<p>I was just reminiscing with my D, who is home from college for the summer, about the toys she use to love as a child. The one that she remembers most fondly is her Playmobil farm and Playmobil Circus. She use to get lost for hours playing with these elaborate playsets (which are all packed away in the attic, waiting for the grandchildren---LOL).</p>
<p>What toys do you remember most fondly---other than Nintendo, Gameboy, etc.? I mean toys that actually required imagination and manual manipulation. Do little kids today actually play with anything that doesn't require a LED screen and a joystick?</p>
<p>I used to love erector sets, popoids (those little things looked like a snake and made popping noises), silly putty, lincoln logs, legos, and the ever eternal favorite slinky. Most of all my giant yellow Tonka truck. Some toys we had back in the early 80s would be banned today. My dad bought us this football from Kmart that was solid plastic, that sucker would hurt if someone threw it at you. It literally was like hard thick plastic. LOL</p>
<p>Although I slightly resent the notion that video games don't spark imagination (I wrote about games and wrote stories based on my games for years), I played with the following:</p>
<p>Legos
Erector sets
Tinkertoys
and of course, old lumber and a hammer and nails. My friend and I built a treehouse, and boy was that thing solid!</p>
<p>Legos, by far. I will never buy my kid a gameboy/psp or whatever. Talk about an awful invention for kids. Legos Legos Legos. I loved the medieval sets.</p>
<p>mmm Zelda... I loved the old Zelda games. I had A Link To The Past on the SNES, that took me 4 years to beat when I was younger. I loved my Game Boy too when I was young, I'm still a Tetris goddess! And Mario games. Ahh, good times. </p>
<p>Funny how everyone who played games when they were young fondly remembers the Nintendo games.</p>
<p>Seems like EVERYONE in the world knows mario, zelda, and street fighter, even people who you'd expect not to play games.</p>
<p>Well, as for toys, I always loved action figures and hot wheels/matchbox cars and military toys. I never really had any intellectually challenging toys until later on when I got board games like chess/checkers/badook (a korean game). Did you guys read a lot when you were kids? I remember I loved Curious George and Bearnstein (sp?) Bears books. And even before that, Clifford was my all-time favorite.</p>
<p>I was a strange kid, and started reading Crichton in elementary school (I think 2nd or 3rd grade.) Yeah, I wasn't too popular. I had read The Hobbit in 2nd grade, but never appreciated it until later. </p>
<p>LEGOS.. me and my lego country, lego people, lego animals</p>
<p>i wouldnt say this is a toy but : ORIGAMI PAPER STUFF.. loved it. My mom made a home video of me, folding origami stuff - like chairs, pianos, stars and stuff. and i look soooo transfixed and i'm like, dribbling everywhere.</p>
<p>Dollhouses would be the craze for like, 1 hr, after my mom had bought it.</p>
<p>My little sister (7 or 8), she plays with play-doh but just plays video games and watches tv and videos all day</p>
<p>lol I read my first Crichton back in 3rd grade. All my firends were reading like a 60 page Jurassic Park book with pictures, it was based on the movie... Yeah I was the only one who took on the actual book.</p>
<p>I read Diary of Anne Frank in 4th grade but I had a really cool dollhouse. The one with the lightup lullaby nightlight. I had all the pieces for it. I once lost the mother doll and held a funeral for it. Then I found it and explained the miracle to her children! I was quite the kid,</p>