No, they certainly don’t make ‘em like they used to. A real pity.
Christmas is truly a special time of year, and probably the best time for growing your imagination. At least it is if you’re a child. Think about it. The Holiday Season is ripe with stories, folklore, songs, traditions, design, and myths. It’s centered on decorating, colors, and celebrating. Most of all, it encourages the child within to become as active and as expressed as possible.
This is not only for the typical reasons of social and spiritual connection, but also because it’s largely about toys, toys, and more toys! A magical old man named Santa brings toys to good girls and boys, and in the leading up to Santa, the Toy
Industry thrives.
The 1960s and ‘70s were a remarkable time for toys and my deep sorrow is felt for the new generations. Yes, I say sadness for the one coming of age now and the ones to follow. I feel badly for them because they missed out on the greatest time it was to be a kid.
The TV shows, the movies, the music, and of course the toys.
After all, what defines our childhood more than the toys we play with and the imaginations that create our identities?
For a short moment in time, perhaps thirty-forty years toys were the best things anywhere! For a time, a new product was presented, a new game was introduced, and a new toy was released so frequently that the Toy Industry exploded worldwide.
It goes without saying that I loved being a kid and as a kid I loved playing with toys. And I had some great ones.
Here are a list of the top toys and games I remember getting for Hanukkah and Christmas as a boy of the 1960’ & ‘70s.
*Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots
This thrilling, interactive, spring activated boxing game combined hand-eye coordination with shear pulverizing power to knock the block off your opponent’s head. Instead of fists, thumbs and speed ruled the day. But don’t worry, because if you lost your head, all you had to do was pop it back on and keep playing.
* Hot Wheels and Matchbox Cars
Nose-to-nose competitors these two brands became dominant due to their utility and their price point. For about fifty cents or so, you could own a brand new Ford Mustang, a classic Chevy Corvette, or even a “soup’d up” drag racer.
Lesney Products and Mattel Toys were the original manufacturers, but now Mattel owns both super brands of diecast metal toy cars. Not every boy could drive a police car, or park a fire truck in his driveway, but everyone could have one in their bedroom or toy box.
If you were a boy in the ‘60s & 70s, chances are you collected Match Box and Hot Wheels. I know I did. They came in not only cars, but trucks, buses, planes, helicopters, and even military vehicles. Imagine, kids had any car they desired for the cost of an ice cream cone.
*12’ Action Figures.
Most know the iconic names, GI Joe and Barbie, but there was a generation of action figures that allowed the imaginations of millions of kids to thrive. Everything from TV and movie characters, to real life personalities. Also were cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers, monsters, and even aliens.
My favorites were the brands I knew. Superheroes, Startrek, Planet of the Apes, Action Jackson, Fonzi, The Lone Ranger, and of course Elvis.
Some of my favorites were from Marks’ Best of the West, (an entire line of cowboy and Indian 12” plastic action figures complete with horses, carriages, bows and arrows, guns, rifles, canteens, coffee pots, authentic looking western wardrobes even Teepees, and more. The line was very popular from 1965-1976.
Economic struggles forced the closure of the company in 1980, but those eleven years were wild.
GI JOE
Perhaps the single most iconic toy of the generation and so iconic in fact, it has its own category. Hundreds of GI JOEs were made and tens of millions sold. The brand was born out of the Cold War, but it came to represent so much more. Every boy had one and every boy wanted to be Joe.
*I remember Christmas morning when I was 3 and the biggest wrapped present by the fireplace was for me. I couldn’t wait to unwrap it, and when I did, my eyes widened.
It was Biff The Bear (Biff The Talking Teddy Bear). Not just the popular teddy bear, but one that interacted like a real life-like animated quality. I still have Biff in a crate and every once in a while I open the crate and remember the fun of being tiny in size and giant in imagination. Biff’s talking voice and animatronics head made a child feel like it was a real thing. AI wasn’t even thought of yet.
*SSP Cars
Kenner made SSP Cars. If you were a boy and liked fast cars, and smashing and crashing them, then SSP Cars were for you. These racing cars came with a power wheel wedged in the middle and an insertable T-Strip that when pulled made the car go. The harder and faster you pulled the strip, the faster the car would zoom. My friends Matthew, Michael, Adam and I used to race them down my driveway, down the street, and off the lake docks. They were so much fun!
DANY O’Day
When I was 12, Christmas included a little man that sat on my lap and entertained. Danny O’Day was a ventriloquist dummy my father bought me and encouraged me to learn ventriloquism.
While I never actually perfected the art and craft of throwing my voice, I had a ball for several years trying and a ton of laughs trying to show it off. Danny too is stored in the crate with Biff and yes, every once in a while I dust him off and try again.
MATTEL VERTIBIRD TOY HELICOPTER
This was certainly one of my favorite Christmas toys as a boy, because it had almost everything a boy wanted. Remote control, flight, helicopters, coordination building skills, and fun.
A working toy helicopter positioned at the end of a long pole that flies in circles in any direction. A toy inspired by a combination of the Space Race to the Moon and the Cold War, this toy was short lived and yet remains of my favorite toys of all time.
SUPER TOE from Schaper Toys
This 12” football player came with a roll up football field, a goal post, a football, and the Super Toe action figure.
Super Toe would be positioned at one of the field and when pounded on the top of his head would kick the ball. Your job was to get the ball through the goal posts.
It’s been more than fifty years since I had a Super Toe, but the memories of this Christmas morning gift are forever burned into my memory.
SIMON
An electronic game born in the infancy of electronic games. Simon was a round disc-like device with colored lights all around it. The lights flashed in a sequence, each sequence getting longer and harder to remember. The purpose was to replicate the patterns in the exact order. My sister Whitney and I would play it for hours and it was not only fun, but highly educational.
*And last but not least, when my parents traveled to Italy they returned with a remote control race car that was so cool for its time and yet, by today’s standards, it would be passé. No Images are available, (anywhere.)
More than two feet long, sixteen inches wide, and it must have weighed more than ten pounds, this car was impressive.
It was white with electric black and red detailing and it made sounds like fire was shooting out its tail pipes. The stickers on it were from Monte Carlo, Rally Sport, and other famous raceways.
The lights lit up and the signals blinked. The wheels turned left, right, and straight ahead, and it made terrific racing sounds. It went super fast up and down hills, and was great fun for a while. Sadly, within a few short months, Rally Car Monte Carlo wore out and we could not fix it.
These were some of my favorite and most iconic Christmas Morning toys from my childhood growing up in what I consider the Golden Age of toys and the Platinum Age of Childhood.
They don’t make toys like those any more. Pity!
Michael J. Herman is a Professional Writer for Hire with more than 500,000 words in print.
No, they certainly don’t make ‘em like they used to. A real pity.
Christmas is truly a special time of year, and probably the best time for growing your imagination. At least it is if you’re a child. Think about it. The Holiday Season is ripe with stories, folklore, songs, traditions, design, and myths. It’s centered on decorating, colors, and celebrating. Most of all, it encourages the child within to become as active and as expressed as possible.
This is not only for the typical reasons of social and spiritual connection, but also because it’s largely about toys, toys, and more toys! A magical old man named Santa brings toys to good girls and boys, and in the leading up to Santa, the Toy
Industry thrives.
The 1960s and ‘70s were a remarkable time for toys and my deep sorrow is felt for the new generations. Yes, I say sadness for the one coming of age now and the ones to follow. I feel badly for them because they missed out on the greatest time it was to be a kid.
The TV shows, the movies, the music, and of course the toys.
After all, what defines our childhood more than the toys we play with and the imaginations that create our identities?
For a short moment in time, perhaps thirty-forty years toys were the best things anywhere! For a time, a new product was presented, a new game was introduced, and a new toy was released so frequently that the Toy Industry exploded worldwide.
It goes without saying that I loved being a kid and as a kid I loved playing with toys. And I had some great ones.
Here are a list of the top toys and games I remember getting for Hanukkah and Christmas as a boy of the 1960’ & ‘70s.
*Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots
This thrilling, interactive, spring activated boxing game combined hand-eye coordination with shear pulverizing power to knock the block off your opponent’s head. Instead of fists, thumbs and speed ruled the day. But don’t worry, because if you lost your head, all you had to do was pop it back on and keep playing.
* Hot Wheels and Matchbox Cars
Nose-to-nose competitors these two brands became dominant due to their utility and their price point. For about fifty cents or so, you could own a brand new Ford Mustang, a classic Chevy Corvette, or even a “soup’d up” drag racer.
Lesney Products and Mattel Toys were the original manufacturers, but now Mattel owns both super brands of diecast metal toy cars. Not every boy could drive a police car, or park a fire truck in his driveway, but everyone could have one in their bedroom or toy box.
If you were a boy in the ‘60s & 70s, chances are you collected Match Box and Hot Wheels. I know I did. They came in not only cars, but trucks, buses, planes, helicopters, and even military vehicles. Imagine, kids had any car they desired for the cost of an ice cream cone.
*12’ Action Figures.
Most know the iconic names, GI Joe and Barbie, but there was a generation of action figures that allowed the imaginations of millions of kids to thrive. Everything from TV and movie characters, to real life personalities. Also were cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers, monsters, and even aliens.
Some of my favorites were from Marks’ Best of the West, (an entire line of cowboy and Indian 12” plastic action figures complete with horses, carriages, bows and arrows, guns, rifles, canteens, coffee pots, authentic looking western wardrobes even Teepees, and more. The line was very popular from 1965-1976.
Economic struggles forced the closure of the company in 1980, but those eleven years were wild.
GI JOE
Perhaps the single most iconic toy of the generation and so iconic in fact, it has its own category. Hundreds of GI JOEs were made and tens of millions sold. The brand was born out of the Cold War, but it came to represent so much more. Every boy had one and every boy wanted to be Joe.
*I remember Christmas morning when I was 3 and the biggest wrapped present by the fireplace was for me. I couldn’t wait to unwrap it, and when I did, my eyes widened.
It was Biff The Bear (Biff The Talking Teddy Bear). Not just the popular teddy bear, but one that interacted like a real life-like animated quality. I still have Biff in a crate and every once in a while I open the crate and remember the fun of being tiny in size and giant in imagination. Biff’s talking voice and animatronics head made a child feel like it was a real thing. AI wasn’t even thought of yet.
*SSP Cars
Kenner made SSP Cars. If you were a boy and liked fast cars, and smashing and crashing them, then SSP Cars were for you. These racing cars came with a power wheel wedged in the middle and an insertable T-Strip that when pulled made the car go. The harder and faster you pulled the strip, the faster the car would zoom. My friends Matthew, Michael, Adam and I used to race them down my driveway, down the street, and off the lake docks. They were so much fun!
DANY O’Day
When I was 12, Christmas included a little man that sat on my lap and entertained. Danny O’Day was a ventriloquist dummy my father bought me and encouraged me to learn ventriloquism.
While I never actually perfected the art and craft of throwing my voice, I had a ball for several years trying and a ton of laughs trying to show it off. Danny too is stored in the crate with Biff and yes, every once in a while I dust him off and try again.
MATTEL VERTIBIRD TOY HELICOPTER
This was certainly one of my favorite Christmas toys as a boy, because it had almost everything a boy wanted. Remote control, flight, helicopters, coordination building skills, and fun.
A working toy helicopter positioned at the end of a long pole that flies in circles in any direction. A toy inspired by a combination of the Space Race to the Moon and the Cold War, this toy was short lived and yet remains of my favorite toys of all time.
SUPER TOE from Schaper Toys
This 12” football player came with a roll up football field, a goal post, a football, and the Super Toe action figure.
Super Toe would be positioned at one of the field and when pounded on the top of his head would kick the ball. Your job was to get the ball through the goalposts.
It’s been more than fifty years since I had a Super Toe, but the memories of this Christmas morning gift are forever burned into my memory.
SIMON
An electronic game borne in the infancy of electronic games. Simon was a round disc-like device with colored lights all around it. The lights flashed in a sequence, each sequence getting longer and harder to remember. The purpose was to replicate the patterns in the exact order. My sister Whitney and I would play it for hours and it was not only fun, but highly educational.
*And last but not least, when my parents traveled to Italy they returned with a remote control race car that was so cool for its time and yet, by today’s standards, it would be passé.
More than two-feet long, sixteen inches wide, and it must have weighed more than ten pounds, this car was impressive.
It was white with electric black and red detailing and it made sounds like fire was shooting out its tail pipes. The stickers on it were from Monte Carlo, Rally Sport, and other famous raceways.
The lights lit up and the signals blinked. The wheels turned left, right, and straight ahead, and it made terrific racing sounds. It went super fast up and down hills, and was great fun for a while. Sadly, within a few short months, Rally Car Monte Carlo wore out and we could not fix it.
These were some of my favorite and most iconic Christmas Morning toys from my childhood growing up in what I consider the Golden Age of toys and the Platinum Age of Childhood.
They don’t make toys like those any more. Pity!
You can find Michael J. Herman at michaeljherman.com or thecriticatlarge.com