Toying with J-No

The WriteJerry posted a toy meme, and while Jerry is at times overwhelmingly obnoxious, I do like toys.

Here's how it works. Taking the list from the recently updated National Toy Hall of Fame, bold and color the items you own or have owned in your lifetime, adding comments if you like. You can also list any items you think should be on the list, and nominate toys as well.

Alphabet Blocks: I used to build elaborate walls, marvel at my work, and then kick them over. I'm sure somewhere in there is a metaphor for my adult life.

Barbie®

Bicycle

Candy Land®

Cardboard Box: I'll never forget the year of my parent's new refrigerator. I was the most popular kid on the block with my giant-box-for-rolling-down-the-hil-into-my-driveway. I played with it all Summer, and well into the Winter in the snow where it went from a sled to a support for a fort/igloo in the aftermath of a blizzard. In the thaw, I learned the harsh life lesson that paper and paper-based products like cardboard don't like to be wet.

Checkers

Crayola® Crayons: I loved crayons, loved my Crayola® Caddy, and often sharpened crayons down to nubs because the shavings looked cool and were great for creating abstract pieces. I also had a cookie tin full of crayons as well as the official Caddy holder. I suspect both are in the back of some drawer somewhere, possibly in my room. I couldn't find any images online except for the blue one in Australia; mine was yellow, and available in the United States. Could it be worth something now?

Duncan® Yo-Yo

Erector® Set: I came very close to building a working robot with mine when I was about 11 or 12 years old. I built the frame around a walky talky, so I could talk through it, but couldn't work out the mobility factor. My set came with an engine and I managed to rig it so the arms moved, but I couldn't get the legs to work or control direction. Ultimately I screwed wheels onto the thing and hitched it to my remote control truck. I sent it into the kitchen where I asked my mom through the walky talky to bring me cookies. I did not get cookies. I did not see that robot for a long time after that.

Etch A Sketch®: I used it so much, the screen became permanently gray in some spots with ghosted images in others. I think my happiest memory of this item was the day I accidentally turned both knobs at the same time and discovered diagonal lines.

Frisbee®: This is the simplest toy that saw the most youth through my childhood and young adulthood. My friends and I played a tennis-like game beyond simply throwing it back and forth. If I missed a catch, the other player scored a point. If it went out-of-bounds, that is over the curb and out of the street where we were playing, he didn't score but if I caught it out-of-bounds, then I would score. We also used to play tag on bikes and the person who was “it” got other people by hitting them with a frisbee. My frisbee came to college with me and even my job. The first year at my current company, my friends and I were often out on the lawn. For years it languished at the bottom of a drawer then I found it again when I changed cubicles, and it was given a place of honor on display upon a top shelf. This week they're putting in new carpets in my office and we've had to box up all our belongings. I brought my personal items home for safety since I don't know how careful the carpet guys would be with my stuff, and my frisbee is home again for the first time in years.

G.I. Joe: These figures were long overdue in making the Hall of Fame, but it was years before I was even aware that there were 12” versions predating the plastic ones I had as a kid, the ones whose torso and legs were held together by a circle of black rubber that eventually wore out and snapped, leading to emergency “surgery” with a rubber-band and a screwdriver. The only glaring exception on this list to me, incidentally, are Transformers. By the Hall of Fame criteria, they haven't been around long enough to merit entry since they really emerged just over 20 years ago, declined and almost went away completely, and then returned with new lines a few years later. I think the newest line is pretty popular again with kids, although the plastic figures are a pale shade of the die cast metal of my youth. I think in time they'll make the list too, though.

Hula Hoop®

Jack-in-the-Box

Jacks: An aunt or an uncle gave me a bag of plastic ones for a Christmas or birthday present. I had no idea what they were or how to play with them, and I think I used to pretend they were little robot assistants and pilots for my larger Transformers.

Jigsaw Puzzle: It started small, with a 50-piece puzzle here and a 100-piece puzzle there. I used to do the same ones over and over as a kid, and eventually put them back in the boxes in 4-6 large segments. I don't really have as much time for puzzles as an adult unfortunately, what with DVDs and video games and my ::cough:: active social life. My parents enjoy them so I'll sometimes get them a 1,000-piece puzzle as a present on various holidays, and occasionally help with a few pieces.

Jump Rope

LEGO®: Before I had my first real Transformers, I was making them out of LEGO®s. I never did have any M.A.S.K. toys, but I designed a slew of vehicles that turned into other vehicles by moving a few pieces around, and most of those remain intact today. LEGO®s are easily my second favorite toy of all time.

Lincoln Logs®

Marbles

Monopoly®: Who didn't have Monopoly®? I think I have 90% of every popular board game, with one or two major exceptions. I am somewhat surprised that Mousetrap doesn't make this list.

Mr. Potato Head®

Play-Doh®

Radio Flyer® Wagon: I'm actually not positive that mine was a Radio Flyer® since the years have worn off the logo, but I definitely had my little red wagon which my mom now uses to move plants around in the yard.

Raggedy Ann

Rocking Horse

Roller Skates: I had old school skates, solid metal ones that clamped on to sneakers and hurt. I loved my skates.

SCRABBLE®

Silly Putty®

Slinky®: I have two, actually. I have the original metal one, slightly warped now, and a technicolor sub par plastic one, just for completism.

Teddy Bear

Tinkertoy®: With all the building toys I had as a kid, it's too bad I didn't become a carpenter or an architect. Somehow, I just didn't become a handy adult but when I was a kid, I built everything.

Tonka® Trucks: I loved my construction vehicles, moreso when my dad came home from work and made the truck sound effects for me. I wonder if something is lost nowadays with electronic chips making the sounds in a lot of toys.

View-Master®