# Cool toys you had when you were a kid **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 25, 2013, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662 "2013-04-25T14:14:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/21 "2013-04-25T15:28:35Z")
[Fort Apache](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1960s-Marx-Fort-Apache-Playset-3681-excellent-w-box-and-extra-pcs-/200917572032?pt=Vintage_Antique_Toys_US&hash=item2ec79ed9c0) Hula Hoop Pogo stick Lionel train set (wish I still had it) Robby the Robot, which was operated via a cable-connected controller. The cable was similar to a speedometer cable and you turned a crank to make the robot move. The eyes flashed. [Monkey with cymbals](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mechanical-Musical-Jolly-Clapping-Chimp-Monkey-Cymbals-Battery-Op-Toy-/281094417395?pt=Electronic_Battery_Windup_Toys_US&hash=item4172886bf3), which was kinda creepy Toy guns that were very realistic looking, like the [Fanner 50](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mattel-Fanner-50-w-belt-and-holster-/321111652406?pt=Vintage_Antique_Toys_US&hash=item4ac3bef836) ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/22 "2013-04-25T15:31:06Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I only had a few Kenner toys. I played at my friends’ house and used theirs. > > Right now, my roomate is ebaying the still factory-sealed Millenium Falcon he picked up in 1987. When he was 17. Lets hope it finally pays off. You have a 43-year-old roommate? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/23 "2013-04-25T15:38:12Z")
My favorites included a collection of [Best of the West action figures](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb6t1ldgL4Q) (Johnny West, Geronimo, Sam Cobra, General Custer, and a couple of hand-me-down horses and a “used like the only woman on a pirate ship by the time I got her” Jane West). [Fort Apache](http://www.diamantineclarity.com/other/dyr/FtApacheFull.jpg) was site of daily massacres and marble wars. There was also a really long (seemed 5 feet long when I was a kid, probably more like 3 to 4 feet long) aircraft carrier that launched a couple of Nerf planes. My father, who served on a carrier immediately after WW2 (Japan surrendered before he finished basic) usually didn’t much approve of toys (as they cost money) but actually liked that one. I also really enjoyed the ViewMaster projector. “Back in those days…” View Master reels were a lot cooler- they sold them at all tourist attractions just like souvenir postcards and they had them for most popular movies and TV shows (though I don’t remember STAR WARS reels). Toys I was the right age for and always wanted but never got: The Six Million Dollar Man (didn’t watch the series, but the toys were cool- the eye you could look through and the villain with multiple faces), anything Star Wars, and [JJ Armes](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2221/1624422010_09e80f0a03_o.jpg). Sucked the most: back in the '70s every single TV show had a board game: _Happy Days_, _Laverne and Shirley_, _Planet of the Apes_, _Road Runner_, you name it- and most of them were super lame rejects for real board games that just had the characters from the TV show stamped on them (and probably quickly moved to the discount bin). My mother used to get these for me (see “discount bin”). I was mannerly and thanked her and sometimes even set the game up and some had pretty boards (_Planet of the Apes_ had a human cage that was nice), but we lived way the hell out in the country, my parents did not play board games (except, occasionally, Jeopardy, which was a hell of a lot of fun to play against adults when you’re 9), my brother and sister were a lot older and off in college and the only other people in walking distance were all born in the 19th century, and apparently it never occurred to my mother “Who the feck is he supposed to play this game with?”, so they just collected dust in their boxes in the same closet where my black GI Joe figure hid in a hole in the wall behind a broken necked giant Snoopy when I played Underground Railroad. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/24 "2013-04-25T15:38:46Z")
I had the Major Matt Mason toys, which were insane. > **[Wildtoy's Major Matt Mason Home Page](http://www.wildtoys.com/MMMPage/index.asp)** > > A 60's Toy Collector's site featuring Major Matt Mason > **[Wildtoy's Major Matt Mason Mattel Playsets Page](http://www.wildtoys.com/MMMPage/MMMplayers/index.asp)** > > A 60's Toy Collector's site featuring Major Matt Mason > **[Wildtoy's Major Matt Mason Mattel Playsets Page](http://www.wildtoys.com/MMMPage/MattelPlaysets/5157.asp)** > > A 60's Toy Collector's site featuring Major Matt Mason > **[Wildtoy's Major Matt Mason Mattel Playsets Page](http://www.wildtoys.com/MMMPage/MattelPlaysets/6300.asp)** > > A 60's Toy Collector's site featuring Major Matt Mason This was one hell of a space station. > **[Wildtoy's Major Matt Mason Mattel Playsets Page](http://www.wildtoys.com/MMMPage/MattelPlaysets/6308_StationFull.asp)** > > A 60's Toy Collector's site featuring Major Matt Mason > **[Wildtoy's Major Matt Mason Mattel Playsets Page](http://www.wildtoys.com/MMMPage/MattelPlaysets/6308_StationTopCommand.asp)** > > A 60's Toy Collector's site featuring Major Matt Mason A vehicle > **[Wildtoy's Major Matt Mason Mattel Playsets Page](http://www.wildtoys.com/MMMPage/MattelPlaysets/6304_SpaceCrawlerSide1.asp)** > > A 60's Toy Collector's site featuring Major Matt Mason > **[Wildtoy's Major Matt Mason Mattel Playsets Page](http://www.wildtoys.com/MMMPage/MattelPlaysets/6318_MMMBlueStrapFront.asp)** > > A 60's Toy Collector's site featuring Major Matt Mason A really wild ride– > **[Wildtoy's Major Matt Mason Mattel Playsets Page](http://www.wildtoys.com/MMMPage/MattelPlaysets/6339_UTSBSide2.asp)** > > A 60's Toy Collector's site featuring Major Matt Mason It was the 60s, & we **were** going to the Moon! ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/25 "2013-04-25T15:51:47Z")
I had the line of Shogun monster toys that included [Shogun Robot](http://www.wildtoys.com/shogun/shoguns!.jpg) (mine was the yellow/blue guy with bulls horns and launching nipple-missiles), a derpy looking, hand-launching (!?) [Godzilla](http://dunningrb.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/godzilla_big.jpg) and the [super-amazing-awesome Rodan](http://toyriffic.blogspot.com/2012/04/league-of-extraordinary-bloggers-holy.html). With three foot wingspan and grasping talons. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/26 "2013-04-25T16:22:17Z")
[Johnny Seven OMA](http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&biw=1920&bih=1028&tbm=isch&tbnid=TLndlRUF32JaSM:&imgrefurl=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2049243_2048656_2049182,00.html&docid=ZzPuR_VPBo57tM&imgurl=http://img.timeinc.net/time/photoessays/2011/100toys_1_50/johnny_seven_49.jpg&w=307&h=200&ei=i1V5UcG6CIWo2gXyhYHwAQ&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:1,s:0,i:89&iact=rc&dur=470&page=1&tbnh=160&tbnw=245&start=0&ndsp=33&tx=140&ty=28)! And, of course, my [Kenner Girder and Panel Set](https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ6wNdpFFsF9j4s1F8ZwLFUdnama52XoRWdNfPnVLZF0bCYoNp4wg). ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/27 "2013-04-25T16:24:54Z")
I had a [Mighty Mo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sypBdB_FYNk) jeep. That thing was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/28 "2013-04-25T16:39:21Z")
The LEGO [Technic Prop Plane](http://alumni.cse.ucsc.edu/~dulcaoin/reviews/pix/8855.jpg) with working flaps and rudder. It came with one of the oversized Technic LEGO men. The set also made a space shuttle IIRC, but I built the plane and never took it apart because it was so cool. It’s still sitting on a bookshelf in my parent’s house. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/29 "2013-04-25T16:44:38Z")
I had that “U-Fly-It” set up with the styrofoam aircraft carrier and the F-4 Phantom. Cool. The _best_ toy, however, was the Yamaha 465. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/30 "2013-04-25T16:51:08Z")
My sister and I had the pink Barbie Limousine. We would fill the spa in the back with real water and drive it around the house 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/31 "2013-04-25T16:51:12Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > I had the Major Matt Mason toys, which were insane… \ > It was the 60s, & we **were** going to the Moon! We must have been born around the same time. Callisto, Major Matt Mason’s friend from Jupiter. Wow. I haven’t thought about that character in a very long time. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/32 "2013-04-25T16:56:17Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > When I was a kid (8?) I got a BB Gun for xmas. It was a Crossman pump air rifle that easily shattered bottles at the dump. My dad was as impressed as I was. Did you shoot your eye out? My brother and I had a [“Thingmaker”/“Creepy Crawlers”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creepy_Crawlers), he was older so he was supposed to supervise me. They bought me the “Fun Flowers” set to use 'cause I’m a girl but I liked the creepy stuff. Severe burns and toxic fumes! It was fun being a kid in the 60’s! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/33 "2013-04-25T16:59:57Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > I had a [robot](http://www.prestonmarketing.com/toys/robotcommando/robotcommando.html) I had one of those! Dad called it “Gort” after the Robot in _The Day the Earth Stood Still._ ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/34 "2013-04-25T17:09:41Z")
Beautiful Crissy with hair that grows! And Dancerella the ballerina! [Crissy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEi1Pb5Y28w) [Dancerella](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7-WQv0M04w) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/35 "2013-04-25T17:11:56Z")
I had a [Verbot](http://www.fanboy.com/archive-images/tomy-robots-1984-verbot.jpg). It wasn’t really that cool. My two biggest and best toys were a Star Wars [B-Wing](http://www.theforce.net/swtc/Pix/Xbrooklyn/Bwing2.jpg) and a GI Joe [Cobra Night Raven](http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/86/nightraven/nightraven_leftrear_iso.jpg). They’d probably be worth a decent amount of money now if I hadn’t played with them to death and broken them. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/36 "2013-04-25T17:17:01Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Did you shoot your eye out? > > My brother and I had a [“Thingmaker”/“Creepy Crawlers”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creepy_Crawlers), he was older so he was supposed to supervise me. They bought me the “Fun Flowers” set to use 'cause I’m a girl but I liked the creepy stuff. > > Severe burns and toxic fumes! It was fun being a kid in the 60’s! Wow, I had something like this in the 90s that churned out gummy and fizzy candy in disgusting shapes! I forget what it was called, though… ahh, memories. ---
**Author:** ![MostlyUseless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MostlyUseless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyUseless)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/37 "2013-04-25T17:18:05Z")
I have never met anyone that remembers these, but in 1968, when I was in 1st grade, the hot thing was the Whizzer top. You would drag the top point against concrete and let the thing spin at high speed with a very cool whiz noise. I had the Evil Knievel set as well and that was cool. Unfortunately, as I got older Mr Knievel ran into a circle of fire and burned up in flight. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/38 "2013-04-25T17:19:56Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Wow, I had something like this in the 90s that churned out gummy and fizzy candy in disgusting shapes! I forget what it was called, though… ahh, memories. In the '70s you used a different Goop to make Incredible Edibles. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/39 "2013-04-25T17:21:00Z")
> [@MostlyUseless](#): > > I have never met anyone that remembers these, but in 1968, when I was in 1st grade, the hot thing was the Whizzer top. You have now. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/40 "2013-04-25T17:26:12Z")
Sigh. I had siblings, not toys. 😛 Youngest of five. By the time they got to me, I got a library card and was given directions to the library. This is all hyperbole, of course, but I don’t remember having many cool toys. StG [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662.md?page=3)