@Pony@pooflady came here to say something else but this reminded me…I loved the Bobbsey Twins!! And all horse books – remembering Misty of Chincoteague . Plus the Happy Hollisters I think my Dad got me the whole set, I was sooo excited when the mailman brought the new ones!!!
@eVil Erector sets were so fun! I also had Lincoln logs, but I liked the Erector set much more. Never saw a Lego as a kid, though I see they were invented in 1949?
In the 60’s, slot-car tracks were opening up in areas, so I got into that for a while, molding my own body with a Vac-u-Form I had, and an motor from a thrown-out electric razor gave me the edge at races. I did have to invest in sticky tires.
I think my favorite toys were the variety of GI Joe sets. These were the 12" action figures from the '70s, not the undersized ones of later generations.
/image gi joe skyhawk glider
I think LEGO building toys were just beginning to penetrate the US market when I was a kid. I know that my very set was an ambulance purchased in Norway in 1969/70ish.
/image vintage lego ambulance
That’s it!! But there were no minifigs at that time
My brother and I loved getting stationery and office supplies, especially when our mom had the paper and pencils personalized with our names on them. Weird family.
Kid-dom covers a very large range.
Legos for sure
Models! Cars, warships, Star Trek, planes!
Heathkit kids kits
An erector set.
Major Matt Mason figures and toys
Walkie Talkies
Tonka trucks and construction equipment
My Dad once brought home a bucket of “balloon sticks” that provided us with material for bows and arrows, rickety constructs, ballistas… the opportunities were endless!
Anything creative. Legos, models, toy cars, I even count action figures in that because I could make my own stories with them. Video games were cool too, but I could only play them for so long until my eyes started burning.
@llangley I had a similar set, Incredible Edibles, that would cook up edible candy bugs, worms and snakes. I even had a little business going selling them to other kids at school until the teacher found out and put a stop to it.
I wanted to answer the “video games” option, but then I remembered that no one ever bought me the games I actually wanted, and the stuff picked out of the bargain bin was never good. I just changed to ask for buildables because I could at least take the pieces and make something I wanted.
The Incredible Crash Dummies. My cousin and I would put them in the cars then heave them down the stairs. I can’t believe how strong that plastic was: they never broke!
When I was a kid, my great grandmother would give my cousins and me this gift every year. She didn’t have much money, so she saved money that she earned from babysitting to buy these for us.
We could expect this every year. Some people may not think it was much, but all of us kids looked forward to her gift and we knew how hard she worked for it.
We all loved her very much and it just wasn’t because of her gift.
@Barney We used to get the same thing in our stockings. It didn’t have the same hard earned story behind it but I always looked forward to my Life Savers.
I’ve gotten many great gifts as a kid. My first BB Gun at 8, my first .22 at 12, a chemistry set that was filled with actual dangerous chemicals, a working steam engine…
But the one that I remember to this day was my 26" 2-Speed Kick-back Schwinn American Bicycle. I was still using a shaky hand-me-down 24" Columbia balloon-tire bike. This shiny bike was new AND it had 2-speeds!
No one else around had a bicycle with gears. I was riding that bike for many years. I’d clean, oil & tune it almost every day. I was a bit short for it, so I wired pieces of 2x4 to the pedals & lowered the seat all the way. That gift brought me a freedom I’d not experience again until I bought my first dirt-bike.
@Barney Oh, and yes they still work. Every 4th of July I pull out my old ‘Pirate’ double hammer cap gun and fire off a few. Its about all that is left to us fireworks-wise that hasn’t been banned here in crook county.
A huge cardboard box!
@tinamarie1974 Favorite toy to get as a gift when you were a kitten:
No toys. BOOKS! I was addicted to reading as soon as I was old enough to learn how.
@Pony Me, too. I still have 50 Bobbsey Twin books in the basement.
@pooflady Yes! And Nancy Drew, and the Hardy Boys, and I had all the Black Stallion books. So many great stories.
@Pony @pooflady came here to say something else but this reminded me…I loved the Bobbsey Twins!! And all horse books – remembering Misty of Chincoteague
. Plus the Happy Hollisters
I think my Dad got me the whole set, I was sooo excited when the mailman brought the new ones!!!
@Pony Seuss books. But my childhood role model/heroine was Pippi Longstocking. Actually, she still is. Favorite quotes.
Erector set
@davea510
/giphy Beavis butthead heh heh heh
Atari cartridge
Lego.
Wow, look how many engineers and mechanics visit Meh.
Erector set
Legos
Lincoln Logs
Hot Wheels tracks
Slot car tracks
Oh so many others…
(ok not buildable, but you get the point…)
@eVil Lincoln logs were definitely good. We built all sorts of stuff with multiple sets of those.
@eVil Erector sets were so fun! I also had Lincoln logs, but I liked the Erector set much more. Never saw a Lego as a kid, though I see they were invented in 1949?
In the 60’s, slot-car tracks were opening up in areas, so I got into that for a while, molding my own body with a Vac-u-Form I had, and an motor from a thrown-out electric razor gave me the edge at races. I did have to invest in sticky tires.
@daveinwarsh
Kinda weird, innit?
/giphy molding my own body
I think my favorite toys were the variety of GI Joe sets. These were the 12" action figures from the '70s, not the undersized ones of later generations.
/image gi joe skyhawk glider
I think LEGO building toys were just beginning to penetrate the US market when I was a kid. I know that my very set was an ambulance purchased in Norway in 1969/70ish.
/image vintage lego ambulance
That’s it!! But there were no minifigs at that time
My brother and I loved getting stationery and office supplies, especially when our mom had the paper and pencils personalized with our names on them. Weird family.
@heartny My mom used to get me those pencils too- I thought I was so cool. hehe.
Kid-dom covers a very large range.
Legos for sure
Models! Cars, warships, Star Trek, planes!
Heathkit kids kits
An erector set.
Major Matt Mason figures and toys
Walkie Talkies
Tonka trucks and construction equipment
My Dad once brought home a bucket of “balloon sticks” that provided us with material for bows and arrows, rickety constructs, ballistas… the opportunities were endless!
@duodec Just wanted to acknowledge the Major Matt Mason shout-out.
Anything creative. Legos, models, toy cars, I even count action figures in that because I could make my own stories with them. Video games were cool too, but I could only play them for so long until my eyes started burning.
Army men packs!
Roller skates - the one’s you put on your sneakers and adjusted to your growth. I used those for years skating everywhere!
Something buildable - like a model kit?
I got a giant Snoopy stuffed animal one year. It was as big as me. Best present ever.
Creepy Crawlers with large amounts of Plastigoop
Yep, I’m old as fuck.
@llangley
@llangley I had a similar set, Incredible Edibles, that would cook up edible candy bugs, worms and snakes. I even had a little business going selling them to other kids at school until the teacher found out and put a stop to it.
@macromeh lol awesome! Plus I loved these Fun Flowers and Dragons. My bro had GI Joe which was also cool, make your own Jeep!
@llangley @macromeh We had flowers and bugs but my favorite was the skeleton. I’m pretty sure we had glow in the dark plastigoop for it.
Scale models, Especially cars. Usually 1/24 scale.
Why are “dolls” and “action figures” separate choices?
Ummmm… All of the above!
I wanted to answer the “video games” option, but then I remembered that no one ever bought me the games I actually wanted, and the stuff picked out of the bargain bin was never good. I just changed to ask for buildables because I could at least take the pieces and make something I wanted.
A skateboard or skateboard paraphernalia.
The Incredible Crash Dummies. My cousin and I would put them in the cars then heave them down the stairs. I can’t believe how strong that plastic was: they never broke!
Along with it’s many other iterations. Chopper, dragster, etc…
I’m old so please take the RC off of RC cars. Matchbox, Hot wheels, Tonka Trucks… No batteries needed.
When I was a kid, my great grandmother would give my cousins and me this gift every year. She didn’t have much money, so she saved money that she earned from babysitting to buy these for us.
We could expect this every year. Some people may not think it was much, but all of us kids looked forward to her gift and we knew how hard she worked for it.
We all loved her very much and it just wasn’t because of her gift.
@Barney We used to get the same thing in our stockings. It didn’t have the same hard earned story behind it but I always looked forward to my Life Savers.
@Barney A Life Saver book was my brothers gift from me for Christmas every year for a decade.
@cinoclav @daveinwarsh To this day, whenever I see Life Savers I have warm fuzzy memories.
I’ve gotten many great gifts as a kid. My first BB Gun at 8, my first .22 at 12, a chemistry set that was filled with actual dangerous chemicals, a working steam engine…
But the one that I remember to this day was my 26" 2-Speed Kick-back Schwinn American Bicycle. I was still using a shaky hand-me-down 24" Columbia balloon-tire bike. This shiny bike was new AND it had 2-speeds!
No one else around had a bicycle with gears. I was riding that bike for many years. I’d clean, oil & tune it almost every day. I was a bit short for it, so I wired pieces of 2x4 to the pedals & lowered the seat all the way. That gift brought me a freedom I’d not experience again until I bought my first dirt-bike.
Football, bike, cap guns with caps.
/image roy rogers cap gun
/image roll of caps
@cattylaq Ooooh, I can still smell them!
@Barney @cattylaq I still have a box of those in the ‘junk’ drawer in my dresser. Probably 30+ years old.
@duodec Do they still work? And do you remember these?
I guess a kid having these nowadays would be a major no-no.
@Barney I never had a toy gun that used those but they look familiar. I expect it was for a model that my parents couldn’t afford.
@Barney Oh, and yes they still work. Every 4th of July I pull out my old ‘Pirate’ double hammer cap gun and fire off a few. Its about all that is left to us fireworks-wise that hasn’t been banned here in crook county.
Matches.
@mfladd No.