Quoted from electricsquirrel:We always called it "Skittles".
That's what ours was called too. It was funny when you would yank the string, but it would bind and you'd move the whole board, knocking down all the pins.
(Topic ID: 157159)
Quoted from Newport-Bill:Wow. Looking through this thread I saw all kinds of things I had through my childhood and into my teens. My first favorites were the secret agent stuff - the Six Finger, and Mattel Zero-M line. I had the Radio Rifle, Camera pistol Pocket Shot, and Sonic Blaster. My Mom used to take that Sonic Blaster away from me all the time for shooting my sisters with it.
This is what I had for guns, yay exciting:
flying_disc_gun (resized).jpgflying_saucer_gun (resized).jpgsmoke_gun (resized).jpg
The smoke gun was fun. It didn't shoot any projectiles. You just put a drop of oil in the barrel and it pops and smokes when you pull the trigger. I soon realized it had pretty good air pressure so I would stuff play-doh in the end of the barrel and shoot things with it. 
Socal
Quoted from ENDOFLINE:i used to love these things as a kid....
MAD BALLS are back at retail and look grosser than ever
I used to have that skull one. I think it's still at my parents' house as a dog toy actually. 
Quoted from Fulltilt:I loved the little plastic army men that I could set on fire in the middle of battle and watch them drip flaming balls of hot plastic onto the enemy
Good one Fulltilt. Your online Pinside avatar seems to support your post here. 
Quoted from Fulltilt:I loved the little plastic army men that I could set on fire in the middle of battle and watch them drip flaming balls of hot plastic onto the enemy.
I probably had 500 of those + trucks, tanks, cannons and such. My buddy had close to 1000 and we would spend days setting them up, him attacker me defender. Our set would take days to set up covering an entire room then just an hour or two to "destroy" each other.
Quoted from High_End_Pins:This thread actually inspired me to seek one of my favorites out and restore it.
Here is my starting platform.
I got one of these brand new for my 8th birthday about 36 years ago.
Pics were taken at the sellers house.
I cant wait to turn back the clock on it.
We used to have a Yamaha Mini-Enduro. Put thru the wringer... had to keep pulling the head off to replace carbon buildup, though. With the 2-cycle gas/oil mix - seems that it always carboned up. Used only Yamaha "approved" oil and in proper proportions yet always did this.
Last time I rode it (damn, 40+ years ago), front struts were shot - there was nothing left anymore.
Quoted from G-P-E:I also used to have the same skull madball.
How do I delete this photo below? --
Edit the post, hover over the image in the attachments box and click the x.
Quoted from ENDOFLINE:i used to love these things as a kid....
MAD BALLS are back at retail and look grosser than ever
Remember the Atari Pot Shot arcade game where you could win one of those?378000204 (resized).jpg
The flyer shows plain balls, but it was common to see them loaded with Mad Balls.
Quoted from Newport-Bill:Wow. Looking through this thread I saw all kinds of things I had through my childhood and into my teens. My first favorites were the secret agent stuff - the Six Finger, and Mattel Zero-M line. I had the Radio Rifle, Camera pistol Pocket Shot, and Sonic Blaster. My Mom used to take that Sonic Blaster away from me all the time for shooting my sisters with it.
Then as I got older it was Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. I still have all my cars (maybe 150) and tracks and used to set them up for my kids to play. Then eventually it was Atari. I have my 2600 at my cabin with probably 50 game cartridges. Also have an 800XL with two drives and over 300 floppies loaded with games.
Remember the T.V. commercials for the Zero-M toys featuring a young Kurt Russel?
very kewl man....
anyone remember the mad balls style bat??
Quoted from girloveswaffles:Remember the Atari Pot Shot arcade game where you could win one of those?
The flyer shows plain balls, but it was common to see them loaded with Mad Balls.
Quoted from Cloud7:These were as close to owning the real thing as I got when I was a kid.
I have one of those Tiger Electronic pinball games.
Quoted from girloveswaffles:I have one of those Tiger Electronic pinball games.
I played mine while I rode the bus back and forth to school. I feel like pinball was one of the few that was tolerable.
2 weeks later
Quoted from High_End_Pins:This thread actually inspired me to seek one of my favorites out and restore it.
Here is my starting platform.
I got one of these brand new for my 8th birthday about 36 years ago.
Pics were taken at the sellers house.
I cant wait to turn back the clock on it.
And so the journey begins.
Does it sound okay to semi document it here considering this thread was the inspiration?
1486933265923384201840 (resized).jpg
1486933296252-1270680878 (resized).jpg
148693331178635154582 (resized).jpg
1486933325155-219176162 (resized).jpg
Quoted from High_End_Pins:And so the journey begins.
Does it sound okay to semi document it here considering this thread was the inspiration?
is that a YZ80? my brother used to restore Honda SL70's
Nanaimo, BC
Quoted from j_m_:is that a YZ80? my brother used to restore Honda SL70's
I had an SL70 back in the day like this one. I lived on that crazy little bike until I outgrew it. Not real speedy but bulletproof for sure!!!!
yeah, I loved mine as well. had to remove that elevated rear tail light assembly after one too many nut-wrenching incidents of the bike flying out from under me while climbing hills
Quoted from j_m_:is that a YZ80? my brother used to restore Honda SL70's
It is a 1980 Yamaha MX80G .
I am going to restore it with all the original or NOS parts.
Entire motor,every spoke,nut bolt screw.Doing all the work myself with the exception of the suspension components.I have to send those out.
I already have about 2 times what it will be worth in parts alone but it is an investment in happiness not finance
Quoted from tdunbar:Kenner Girder and Panel set, then Lionel trains, and Time Bomb.
So I just started reading this thread (yikes, here goes the night!), but YES!
And, quite to my surprise, a few years ago a new version of the Girder and Panel sets came out. I bought a bunch of them on clearance from Target, and my son and I have built some sweet bridges and towers with them. I don't remember exactly what they were called, but they were identical to the Kenner ones from back in the day.
Wow, this thread is amazing! I feel the need to go digging through my parents house to find a lot of things that people have posted.
I'm surprised no one mentioned Ghostbuster toys, especially with all the talk of the pinball machine! I got into these toys BIG TIME when I was a kid. I still remember when I got my first one (Peter Venkman with Grabber Ghost located on the left in the picture below). I would save all my money to get more of the figures and ghosts.
My dad, who was a huge Star Wars collector, encouraged me. I loved playing with the toys, but I also just enjoyed looking at them. As a matter of fact, I remember when I got Peter having a serious discussion about if I should open him or leave him in his package. Opening him won out - I was, after all, like 6 or 7 years old, but I saved most of the packaging and I actually planned on getting doubles of them all so I could keep some in the package. I would tend to even at that age try to buy myself two of everything, one to open and play with and one to keep. This includes things like a brand new Firehouse, almost every character, and a bunch more.
I am currently working on converting my basement into an arcade and gameroom, and I have a plan to put up all of my Ghostbusters toys for the first time in probably 15 years. As a matter of fact, for my birthday (today! ), I bought myself some old cans of Ecto Plazm because that was the one thing that I hadn't held onto!
Quoted from goatdan:Wow, this thread is amazing! I feel the need to go digging through my parents house to find a lot of things that people have posted.
I'm surprised no one mentioned Ghostbuster toys, especially with all the talk of the pinball machine! I got into these toys BIG TIME when I was a kid. I still remember when I got my first one (Peter Venkman with Grabber Ghost located on the left in the picture below). I would save all my money to get more of the figures and ghosts.
My dad, who was a huge Star Wars collector, encouraged me. I loved playing with the toys, but I also just enjoyed looking at them. As a matter of fact, I remember when I got Peter having a serious discussion about if I should open him or leave him in his package. Opening him won out - I was, after all, like 6 or 7 years old, but I saved most of the packaging and I actually planned on getting doubles of them all so I could keep some in the package. I would tend to even at that age try to buy myself two of everything, one to open and play with and one to keep. This includes things like a brand new Firehouse, almost every character, and a bunch more.
I am currently working on converting my basement into an arcade and gameroom, and I have a plan to put up all of my Ghostbusters toys for the first time in probably 15 years. As a matter of fact, for my birthday (today! ), I bought myself some old cans of Ecto Plazm because that was the one thing that I hadn't held onto!
I had quite a few ghostbusters as well. My favorite ghostbusters toy was the purple monster with the huge eye that popped out!
Quoted from Cloud7:I had quite a few ghostbusters as well. My favorite ghostbusters toy was the purple monster with the huge eye that popped out!
This guy?
I tried searching online and I found a lot of pictures of things I wanted to show you all that I no longer have. I can't get the dang pics right, so here is what I Remember most:
For a short time 7 eleven made bad ass monster cups. Very cool art. I had about ten long gone.
I had an amazing electronic pinball game that was actually fun.
I loved rubber monsters, really loved them. And mad maverick stickers. And micronauts baron karza and acroyear?
My house burned down when I was 16 and I lost everything including vintage hot wheels which I still love.
Then I had a stroke and 3 brain surgeries. Now I'm still discovering what is left after these disasters. Someday I'm still going to get a strange change machine.
I still have some of my comic collection that has smoke and burn damage from the fire at 16. I kept a couple ruined books to never forget. My room in the house was destroyed by fire mostly then soaked during firefighting. The neighborhood kids and neighbors ransacked my house before I got to get anything left of value, no big deal.
I'll never forget once after moving I freinds little sister had a picture I had drawn on her wall that was stolen from me, my house. It was strange but rewarding to see my stolen belongings coveted. It was a picture of the words "Heavy Metal". Hand drawn.
Quoted from Azmodeus:I still have some of my comic collection that has smoke and burn damage from the fire at 16. I kept a couple ruined books to never forget. My room in the house was destroyed by fire mostly then soaked during firefighting. The neighborhood kids and neighbors ransacked my house before I got to get anything left of value, no big deal.
I'll never forget once after moving I freinds little sister had a picture I had drawn on her wall that was stolen from me, my house. It was strange but rewarding to see my stolen belongings coveted. It was a picture of the words "Heavy Metal". Hand drawn.
Wow. Amazing story. You are certainly a very strong person; I can't imagine going through all of that and people taking things!
Thank you for sharing; I hope seeing some stuff on here from years ago puts as big a smile on your face as it has for me.
Quoted from pacmanretro:This guy?
that's the one!!
Quoted from Cloud7:that's the one!!
Lol. I think I may have the eye to my old one still...cords dont last forever
I had a bowling game that had a lane and a ball and ball return and strings lifted the pins when you hit them. It was back in the 1970's but I can't remember what it was called. I do remember my dad saying it was a real pain in the ass to put tobether. I probably played more than any other toy I ever had. Anybody have anything like this and remember what it was called?
Quoted from Azmodeus:I tried searching online and I found a lot of pictures of things I wanted to show you all that I no longer have. I can't get the dang pics right, so here is what I Remember most:
For a short time 7 eleven made bad ass monster cups. Very cool art. I had about ten long gone.
I had an amazing electronic pinball game that was actually fun.
I loved rubber monsters, really loved them. And mad maverick stickers. And micronauts baron karza and acroyear?
My house burned down when I was 16 and I lost everything including vintage hot wheels which I still love.
Then I had a stroke and 3 brain surgeries. Now I'm still discovering what is left after these disasters. Someday I'm still going to get a strange change machine.
Love my Strange Change Machine, and take it out when younger family comes by....Sometimes the action of squaring and melting a monster, reminds me of pinside!
Quoted from pacmanretro:Lol. I think I may have the eye to my old one still...cords dont last forever
yeah, as I recall, the eye shot out really fast and hard!
Quoted from Don44:I had a bowling game that had a lane and a ball and ball return and strings lifted the pins when you hit them. It was back in the 1970's but I can't remember what it was called. I do remember my dad saying it was a real pain in the ass to put tobether. I probably played more than any other toy I ever had. Anybody have anything like this and remember what it was called?
You must be thinking of the Coleco Bowl-a-Matic 300.
Quoted from Chitownpinball:Found it!
Wow.... my uncle had this one..... I remenber I was so jeaulos of him.....
Quoted from DanQverymuch:You must be thinking of the Coleco Bowl-a-Matic 300.
That is definitely it. I bowled a lot back then and loved that toy. Did you have one too?
Quoted from Don44:That is definitely it. I bowled a lot back then and loved that toy. Did you have one too?
No, just felt like working my mad Googling skillz! Once I found it, I seemed to remember a friend having one though.
Quoted from DanQverymuch:You must be thinking of the Coleco Bowl-a-Matic 300.
I had one of those. Forgot all about it until seeing it here.
Quoted from AlexSMendes:Wow.... my uncle had this one..... I remenber I was so jeaulos of him.....
I guess it was a Christmas 1992 exclusive toy. I asked my mom if she thought she still had it. She said she has two closed boxes from our old house, cant wait to dig into them and see if its in there. The set goes for like $200 now, wow!
Just for fun a quick related story.
My uncle mark has two sons who have just fully moved out // even leaving thier home state each son.
One son left a box of collectibles. I told my uncle to stash it away for the sons and let them discover thier old stuff in a decade or so. He felt they would be better off or appreciate some money more now.
My thoughts are he is missing the opportunity to create magic in thier life later if he sells it all, which I'm sure is already done.
I believe the price of opening a time capsule of our childhood toys is nearly priceless in my opinion. I mean is there a single person here that would not love to open a magic time capsule delivery?
Quoted from Azmodeus:Just for fun a quick related story.
My uncle mark has two sons who have just fully moved out // even leaving thier home state each son.
One son left a box of collectibles. I told my uncle to stash it away for the sons and let them discover thier old stuff in a decade or so. He felt they would be better off or appreciate some money more now.
My thoughts are he is missing the opportunity to create magic in thier life later if he sells it all, which I'm sure is already done.
I believe the price of opening a time capsule of our childhood toys is nearly priceless in my opinion. I mean is there a single person here that would not love to open a magic time capsule delivery?
If it was me I'd tell no one, take that box to myself, and, in a decade or two, sell them back! 
Quoted from High_End_Pins:And so the journey begins.
Does it sound okay to semi document it here considering this thread was the inspiration?
Got the tank fenders and oil tank straight and primed.
Frame stripped of parts cleaned,then based and cleared because the original powdercoat was in great shape with just a nick hete or there to feather and prime.
I have an unreal amount of NOS parts I have been hunting and gathering as well.
Reply
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!
Donate to PinsideGreat to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
