Toys I haven't seen since the 70s/80s

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snotick@reddit

My favorite toys were Chutes Away, and the Vertibird that my friend had.

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phillymjs@reddit

I had and enjoyed both. I think the Chutes Away box is still in a closet in my basement, holding Christmas decorations.

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phillymjs@reddit

I still have mine complete in box, with a shoebox full of tapes. Hasn't seen daylight in decades.

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thanx_it_has_pockets@reddit

I have one on my Amazon wishlist. 😂 (Because I never had one)

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notguiltybrewing@reddit

They still sell spirographs. I bought one within the last few years.

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I would like to say that they still sell Erector sets. But we both know that would be a lie, because whatever plastic crap is masquerading as an erector set these days has nothing to do with the type of decent sets we had back then.

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classicsat@reddit

They sell steel strap and angle steel with holes at the hardware store. And 5/16" bolts. Close.

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wmnoe@reddit

For awhile that was the case in the late 80s and early 90s - the sets were a lot of plastic and crap. The brand did eventually die out and the original company went out of business....

BUT the license was purchased and new sets are being made by MECCCANO, and they are way more classicly designed with mostly metal parts. They even sell repros of older sets.

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GreenSalsa96@reddit

That motor was no joke. I swear it could double as a spare car part!

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Deeschuck@reddit

Curious me stuck the bare wires into a wall socket for a few seconds. It went REALLY fast.

Still worked afterwards too.

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Edward_the_Dog@reddit (OP)

Dude.

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Deeschuck@reddit

To be clear i'm in the US so it was only 120v

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KrofftSurvivor@reddit

Seriously. I wish I still had the one from my dad's set!

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Dphippo@reddit

gif

Erector

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mvcjones@reddit

Shrinky dinks. (they may still be out there, but I have not seen them.)

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classicsat@reddit

I never heard of the product. But I know you could get PET sheets stretched, and do the same thing. .

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CynicalOptimistSF@reddit

That nostalgic scent of baking plastic.

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mvcjones@reddit

Oh yes, the agent orange of 1970’s kids playthings, huh?

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CynicalOptimistSF@reddit

Not quite as toxic smelling as Super Elastic Bubble Plastic, though

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wmnoe@reddit

I just saw those on sale at one of the last remaining Party City locations.

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notguiltybrewing@reddit

I had all of this stuff, including this one. My dad wouldn't actually let me use it, he did it for me. He must have figured out it was bad news and I never had it again.

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Kettle_Whistle_@reddit

That was stuff poison delivered from a tube & straw.

But we kinda knew that then, and we laughed & laughed…

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coffee-please@reddit

Oofah that stuff was wild…

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wmnoe@reddit

They most definitely are still a thing. Check Michaels.

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Own_Celebration5462@reddit

You can get them still! My daughter just told me she and her friend did them last week. She’s 27, so we never grow out of them!

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KrofftSurvivor@reddit

You have to go to a craft store.

Michaels carries the original shrinky dink brand, in so many variations these days!

Hobby Lobby, and everybody else carries a shit ton of knockoffs that work literally just as well.

And most of these are packages of 3 - 5 sheets for under ten bucks

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classicsat@reddit

Pop-a-matic Trouble

Merlin

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Dalmatian_Carl@reddit

Micronauts and that track for the figures that was air powered. I had it and it always leaked air.

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wmnoe@reddit

Micronauts are FINALLY Back on toy shelves (or at least available from online retailers, though I did find them at Target) from Super 7. Wave 1 was Baron Karza and Biotron done in a super-articulated 3 3/4" scale as part of their ReAction+ line. Wave 2 of Force Commander and Microtron were just announced. They run $20-25 though during Prime Days they were under $18 each.

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Dalmatian_Carl@reddit

Oooooooo now I must investigate this! Thank you!

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nottodaysatan317@reddit

Bag o’ Glass

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sleepysaurus7777@reddit

Tinker toys or Lincoln logs

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Carinyosa99@reddit

Both I believe still exist but they switched from wood to plastic (at least I know they did that with Tinker Toys).

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DeezDoughsNyou@reddit

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lincoln-Logs-100th-Anniversary-111-Piece-Collectible-Tin/46605885

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Ok_Fig7692@reddit

Well I know what I'm doing this weekend.

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sleepysaurus7777@reddit

Well I'll be should have stopped at Tinker toys

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DeezDoughsNyou@reddit

Yeah I bought them for my kids years ago. Still fun!

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Ok_Fig7692@reddit

Well I know what I'm doing this weekend.

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Carinyosa99@reddit

Romper Stompers, although they may have made a brief comeback for a while when lots of retro toys were coming back out.

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NorCalFrances@reddit

Did Hasbro sell Weebles to Playmonster and Mindware? I'm seeing them under different brands now.

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wmnoe@reddit

Yes I believe so. Or they licensed it out, which they've been doing a lot of lately. They've sub licensed a ton of their proprietary IPs. It's crazy

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NorCalFrances@reddit

https://web.archive.org/web/20151030063833/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/business/25views.html

15 years after that was written, nearly all of Hasbro's major stock holders are...the largest private equity companies.

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Extension-Elk-1274@reddit

Jarts.

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ITfarmer@reddit

Thanks. I learned something today.

Growing up, I only knew them as lawn darts.

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blackbird24601@reddit

the new thing is beer darts

dangerous as heck

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ITfarmer@reddit

I thought the newer thing was axe throwing while drinking.

Was this just a US trend? Heck, many of those new axe bars have closed already due to the economy.

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notguiltybrewing@reddit

I remember being a little kid running around while my cousins played jarts. Different times. I'm glad I never got hit by one.

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RemlikDahc@reddit

Haven't seen a Daisy pump action rifle, a Variflex or Nash skateboard, a Huffy Sigma, a Green Machine, an Evil Knievel Stunt Bike, Yard Darts, a Roy Rogers cap gun, Rock em Sock em robots, Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down, M.A.S.K. Little Green Army Men, WWF Wrestlers, M.U.S.C.L.E,

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MalcolmApricotDinko@reddit

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SCCAFVee@reddit

gif

Log!!!🪵

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vodeodeo55@reddit

My Weeble Wobble ranch house had beds. BEDS. What sadist came up with that?

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Trolkarlen@reddit

Weebles wobble but they can’t lie down.

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Own_Celebration5462@reddit

That is torture for the tired Weebles.

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DistributionSuch1544@reddit

I had the Treasure Island Weeble set. I really miss them and the simpler times.

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blackbird24601@reddit

i had a cher doll…

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may_april080316@reddit

The store version of walking on coffee cans they were like plastic buckets with the plastic rope handles. No idea why the 5 year old me found them so fun.

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tawandagames2@reddit

Gnip Gnop

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ElSordo91@reddit

Colorforms. I had the Superfriends set.

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Ok_Fig7692@reddit

I loved my Weebles haunted house when I was a kid. I'm tempted to pick one up off Ebay but complete they go for around $300

I did just acquire a Colorforms set (which we don't see these days, either) which is the same one my aunt had when I was a kid to keep me and my cousins occupied.

Now if I could just rebuild my Micronauts collection...

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Dazzling-Walrus9673@reddit

Fashion Plates

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Dphippo@reddit

Wiz-z-zer

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indefiniteretrieval@reddit

Battling tops

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DistributionSuch1544@reddit

I miss the Marx company and the Best of the West. Sam Cobra was my favorite. Also Mego Action Jackson. My brother had the Six Million Dollar Man with the bionic eye. There was also the Big Jim and Big Josh dolls.

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notguiltybrewing@reddit

Loved the bionic eye! And speaking of Mego, I loved the super hero dolls and I was super tempted when they released them again.

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wmnoe@reddit

I've got more than a new new Mego Star Trek figures. I got an action jackson too, which I opened and after a little while he fell apart. So...no more opening Megos. But I'll still buy them. They look better MOC anyway.

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DistributionSuch1544@reddit

I also had Mego Aquaman, Spideman and Frankenstein

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TheJokersChild@reddit

And their piece de resistence, the Big Wheel.

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wmnoe@reddit

Weebles are still being made believe it or not. They are very very different from what you remember, but then again a lot of older pre-school toys have been "modernized". Fisher Price Little People I'm looking at you.

Socker Boppers are also still being made and sold today

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peptide2@reddit

Rock em sock em robots

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Why-did-i-reas-this@reddit

Stompers

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Thwipped@reddit

Capsellas

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Edward_the_Dog@reddit (OP)

That's a new one for me? Would you please describe them in more detail?

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Meng_Fei@reddit

Think of it as a kind of space-y looking Mechano but with clear plastic bubbles. There was a battery pack with a motor you'd hook up to whatever you'd built so it could move. It was also waterproof, so you could build contraptions that would float with paddle wheels to drive it.

Until Thwipped's comment I hadn't thought about it in years.

Capsela

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Thwipped@reddit

Was a kind of construction toy. Plastic bubbles that could connect to each other in different configurations. Some of these bubbles had gears in them so you could make moving parts. It was a pretty cool science toy

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Meng_Fei@reddit

This is the real answer. Unlocked a memory for me, as I had a pretty decent sized set too.

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Ilikechickenwings1@reddit

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Ilikechickenwings1@reddit

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jondes99@reddit

Where are the cap guns?

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Antelope-Subject@reddit

Bag-of-Glass

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AnonymousInGB@reddit

Big Track

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jtrades69@reddit

man i miss my weebles. my mom sold them at a garage sale when i was 10. i was PISSED.

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Own_Celebration5462@reddit

I still have 2 in a box somewhere. I loved those!

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Alabamappalachian@reddit

Stretch Armstrong

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DistributionSuch1544@reddit

He’s back, but not full of the red goo.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNQgzAEoXh7/

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Own_Celebration5462@reddit

I had Stretch Octopus and he froze in our attic and burst like a crime scene.

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Own_Celebration5462@reddit

There used to be the creepy crawler maker, and in addition to the rubber stuff you used, it had tubes of candy gel you put in the metal molds of this scorching hot toy. My brother got it at a garage sale and my parents still let us eat the candy we made! Ah, the 70’s!

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some_one_234@reddit

Lawn darts

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Echo15charlie@reddit

We did, in fact, have these in the 80s. Luckily everyone survived. One of my cousins was stabbed in the forehead with a regular dart by his brother playing William Tell, though.

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Advanced_Nose_7738@reddit

Lite-Brite

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mvcjones@reddit

Funny enough, I saw a modern version of Lite Brite at Costco a few days ago, out with the holiday season. To show one how cheap and lazy things have gotten, one no longer has to deal with the pegs - it is more of a fixed touch the LED type toy.

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KrofftSurvivor@reddit

They still sell the version with the pegs. Fun fact - at christmas time, it's cheaper to buy four of those, toss three of them and bundle the pegs together than it is to buy one plus a bag of extra pegs!

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TheJokersChild@reddit

It seems kind of stripped down. Didn't it used to come with more than 6 designs? I loved mine because it reminded me of the picture tube of a TV.

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notguiltybrewing@reddit

Fuck, I had so many. Tons of them. Way more than 6. I want to say I easily had a couple dozen. I also had extra pegs with additional colors. I think my parents liked to stick me in front of it when the weather sucked, which was common in the Midwest. I guess it kept me occupied.

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KrofftSurvivor@reddit

No clue, we didn't use them

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ITfarmer@reddit

Toy planes launched off a wooden rod and spring with gun type grip.

They launched at about 30 MPH. Often into a sibling crossing your path.

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ITfarmer@reddit

Stretch Armstrong.

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suddenlynotbanned@reddit

StarBird.

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LaeliaCatt@reddit

A maze with a glob of mercury in it

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Fit_Abroad_9228@reddit

They weeble and they wobble but they won’t fall down. I loved mine!

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ianindy@reddit

SSP Racers, and Tiny Mighty Mo.

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Gweedo1967@reddit

Tinkertoys

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Unlucky_Profit_776@reddit

I got my cabbage patch kid in 1983 puerto rico

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Ok_Amoeba_804@reddit

Evel Knievel stunt cycle. There is a remake but it’s junk all plastic wheel , the original had a steel rear wheel for weight I remember I wound mine up once and put it in my brothers hair lol mom had to cut a huge chunk out to release it lol I lost it for a week

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