These are the things that give me warm fuzzies. Click the pic to enlarge.
Barbie Townhouse (in which my kitten took more than one ride up and down the elevator. Settle down animal lovers, she liked it)
Fashion Plates (I was sure the prairie skirts and halter top was a bitchin' option for cutting edge fashion. Too bad by the time I got it, they were already outdated fashions. Ask me if I care)
Monkey Swing (Loved that thing! What I wouldn't give to be able to swing on one of these without fear of the branch breaking!)
Holly Hobbie Oven (Baking with light bulbs was the coolest! Can you imagine how many weeks it would take to cook now with an LED light?)
Row 2:
Lite Brite (Luckily I wasn't corrupted enough when I had to make suggestive pics or curse words.)
Strawberry Shortcake dolls (My whole room looked like Strawberry Shortcake exploded in there from wallpaper to sheets to the record album..."smile a sunny mornin'")
Wacky Wall Walker (usually found as a prize in cereal boxes and only good for about 4-6 throws before it started collecting dust and hair on the sticky adhesive that made it walk. It was never the same when you washed it off)
View Master (I really wish I could recall what discs I had back in the day but we just bought one at an antique store. Sigh)
Row 3:
Monchichi (Still have mine in the basement!)
Scratch and Sniff Stickers (For our 14th anniversary The Mr got me the Hot Stuff Pizza sticker and the Happy Birthday Cupcakes I always loved. Why didn't I think to keep these things!?)
Fresh N' Fancy Make Your Own Make Up (I swear I think I'm the only one that had this thing! I loved making perfumes and nail polishes and make up)
Swatch Watch (That was my Swatch. That effer sells for hundreds on Ebay now. GRRRR!)
Row 4:
Whoopsie Doll (You would squeeze her belly and her pigtails would move. She was my favorite baby doll)
Jarts aka- Lawn Darts (These are THE most awesome things ever. Metal tipped and you knew you'd better get your ass outta the way or risk getting impaled by grandpa if you're not paying attention. The plastic ones are for wusses)
Dream Date PJ/Barbies (She's representing the whole Barbie clan for me but she was always the one I considered the most glamorous. Interesting she's not an actual Barbie. Also had Western Barbie (who reminded me of Dottie West from my grandma's era), Crystal something or other Barbie and 10 others as well as the obligatory eunuch Ken doll whose head popped off way too easy) and finally
Simon (it was so revolutionary for its time and you didn't want to be the one who screwed up and got the ominous buzzzzzzzzzz)
What are some of your favorite childhood toys that give you the warm fuzzies?
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Rubick's cubes. I love them.
ReplyDeleteI love this post! I totally had quite a few of those things. Don't forget the cabbage patch dolls! Your room was wall to wall strawberry shortcake? Mine was wall to wall holly hobbie!
ReplyDeleteOMG, I had all of those, except that make up kit. I still have my Holly Hobby Oven too. My daughter has an easy bake oven, and I still can't believe it bakes with a lightbulb, and she LOVES her light bright! So much fun this morning! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI had a lot of those as well. Loved my veiw master and swatch!!! Fun!
ReplyDeleteOf your list, there was only ONE I didn't recognize (it was the makeup maker).
ReplyDeleteI had totally forgotten about the Fashion Plate Fashion Designer (and yes, I'm totally humming the song now).
I loved my Monchichi (I had a boy one) and used to sing the song all the time (much to my mother's ire--she hates all things monkey). And Strawberry Shortcake confirmed for me there was no Santa (I was suspicious but when I smelled the dolls in my mother's closet, I knew I was right!).
We had this electronic game, "I Took a Lickin from a Chicken". It was tic-tac-toe against a little mechanical chicken. It was obnoxious and loud and the whole family adored it. We also adored our Coleco Vision (in particular, the games Stampede and Lost Luggage).
I could go on and on and on. . .
So the photo won't load for me for some reason, so I have a question...
ReplyDeleteWhat are the fashion plates? I TOTALLY sounds like something I had as a kid that I've been looking for online recently. I'm guessing it's the same thing I had with the little purple plates and you'd color over it with a flat crayon?
I also had some back lit little fashion thing similar to the plate toy. Though, you could scroll through pictures and trace the different outfits to color them in.
I always loved those wall walkers.
Here are some of my favorites: Pound Puppies, My Little Ponies, StarBright, Light Bright, Hugga Bunch Dolls and Shirt Tales.
Out of all these I've only ever seen the View Master. Fair enough, I come from a different continent. ;) I barely remember any of my toys growing up.. but I had a teddy bear that I LOVED. Truth to be told, I still have him. He's even named after my dad... ah, memories. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun post. I loved my Chatty Cathy doll, my easy bake oven and my light bright the best! Thanks for giving me this trip down memory lane. Have a great Friday.
ReplyDeleteI attribute my current love of baked goods to my early acquisition of an Easy Bake Oven. :)
ReplyDeleteI recognize some of these, but I was already too old to play with them. (I was going to say I was already an adult, but I don't think that happened for a while.) The first Barbie's came out when I was a kid (and what I wouldn't give to have some of them now!), the only doll houses were the really intricate ones that parents decorate. We made ours out of cardboard boxes, which was really nice, we could put windows and doors anywhere we wanted them! We used a LOT of tape to make multiple floors and rooms! The legs didn't bend until years later but we still had Barbie riding a horse (the model horses were really too small for her but we'll consider them ponies). Mainly I remember playing outside a lot. Cowboys and Indians, Cops & Robbers, baseball, tag and riding our bikes. When I wasn't doing those things, I was reading a lot.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I'm a ColorForms junkie. lol And I adored my SpinArt. I don't remember what they're called, but remember those pictures that were like paint by number, but you smeared glittery paint on them? I loved those, too. I had an art set where you shaped wires into leaves and petals and dipped them into a filmy resin looking thing. Then they dried you could fashion them into flowers and such. Those were AWESOME!
ReplyDeleteLawn darts rock. I was really good at them too.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have the make-up maker thing, but I do remember it. I had a friend that had one so you're not the only one - although you may be one of 2 people on earth. Wait - you didn't spend your childhood in Colorado did you? I'm pretty sure you're not her, but...
My favorite thing was a doll head, like a hairstylists practice head but for kid. One of my sitters had one and I spent HOURS braiding the hair. The only thing I missed when I stopped going there was that stupid head.
I love reading the responses to these! It's so fun to remember those toys or artsy things you had as a kid!
ReplyDeleteLola- Yes, you've got the right idea on the Fashion Plates!
Oh my gosh! I loved all those same toys! I had two monsheeshees a girl and a boy. I also got a cabbage patch doll during the "craze"! I also had a ghettoblaster when they first came out! My first tape that I own all by myself - BILLY IDOL! Woohoo! My all time fave was roller skates. The boot kind that where white with four wheels and a stopper. Lived in them. In-line skates just aren't the same!!!
ReplyDeleteOmg! I forgot about pretty much all of these!
ReplyDeleteLite brite! Fashion plates were sooo cool! And view masters are STILL cool! Love this post :)
Add Battleship and Operation and you pretty well got me covered. :) We also had those disney records with the pictures embedded on them...those and all my sisters My Little Pony castles and horses are still in my moms basement, lol.
ReplyDeleteOh I forgot...did you have a spirograph? Where you stuck a colored pen in a hole and went around this circle with another circle.
ReplyDeleteWe must be about the same age! I loved this Barbie townhouse, and it was the scene of impossible domestic pretend drama where Barbie ruled.
ReplyDeleteI also loved jarts (and yes, we threw them at each other), Holly Hobbie (how did that get marketed as cool?), and the lite brights!
I remember getting my ghettoblaster in junior high and the very first tape I ever owned was The Cars, Heartbeat City!!
ReplyDeleteAhhh....love this!!! Great memories!!!
ReplyDeleteThose are all radically awesome, dude! Love all of them!!
ReplyDeleteI will add Speak & Spell. I never owned one, but my best friend's little sister did and when I would go to her house you couldn't get me off of that thing! LOL