Quoted from xsvtoys:There is a nicely made website called wishbookweb that is compiling scans of the old Sears wish book catalogs. The scan quality is very good. It’s interesting to look through the old stuff and the pages are packed with pictures of the old toys.
http://www.wishbookweb.com/the-catalogs/
That’s pretty cool. Especially the prices.
Quoted from jorro:Some real cool stuff here i wished i had as a kid!
My neighbor Bobby had a grey ghost krate. They made them in 1971. This one was made in Dec 71 and those came with a disk brake that 1 month. So they are pretty rare. My wife bought me this for Christmas. I have a nos headlight for it. It even has a turn signal accessory nos. I have 1 mile on the new speedometer. Been trying to find Bobby on the internet to even things up.
20200101_130047 (resized).jpgQuoted from jamesmc:My neighbor Bobby had a grey ghost krate. They made them in 1971. This one was made in Dec 71 and those came with a disk brake that 1 month. So they are pretty rare. My wife bought me this for Christmas. I have a nos headlight for it. It even has a turn signal accessory nos. I have 1 mile on the new speedometer. Been trying to find Bobby on the internet to even things up.[quoted image]
I like the Godard print. Probably one of the best game room artist around.
my dad still has one of those. my brother's dog loves to chase and make off with the golf balls when he's over there 
For just fun my favorite toy was a trampoline. Me and some other kids would set up a boom box and black lights after dark and have a trampoline party.
Back when I was around 4 my parents bought me a little red wagon. Then they would pay me a few bucks to move firewood to the patio, that Dad had dumped in the yard from his dump truck.
Later when I had a 10 speed, I would cruise a long way picking up money back bottles and then later aluminum cans.
Dad was self employed and awesome inspiration as far as work and making a few bucks. I have also been self employed most of my life.
I think Dad seen how after I worked hard and put so much money into pins when we were out. that for my 12th birthday he got me a Evel Kenevil pin (however that is spelled).
Way back the big wheel was fun also. A little bit of the hippity hop thing. Play Doe and later slime..meh.
The bean bag chair was cozy. Not sure where that ever ended up.
When Dad was away on business my Mom and her friends and I played a board game called Payday, it was ok back then.
I almost forgot about the Atari and the 8 track looking tapes for that. I still have all that somewhere.
Most of the money back bottle money went to RC cola, Choc-a-lunch crackers, and comic books. I did not take care of the comics and shared them at school a lot so later in life when I sold them they were worn out and worth almost nothing.
I was older with the aluminum can stuff, and liked rare coins. The coin stuff went a lot better than the comic book stuff, but at the same time I was a tad older, and learning about investing.
Anyway, sorry for the long rant, but my final answer to favorite toy is trampoline at about age 7.
2nd place, EK pin at age 12. (and I am 50ish).
Quoted from okayestpinballer:How big of a trampoline?
Pic?
No pics, only Kodak or Polaroid cameras back then with the pic coming right out of the camera. There could be one of those somewhere, but I would have no clue how to even get that on here. (I have a flip phone).
The kid next door was the first with a trampoline, it was maybe 6x12 with no pads. Once I had to get stiches over my eye after a accident on his.
When Dad got me the trampoline, it was bigger, like 8x16? and had pads.
Later other kids started getting the round ones, and to me those sucked, they were impossible to get high in the air.
And funny as hell to me these days to see all the round trampolines with the pads and safety net around them. I get the pads first hand, but a net?
On a good trampoline you could jump just right to make someone go like 20 feet in the air. That was cool and just never worked on the round ones.
My trampoline mat had to be replaced one time because our Boxer dog named Butch basically ate it. I loved that dog but damn that day when I came home from school in like the 3rd grade I was pissed. After that the trampoline was moved to the side yard, away from Butch in the fenced in back yard.
And not a toy, but damn when I was about 6 Dad built a damn nice tree house, about 12 feet in the air between 3 trees. It was about 8x8 on the inside, with a nice porch also. Later us kids found some phone line laying abandoned in a field and also made a whateveryoucallit that we wore gloves to hold and would propel down from maybe 20 feet. Like a free fall that you could stop right before hitting the ground.
As a early teen that treehouse was awesome. A place to hide to play spin the bottle with the girls, and a place to hide to experiment with smoking. I probably spent 100 nights of my life when I was young in a sleeping bag in the treehouse with friends. (not in the same sleeping bag).
I do remember when I was about 16 I knew the treehouse days were gone, and a fallen limb had damaged it, and it had not been used in a long while, and I tore it down, and burned it.
Anyway, I had mentioned the trampoline with the music going and the black light, well, that used to summon the girls in the area for a treehouse round of spin the bottle.
Damn it was fun times when I was 13.
Anyway, the trampoline was painted Sky Blue. Only one I ever seen that color, most were red.
And even though I am pretty old now, if I were to see a rectangular trampoline at a friends house I would be tempted. But the round ones....screw that, round trampolines suck.
Quoted from JohnnyPinball007:When Dad got me the trampoline, it was bigger, like 8x16? and had pads.
Oh my. I originated this thread more than three years ago and completely overlooked our family trampoline until just now. It was my favorite also. My friends and I spent a lot of days over the summer taking turns on it and we learned to "send" one another to extreme heights. Thank you for the reminder.
Sounds like you had one similar to ours. 8 x 16 (?) Same size as they use in the Olympics with foam pads around the top side of frame but not extended into covering the bungee cords as modern ones do. I'm attaching a couple of internet pictures that I found similar to the one we had.
Man, now I want to bounce again and dream about being an astronaut.
dan-slide-023_12 11 (resized).jpgdan-slide-023_12 12 (resized).jpgI always wanted a rectangular trampoline. Just can't get the height on the round ones. We lived in a house with a outdoor pool for a few summers and the neighbors had a round one. Unfortunately there just wasn't enough space to get it close but that would have been epic.
^^^^^^^
Yeah, the round trampolines sucked, as you said, could not get much height.
I always wanted a pool, Dad always said no. Turns out he was right.
About 20 years ago I bought a kit for a 15x30x54 and a heater(because the pool was going to be in the shade most of the time). The heater cost more than the pool kit if I remember correct.
I had already had a jacuzzi for 5 years before buying the pool, and I learned quick that a pool is a lot harder to keep track of the chemicals.
The first time the pool messed up the chemicals cost 100.00 and the water still did not look great to me, so I said screw it. it was only 54.00 water to fill it in the first place, so most of the time I would just pump the water out, clean the pool good, and fill it back up with fresh water.
Then the pool developed a leak, and burnt the pump up. And the fresh water change was only a week old so this was getting old.
The final straw was one day in May when I had worked like 12 hours getting the pool all ready to go with fresh water for the summer, and when I plugged it in all this brown water blows out all in the pool just ruining all that work.
For whatever reason over the winter the pipes inside the heater had rusted up or something, and it was out of warranty.
The pool was a lady magnet, they loved it being in the shade and very private. Lots of fun skinny dipping memories. And with the heater I kept it around 86 degrees.
Anyway, after the pool the next thing I did was a pretty decent 18 hole putt-putt course. 75 was a good score.
Anyway, no way would I ever mess with a pool again. I would like a trampoline, but my knees would no longer be able to take it. I liked roller skating a lot, last time I ever tried my ankles hurt so bad I could barely walk for a week.
I am just getting too old to have much fun I guess. The only thing that does not hurt me now is sitting in the jacuzzi doing 12 ounce curls.
I love my pins, but after a while they start hurting my shoulder.
The last few weeks me and my girlfriend have been playing a lot of Golden Tee, and so far that has not hurt yet.
I know this is about favorite childhood toys, but hell, I am just a big kid.
I love me a nice cool swimming pool on a hot summer day, nothing like it, it’s the best.
When it’s at someone else’s house.
Loved Lego and then got into K'nex. Great thing about them is I still have them, still compatible with new and very fun to build and create with even as an adult. I'm 100% sure I like them more now that I can afford to buy what I want.
Big Bat Baseball!!!
Using ingenious all-manual, gravity operated mechanics, your shots would literally run the bases perfectly. So if your ball landed in the DOUBLE chute at the top, it would drop down the path that would make it stop at second base. What if there was a “runner” already on first base? They would advance to - and stop on - third base while your most recent shot stopped on second. If the next shot was a SINGLE, the ball on third base would drop into the line of balls keeping score of runs, while the other runner(s) would advance one base - and again stop correctly on it/them. The first two balls entering the STRIKE chute would stack up in the chute but if a third ball then entered the STRIKE chute, that ball would roll across a little bridge into the OUT chute - and that action would automatically clear any balls still stacked in the STRIKE and BALL chutes.
I still have my original which works perfectly, but a couple years ago I bought another off eBay just to have a spare. To this day I stare at it and marvel at the genius of it every time I play it.
939ADAEE-7508-4BB0-9754-A053882E0D47 (resized).jpeg
Quoted from bob_e:Tip It[quoted image][quoted image]
I didn't realize thar was an old game. My kuds got one about a year ago, never heard of it before.
I remember one summer when i was 4 or 5, having loads of fun with one of these and a apple or potato.
My original was metal/cast iron design. Nowadays you can only find them in plastic.
They are still fun, harder to find though now, maybe Dollar General stores, etc. and in plastic only,
might still have a plastic one stashed away somewhere in the attic.
52530e4a48b2b9ccc954289f5b1314fc--pistols-guns (resized).jpgimages (resized).jpgspud_gun (resized).jpgvintage-lone-star-gambler-toy-spud_360_c8294b8661b9ff256487f76b7fc6907f (resized).jpgQuoted from HFK:We used to make spud guns with pvc, an electric grill lighter and hairspray. Used to also make tennis ball cannons out of beer cans.
Those things are powerful. You could kill someone with a 1.5" PVC pipe potato gun.
A few posts back I mentioned my love for Galoob Micro Machines and collecting them. Last year a company called Wicked Cool Toyz announced that they would be bringing the line back for 2020. Right from the beginning I knew that their attempt would be a failure and I was right. Less detail than the originals, larger size, larger wheels, no licensed makes or models, and a ridiculous price tag on every piece. I'll continue to stick with collecting the originals.
Quoted from HFK:We used to make spud guns with pvc, an electric grill lighter and hairspray. Used to also make tennis ball cannons out of beer cans.
Every time I shoot one of those things.... I giggle
Quoted from sohchx:A few posts back I mentioned my love for Galoob Micro Machines and collecting them. Last year a company called Wicked Cool Toyz announced that they would be bringing the line back for 2020. Right from the beginning I knew that their attempt would be a failure and I was right. Less detail than the originals, larger size, larger wheels, no licensed makes or models, and a ridiculous price tag on every piece. I'll continue to stick with collecting the originals.
Sometimes I get depressed, seems like pretty much everything made these days sucks.
Quoted from gliebig:My neighbor had one of these when I was a kid. I wasn't allowed to ride it.
Picked one up a few years ago. The seller said "your kid is going to love it"....I said " I don't have a kid. lol"
So, I ride this around the neighborhood. The adults think I'm a dork and the kids think I'm cool.[quoted image]
I bought a pocket bike from my girlfriends son that gave up on it, fixed it and rode it around the hood for a while before selling it.
It was a little 49cc 2 stroke and it was 1/2 the size of that Honda mini trail 50 there. lol so I was a Super Dork!
Quoted from xsvtoys:Sometimes I get depressed, seems like pretty much everything made these days sucks.
When I was kid growing up in the 50s, a trip to the dome store meant you were probably going home with something made in Japan back when Made in Japan was not a good thing. The only thing that lasted was Tonka Truck.
My go-cart. It was short lived, but when I turned 15 and was learning to drive I was never worried after having go-cart time when younger. The KM100 street/trail bike lasted a lot more years, and was awesome.
I have posted here a while back about the trampoline, and hands down it lasted the longest and had the most use.
Been working on the scanning project again. Here is another photo from Christmas 1964. I remember this robot so well, I had a blast playing with it. I found it on the internet here:
http://www.theoldrobots.com/Commando.html
There is an ad on that website showing the price to be $23. I asked my Mom how on earth they could afford that then (that's almost $200 in today money), turns out my aunt worked at a department store so they got it for an employee discount.
1964 xmas Robot Commando (resized).jpg
We lived in Maine then so that snow saucer saw plenty of use.
Quoted from xsvtoys:... Here is another photo from Christmas 1964. ...
The snow saucer brings back memories. AND that tinsel laden Xmas tree too!
Quoted from pinwiztom:Tinsel
Anyone else have a cat that would eat the stuff, it would get stuck half way out and the cat would chase its own ass around the house trying to get it loose? Funny but sad at the same time.
Our trees would have tinsel only half way down to keep her from getting it, finally we gave up putting that crap on, no tinsel looked better than a tree only half done!
Quoted from Atari_Daze:Anyone else have a cat that would eat the stuff, it would get stuck half way out and the cat would chase its own ass around the house trying to get it loose? Funny but sad at the same time.
Our trees would have tinsel only half way down to keep her from getting it, finally we gave up putting that crap on, no tinsel looked better than a tree only half done!
My neighbor's cat ate a piece of sandwich baloney with the that wrapping on the outside still there. That wrapping was dangling for a couple of days
Quoted from xsvtoys:Been working on the scanning project again. Here is another photo from Christmas 1964. I remember this robot so well, I had a blast playing with it. I found it on the internet here:
http://www.theoldrobots.com/Commando.html
There is an ad on that website showing the price to be $23. I asked my Mom how on earth they could afford that then (that's almost $200 in today money), turns out my aunt worked at a department store so they got it for an employee discount.
[quoted image]
We lived in Maine then so that snow saucer saw plenty of use.
Wow. I think I got Robot Commando that same year! And my brother got a saucer sled with those rope handles (that broke off after one year).
And that tinsel! I remember the tranquil feeling I got as a kid watching the colored tree lights reflect in it. That and the bubble lights!
I brought out my Robot Commando in 1985 for my 3 year old daughter to play with. She quickly destroyed it by ripping/cracking the red top lid where the missiles fired from. At that point, I tossed it in the trash...If only then I had known what they would be worth now... 
Quoted from Atari_Daze:Anyone else have a cat that would eat the stuff, it would get stuck half way out and the cat would chase its own ass around the house trying to get it loose? Funny but sad at the same time.
Our trees would have tinsel only half way down to keep her from getting it, finally we gave up putting that crap on, no tinsel looked better than a tree only half done!
As I let my cat in from outdoors, I saw he had 4 or 5 feathers sticking out of his mouth. Pissed for catching and eating a bird, I reached down to smack him when suddenly he opened his mouth and a bird flew out right at me. Had to open every window and door in my house before chasing that bird out.
Quoted from Mr68:As I let my cat in from outdoors, I saw he had 4 or 5 feathers sticking out of his mouth. Pissed for catching and eating a bird, I reached down to smack him when he opened his mouth and the bird flew out right at me. Had to open every window and door in my house before chasing that bird out.
Your cat's name wouldn't happen to be Sylvester by any chance, would it?
Quoted from bflagg:Always loved LEGO. Been a fan of the Technic stuff since I was a kid.[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Lego is even better now with all the additional pieces that they've come up with for more detailed builds. Plus, now I can spend far more on them and make all kinds of cool stuff. They know they have us 80s and 90s kids wrapped around their finger with disposable income.
Quoted from Pwaka1986:Lego is even better now with all the additional pieces that they've come up with for more detailed builds. Plus, now I can spend far more on them and make all kinds of cool stuff. They know they have us 80s and 90s kids wrapped around their finger with disposable income.
I’ve bought a few newer sets over the years, Mack truck, RC bulldozer, RC excavator, a few cranes, Saturn rocket etc. still enjoy assembling them.
E4951ADA-9E0A-4195-AA0D-88F1E89EEEDE (resized).jpegbflagg Very cool! I love that Saturn V Rocket set. Last fall I made my first Adult MOC of a Haunted House. Even lit it up with some halloween lights. I just love how creative and technical you can get with them. The online community for Lego is really great too.
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Wichita, KS
Bermuda Triangle
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