Thingmakers, Spirographs and metal finger-pinching Tonka trucks!! Damn, how could I have forgotten all those great toys.
Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad.
“The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind.” - Humphrey Bogart
etch a sketch, snakes and ladders, easy bake ovens
Satan, I just popped over to ebay and there are quite a few of them on auction, both regular models and the Super Spirograph. Not terribly expensive either. Most of 'em are under 20 bucks.
“The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind.” - Humphrey Bogart
Satan:
I just took a look in Ebay, and they have numerous Spirographs for sale.
I’ve seen numerous obscure games there that I thought I was the only who remembered.
I still have my Legos!
– Sylence
“The problem with reality is the lack of background music.” – Anon
Mjollnir, great minds think alike!
“The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind.” - Humphrey Bogart
My brother and I had a bunch of “Micronauts” which were pretty fun. I had the gigantic battlecruiser thing, and he had the space station/railroad part. We had a whole complicated set of rules we’d made up for fighting with them.
I was also really into Lego before they started making all the special pieces. They’re still okay, but it’s sort of cheesy that now about half the kit is special custom pieces that can really only be used for one thing (and the assembly instructions now look like “take the huge piece which is the front of the model. Connect it to the huge piece which is the back of the model. Stick on a couple of assorted pieces around the sides. You’re done.”).
What, no one raced Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars?
My brother had a wicked one called the Blue Shark; I never could beat that damn car, even with my ultra-smoov Z28. It retired undefeated.
D’oh! Great minds DO think alike…I linked Satan to the eBay Spirographs as soon as I read his post, then he asked me which one I was going to buy him…I had to outplay him on the fiddle to get out of the deal. 
I’ve always had a soft spot for my old Easy Bake Oven, so last year I went out and bought a new one. Big disappointment! The thing just would not bake anything all the way through no matter how long you left it in. Thinking this must be an example of shoddy modern crafmanship, I consulted with my parents who said that my original never cooked anything through either, us kids just liked runny cake.
I also loved Legos, but between us three kids, there were never enough to build anything cool, so of course my son has enough to build the Empire State Building!
“The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.” Albert Einstein
Hot Wheels! were cool. We used to sword fight with the track sections.
G.I. Joe with Kung Fu grip and Eagle Eyes. Ah, the Malibu Dream House assault campaign. Dragging Barbie and Skipper back to the secret lair. Curiously, after the ransom was paid, they were never released with their clothing.
But best of all, Creepy Crawlers. Just put the goop in the metal dies and minutes later out pops a rubber cockroach! Also great for melting green army men!
Legos and Lincoln Logs: food for the overactive imagination
The Thing Maker was a great toy. We only got to play with it when it rained out.
There was:
“Creepy Crawler” insects
“Shrunken Heads” Heads that went on pencils and had arms and legs
“Flower Maker” flowers and leaves stuck on a wire
One that made monster parts that looked like dragons.
The one I had was a giant deluxe set with something from all the other sets.
After a day of baking these things, we always got burned. It didn’t matter they were so fun.
We made those “Incredable Edibles” too.
The Strange Change Machine. Little cubes of ‘memory plastic’.Heat em up & they turn into little monsters. Heat em again until they soften & use the presser built into the machine to turn em back.
Major Matt Mason figures.
Some kind of rubber, four tentacled octopus monster-man with a 5th tentacle in place of its nose; like an elephant’s trunk. There were a series of these aliens , each different.Late 1960’s era. Names, please?
Attention C#3!The inside of your musty head is a exercise wheel;
in which two gerbils, Vanity and Credulity by
name, tussle fruitlessly over the walnut that
represents your banal & pointless existance.
The Strange Change Machine-
I was trying to think of what that was called. That was great as a kid. It took all morning to open them up, and all afternoon to crush them back into a cube.
This just came to me out of nowhere – StretchArmstrong and StretchMonster! HOurs and hours of fun simply stretching, then letting go…stretching, then letting go. I can’t believe how that actually held my attention!
Sit 'n Spin
Wet Banana
Light Bright
Spirograph
Greyskull action figures
I miss being a kid…
“ChrisCTP-…the sweetheart of the SDMB…” --Diane
Chris’ Homepage: Domestic Bliss
The Coleco Mini-Arcade games! I loved those things. Playing Pac-man in a small arcade cabinet with those little joysticks, controlling a < eat all the … I could easily get 5 million on those things. Sounds cheap to some of you, but I couldn’t get enough of this. Too bad I lost it on a bet.
Is this on sale at ebay as well?
Smile, it makes people wonder what you are thinking.
Fun with HTML (tutoral)
Give someone an F.U.
Oh, no, Tatertot; my Easy-Bake oven baked perfectly. My parents wouldn’t have eaten its output otherwise.
Remember, I’m pulling for you; we’re all in this together.
—Red Green
Doesn’t anyone remember Kiddles? Tiny dolls with a million characters – I remember a nurse and a boy in a striped shirt, and one named Suki, which my sister and I thought was the coolest name. They were really big in the mid to late 60s, and there were a ton of variations; walking ones, perfumed ones, all kinds.
And the Love, Glory, Peace and Soul Barbielike quartet? I had Soul, my sister had Peace, I don’t think we ever got the other two.
Catrandom, wondering if there are Kiddles on ebay