Old toys that aren't computers

[amadeus]

I said I'd start a thread on old toys. This is the thread on old toys.

This Main Street set I know I had. I remember you could push the top of the street light and it would change colors. Also, each facade has a numbered mail slot on it and you can see in the mail truck the letters. I played with this a lot, but I remember I was always disappointed the "second floor" didn't have any depth to it like the bottom did. Just slide in and drop down. The payphone, street light, etc. can also be taken off and moved around to a few spots on the street. I have no idea what happened to this, and whether I even had all the pieces for it by the time it was likely sold at a garage sale or given to charity.

I'm pretty sure I had this set or one very similar, but I don't remember the barn opening from the broad side. I didn't realize until I looked for this picture that it's also from Fisher-Price. I have a lot less recollection of this one, but I know I had it or one very similar.

Looking at eBay, it looks like complete sets aren't easy to find. I suppose so when they had as many pieces as they did. If I ever ran across any of these in good condition (unlikely where I am at the moment!) I'd pick them up just to have. Display? Set? I guess they never really stopped being toys to me, just how I play with them! Now they are an object of art, of personal expression of taste.

These are a couple that I have the most memory of.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

My great grandmother had the barn set at her house that I would play with when we visited. I was really into the 3" G.I. Joe action figures when I was little and vinyl dinosaurs and cetaceans.

 

[amadeus]

I was really into the 3" G.I. Joe action figures

Come to think of it, I never had any military-themed toys, and yet both my parents voted for Reagan... twice!

I don't recall my grandparents ever having that many toys. We usually went to the mall when I was there, so I guess that would have been enough excitement for me.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Lincoln Logs and erector sets.

 

[amadeus]

Lincoln Logs and erector sets.

In my “first draft” of this post I actually mention Lincoln Logs as one of the toys that “everyone” had. I think if you grew up where I did you were issued a set of them at birth, or they were passed down from generation to generation.

I have no idea where my Lincoln Logs came from, or if I even had a complete set. That’s the great thing about them, that as long as there are enough all you had to do was just make the building a little smaller.

 

[Ajidica]

I didn't have that many discreet 'toys' when I was a kid, lots of sets and things.
I had some Lincoln Logs, wooden Brio trains and metal Thomas the Tank Engine trains when I was little (<5), a crapton of legos, and a number of electric model trains until I was about 16*; at which point I discovered computer games.

*Though Covid isolation has led to me take a renewed interest in model railways after discovering I was not completely inept at handicrafts when making my chainmail!

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I never had Lincoln Logs. They had them at school but I didn't play with them too much. I did have a decent amount of Legos.

 

[amadeus]

*Though Covid isolation has led to me take a renewed interest in model railways after discovering I was not completely inept at handicrafts when making my chainmail!

I thought about getting some myself. There are a lot of model railroading shops in this country, but they ain’t cheap.

 

[thecrazyscot]

I had a huge number of Playmobil toys, as well as Lincoln Logs and blocks which were used to create structures for the Playmobil.

Military Micro Machines (I don't think they make those anymore?) were also a favorite.

But I was pretty all-in on Playmobil.

 

[amadeus]

But I was pretty all-in on Playmobil.

I’ve heard the name, but I don’t remember seeing them being sold in the U.S.

Matchbox cars! I had a bunch of those, but not Micro Machines. I think my grandfather probably gave me the Matchbox cars because he was big into cars.

 

[AmazonQueen]

I had a doll's house my granddad (who was a cabinetmaker) made for my mother. Many was the time my brother and I played cowboys defending it from Indians (this was back in the unPC '70s).
Both my daughters played with it in their turn and one of my nieces has it now.

 

[Josu]

I had the old version of this

I also had one like this

 

[Kyriakos]

I had various playmobil sets.
Also many different action-figures (not sure why, I never was fond of them) such as GIJoe, He-man and Transformers.
Many brands of plastic toy-soldiers or monsters.

For some reason the minotaur (who is massive, which is also against the myth) is allied to the viking faction, while the cyclops is allied to some random other hyperborean side.
It was a tabletop game (though I never used it that way)

 

[FriendlyFire]

I had some chinese lego knock offs and a push bike which was decent enough
Memories are of me in my push bike collecting aluminum cans for pocket money, which I spent on drinks and food.

 

[shadowplay]

I had the exact same main street as you!

 

[Zardnaar]

My old toys were hand me downs from the 60s and 70s.

I've got some old NES and Megadrive stuff.

Also had hand crafted wooden and metal toys.

Spaceships made on a lathe and painted.

 

[thecrazyscot]

I’ve heard the name, but I don’t remember seeing them being sold in the U.S.

Matchbox cars! I had a bunch of those, but not Micro Machines. I think my grandfather probably gave me the Matchbox cars because he was big into cars.

They certainly weren't as ubiquitous as Lego, but for a long time you could actually find a small selection of Playmobil in Target. There were a couple of specialty toy stores near us that also stocked them pretty well. I used to love browsing the Playmobil catalog (actually, still do, they still make some really neat toys).

One of my favorite Christmas memories is seeing a stuffed sack (pillowcase) under the tree, and my brother and I taking turns pulling out dozens of the Playmobil single figures. By the end we probably had about 30 Crusader and French Knight figurines.

Unrelated but it brings to mind my other standout Christmas memory...my parents told us one year that there just wasn't enough money for presents (it was often tight growing up, and I think my dad had been laid off that year), and we woke up that Christmas morning to a huge box of presents on our front step that people from our church had gone in together for us. Still brings tears to my eyes.

 

[amadeus]

I had the exact same main street as you!

Not exactly related to the Main Street set but...

Last time I was back in the states I went to Fleet Farm (kinda like a home improvement store for farmers, I guess) and was looking at all the diecast farm toys. They still make them, which is neat to see. Hope they’re Made in USA though!

They certainly weren't as ubiquitous as Lego, but for a long time you could actually find a small selection of Playmobil in Target.

I never spent a lot of time in Target; we had a Woolworth’s close to us and that was our big store. That and there was a Kmart across the street from where Woolworth’s was, but you had to make like three lefthanded turns just to get to the frontage road where it was. What a pain! I’m surprised they stayed in business there for as long as they did considering the crappy property it sat on.

 

[Traitorfish]

Z-Bots!

I grew up during the golden age of toys-which-were-also-collectables, but these guys were my jam. I think what appealed to me was the variety and creativity of designs; with Hot Wheels you're always getting some variation of "car", but each of these guys is a character. Or, at least, one half of a character, there was a few re-skins as you can see below. But in any case, you're immediately confronted with a cast of heroes and villains who demand epic stories of conquest and, y'know, robot stuff.

In retrospect, they were taking some clear pointers from the WWF figures from the early '90s, which I think were the first to apply the Hot Wheels "collect 'em all" model to humanoid figures.

For some reason the minotaur (who is massive, which is also against the myth) is allied to the viking faction, while the cyclops is allied to some random other hyperborean side.
It was a tabletop game (though I never used it that way)

I had this one; it was marketed as "Crossbows & Catapults" in the UK. No minotaurs or cyclopses, unfortunately.

 

[Kyriakos]

I had this one; it was marketed as "Crossbows & Catapults" in the UK. No minotaurs or cyclopses, unfortunately.

There was also a green dragon, maybe that existed in the british version too?

I had the dragon and the minotaur, as well as the main tower sets. Apparently a trojan horse also existed, but perhaps not around when I was buying these toys.

The object of the game was to take out the enemy soldiers (not sure if you can really take out catapults- maybe if you caused them to fall, but the ballistas couldn't fall, so perhaps they either could not be removed themselves or they are to be taken out of the game after a direct hit. At any rate, for obvious reasons, you won't hit anything above the ground with a ballista, though you may still cause stuff to fall off a tower), so that the towers/heavy weapons could no longer be supplied with the red and blue objects they hurled to the enemy.
I don't recall if the minotaur-dragon-cyclops was immobilized in a similar way. While the minotaur and the cyclops could realistically be hit and caused to fall, the dragon has a very low center of gravity so maybe it was dependent on nearby soldiers (or maybe it just didn't move, unlike the minotaur and the cyclops).