I was super excited to round up my favorite childhood toys, but was I sad to see that the updated versions of Operation, Guess Who, the EZ Bake Oven and countless other toys look markedly different than I remember, and the consensus is that they aren’t as well made as they used to be. But everything below has excellent Amazon reviews, so I’m glad to see they’ve stood the test of time.
1) Fisher Price Classic Chatter Phone | 2) Fisher Price Corn Popper | 3) Mr. Potato Head | 4) Let’s go Fishin | 5) Spirograph | 6) Viewmaster | 7) Magnetic Doodler | 8) Silly Putty | 9) Backseat Bingo | 10) Slinky | 11) Etch a Sketch | 12) Tupperware Shape-O Ball
While my blue Magnadoodle with the orange magnets has been freshened up, some things have stayed true to form. For whatever reason the Toy Story Mr. Potato Head has better reviews than the original looking Mr. Potato Head, but almost everything else is just how I remember it. I think the plastic slinky was less prone to getting irreparably tangled than the metal one, if my memory serves me right. I keep seeing these bingo cards at the board game store, and they’ve got pretty good amazon reviews, too.
I only owned probably half of these, but really enjoyed playing with the rest at friends’ houses. What were your favorite childhood toys?
eggplant / 11287 posts
So fun, I love this post!
Between both grandmas’ houses and our own collection (from my childhood and garage sale shopping), we have all of these except for #4, #5, and #7!!
My mom also has some Playskool wooden puzzles at her house that I remember being my absolute favorite as a kid.
DD has this from when her dad was a young boy… Anyone remember him?
https://www.google.com/search?q=my+pet+monster&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=bOKtU9TvIcOUyASk2oCgAg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1366&bih=643#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=HN0Z7vxSiGlwCM%253A%3BzJNX7JRD5VnrZM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fscribbletrix.com%252Fblog%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2013%252F07%252Fmypetmonster.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fscribbletrix.com%252Fblog%252Fjtt_week2%252F%3B819%3B1024
cantaloupe / 6086 posts
these are so fun. when my mom breaks out the old toys for LO I’m always like no, I want to play with it!
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
I was looking into getting this for the kids
http://www.leapfrog.com/en-us/products/leapband
but the reviews werent that great so I passed I loved that as a kid though I remember
nectarine / 2210 posts
The new operation is so, so much easier than it used to be. A bit silly in my opinion since most of the reason it was fun was because it was a bit difficult.
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
We have that awful corn popper. As a mom, I HATE it. I had the same one. I loved magnadoodle and etchasketch a ton as a kid.
papaya / 10560 posts
DS has the corn popper! For me, My Little Ponies, I had this cool Barbie Fashion Designer thing….a Geo Safari…I didn’t look through all, but I had a ton on this board!
http://www.pinterest.com/roxsan13/best-80s-and-90s-toys-i-had-as-kid/
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
I really loved #6 as a kid! I can’t really remember what my favorite childhood toys were besides Barbies – too bad I ended up ruining all their clothes and cutting off all their hair – oops!
kiwi / 550 posts
I loved that fishing game. I can still hear their little mouths snapping. Way better than hungry hippos.
I really love the fisher price vintage remakes. They all bring back memories. Though they seem a little spendy I think I will have to splurge on the classic record player and the medical kit.
blogger / honeydew / 7081 posts
@matador84: GeoSafari was my fave!
I also loved that ball shape sorter. Might have to track that down for LO!
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
These are all such great toys! I love that you can still get that Chatter Telephone!
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
Love this!
The one thing you are missing though, and with this I show my age, is the original Lite Brite. How that thing didn’t put our house up in flames, I do not know.
blogger / persimmon / 1220 posts
Ahh, love these!
blogger / clementine / 998 posts
@looch: I loved my lite brite! There was something so satisfying about poking holes through that white-dotted black construction paper.
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
M LOVES playing with #2 at Target. I wish I’d bought it when he was little.
blogger / nectarine / 2687 posts
i loved that phone. looooved it.@Mrs. Stroller: CB had that popper when he was little and we eventually hid because it drove us batty in our small house!