50 years ago, the toys were better!

(Images from Worthpoint website)

Remember those wind-up tin bulldozers with rubber crawlers?  Kind of orange black colors.  Perhaps before many here times.  I had one as a kid.  Loved it.  Saw one on ebay last week and forgot to book mark it.

Not a bit of plastic on it.

I had a U-Fly-It, but mine was a Piper Cherokee and didn't have the launcher. Also just a plain cardboard runway. I think it's still up in the roof, a little worse for wear if I remember right.

oh, how I dreamed about, and wanted a Johnny Seven OMA
(one man army)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGhYbg3KVu0


and NO, I am not paying eBay prices... $400.... well, i did just get a new job,,, NO NO NO

I've been satisfying my childhood desires buying most of the Victor Stanzel Electromic flyers...
I have the Star Bug, Super Flash, Lil'Rascal, Copter.
I am still working on the Ferrari Car, Dart Boat, Star Raider & Fighter Jet.


YES the toys WERE better.

I had an actual submarine. Diving planes and sealed cell battery compartment. It would surface and fire a "rocket". This was about 1962 or so.

I didn't think much of the U Fly It. It looked neat but the glitter wore off real quick after about the 3rd landing. It also used some kinda of silicone pad you would wipe the line down with. It would dry out and if wasn't used the plane would practically stop and hang there without it.  In the case of the Cherokee, too steep of a pitch on the line, the plane would slam into the handle and break the prop. I thought the Mattel Vertibird was a very neat and fun toy.

I had one of those i put hundreds of hours into and had a lot of fun with ,, I don't get how did you control the plane if it had no batteries and other goodies to make it work or am I missing something ? Here Ken

Various toys of the era, at 8:27 is the Remco Whirlybird, twin tandem rotor predecessor to the Chinook.

Here's another cool toy I had. My grandparents bought it for me and I drove my mother crazy with it. It was noisy and the missiles shot out the side pretty hard. I would torture my sister with it. I still have the missiles and plane somewhere. It had a bell which would ding when the wheels were rolling. It was neat because the wheels were oblong and the bow would go up and down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8091BLbg2Q

However, nothing was cooler than the SSP cars. Put the zip cord in and let it rip. I put the car in my sister's hair with the wheel spinning.That required cutting a big section of her hair out. My mother had long hair and had a huge brush. Well that ended up on my rear end. She broke the handle in doing so.

Ken Cook wrote:Here's another cool toy I had. My grandparents bought it for me and I drove my mother crazy with it. It was noisy and the missiles shot out the side pretty hard. I would torture my sister with it. I still have the missiles and plane somewhere. It had a bell which would ding when the wheels were rolling. It was neat because the wheels were oblong and the bow would go up and down.

My brother got for one Christmas when I was in 4th grade (he in 3rd) a large Kenner Howitzer that shot 3" diameter plastic balls. Today, that toy would be totally verboden as it could literally knock stuff off walls and counter tops.

Ken Cook wrote:However, nothing was cooler than the SSP cars. Put the zip cord in and let it rip. I put the car in my sister's hair with the wheel spinning.That required cutting a big section of her hair out. My mother had long hair and had a huge brush. Well that ended up on my rear end. She broke the handle in doing so.

Oh, so with the teacher's back turned, you were the one that put little girl's pigtails in the inkwells on desks at school?

The following is a little Spanish humor, but I think that most of you will understand it.

Ken Cook wrote:Here's another cool toy I had. My grandparents bought it for me and I drove my mother crazy with it. It was noisy and the missiles shot out the side pretty hard. I would torture my sister with it. I still have the missiles and plane somewhere. It had a bell which would ding when the wheels were rolling. It was neat because the wheels were oblong and the bow would go up and down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8091BLbg2Q

          However, nothing was cooler than the SSP cars. Put the zip cord in and let it rip. I put the car in my sister's hair with the wheel spinning.That required cutting a big section of her hair out. My mother had long hair and had a huge brush. Well that ended up on my rear end. She broke the handle in doing so.

You totally deserved that whooping. The SSP cars were very cool. I had the SSP smash up derby set. Came with “Tough Tom” and “Bug Em” 2 ramps and 2 zip cords. Best gift I ever had. Wish I still had them.

Ken Cook wrote:

          However, nothing was cooler than the SSP cars. Put the zip cord in and let it rip. I put the car in my sister's hair with the wheel spinning.That required cutting a big section of her hair out. My mother had long hair and had a huge brush. Well that ended up on my rear end. She broke the handle in doing so.

Yep, had one of them too. Purple with skis up front and (fake) tracks at the rear. We had a long hallway and that thing would rip down there in no time. It was heavy too, and probably caused significant damage to our skirting boards.

While on the subject of flywheel like toys. The winner is the Evil Knievel motorcycle. Not only did it seem like everyone I grew up with owned one, it was the most indestructible toy EVER. I ran mine under a school bus coming down the street and it survived.  I still have the motorcycle. I don't have the launcher or Evil.  That toy had to make the manufacturers money. Evil was my hero and I think back on how he was just the most amazing showman.

    Ron, now that you mentioned the demo derby cars, I think someone gave me those. They were orange and Petty blue? I somewhat remember the way they were molded in a wrinkled fashion. Those flywheels were weighty and when you pulled that zip cord the gyroscopic impact on it.

       The decade was never the same when Mattel introduced the electronic football. I remember teachers confiscating dozens of them. It changed everything and the electronic era was now decided.

"50 years ago, the toys were better"

Reading through all the responses to this post I thought to myself - my oh my, what a difference a generation or two makes.  75/80 years ago, when I was a kid none of those toys existed.  The most sophisticated toy I ever had was that tin wind-up bulldozer I mentioned above.  What I remember were cast metal cars and trucks with axles running through and rubber tires and not many of those either.

Maybe today the reason that my toy box runnith over.  Nah, I just like messing with the stuff.

Added last night.

Cox Helldiver with guns and parachute guy.  Wheee.......................



Edir:

Ok full confession. Added to this one from last week. Should be here tomorrow.

Well Bob, a key factor to those great toys was the label Made in the USA. That label is practically nonexistent today. Kids today don't eat enough dirt, I'm convinced about that. There's a young boy two doors down, I almost never see him outside. When I was a kid, I was the dog waiting at the door when it was opened to charge outside. When I was out, I didn't want to come in. My mother always made me laugh when she wanted peace and quiet, she would say " Go outside and get the stink blown off ". She didn't have to tell me twice.

Gee Bob, I guess you'd be the one with the most nostalgic toys, wins!  

I wonder who'd be second? @Kim, @Levent Suberk, otro (another)?

Inquiring minds want to know!

When I was a kid, I was the dog waiting at the door when it was opened to charge outside. When I was out, I didn't want to come in

Yeah, I remember when I was three or four my school teacher mother always wanted to sit me on her lap and read to me. After a minute or two i would squirm off and head for the door. Aggravated her no end. Accused me of having St. Vitas dance...whatever that is. Later when I got really hard to handle she would hand me a couple of those old cars and send me out to the sand pile.

And George, some one here asked how many engines each member had. I was the only one to respond after doing a "finger count" and coming up with around 600. Nobody else fessed up like it's bragging or some kind of a sin. I know that some here have numbers in the thousands, come-on guys fess up or join Cox Engine collectors Anonymous.

WOW WOW

the battleship is cool

SSPs were fantastic, I had a purple dragster

Evel Knieval, soo got me addicted to motorcycles --
you can still buy the stunt cycle ~$40 - https://www.evelknieveltoys.com/products/new-evel-knievel-stunt-cycle-trail-bike-edition-white-cycle?variant=37669859262646

Kim's "Design-A-Plane" now that is SUPER COOL - i mean .. wow

Ken is right --- Kids need to be OFF the devices, and outside eating dirt, getting scraped knees, learning "risk-management" (or playing with Cox airplanes)

and? Bob has me all inspired, to try and clean up, iron, steam out, and rebuild 2 of the Stanzel boxes I have....