Playtime

My daughter's birthday is on Wednesday, and tonight we went to Target so she could use some of the birthday money she got from her aunt and uncle to buy some Barbies. (Because she won't get enough Barbie stuff at her party on Saturday, I'm sure.) I must have spent 30 minutes in the toy aisles, mostly with my boy, who is obsessed with "boy toys" that "turn on," i.e. make a bunch of noise. This got me to thinking about some of the toys I remember from my childhood. So tonight I searched some of them out online.

One of the most memorable toys I had, which a lot of other kids my age had, is the Tree Tots Family Tree House (pictured). This one probably goes back to when I was my girl's age. I always liked the elevator and the button that would make the canopy pop up, exposing the rooms inside. And I swear I can still remember exactly how that canopy felt. Like every other kid my age, I (or one of my brothers) also had the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle and that little McDonalds restaurant that would ding when you pecked at the cash register (can't find a photo). What a marketing success that was. And man did I love my Six-Million-Dollar Man toy. On the show he could see far away, and to emulate that, the toy had a hole in the back of the head that you could look through to make things that were close actually look far away. I'd go to the top of the twirly slide and watch through his head as the poor Earp boys got pelted by park-lunch apples, thanks to Ed Rigger and other guys who were ten years their senior. I got around town on a Big Wheel, though I ditched the seat and used it like a scooter, which is why I never got into the Green Machine. Stretch Armstrong got all the press, but I had an Incredible Hulk version that I thought was much cooler. I liked the idea of my Lite-Brite, but I never had the patience to really do anything cool with it. I had all of the same board games you had, probably, and a thousand other toys that I still remember like it was yesterday. And to think, my kids will probably feel the same way about some of these toys that I trip over put away on a daily basis. Okay, my wife usually puts them away, but still.

So what did you play with?