville slugger, against my buddy, a lefty using his "Boog Powell" bat, and a couple of Super Balls.

Using Google Earth 40+ years later, the truth can be revealed. My magnificent blast was recovered 422 feet away, near the monkey bars, resting against the side fence. My buddy's drive was 406 feet, BUT it hit the roof of the school on a line, bounced up in the air, landed in the teacher's parking lot, and wound up at a neighbor's garage door.

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I drew the chain link fence placements (they were six feet tall) in black and green, and labeled the Google Earth ruler measurements. We paced the distance way back when .. I argued that I won .. but I don't remember the distance. A couple tries later, the balls disintegrated (split in half).

In truth, had my buddy not hit the roof, his line drive mighta gone 500 ft. BTW, he went on to play minor league baseball in the KC Royals organization until a car accident ended his playing career. He was the real deal -- I was pure amateur hour material. :)

Any of you lay wood (a bat or golf club) to a Super Ball as a youngster?
 
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Yup, a ball bat, and I'd say that Super Ball is still up in the woods, someplace.
 
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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Wow!! Seeing those brings me back.. I too had all those Tonkas.. I use to sit in them and ride them down the driveway, pull them behind my bike, this freaking things were built to last. And it goes without saying!! But! They don't make them like they use too....
 
Yup, a ball bat, and I'd say that Super Ball is still up in the woods, someplace.

Prince Fielder just retired as many might know. Brad Ausmus, current Detroit Tigers manager, remembered young Prince (when Ausmus played with Cecil Fielder in Detroit) as a twelve year old kid able to hit a regulation baseball farther than Ausmus could as a 28 year old man.

I was not remotely the same prodigy as the Prince .. but that spring day in 1971 i sure felt like it courtesy of Mr. Wham-O :)
 
I could always hit ... just couldn't "get that refrigerator off my back" (according to my coaches). Ya hit 'em outta the park, you don't need to be fast :)

It wasen't that kind of stick...... It was very versatile though. I could drag it along a chain link fence, clear spider webs away from my path, knock cans around with it.
I got it free from out in a field somewhere. It lasted a long time
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Super cool thread... Many of my toys were hand-me-downs... we weren't rich, but not that poor... I think my folks had a different set of priorities than I did. I am the oldest kid of my generation, so they were quite young and less well off at the time and I was the prime target for stuff their siblings had outgrown. Don't like to relive those years in the second half of the 70's when I fit the pants many of my aunt's discarded... Mom was one of nine. Luckily I was tall enough by junior high that nobody else had anything that fit. I also killed my old pants every summer doing bondo and undercoating and whatever else was on my summer chore list... I was never allowed to wear school clothes to play in.

Some of my all time favorites...
had this set
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The newer stuff was already going to plastic back in my era... this one was great. My set couldn't fit into the box there was so many additional items added over the years... other sets I assume...

I had one similar to this, but couldn't find the exact model...
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1977?? I swear mine was before that... I distinctly remember rack and pinion steering and the pistons moving while you pushed it, but mine also had arches for fenders and spoke wheels... I don't recall a jeep option or I would have built it. It was the goto toy for me to bring anytime we visited someone... I could fieldstrip and rebuild that thing in a time that would have made almost anyone proud, except my folks who were really just interested in keeping me out of trouble.

Last seen the grim remains were still at my maternal grandmother's house for the cousins to play with... now the cousins children... wasn't much left of them or my matchbox/hot wheels cars... which once had paint and wheels.
 
Post 1 of 2. Really neat stuff posted thus far and a great thread! Being born in 1971, I'm part of the "Superhero" generation fueled by Batman reruns and shows like Spiderman and The Hulk. I played with Action Figures up until the late '70's, mostly Mego's, Star Wars, Shogun Warriors, Battlestar Galalctica and even KISS. Pictured below is some of the stuff I still have.

Mego Action Figures:








Star Wars:


Shogun Warriors:


Battlestar Galactica:


 
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It wasen't that kind of stick...... It was very versatile though. I could drag it along a chain link fence, clear spider webs away from my path, knock cans around with it.
I got it free from out in a field somewhere. It lasted a long time
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shoot man .. i had a stick too. i grew up in the midwest - not "rural" but "homespun" if you know what I mean? just something youngsters (boys mostly) had.

anyway. in addition to what you said, you could flip road kill, hit rocks, sword-fight, play army man, slay dragons, and if i thought about it more, a dozen other cool things a kid can imagine :)

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shoot man .. i had a stick too. i grew up in the midwest - not "rural" but "homespun" if you know what I mean? just something youngsters (boys mostly) had.

anyway. you could flip road kill, hit rocks, sword-fight, play army man, slay dragons, and if i though about it, a dozen other cool things a kid can imagine :)
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That should read could imagine. They can't seem to imagine anymore.
 
Post 1 of 2. Really neat stuff posted thus far and a great thread! Being born in 1971, I'm part of the "Superhero" generation fuels by Batman reruns and shows like Spiderman and The Hulk. I played with Action Figures up until the late '70's, mostly Mego's, Star Wars, Shogun Warriors, Battlestar Galalctica and even KISS. Pictured below is some of the stuff I still have.

Mego Action Figures:








Star Wars:


Shogun Warriors:


Battlestar Galactica:



I was ten years too old for the some of the coolest stuff you "younguns" had. I was in high school when the original Star Wars came out.

Anyway, I woulda been all over ALL these toys as lad :)
 
Post 2 of 2.

KISS Action Figures:




Chutes Away was also one of my favorites when I was a kid.


As I got older, I got into BMX bikes and had two (one got stolen) JMC Racing bikes when I was a youngster. I sold one of them a few years back for close to $2,000. An NOS JMC Layback Seat Post I had fetched $800 alone. FOR A SEAT POST! I also got into Baseball Cards (HEAVY) in the early '80's through the early '90's and still have them ALL. Crazy.

I also had an Atari 2600 and Nintendo Entertainment System.




Today, in addition to my cars, my other "toys" are my pool cues and table.


 
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That should read could imagine. They can't seem to imagine anymore.

they still can i think ... but yeah, you're onto something.

somehow "things" (i dunno what ..probably a subject for a different thread) have "conspired" to rob them of simple pleasures of growing up

things change .. or maybe that's just the "fogey" in me coming out :)
 
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