If you were a kid in the 80's, you probably played with some of these.

a reply to: Tekaran

In the 80s i was a kid in Spain. My parents didn't have enough money to buy so many toys. I only had a he-man, a couple of plastic pistols, and small scalestrix for most of my childhood.

a reply to: Tekaran

I didn't see Star Wars. I was the Transformers dude. I had a couple hundred of them also kept every box, which had those decoders. One cousin was the GI Joe dude, who had about the same number and ton of vehicles. Another cousin had all the He Man stuff, and yet another cousin had all the Star Wars stuff. Then a younger cousin had everything. I got to see it all!

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: Tarzan the apeman.
We used to make Molotov cocktails out of xmas bulbs.

Thank God

You are very welcome.
I made a cool KABOOMMM! with a jar of black powder buried down about 3 foot when I was just a pollywog.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: Tekaran

I had cooler toys...

Lmao

I liked building stuff. Lincoln Logs and Lite Brite were favorites. Until I discovered Atari, then Nintendo. Still have a slight indent in my thumb from playing. If I couldn't beat Super Mario in one life, just had to start over.

originally posted by: skunkape23

I made a cool KABOOMMM! with a jar of black powder buried down about 3 foot when I was just a pollywog.

I made some rather interesting incendiary and explosive devices which we then deployed on objects in people's yards which the Federal Government says you shouldn't tamper with.

a reply to: SheopleNation

I totally remember that .I had some sort of safari set ,pick up truck and trailer also had a boat. The set came with cages for animals and a lion a giraffe and a few other beasts.. the toys scaled almost perfectly with my g.I. Joe's.

My favorite figures were :
Snake eyes.
Shipwreck.
Quickkick.
Wetsuit.
Steeler.
Rock n roll.
The baroness.
Flint.
Breaker and dialtone.
Airborne.
Raptor..cheesy but awesome crossover play with the safari set.
And my all time favorite figurine...
Outback the survivalist.


Favorite vehicles,
The catamaran I sent away for with upc points.
The silvermotorcycle. Also upc if I remember correctly.
The jetpack,launch pad.
The hovercraft.
The S.H.A.R.K.
The cobra hydrofoil.
The watermoccasin? Small green fan boat(cobra)
Those last four were great in the tub..I wish I had the aircraft carrier but I would have needed a pool..
And That Damn thing cross-country drove.

All time favorite vehicle...
The H.I.S.S. tank not because it was flashy .but I found out you could remove the turret and stash
*stuff*inside..That thing Sat on my desk in my room all through high school.....


Thanks for the awesome trip down memory lane OP.

Respectfully,
~meathead
omg I can't believe I forgot mutt and junkyard(his dog)

a reply to: Mike Stivic

Forgot about Snake Eyes, also one of my favorites. Oh and Sabotage was one of my favorites too. ~$heopleNation

originally posted by: SheopleNation
a reply to: Mike Stivic

Forgot about Snake Eyes, also one of my favorites. Oh and Sabotage was one of my favorites too. ~$heopleNation

I had the original snake eyes pre kung fu grip.My buddy had the later model that came with a wolf.mine lost his thumbs and cod piece.

Sabotage?
You mean firefly?

He was the cobra saboteur.

Respectfully,
~meathead

When I grew up (1960's) all I had to play with was a stick, and I had to share it with my brother.
Oh, and .....Get off my lawn!

originally posted by: Tekaran
This was a little before my time, but someone I knew had one of these, because I remember playing with one.

I remember that one! I'm 50 now, so yeah just a little before your time. Late 70's that was.

We were as hot for that as anything else, and imagined it jumping the snake river canyon. Evel Knievel was all the rage. I almost broke a few bones in those days doing jumps on our bikes and my brother did break his collar bone.

I also remember the first Texas Instruments Digital Watch


And Merlin, the fist "digital" learning game for children



en.wikipedia.org...(game)

And then, there was.. Blip



en.wikipedia.org...(game)

These things and the first digital calculator, are what started it all.

When I first started my career as a corporate recruiter or headhunter at the age of 18 (still at it, don't ask me why, don't qualify to do anything else I guess) with nothing but some telemarketing experience selling home delivery subscriptions for the city newspaper, there were no fax machines (came along a few months later),


so we have to get people to physically bring us their resume in person, and then we'd dispatch it via courier. Gave it a higher degree of pizzaz. Email's just not the same.

We also smoked like fiends at our desks (everyone had these large square retro ashtrays), and it wasn't long before that that you could smoke on airplanes when the smoking light came on, and it would make a tone, and then everyone would light up and fill the plane with cigarette smoke.

Oh those were the days.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: skunkape23

I made a cool KABOOMMM! with a jar of black powder buried down about 3 foot when I was just a pollywog.

I made some rather interesting incendiary and explosive devices which we then deployed on objects in people's yards which the Federal Government says you shouldn't tamper with.

We invented something called "the ping pong ball bolt bomb", comprised of cutting a small hole in the ping pong ball, then filling it with wooden match heads, and when close to full, very very gently.. inserting a large bolt that would screw into the hole until the ball was re-sealed. These fire grenades could then be multiplied of course. When it hits any hard object, the match heads explode.

Another time, we broke into a parked caboose on the town train tracks, and took a bunch of long road flares each of which had a nail on the bottom sticking out, so we lit them and put them in the hydro polls on each side of the main drag of the little town I grew up in, as a type of celebration. The barber caught us and informed us that he knew who each of us were and who our parents were, but he didn't actually tell them anything. Just tried to scare us with his barber authority. It didn't work.

On another occasion we broke into a little shed up the railway tracks and this time they had track flairs, which, if you struck it hard with a steel poll or a rock, made just the loudest explosion imaginable. Having found this stash, we exploded one while on the way to school, only to find out that that was the day the local police officer was visiting to teach us kids about all manner of safety. The principal just made us all stand in a line in front of his office during lunch and recess for a week, it wasn't so bad. We felt it was worth the price.

As the town preachers kid, I also had access to the church key..

So we'd go in there all the time and I'd play some Led Zeppelin I'd learned on the pipe organ, and then we'd climb the steeple which was square and had an open platform on top that we've climb up on after managing to pry open the final passageway at the top of a rickety ladder, from which we could throw down breakaway chips from the church steeple's cement work, not at people or cars, directly, but near them, just to freak them out, as if God was raining down pieces of stone in warning.

Sorry I realize I've gone off topic, but it's hard not to reminisce about those days of childhood innocence, and in my case, no so innocent. Truth be told I once even took some money from the collection plate. In the Bible, two people were made to drop dead for doing as much. Bad!

Lastly, as the preacher's kid, I got to ring the bell each Sunday (18 times), but then i'd leave and not even stick around for the service and as my "pay" I'd find my cigarette allowance on the kitchen table. Oftentimes I would even wear my Black Sabbath t-shirt for the occasion, hoping that one of the old ladies entering might notice, although one time I did read from the Bible during the service and these same old ladies rushed me afterwards with such enthusiasm and said that I was certain to follow in my father's footsteps, which placed me in a terrible predicament.

Creepy crawlers were one of my faves, I used them for fish bait. And I can't remember the name but the version that made metal trinkets was fun too.

Does anyone else remember Dr. Dreadfuls Labratory? It was a molecular gastronomy kit for kids but it was way before the modern craze. It made fizzy drinks and weird gooey eyeballs and stuff. I loved it..

And good old fashioned fireworks..
Also nerf guns.

And my bmx bike was also very important to me.

Forgot to mention I was born in 86..

originally posted by: AnkhMorpork
...only to find out that that was the day the local police officer was visiting to teach us kids about all manner of safety.

Speaking of the police visiting your school, I remember when Officer No Drugs came to our school with his little board of narcotics. He was saying stuff like, 'This one makes you laugh and this one makes you hallucinate and this one makes you thing you're invincible..." and I'm thinking, 'Why are these bad?'

a reply to: Mike Stivic

You're right my friend, his name was Fire Fly. I stand corrected. Crimson Twins were cool too. ~$heopleNation

a reply to: SheopleNation

Tomax and xamot!

Holy cow I almost forgot them!!

Yep had those, loved them in the cartoons as well..

My sister ransacked my collection ..or well my sister took them from the attic "for the kids" and ebayed them..

All I have left is the fully functional (including landing gear) 1985 metal Transformer Jetfire based off the robotech mech . And my HISS tank and a few GI Joe's I kept in my closet .

Oh well..


Respectfully,
~meathead

I'm surprised more people aren't talking about how important Lego was to them... It was definitely a cornerstone of my childhood. It's the only toy I still collect. I've got thousands of dollars worth of Star Wars Legos that are still mint in box. Just waiting for me to play with them....

originally posted by: Royweeezy

I'm surprised more people aren't talking about how important Lego was to them...

True. One of the most valuable life lessons I learned was from Legos, never walk down an unlit hallway.

originally posted by: Mike Stivic
a reply to: SheopleNation

I totally remember that .I had some sort of safari set ,pick up truck and trailer also had a boat. The set came with cages for animals and a lion a giraffe and a few other beasts.. the toys scaled almost perfectly with my g.I. Joe's.

My favorite figures were :
Snake eyes.
Shipwreck.
Quickkick.
Wetsuit.
Steeler.
Rock n roll.
The baroness.
Flint.
Breaker and dialtone.
Airborne.
Raptor..cheesy but awesome crossover play with the safari set.
And my all time favorite figurine...
Outback the survivalist.


Favorite vehicles,
The catamaran I sent away for with upc points.
The silvermotorcycle. Also upc if I remember correctly.
The jetpack,launch pad.
The hovercraft.
The S.H.A.R.K.
The cobra hydrofoil.
The watermoccasin? Small green fan boat(cobra)
Those last four were great in the tub..I wish I had the aircraft carrier but I would have needed a pool..
And That Damn thing cross-country drove.

All time favorite vehicle...
The H.I.S.S. tank not because it was flashy .but I found out you could remove the turret and stash
*stuff*inside..That thing Sat on my desk in my room all through high school.....

Thanks for the awesome trip down memory lane OP.

Respectfully,
~meatheadomg I can't believe I forgot mutt and junkyard(his dog)

Nice list, and I would add - Mainframe, Shockwave, Tunnel Rat, Hit-N-Run, Crazylegs, and Outback.