2011-03-21

Our Toys Were Duds!

Today's post is offered up as a bit of nostalgia for those of us who grew up before the invention of video games and personal computers.   I like to think we had our own awesome games  - REAL actions games.  They have Grand Theft Auto, we had Cops and Robbers.  They have Halo, we had Hide-And-Go-Seek.  They have The Sims, we played House.  Anyone remember playing House?  It often led to another popular game - Doctor.

But before we get all smug and superior comparing ourselves with the younger generations, let's not forget that some of our toys were astounding duds.

Anyone remember Pet Rocks?



Yes, it was a rock with a face painted on it. 

Or how about this?

Squirmin' Herman -  googly eyes glued on a piece of fake fur.  It moved like an inch-worm when you pet it.  Mine was purple.



Fake pets, fake fur, and now - Invisible Dog Leashs - I seem to be on a trend here. 

But my final offering was completely genuine - Mexican Jumping Beans.  They were beans.  They came from Mexico.  And they actually jumped about inside their clear plastic box.  At least...they jumped for the first few days until the worm inside them died.   Seriously!




So tell me what you think of my list.  What crazy toys can you remember?

19 comments:

  1. The rubiks cube. I solved it by dismantling it and the putting it back together so that all the sides were the same colour!

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  2. I remember all of those. And I love Annie's comment about the Rubiks Cube!!
    I still have my Tippy Toes doll and my Raggedy Andy.
    I remember playing a lot of House- my favorite game. :-))

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  3. And frikkin' sea monkeys! My gosh, what a ripoff those things were!
    And those lame little Motorific race cars. They went like bats out of hell until the batteries died. In about two minutes.
    No WONDER we threw dog poop at my little brother using sticks!

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  4. I remember playing School a lot, and making my two brothers and two sisters the students, poor kids, lol.

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  5. Bringing back some memories.

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  6. Chia Pet!! Silly Putty! Which my son loves by the way because it could stretch so far. I loved Barbie...still do....but gosh those tiny shoes still tick me off! They didn't stay on back then...but HAH...mama has a glue gun now! My daughter wasn't so impressed.
    But what surprises me is some of the toys we had would be considered so dangerous. I mean, I had a BB gun! Or those things you threw on the ground and then made a loud BANG! LOL

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  7. LOL! Thanks for the trip down memory lane! The Speak N' Spell was my fave retro toy. I'm sure that if my kids saw it today, they would NOT be impressed. :D

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  8. @ Annie: How else could you solve it?
    @ PAMO: Tippy Toes doll! I'd forgotten :)
    @ Al: I remember those sea monkey ads on the back of comics. Talk about mis-representation!
    @ Clipped Wings: I did too - until my teacher told my parents it had to stop. My sister had me multiplying when I should have been adding!
    @ Sailor: Good! That was my plan.
    @ RoryBore: Oh! Those damn shoes!
    @ Samantha: Did you ever type naughty words into your Speak N' Spell?

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  9. I LOVE this post ;) I had a pet box that I would ride in or pull around on a rope LOL!

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  10. We played a lot of kick the can and house. My brothers liked to play war. I had a slinky, but it wasn't much good if it wasn't walking down the stairs. I wish I could think of a goofy fad, like, say, the pet rock, sell about a million of them and then retire!

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  11. I had Mexican jumping beans, too! And slinkys. I loved the smell of Play-Doh, although I never ate it like some of my friends did!

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  12. Haha!! Oh this made me laugh. Yes I remember all the dud toys I received as a child. Pet rock was one of them! But I drew my own eyes on a rock I found in the garden!!
    No cabbage patch for me.
    Ripped off ;-)

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  13. I have had the hardest time commenting on blogger sites this week. I think I changed my setting on Internet Explorer, and I'm paying for it. So let me try one more time.

    Aaaaaaah. Squirmin' Herman. I'm getting all teary eyed just thinking about it. Him. It. whatever.

    I think the one my parents bought was generic. Worm'in Pete or something like that. One of his eyes fell off 10 minutes after I got him home.

    My my absolute fave toy was a blue dyed rabbits foot from a gumball machine. Killer. Literally.

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  14. @ everyone! I just gotta say, I've LOVED reading your comments! So funny to read everyone writing about their childhood games. Love it!

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  15. Haha!! Oh this made me laugh. Yes I remember all the dud toys I received as a child. Pet rock was one of them! But I drew my own eyes on a rock I found in the garden!!
    No cabbage patch for me.
    Ripped off ;-)

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  16. @ Annie: How else could you solve it?
    @ PAMO: Tippy Toes doll! I'd forgotten :)
    @ Al: I remember those sea monkey ads on the back of comics. Talk about mis-representation!
    @ Clipped Wings: I did too - until my teacher told my parents it had to stop. My sister had me multiplying when I should have been adding!
    @ Sailor: Good! That was my plan.
    @ RoryBore: Oh! Those damn shoes!
    @ Samantha: Did you ever type naughty words into your Speak N' Spell?

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  17. Bringing back some memories.

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  18. What about good old Chatty Cathy, or Thumbalina,
    or Weebles? Or Barbie and her Camper or Horse Trailer and Jeep, complete with horse?

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  19. SLIME. It was a mucousy, gelatinous blob of atomic green goop that came and was stored in a little plastic container resembling a garbage can. It turned a greyish algae green after it was handled by filthy children's hands. As it evaporated it shrank in size so children would add water only to find that the tap water made it moldy. It would last two weeks if you were lucky and then mom, and good sense, made you throw it out.

    Funny how clever marketing convinced us that this was actually a fun toy. What a scam that toy was!

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