I want to build up an awesome collection of 80's toys!
March 27, 2015 5:14 PM Subscribe
What are the best toys from the 80s, which can still be purchased easily?
We have been having fun exploring some of the toys of our childhoods with my young stepson. We want more! I think it would be so fun for him to grow up seeing our house as this place with all sorts of cool things to try and do.
Things we have enjoyed so far:
- LEGO
- Thomas trains and hot wheels cars
- A large and quite indestructible Fisher Price pirate castle which belonged to my brother
Things we already have for later:
- Spirograph art set
- YoYo
- A real Nintendo system and many game cartridges
What else can we get? Little Guy is 4, very mechanically inclined and more of an indoors kid. He's not so into the arts and crafts. I can see him getting into stuff like programming later, but right now, we just want to recreate our awesome 80s childhood a little and keep him off the technology a bit :-)
We have been having fun exploring some of the toys of our childhoods with my young stepson. We want more! I think it would be so fun for him to grow up seeing our house as this place with all sorts of cool things to try and do.
Things we have enjoyed so far:
- LEGO
- Thomas trains and hot wheels cars
- A large and quite indestructible Fisher Price pirate castle which belonged to my brother
Things we already have for later:
- Spirograph art set
- YoYo
- A real Nintendo system and many game cartridges
What else can we get? Little Guy is 4, very mechanically inclined and more of an indoors kid. He's not so into the arts and crafts. I can see him getting into stuff like programming later, but right now, we just want to recreate our awesome 80s childhood a little and keep him off the technology a bit :-)
Cribbing from this page (and my own childhood) I think I'd pull out
- Etch a Sketch
- Speak and Spell
- Atari 2600 (the games are basically free, even if most of them sort of suck)
- Mister Microphone
- Tinkertoys
- Old Fisher Price school set (new ones are awful)
- Hot Wheels track racers
posted by jessamyn at 5:24 PM on March 27, 2015
- Etch a Sketch
- Speak and Spell
- Atari 2600 (the games are basically free, even if most of them sort of suck)
- Mister Microphone
- Tinkertoys
- Old Fisher Price school set (new ones are awful)
- Hot Wheels track racers
posted by jessamyn at 5:24 PM on March 27, 2015
Fisher Price cash registers - even when the kids get older they seem to love playing with it. I'm sorry I just gave mine away!
I'm also a little partial to those bouncy balls with a handle (you sit on it and bounce) - a hop ball? (maybe)
The Spirograph has been great fun, but still a little tough for our mechanically minded 5-year-old, so don't be discouraged if it takes longer to use than you think. The 9-year-old has had great fun with it and we made Christmas thank you cards with it. It is surprisingly fun to customize for occasions by just using two or three colors. And the 5-year-old likes watching us use it.
I feel like there's tons of fun 80s ideas, I may have to hold myself back from coming back to this ask!
posted by dawg-proud at 5:34 PM on March 27, 2015
I'm also a little partial to those bouncy balls with a handle (you sit on it and bounce) - a hop ball? (maybe)
The Spirograph has been great fun, but still a little tough for our mechanically minded 5-year-old, so don't be discouraged if it takes longer to use than you think. The 9-year-old has had great fun with it and we made Christmas thank you cards with it. It is surprisingly fun to customize for occasions by just using two or three colors. And the 5-year-old likes watching us use it.
I feel like there's tons of fun 80s ideas, I may have to hold myself back from coming back to this ask!
posted by dawg-proud at 5:34 PM on March 27, 2015
Depending on his age, if he's toddler age maybe Fisher Price Little People stuff... I saved an airplane, farm and school from the late 80s and they were big hits with my kids, even a bit longer than I would have thought. They also loved Lincoln Logs, and Slinkys, the game Operation, and assorted play food and cooking implements/ play kitchen ( they are boys-- the kitchen and food were the biggest hits amongst their playgroup of boys when they would come to visit!)
posted by Rapunzel1111 at 5:39 PM on March 27, 2015
posted by Rapunzel1111 at 5:39 PM on March 27, 2015
My favorite toy from the 80s was Big Trak... which is a programmable tank and which was recently resurrected and can be purchased new on Amazon!
Also the Mattel Classic Football!
posted by Huck500 at 5:47 PM on March 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also the Mattel Classic Football!
posted by Huck500 at 5:47 PM on March 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Lite Brite! I've heard it's better to seek out the older model with the sloped pegboard as the pegs fall out of the newer one. I have one waiting in the wings for my 4 year old.
posted by telepanda at 6:26 PM on March 27, 2015
posted by telepanda at 6:26 PM on March 27, 2015
The toys I wanted in the 80s included Mega Force and Micronauts.
posted by Rob Rockets at 6:43 PM on March 27, 2015
posted by Rob Rockets at 6:43 PM on March 27, 2015
I'm also a little partial to those bouncy balls with a handle (you sit on it and bounce) - a hop ball? (maybe)
Hippity Hop!
posted by Rob Rockets at 6:47 PM on March 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Hippity Hop!
posted by Rob Rockets at 6:47 PM on March 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Meccano/Erector sets? I can't even guess how many hours I spent on those in the late 80's around that age. May require some supervision, I don't know how inclined 4-year-olds are to do unwise things with small nuts and bolts.
posted by dorque at 7:19 PM on March 27, 2015
posted by dorque at 7:19 PM on March 27, 2015
Merlin! This was the first thing that ever made me think about how gadgets worked.
posted by bendy at 7:22 PM on March 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by bendy at 7:22 PM on March 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
bendy beat me to the Merlin! Man, I still have one, I think I'm gonna zen out to the mysteries of Magic Square for a bit. Note: takes an ungodly amount of batteries, I think 6 AA's.
posted by megafauna at 9:40 PM on March 27, 2015
posted by megafauna at 9:40 PM on March 27, 2015
Hungry-Hungry Hippo!
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:55 PM on March 27, 2015
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:55 PM on March 27, 2015
Bristle Blocks are awesome and a fun toy for kids right at that age and up to a few years older.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:51 AM on March 28, 2015
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:51 AM on March 28, 2015
Robotech toys are highly collectible.
posted by Thistledown at 8:00 AM on March 28, 2015
posted by Thistledown at 8:00 AM on March 28, 2015
Seconding Lite Brite, and my son is way into the Sit 'n Spin they have at this play area we go to - they still make them, but the online reviews say the newer version sucks.
posted by Safiya at 1:01 PM on March 30, 2015
posted by Safiya at 1:01 PM on March 30, 2015
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posted by HandfulOfDust at 5:24 PM on March 27, 2015 [1 favorite]