Friday 14 December 2012

Back to the rose tinted specticals

I thought it might be fun to go through some of the toys I had as a kid, it may even jog your memory regarding stuff you had.
The one thing I will say before I start, try not to think of all money the things would be worth had we not broken, or swapped them. Funny, but I dont really remember breaking much stuff when I was young, so where the hell did it all go (I blame my brother :-)
Some of the board games I had growing up are, amongst others long forgotten. You can see most of the things mentioned bellow by visiting www.boardgamegeek.com
Flight Deck by Airfix, Not really a boardgame this, more a game in the mould of Scalextric, a set up and play game, great fun at the time, but I could imagine kids today being bored stupid by it. I recently bought a copy of this from eBay, why? Because I could!
Mouse trap, A real classic this.
Cluedo, Again, a classic game that has managed to stand the tests of time.
Monopoly, The daddy, or mummy, of all games, been around for ages in a multitude of designs. I had the classic version, but since then I have had others. I still own a classic version and a Starwars version.
Totoploy, A horse racing game this one, buy a horse, or horses, then race them. Have a bet, win money, or loose. Not a bad game.
Subbuteo Football, A game you could collect for years. Worth a few bob nowadays depending on condition. I had a basic set and quite a few teams. There was a few of us who collected this so there was never a shortage of friends to play against. Took up a fair bit of space though.
Pocketeers, Funny these, a simple had held game. About the size of todays Nintendo handhelds. There was various versions of this. I had a motor racing game, which involved turning a small dial at the bottom of the unit which in turn moved a magnet underneath the track, this then moved small cars around a circular track. I thought it was a terrific then, and played it for hours, I would imagine it being laughed at by the youngsters today. What no batteries you do it yourself? 
Escalado, More horse racing fun with game. It involved stretching the fabric course along a table or along another solid surface and placing the (lead) horses at the start. To move the horses along the course you turned a handle at the finish end which vibrated the fabric which in turn propelled them along the track. A great family game.
Battling tops, This would be one of the earliest games I remember owning, as I'm sure I had this one when I lived in London, (we moved from there in 1970)
Mastermind, I enjoyed this game, but always thought it a strange concept for a children's game. There was a lot of logical thinking for a kid in this game, but it was, for some strange reason really good fun.
Hotwheels, There have, over the years, been many versions of this game, with added effects and stunts added. The copy I owned was a basic track, round a loop the loop and over the finish line, triggering a flag to fall. The track was orange and the cars all had groovy names, although I cant remember any. To get the slope angle on the track you could clamp it to the back of a wooden chair and away you went.
Operation, This was a good family game, and I can remember playing this with mum.
Escape from Colditz, This was always one of my favorite games when I was younger, but not being the German pieces, no one did though, to be fair. Being one of the escape teams was good fun, as there was much more to do. A really well designed board, lots of colour and things to look at.
Action man, Yes Peg, I played with dolls when I was young.
Again, not a game but a toy. Some of this stuff can be worth a small fortune today, but alas mine went the way of the unknown soldier. There was so much stuff to get that it kept the parents in Christmas gift ideas for ages, and boy was I grateful.
Thinking back to what I said above about the earliest game I had, the earliest toy I can remember having was......
Fuzzy felts, Fuzzy felts, bloody hell, not really a game of any description, hardly a toy even. I mean you made pictures, they didn't move, or do much at all, but it was great non the less.
Top Trumps, I had a few sets of these, I can't remember what all of the sets were, but one was definitely F1. From the days of F1 when the overtaking was done on the track. I seem to remember an aircraft set I had as well.
Play-doh, Play-doh was awesome, but parents hated it cos it really got trodden into the carpet, and would NEVER come out.
Spirograph, Loads of fun with this toy, you could make some really weird pictures, very very 60s.

I've trawled various websites trying to jog my (suspect) memory, and found pictures of most of the stuff listed.
These are the main games and toys I remember having, there was defiantly more than this, like die-cast models and such like. If I think of any others I will put it up as and when I get time.
I hope you enjoyed having a look and maybe I even helped you remember something you might of had in your youth.