Thanks to her peculiarly oversized head and bulging eyes that change colour with the pull of a string, not many girls wanted to play with…
Browsing: Toys & Games
The BMX Burner from Raleigh (pictured below) was the action bike of 1982 in the UK. It was capable of stunt tricks and riders were…
Board games have been played in most cultures and societies throughout history. Archaeological evidence has revealed such games dating back as far as 3100 BC.…
The world has its share of word games, but perhaps none as hyperactive as Boggle, which was first released in 1973. Sixteen letters, three minutes,…
Life was good at the Ponderosa Ranch in the mid-60’s. Bonanza was the most-watched program in the USA, the Nevada mountains were still pristine and…
Designed by future Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs (though Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak reportedly did the bulk of the work), Breakout turned the video game…
Buck-a-roo! came from Milton Bradley. The idea was to load the buck-a-roo mule with picks, shovels and all kinds of stuff. But if it got…
Budgie Toys was formed in 1959 by Sam and Harry Morris, who had tried unsuccessfully to market a range of model trucks in 1958. Unfortunately,…
You just had to love a game whose entire philosophy on life was summed up in its three-syllable title: Bump ‘n’ Jump. That’s all there…
The most popular kids of the 1980s had ugly fat squished faces, stumpy arms and chubby little hands . . . They were The Cabbage…
In 1966, at the height of the popularity of his “Supermarionation” TV shows, Gerry Anderson developed a concept for a new television series. Candy and…
Imagine that the Brothers Grimm invented a board game. Now take out the witches. Welcome to Candy Land. Eleanor Abbott was recovering from polio when…
Part of the beauty of early arcade games was the preponderance of “truth in advertising”. What you read was what you got. So when Atari…
The first cap guns were born out of economic necessity. After the American Civil War ended in 1865, several gun manufacturers found themselves with too…
The Mitsubishi Pencil Company of Japan began manufacturing Capsela building sets in 1975. But Capsela was more than just a construction toy – it was…
With a change of clothes and mask, Captain Action could alter his identity into some of the mightiest heroes on the planet. The basic 12″…
It was 1981 when the first ten Care Bears were designed for greeting cards. Just two years later, the toy line was rolled out, which…
Battery-powered thing from Matchbox which launched ball-bearings onto three bouncy drums in succession and then onto a scoring receptacle at the other end. The ball…
Young boys have always been fascinated with war toys, but most were just that: toys. No matter how fancy that cap gun got, it still…
Dolls were always good for lending a listening ear after a tough day at preschool, but Chatty Cathy actually talked back. Tired of having to…