# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/61 "2013-04-25T19:39:25Z")
[The Sonic Ear](http://danefield.com/alpha/forums/uploads/post-16-0-29144700-1347902568.jpg) Loved that damn thing. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/62 "2013-04-25T19:43:51Z")
I had [SSP Racers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NxQf-aeDWk) and [Smash Up Derby](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyoUcofBo9I) cars. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/63 "2013-04-25T20:17:24Z")
I had 5 acres of woods, best “toy” ever! ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/64 "2013-04-25T20:19:09Z")
Another couple of cool toys from when I was really young: [the Fisher-Price Tool Kit](http://www.thestrong.org/online-collections/nmop/1/32/105.946) and [the Fisher-Price Medical Kit](http://www.fourthgradenothing.com/2011/05/1970s-vintage-fisher-price-medical-kit.html). ---
**Author:** ![Methyl\_Ethyl\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Methyl\_Ethyl\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Methyl_Ethyl_Death)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/65 "2013-04-25T20:31:55Z")
Hey **Mooch** , google “wind-up Zoids”. I had those too. I had a Sonic Fazer, with a red LED in the back and a horizontal sliding switch that let you select from five different sound effects. When I was about seven, my parents bought me a Coleco Telstar Arcade. This thing was huge and awesome as hell and I’m pretty sure it predated the Atari VCS. The console was a giant brown triangle, one side held the gun (which looked like a real revolver), another side was the steering wheel complete with gear shift lever, and the remaining side held the pong paddles. The silver colored game cartridges were also triangle and connected to the console by snapping flat on the top. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/66 "2013-04-25T20:45:36Z")
I had a stick. Seriously, after Billy Zech got scraped up falling down the ravine “on maneuvers”, our moms decided we were getting too violent. So they took away all our toy guns… [INCLUDING THE EXACT ONE JOHN WAYNE USED IN THE GREEN BERETS.](http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Green_Berets,_The#Mattel_M-16_Marauder_Toy_Gun)(Yes, The Duke was carrying a Mattel M-16 in that film). So we found some perfect Tommy Gun-shaped sticks, and lovingly stripped and sanded and oiled them until they were perfect “Nazi-Huntin’ Guns”. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/67 "2013-04-25T20:52:46Z")
Big +1 on the Big Trak, one of my favourite toys ever! They make a[desktop version](http://www.bigtrakxtr.co.uk/?q=retailers) now with the same functionality! also had the Smash Up Derby sets, I loved using the station wagon or the Beetle. They flew rather well off out second story balcony…Finding the pieces always took a while. Estes rockets, GI Joe without kung-fu grip. Boy was I pissed when that came out a year later… Best toy ever was my Matchbox cars! I spent more time with those than anything else I think. Not Hot Wheels, Not Johnny Lightning, Matchbox! They were always faster on the tracks…My Dad brought me anew one every payday for the 5 years we were stationed in Germany. I suspect that I probably had almost all of them at one point… ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/68 "2013-04-25T21:09:57Z")
Hot Wheels Sizzlers! And AFX race cars. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/69 "2013-04-25T21:13:56Z")
I had a water powered rocket. This looks like the exact same model. [http://www.coolest-toys.com/201003/classic-toys-–-water-rockets.htm](http://www.coolest-toys.com/201003/classic-toys-%E2%80%93-water-rockets.htm) The pump also made a good Sonic Screwdriver ---
**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, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/70 "2013-04-25T21:21:04Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I had a water powered rocket. This looks like the exact same model. > [http://www.coolest-toys.com/201003/classic-toys-–-water-rockets.htm](http://www.coolest-toys.com/201003/classic-toys-%E2%80%93-water-rockets.htm) I never got them to work well. You’d think a budding engineer would figure out the incompressible liquid thing :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/71 "2013-04-25T21:33:16Z")
I had about 60 matchbox models. I outgrew them about the time hot wheels came about. I’d play with them with my kenner bridge and girder sets using a sheet of pegboard that never got attached to a wall. ---
**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, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/72 "2013-04-25T21:56:45Z")
Mixing up Civil War figures, Lincoln Logs and those damned plastic bricks that didn’t have enough windows and doors was pretty cool. Blew a lot of shit up with the cannon that fired tiny plastic projectiles. ---
**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, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/73 "2013-04-25T22:07:50Z")
Back in the day, you could get frogmen and submarines as toys in your cereal box. You put baking soda into a little compartment, and as water seeped in through the small hole, the baking soda would produce gas to propel the boat or to make bubbles come out of the frogman’s face mask. Great bathtub toys until you discovered your boy parts made more than bubbles. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/74 "2013-04-25T22:25:25Z")
1.) The **Cosmorama** , a toy planetarium that you could set for any latitude, looking noth or south, at any date and time. It was an amazingly complex assembly, filled with chains of plastic gears, and had a huge quarter-of-a-sphere overhead quasi-dome. Incredibly complex to assemble, but worth it. I still have mine, although it doesn’t work so well. I have another toy planetarium that I’ve inherited, but the Cosmorama is WAY cooler [http://www.pielock.com/cosmorama.htm](http://www.pielock.com/cosmorama.htm) [http://home.roadrunner.com/~limited58/planetarium.htm](http://home.roadrunner.com/~limited58/planetarium.htm) 2.) The **Vac-U-Form** – a toy vacuform unit, complete with a heating element and hand-operated pump. You ciould buy sheets of thermoform plastic that fit into its holding frame and make toy car bodies, medals, transparent plastic domes, and other things. Makeup artist Dick Smith recommended it for elaborate special effects makeup. Unfortunately, they stopped selling the sheets of plastic, which weren’t easy to replace. The heating element was exactly the same as the one for the Thingmaker and Incredible Edibles, so the unit was still usable. > **[Vac-U-Form by Mattel and Toymax - Sam's Toybox](https://www.samstoybox.com/toys/Vac-U-Form.html)** > > The Vac-U-Form plastic molding toy by Mattel [http://www.spookshows.com/toys/vacuform/vacuform.htm](http://www.spookshows.com/toys/vacuform/vacuform.htm) > **[Vac-U-Form](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vac-u-form)** > > The Vac-u-form, was a toy invented by Eddy Goldfarb and released by Mattel in the 1960s around 1961 with the trademark filed on October 8, 1962. > Based on the industrial process of vacuum forming, a rectangular piece of plastic was clamped in a holder and heated over a metal plate. When the plastic was soft, the holder was swung to the other side, over a mold of the object to be formed. Then quickly and repeatedly pressing down on a spring-loaded handle on the side of the unit created a vacuum, s... 3.) the Digicomp – a mechanical computer, using plastic parts, wires (as support units – no electricity) and plastic tubes. There was a marble-operated Digicomp II, but I never had that. They also made the Dr. Nym mechanical compurter game. But Digicomp was more versatile. It had a 3-bit readout. [http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?\_adv\_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-900&va=Digicomp+toy](http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-900&va=Digicomp+toy) > **[Digi-Comp I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digi-Comp_I)** > > The Digi-Comp I was a functioning, mechanical digital computer sold in kit form. It was originally manufactured from polystyrene parts by E.S.R., Inc. starting in 1963 and sold as an educational toy for US$4.99. > A successor, the Digi-Comp II, was not programmable, but in effect a visible calculator. A two-level masonite platform with guides served as the medium for a supply of marbles that rolled down an inclined plane, moving plastic cams as they fell. > In essence, the Digi-Comp I contained thr... 4.) All the chemistry and science kits, which were way cooler than anything today – I had kits that let me make plastics, electroplate things, gold-coat things, make sodium silicate crystal “gardens”, and other stuff. Older kits used to have spinthariscopes and other nuclear toys. Today’s chemistry kits are missing even the things you need to make Prussian Blue! ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/75 "2013-04-25T22:46:21Z")
> [@echo7tango](#): > > Hot Wheels Sizzlers! > > And AFX race cars. +1 on both! …as well as…[this car](http://www.google.com/search?q=Kenner+SSP+can-am&hl=en&rlz=1C2AFAB_enUS487US488&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Jq95UcSSDKHV0gHy-ICAAQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=967#hl=en&rlz=1C2AFAB_enUS487US488&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=james+bond+corgi+aston+martin+db5&oq=James+Bond+corgi&gs_l=img.1.2.0l2j0i24l8.246655.255863.0.258257.16.11.0.5.5.0.89.581.11.11.0...0.0...1c.1.11.img.c_cOR-txbI4&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.45645796,d.dmQ&fp=490c5d23a6782040&biw=1920&bih=967&imgrc=ayK3dpKgzEiDvM%3A%3B-9bjfamIzh1-PM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fupload.wikimedia.org%252Fwikipedia%252Fcommons%252F9%252F98%252F1964_Corgi_Aston_Martin_DB5.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fcommons.wikimedia.org%252Fwiki%252FFile%253A1964_Corgi_Aston_Martin_DB5.jpg%3B639%3B328). “Why the Hell would you want to buy a car painted silver? Nobody drives those…! Have you even _looked_ at that nice shade of blue!?” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/76 "2013-04-26T00:56:05Z")
Anyone else remember Mirconauts? ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/77 "2013-04-26T01:05:23Z")
Back in the early 40’s I had a real live Chemistry Set. Full of things like potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur. Guess what one can make using these ingredients, especially in the ratio 75/15/10. And things like powered magnesium so it would sparkle as well as go boom. Things were a lot funner back then. ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/78 "2013-04-26T01:24:06Z")
One Christmas I got a [Merlin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKnW-YNgeow&feature=youtube_gdata_player). It was so cool that all my cousins passed it around and I didn’t get to play it for days. It taught me to gamble. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/79 "2013-04-26T01:24:47Z")
My dad sold International Harvester heavy equipment. He brought me one of these [electric remote control bulldozers](http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?p=international+harvester+toy+bulldozer&back=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fei%3DUTF-8%26p%3Dinternational%2Bharvester%2Btoy%2Bbulldozer%26fr%3Dyfp-t-900-s&w=400&h=300&imgurl=www.holidays.net%2Fstore%2Fimg-large%2Finternational-harvester-electric-bulldozer-w-transformer-vintage-early-1950s_281074788318.jpg&size=20KB&name=international-harvester-electric-bulldozer-w-transformer-vintage-early-1950s_281074788318.jpg&rcurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.holidays.net%2Fstore%2FInternational-Harvester-Electric-Bulldozer-wTransformer%252C-Vintage-Early-1950s_281074788318.html&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.holidays.net%2Fstore%2FInternational-Harvester-Electric-Bulldozer-wTransformer%252C-Vintage-Early-1950s_281074788318.html&type=&no=8&tt=115&oid=89b12faf7be65272b9f22011bc6bd537&tit=International+Harvester+Electric+Bulldozer+W+Transformer+Vintage+Early+...&sigr=13u4tm9n5&sigi=13u51b9o5&sigb=12ueda2g8&fr=yfp-t-900-s). You used the box to turn it by changing the speed of the tractor treads. It had a real low gear and was incredibly powerful. For a little toy. That’s one I’d like back. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662/80 "2013-04-26T01:44:47Z")
Most of mine have already been mentioned. I was a serious tomboy and something of a spoiled only child, so I had a lot of toys. The cool ones I remember were: Vertibird Creepy Crawlers (though the parents took this away from me shortly thereafter–I think they realized I wasn’t old enough for it after the fact. I was like 6, so I think they were right) Hot Wheels Sizzlers with the Juice Machine A whole bunch of Johnny and Jane West figures, clothes, horses, and gear, including a buckboard that was the perfect size to hitch up to the cat (the cat was not amused…I was, though! No cats were harmed in this experiment) Steve Scout and a bunch of his gear Big Jim and gear, including his camper (which was way cool) Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle SSP Racers (I had two of these–one gold metallic and the other I think was red metallic) A really cool metal Tonka crane with working hopper thing Whizzers (honestly I didn’t think these were all that cool, but they were popular) Which Witch? and Mouse Trap games The only “girl” toys I had that I remembered enjoying were EZ Bake Oven (until I ran out of mixes for it) and Malibu Skipper (who was less overly girly than Barbie) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-toys-you-had-when-you-were-a-kid/656662.md?page=5)