I often find myself reminiscing about my childhood. One thing that brings that warm, fuzzy feelings is my nostalgia for toys. For six years I was an only child, until my sister Tamika came along, and I was spoiled rotten with toys. I didn't care if they were toys generated specifically for boys or girls; if it was fun, I was playing with it. These were some of my favorites:
1. Slinky- at age 5, I spent countless hours watching the slinky go down steps, piles of books and I even made the mistake of trying to straighten out its concentric rings. I was so angry with myself when I destroyed it and threw it away. Good times!
2. Barbie Camper Van- I kept mine until my early teens. It was the one accessory from Barbie that I wanted to keep. Alas, there was no space in the tiny one bedroom apartment my mother rented in the Bronx. I was sad to see it go.
3. Lite Brite- I drove my mom crazy with these. I remember waking up at 5 am and playing with the Lite Brite as I sang the theme song to The Great Space Coaster. There is no news like Gnu News! Oh man, now I'm dating myself.
4. Legos- If you dreamed it, then you could build it. I was never able to create a helicopter or Death Star. However, I did make a few houses and even a small village. I love legos even to this day.
5. The Cardboard Box- This box was the epitome of Dr. Seuss's Oh, The Places You'll Go! I traveled to fairytale kingdoms, set sail on pirate ships, traveled to galaxies far and near. My mother was often upset with me because on Christmas, I would pay more attention to the large packaging rather than the toy itself. Is it any wonder that my children did the same? Boxes are the best!
What were your top 5 favorite toys when you were a child?
This Friday I will be participating in the False Start Friday Bloghop from Subliminal Coffee.
These are all the participants:
The final list of January's False Start Friday writers is as follows:
1. Stephanie of stephstuff
2. Shaharizan of Bronx Tales & Inner Musings
3. Loree of Stories and Scribbles
4. Geo of Trainride of the Enigmas
5. Lily of Wishbone Soup Cures Everything
6. Susan of I Think; Therefore, I Yam
1. Stephanie of stephstuff
2. Shaharizan of Bronx Tales & Inner Musings
3. Loree of Stories and Scribbles
4. Geo of Trainride of the Enigmas
5. Lily of Wishbone Soup Cures Everything
6. Susan of I Think; Therefore, I Yam
Come and join the fun!
Every kid's favorite toy was the giant cardboard box.
ReplyDeleteWe had the Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots. And Pong. Never could get my Slinky to work right though.
My dad once brought home truly giant boxes. As in, nearly floor to ceiling, thick, huge. He worked in computers back when they took up a room, so I wonder if that's what the box was from. Anyway, we made a whole fort with these boxes, with multiple rooms, all in the basement. Dad cut windows and doors. It was the coolest thing ever. I'm always amused by how much my kids enjoy using their imagination with boxes.
ReplyDeleteShannon at The Warrior Muse
I'm with you on the cardboard boxes. At Christmas I would play with my new toys a bit, but the most exciting time was finding the mysterious cardboard boxes out in the garage.
ReplyDeleteOther favorites for me were Tonka trucks, little plastic men (army men and cowboys usually), and all sorts of board games.
Lee
Wrote By Rote
@Alex- I totally forgot about the Rock'em Sock'em. Loved that toy. Yeah, the slinky took me forever to get it to go down stairs properly. I would only make it go down four or five stairs. Any more than that and it was a disaster. :D
ReplyDelete@Shannon- Boxes are the best for forts, clubs, pretend dollhouses and fairy islands. :)
@ Arlee- My belated baby brother had a huge metal Tonka truck. That thing was monstrous and could also be considered a weapon. He would sit in the dumpster part and I would pull him around by tying a belt to it. Good times. I miss him. :)
My husband still has some of his GI Joe action figures and Matchbox cars.