# Your favorite cool toys from your childhood **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 25, 2019, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-cool-toys-from-your-childhood/831530 "2019-03-25T22:14:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-cool-toys-from-your-childhood/831530/81 "2019-04-09T20:51:18Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Another cool one (in a dorky sort of way, in retrospect): [Mr. Machiine.](http://americanclassictoy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mrmachine400x274three-300x205.jpg) I was too young to remember, but the story in my family is that my older brother, at about 3 or 4 years old, got a Mr. Machine for Christmas and was scared to death of it. It subsequently went into the closet and never came back out. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-cool-toys-from-your-childhood/831530/82 "2019-04-27T02:52:01Z")
I thoroughly enjoyed two that have already been mentioned: [Tinkertoy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinkertoy), and [Lincoln Logs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Logs). I also have fond memories of the [View-Master](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Logs) to see photos in 3D. My favorite set of photos for that were from the Civil War photographer, Brady. And, finally, the [Lite-Brite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lite-Brite) which was pretty cool to see after following a text to place the bulbs, akin to the old typewriter picture puzzles. Oddly enough, every one of those is still in production today. ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-cool-toys-from-your-childhood/831530/83 "2019-04-27T22:06:52Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I also have fond memories of the [View-Master](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View-Master) to see photos in 3D. My favorite set of photos for that were from the Civil War photographer, Brady. That’s a weird bit of trivia. Apparently the stereoscopes were all the rage during the civil war and a lot of those 3-D pictures were sent home as souvenirs. Considering how many seemed to be of piles of bodies, I can’t see how having it in 3-D enhanced it. Still it is amazing to think they have been recreated as View-Master disks. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2019, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-cool-toys-from-your-childhood/831530/84 "2019-04-29T19:12:01Z")
I had a lot of great toys when I was growing up during and just after WWII, but one of my favorites was a chemistry set in a beautiful fitted box. And this thing had a LOT of cool elements in it. Including powdered charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate, with a bottle of powdered magnesium just to make things exciting. And combine these in the right proportions (soon discovered), and what did you get? BOOM! We blew up a lot of stuff with this set, and didn’t have to go to the hospital even once. Kids nowadays have it so safe and dull. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-cool-toys-from-your-childhood/831530/85 "2019-05-01T18:25:23Z")
HAH! Daylate, Killer of Threads", strikes again!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-cool-toys-from-your-childhood/831530.md?page=4)