What is your favorite retro toy?

[Mike in Seattle]

We were talking about this very topic a few weeks ago and I mentioned Hypo-Squirts. They looked like a giant syringe (hence the name) and held somewhere between a pint and a quart of water, and you'd spray your friends, like with squirt guns only on a larger scale. They were only on the market a short while because someone had Hasbro or whatever company stop making them because of the war on drugs or something of the like. A friend looked them up and found one that had recently sold on Ebay - the Munsters version - it went for a whopping $19,100. I'm thinking my old childhood toy box bench, if I still had it as it was when I was 10 or so, would probably be worth a million or so. :eusa_doh:

 

[Warbaby]

Another of my favorite toys was a slingshot. The first ones I had were home made, but when I was about 12 years old I got a Wham-O - one of those clunky wooden ones that used surgical rubber bands. I still have a modern slingshot, a Wrist Rocket that I've souped up with heavier surgical tubing and use with .45 caliber lead balls.

Among the more dangerous home made toys of my childhood were clothespin guns that shot flaming matches and spoke guns made from the ends of bicycle spokes that were loaded with caps and shot single shotgun pellets. I wouldn't advise spoke guns for today's kids, but clothespin guns are still a lot of fun and can be made in just a few minutes. If any of you have kids and want to introduce them to the fun of shooting burning matches at each other, I'll be happy to post detailed instructions with photos.

And no, none of us kids ever put an eye out with any of that stuff.

 

[BeBopBaby]

Is this the one you mean?

YES! I had the three-wheeler! Thanks for the flash back.

I wonder how many kids actually got the Fonzie unicycle pictured in the little box? I wonder if anyone ever tried to jump it over a shark?

 

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't quite remember when my dad said he obtained this as a present but it had to be while he was fairly young... and being 61 this year puts it probably near '57-'63 or so. I'm assuming any way!

He still has an actual metal (imaging that... they used to make things of metal!!) cap gun but it doesn't shoot caps at all. It would just use a narrow roll of newspaper and a pin or rod would punch through the paper and make a sharp "crack" noise similar to a cap gun. Fun stuff! Just before my grandparents put their house up for sale, the house my dad grew up in, he went back up and took the Wainscoting off one wall of his old bedroom and low and behold the gun that he lost in the wall while my grandpa was finishing it was still there! Pristine! It's a gorgeous shade of red.

Though it's not mine I still smile every time I think of my dad finding this little treasure and the look on his face, the grin from ear to ear. It's almost like watching a little boy receiving it for the first time as a gift.

EDIT: Which reminds me- does anyone know the name for these types of toy guns? I'd like to look into purchasing one... maybe off an auction site or online antique store...

Those are Nu-Matic pistols, Scuffy. They were first made in the Thirties in a stamped-metal version, but by the Fifties (which is when I got mine), they were cast-metal in a sort of ray-gun motif.

As you say, they shot strips of paper. But there weren't any pins or rods involved -- it was all done by clamping the paper over the rubber-crowned muzzle, then releasing a spring-loaded cylinder that popped a hole in the paper with air pressure. It was very effective, and made a satisfying bang. The company sold premade rolls of paper "ammo" for them (I think it was marked with red, white and blue stripes), but most kids soon discovered that strips cut from newspaper or ordinary writing pads worked just as well.

In my opinion, what did the Nu-Matic toy guns in was the effort required to operate them. The "Trigger" was a full-length lever that ran the entire front edge of the handguard. It cocked a spring that operated the pneumatic mechanism for popping the paper, while at the same time advancing the paper strip and clamping it over the muzzle. For grownup hands it was no big deal, but for a nine-year-old, it was a two-handed squeeze.

I wish I still had mine. My mother disposed of all my old toys (not to mention my comic books, including a Doctor Solar #1 issue) after I got married. The only thing I managed to rescue was my Lionel trains and accessories, to which I've added over the years. I guess I'd have to say that the trains are my favorite toy.

I can still remember the Christmas morning in 1951, when Santa left that train set under the tree.

 

[KY Gentleman]

Johnny West. I had him and the Indian warrior.

I remember a Christmas where my main thing was a Johnny West figure with a wagon and a horse with wheels in his hoofs. Thanks for the pic! I played with that stuff for hours.

 

[swinggal]

I loved my Tinkertoys. I still have my 2 sets from the 70s - wooden ones in the tin tube. Used to play with them for hours. Loved my Mousetrap Game as well.

Oh, and Etch-a-sketch. I remember cleaning the entire screen off by drawing line after line to see what was hidden behind the silver dust..heheh. My Grandad used to get shitty with me because I could draw circles with it and he couldn't

 

[Tango Yankee]

Tommy guns and .38 caliber Detective Specials...

The Tommy gun I had as a kid was an Army Tommy gun--we could tell because the plastic was OD green!

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Silver Dollar]

Has to be my old Erector set. I had enough parts to make the steam shovel but not the Ferris wheel. I also liked big toy cars, big toy airplanes and big dump trucks.

 

[Atomic Age]

Evel Knievel stunt cycle...

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Big Wheel...

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Major Matt Mason...

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Billy Blastoff...

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James Bond Attache Case

http://www.fanatique.net/Movies/James-Bond/james-bond-attache-case.php

Mattel Agent Zero M Sonic Blaster....

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Sears Super Spy Attache Case...

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Mattel Tommy Burst....

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[Tango Yankee]

Looks like a very young Kurt Russell with the Sonic Blaster!

 

[St.Ignatz]

Silly putty. Not nearly as much fun with soy based ink. What was the name of that butterfly looking thing from Whammo? Herky, jerky. flop were it's flight characteristics.

 

[Silver Dollar]

Looks like a very young Kurt Russell with the Sonic Blaster!

It certainly is. That's about the same time he made that film with Elvis, It Happened At the World's Fair. Now look at him. He's one of my favorite actors. :eusa_clap

 

[MisterCairo]

As noted by many, the retro-in-my-lifetime toys I recall fondly include all model trains (Hornby for the most part), croquet sets, any and all plastic tennis/badminton type games (it comes with a net!), and the game of Risk.

 

[Atomic Age]

I went out and found a good old fashioned metal slinky at Walmart. Nothing better than pushing a slinky back and forth from hand to hand to releave stress.

Doug

 

[Foofoogal]

I love the slinky also. My fav has to be a little projector thing that showed cartoons. Someone had one and I was so jealous at the time. lol

My least are etch a sketch and hula hoops. I could never, ever do either.
My granddaughter cannot believe I cannot do it still as she hula hoops all over the place. lol

 

[Stearmen]

Chilhood Dreams

Johnny West. I had him and the Indian warrior.

I remember a Christmas where my main thing was a Johnny West figure with a wagon and a horse with wheels in his hoofs. Thanks for the pic! I played with that stuff for hours.

I can still remember the smell of the plastic when I opened the box! Funny thing, I still have his Winchester rifle and a Springfield 45-70 carbine and Colt Army 45 from a Cavalry trooper of the same size. I just realized that over the years I have collected the same full size fire arms! Funny those subconscious childhood memories!

 

[green papaya]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZkb1aXAZqY&feature=related

all vintage GI Joes