Released in 1968, this game from Parker Brothers consisted of a stick (actually a wooden dowel rod) with a pair of plastic hands on each…
Browsing: Toys & Games
This short-lived set of futuristic die-cast toy planes was produced by Mattel in 1971. All 6 models – Sky Scraper, Star Grazer, Ski Gull, Maching…
Nobody knows when the first proto-Hot Potato game was played (possibly by 18th-century Irish kids with real scalding potatoes – we’re just guessing), but by…
Hot Wheels entered a crowded die-cast toy car market in 1968, but these scale-model hot rods had an edge. By adding an axle and rotating…
Say you were a fan of toys with interchangeable facial features. But say you were also a realist, and a brown potato head just didn’t…
The Hula Hoop – developed in 1957 by Wham-O – is the standard by which all fads are measured. Somewhere inside that plastic ring lay…
Four brightly coloured hippos – Homer (green), Harry (yellow), Henry (orange) and Lizzie/Happy (purple/pink depending on the version) – were the adorable stars of this…
Mattel launched Incredible Edibles in 1967, promising “a collection of funny things to make and eat”. The toy included a set of 8 circular metal…
Atari’s first racer, the little-known 1974 game Gran Track 10, wasn’t the hit that everyone had hoped it would be. But rather than abandoning the…
It was an Atari world back in the late 70s and early 80s, but Mattel’s Intellivison staged a pretty good coup. The Atari VCS (aka the 2600)…
As with Pick-Up Sticks, this game of dexterity and skill required a steady hand and a great deal of luck as players took turns using…
It’s said that Jacks have origins in ancient counting games, but they started to captivate Western kids around the turn of the twentieth century. The…
This innovative battery-powered flight simulator toy was manufactured by the New Jersey-based Deluxe Reading toy company (the manufacturer of the Johnny Seven OMA) in the early…
The John Bull Printing Outfit – originally produced by the Charter Stamp Company, a printing firm established in the City of London in 1922 -…
The Johnny Seven OMA (“One Man Army”) – produced by the New Jersey-based Deluxe Reading toy company under their ‘Topper Toys’ toyline in 1964 -…
From Ideal . . . Ker-Plunk! took a steady hand, as you slowly (or really quickly) remove the sticks from the marble-filled tube. A clear plastic…
In the late 1970s, celebrities became a popular theme for pinball machines. In fact, everyone from Ted Nugent to Evel Knievel had a pinball machine…
Also known as Clackers, Klick-Klacks, Whackers, Ker-Knockers, Whack’os, Bangers, Poppers, Bonkers, Clack Clacks, K-Nokkers, Mini Poppers, Rockers, Super Clackers, Whak Kos, Quick Klacks, Quick Clacks,…
US toy company Larami Corp. of Philadelphia, PA, was founded in 1947 and specialised in inexpensive toys ($0.39 to $0.99). Their toys were cheap (they…
Lawn Darts began to appear in sporting goods and toy stores in the 1960s and were made by various manufacturers (Sears Department Stores even had…