Toys, Games, Books, Movies and TV shows You Remember Fondly

[Rowan Amore]

Talk of Legos in another thread got me thinking about what favorite things I had as a child.  I thought it might be a fun topic and I didn't want to derail @animatsthread so here's my list.

I honestly don't remember playing board games.  It was just me and my sister and she always changed the rules of whatever we were playing so she'd win.  I've probably blocked the memory of what games they were.

The Sleep Book by Dr. Seuss was my favorite book amd became my son's, too.

The Wizard of Oz because dad always made milkshakes.  The only time we ever had them.

I don't recall a favorite toy.  We lived in the country up until I was 6 so the neighbors farm was my toy.  I'd help feed chickens, snap beans, steal strawberries.  Can you classify chickens as toys?

Almost forgot!  I LOVED Lost in Space and Land of the Giants.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2021 by Rowan Amore

[Rolig Loon]

We didn't have a TV till about 1957, but I remember going to a friend's house to watch Mickey Mouse Club before that.  And some cartoon show with a cowboy (No, not Howdy Doody, but that was good too).  Oh, and Shari Lewis, with Lambchop (who had the most amazing mouth movements).   At home in the years before that, I remember listening to comedy programs on the radio on Sunday nights.  My parents let us stay up even though it was a school night.

[Rowan Amore]

2 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said:

We didn't have a TV till about 1957, but I remember going to a friend's house to watch Mickey Mouse Club before that.  And some cartoon show with a cowboy (No, not Howdy Doody, but that was good too).  Oh, and Shari Lewis, with Lambchop (who had the most amazing mouth movements).   At home in the years before that, I remember listening to comedy programs on the radio on Sunday nights.  My parents let us stay up even though it was a school night.

We had a black and white TV until I don't remember when.  Possibly in 69 when dad got a better job and we moved.  I do know the first time watching the Wizard of Oz and seeing that the Oz part was in color was magical.

[Rolig Loon]

Yeah, my parents got a color TV after I went to college.  We had black and white through the early 60s.  Big console set with a picture tube that took forever to warm up, and then you had to mess with the rabbit ears to get decent reception.

[Jordyn McGregor]

For me, it would have to be the Daisy doll by Mary Quant.  An ex bought me a couple of dolls with outfits, from Ebay years ago and I once again have the dolls of my childhood.  They are about the only happy memories I have of that time.

[Lewis Luminos]

From about age 8 onwards, my favourite "toys" were trees (for climbing), hay-bales and ponies. It's actually a miracle that I didn't break a bone.

Books; I was a voracious reader and was reading books written for adults (as opposed to "adult books" from age 8 or 9.  My favourites at that age were crime and mystery stories; Agatha Christie and Dick Francis were my particular favourites.  At age 11 I discovered Douglas Adams "Hitch-hiker's Guide" and that started my love of science fiction. 

I don't recall any particular favourite movies. I don't think I had the patience to sit down long enough to watch a whole one (yet I could sit and read a book for hours)

TV - a lot of 70s and early 80s British shows like Follyfoot Farm, the Avengers, Tomorrow People, Doctor Who, Sapphire & Steel (come to think of it, maybe my love of science fiction started with TV). Also some American shows like Starsky and Hutch, Cagney and Lacey, and my overall favourite, Quincy. 

I still like that style of investigative show; just about the only things I ever watch on TV these days are CSI and NCIS. 

 

[Orwar]

   Toys: Lego.

   Games: Diablo II & Total Annihilation.

   Books: Harry Potter (I was 10 when Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone came out, so I was right about ready to receive my Hogwarts admission letter!).

   Movies: Harry Potter, too, but I also had a very early obsession with horror, as well as Bond films. I was born in the early Disney Renaissance, so there was a lot of that, my personal favourite was the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Also also, my parents made sure that we got a good dose of other classics from their own youths, and Astrid Lindgren films (Ronja Rövardotter, Bröderna Lejonhjärta, Emil i Lönneberga, Pippi Långstrump, Barnen i Bullerbyn, Vi på Saltkråkan, etc), and films like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Wizard of Oz, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It was also around when Pixar started making films, so there were a lot of those too (I was 4 when Toy Story came out, but I don't think we had it until I was around 7-8 - dubbed to Swedish, of course!). Another early obsession was SciFi, we had a VHS of Stargate (the film) which we must have nearly worn out by watching it repeatedly in primary school afternoons when classes were over. 

   TV shows: Pokémon! Also Moomin. But my favourite weekend morning show was Batman (the animated series). In my tweens, a lot of Simpsons and a whole lot of Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis.

[SlammedSam]

Oh gosh, toys! =D

My primary favourite back in the day were Star Wars, circa 1978-85. I had quite a few back in the day. I also enjoyed G.I. Joe and the Transformers. I also had lots of little spacemen and Army men. Legos were also fun, as well. I had some of the space sets of those.

5 hours ago, Lewis Luminos said:

From about age 8 onwards, my favourite "toys" were trees (for climbing), hay-bales and ponies. It's actually a miracle that I didn't break a bone.

Books; I was a voracious reader and was reading books written for adults (as opposed to "adult books" from age 8 or 9.  My favourites at that age were crime and mystery stories; Agatha Christie and Dick Francis were my particular favourites.  At age 11 I discovered Douglas Adams "Hitch-hiker's Guide" and that started my love of science fiction.

 

I used to run around in the woods with a branch fragment that just happened to roughly resemble a raygun, or phaser. Was just as fun as something store bought!

I was also, and still am a big reader. According to my mum, I read encyclopedias as a wee one. The full fledged novelization of the orginal Star Wars, as well as the Black Hole and 2001: A Space Odyssey were my biggest favourites back in the day. Later on, a friend turned me on to the Hitch-Hiker's Guide books, and I enjoy them thoroughly!

For shows I have enjoyed, there were the cartoons of the aforementioned G.I. Joe and Transformers. I also greatly enjoyed the 1970s Battlestar Galactica for my space kick, as well as the original Star Trek, which was allready in re-runs when I was little.  I also enjoyed a lot of the 70s and 80s Saturday morning cartoons as well: Looney Toons, Tarzan, Fat Albert, Blackstar were the biggies, as well as Pac Man. Later on, I came to enjoy the A-Team, Knight Rider as well as the Next generation of Star Trek. For the 90s, I rather enjoyed My So-Called Life, and Space: Above and Beyond, as well as the Star Trek spin-offs that were about then.

For movies, it's all about the original Star Wars and Star Treks, as well as Indiana Jones, and Back to the Future. The first two Alien movies are also fun, and I loved Transformers: the Movie. 1941 was a nice movie, as well as Stripes. I enoyed 2001: A Space Odyssey, as well as it's sequel 2010: the Year We Make Contact. Ghostbusters is also hella fun, as well as Monty Python and the Holy Grail. And, of course you have to mention a Disney movie or two. Mine would be the Black Hole, and the Cat from Outer Space.

There's probably more I could think of, but that should be enough to unpack for now. *^_^*

 

 

Edited June 24, 2021 by SlammedSam
Typo.

[Rowan Amore]

@Lewis LuminosI loved the Avengers!  My sister actually got the entire series years ago on VHS.  Wonder if I can find those episodes streaming somewhere?

@OrwarA few of those things in your list were things my son enjoyed (Yep, feeling old now) but I enjoyed them along with him.  His favorite movie was Lion King which I enjoyed the first 5 or so times.  I got hooked on Harry Potter around the time the 2nd or 3rd book came out and there was a big fuss in the paper about it. 

 

[Pixie Kobichenko]

I loved mystery stories and my favorites were the Three Investigators series that featured “Alfred Hitchcock”.  
I don’t remember having favorite toys- but as an adult I’ve sought out a Tomy Waterful like the one I had in the 80s- the dolphin one  & also a locket-pendant that Avon made at the time that looks exactly like the one Annie wore in the 1982 movie.  I don’t know what ever happened to mine as a kid  but I wear this one on a silver chain with a couple of other pendants my family has given me.

I think tv shows I was a hard core fan of that I wanted to watch & wasn’t something I watched because my parents were watching was Land of the Lost & Scooby Doo, Buck Rogers, The Muppet Show, Captain Kangaroo, Sesame Street & Mr. Rogers. 
There was no better restaurant for this kid than Show Biz Pizza.

Scents like Hot blacktop still reminds me of 6 Flags over Texas & cigarette smoke makes me think of minor league baseball games we went to often.  I only visited Galveston a handful of times but it’s one of my most favorite places on Earth.  
Good memories 😃. 

[Janet Voxel]

Toys: Tamagotchi, Polly Pocket, friendship bracelets, Gameboy/Gameboy Advance

Games: I loved Trouble, Uno, Connect Four

Book: Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) and Shel Silverstein's "A Light in the Attic"

TV: Nickelodeon was a thing, pretty much anything on there. Looooved Nick at Night.

Music: The Spice Girls, N Sync

Edited June 24, 2021 by Janet Voxel

[Madelaine McMasters]

We didn't have a TV during my youth, so I've no favorite shows from then. We did watch movies and documentaries outside in our barn in summertime, on a vintage film projector. Dad rented them from a local distributor. The rental rate was inversely proportional to the physical condition of the film, so we often dealt with dust, scratches, gaps and garbled or no sound. We improvised a lot.

My favorite movie was Forbidden Planet, which scared the hell out of me and introduced me to Shakespeare... and Anne Francis, who's look I copy here in SL. Dad was partial to science films, so we watched a lot of those, like Hemo the Magnificent. (Marvin Miller voices both Robbie the Robot and Hemo.)

Mom and Dad made a puppet theater we all used to act out our silliness. My favorite puppet was originally inhabited by Dad, but I just had to get my hands in him...

I still have Animal, and pull him out at the most inappropriate times.

I had a Barbie doll, but she wasn't a favorite toy so much as an excuse to make small things. I suppose my favorite toys were these...

...with which I made almost anything I wanted from wood harvested from our... woods. I was doing SL thirty years before SL.

I loved Suess books (still do). Dave23 McMasters is a tribute to "Too Many Daves". It's a distant memory, but I think one of the first books I read, all by myself, was A Great Big Ugly Man Came Up and Tied His Horse to Me. I got it for Christmas and Dad read it to me. Though he was a wonderful storyteller with a soft baritone I sorely miss, I was impatient to figure out all those tiny black shapes on the pages for myself. I was a fairly capable reader by age five. It's been downhill ever since.

I recently found a YouTube video of a fella reading from that book, who reminds me of Dad...

 

Imagine that man with a pony tail and the voice of Walter Pigeon, pretending to be a pigeon. Imagine Rolig's Shari Lewis next to him, wearing a dragon sock puppet and trying to eat him.

 

That's my childhood.

 

Edited June 24, 2021 by Madelaine McMasters

[MoiraKathleen]

As I mentioned in another thread, I did have a few Barbies, but they were not among the toys that I've kept from my childhood.  The ones that I've kept include a white poodle that I had asked Santa for when I was three and which I tied a string around his neck for a leash and dragged him all around the house for years; a box that has a set of puzzle blocks - cubes with a different picture on each side so you could make 6 different puzzles; a little doll I made out of cardboard and felt, along with all the felt clothes I made for her; and a Raggedy Ann doll which didn't look like the typical Raggedy Ann from the stories, so I'm not sure why I called her that. She did have red yarn hair in a pony tail which I took out and found that there was no yarn for hair on the part of the head that had been covered by the pony tail.  So  I sewed on new long hair for her, out of many different colors of yarn   My grandmother often sewed clothes for our dolls, and I've kept a few of the dresses that she made for my Barbies or my Raggedy Ann doll.  She also had made clothes for us or for my mom sometimes, so it was fun to get doll clothes out of the same fabric as some of our clothes.

We didn't have a TV at home until after my dad left, which was when I was around 11 or 12, though we had watched TV shows at friends houses and at my grandparents prior to that.  I remember when I was in kindergarten or 1st grade - when the original Batman series was on - how excited I was to watch an episode when we were at my grandparents, and then be dissapointed because it was a "... to be continued ..." and we weren't going to be there the next week to see the end. 

I started reading fairly young, and I spent a lot of time reading while I was growing up.  My mom took us to the library every week to get books, and during the school year I also checked out books each week from the school library.   I started reading the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings triology when I was 8, anxiously waiting for my dad to finish the next book of the series so I could read it next.  Other series I remember reading were Nancy Drew, Dr. Doolittle, Wizard of Oz, Agatha Christie...    The Mary Poppins book, which I read when I was 9 was when I discovered that movies - especially Disney movies - may not be anything like the original book.  I had seen the Disney version at the movie theatre when it had first been released and was so surprised when I started reading the original book.   When I was in high school, I spent one summer reading science fiction, and another summer reading westerns.  

We didn't really have any current music in our house until after our Dad left.  Before that we listened to classical music, or him practicing classical music on oboe or english horn, or to my mom's Rogers & Hammerstein musicals (which I ended up having a lasting fondness for); or not too long before he left, renaissance or medieval music or other ancient folk music he started playing on Bulgarian bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy or balalaika.

Movies that I saw at movie theaters as a child which I really enjoyed were mostly musicals: Mary Poppins, Sound of Music,  Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, My Fair Lady, and later on, Jesus Christ Superstar, Fiddler on the Roof and Harold and Maude (which wasn't really a musical, but it was quirky and different and just appealed to me, and had a wonderful sound track).  

[Rowan Amore]

42 minutes ago, MoiraKathleen said:

to my mom's Rogers & Hammerstein musicals (which I ended up having a lasting fondness for)

I can still sing the entire score of The King and I and Oklahoma.  The 2 8-track tapes we had on our drive down to Florida...in a Chevette....with 5 people...in the summer....with no AC.   Good times!

[Rolig Loon]

1 hour ago, MoiraKathleen said:

I started reading the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings triology when I was 8, anxiously waiting for my dad to finish the next book of the series so I could read it next. 

I did the same.  I got the Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy for my 8th birthday.  They are still on my shelf today, except for the second volume of the trilogy.  In a moment of weakness, I loaned it to a visiting cousin and never got it back. I had to buy a replacement years later.  I credit Tolkien for stoking my lifelong fancy for language (and languages) and for introducing me to fantasy literature.  I read those books with my own children as they were growing up, and my son has been reading them with my 8 year old granddaughter.

[Love Zhaoying]

5 hours ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Forbidden Planet, which scared the hell out of me

Me too!

[Madelaine McMasters]

3 hours ago, Rowan Amore said:

I can still sing the entire score of The King and I and Oklahoma.  The 2 8-track tapes we had on our drive down to Florida...in a Chevette....with 5 people...in the summer....with no AC.   Good times!

We listened to local stations on our road trips. It was fascinating to hear jingles and catch phrases I thought were unique to my area being played everywhere. The latest example of this was revealed on my recent road trip from Texas back home to Wisconsin. I encountered two different billboards for lawyers advertising "One call, that's all!". That's the catch phrase for Gruber Law Offices in Wisconsin.

The only tape I ever heard in a car was the cassette that was jammed in the radio of my first one. Unable to eject it, and too lazy to fix it, I just let the tape play for the entire year I owned it.

 

People are strange when you're a stranger
Faces look ugly when you're alone
Women seem wicked when you're unwanted
Streets are uneven when you're down

When you're strange
Faces come out of the rain
When you're strange
No one remembers your name
When you're strange
When you're strange
When you're strange

People are strange when you're a stranger
Faces look ugly when you're alone
Women seem wicked when you're unwanted
Streets are uneven when you're down

When you're strange
Faces come out of the rain
When you're strange
No one remembers your name
When you're strange
When you're strange
When you're strange

When you're strange
Faces come out of the rain
When you're strange
No one remembers your name
When you're strange
When you're strange
When you're strange

 

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by Madelaine McMasters

[Love Zhaoying]

1 hour ago, Rowan Amore said:

The 2 8-track tapes we had on our drive down to Florida..

I am installing an 8-track player tomorrow, if it arrives!

[Love Zhaoying]

16 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

We listened to local stations on our road trips. It was fascinating to hear jingles and catch phrases I thought were unique to my area being played everywhere. The latest example of this was revealed on my recent road trip from Texas back home to Wisconsin. I encountered two different billboards for lawyers advertising "One call, that's all!". That's the catch phrase for Gruber Law Offices in Wisconsin.

The only tape I ever heard in a car was the cassette that was jammed in the radio of my first car. Unable to eject it, and too lazy to fix it, I just let the tape play for the entire year I owned the car.

 

People are strange when you're a stranger
Faces look ugly when you're alone
Women seem wicked when you're unwanted
Streets are uneven when you're down

When you're strange
Faces come out of the rain
When you're strange
No one remembers your name
When you're strange
When you're strange
When you're strange

People are strange when you're a stranger
Faces look ugly when you're alone
Women seem wicked when you're unwanted
Streets are uneven when you're down

When you're strange
Faces come out of the rain
When you're strange
No one remembers your name
When you're strange
When you're strange
When you're strange

When you're strange
Faces come out of the rain
When you're strange
No one remembers your name
When you're strange
When you're strange
When you're strange

 

 

The last song I asked Alexa to play was Soul Kitchen!

[Rowan Amore]

1 minute ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I am installing an 8-track player tomorrow, if it arrives!

In a DeLorean?

[Madelaine McMasters]

Grrr, I was so close to figuring out how to work the forum!

Edited June 24, 2021 by Madelaine McMasters

[Love Zhaoying]

Just now, Rowan Amore said:

In a DeLorean?

In my workroom. 

[Robin Kiyori]

Toys: I had a few favorite as a kid,  legos, barbie/bratz, etc.  But my most treasured toy is something I have to this day and he is still well loved.   My  first every cuddly  toy, a pink small teddy bear creatively called pinky. I have had  pinky since I was a baby. Like me  Pinky started off called a girl but is now a very well loved and cuddled man of  his 30's. Should I ever be blessed with children. Pinky shall accompany them in their life and hopefully be just as loved!

Games: Mortal Kombat,  Tekken, Kingdomhearts. Mario. My Dad started me gaming when I was young.  But it was those series' that really sparked my  interest. Probably explains why I can go from macabre to an utter fluffy goofball considering a young  Robinling probably shouldn't have been  allowed to play the ultra gorey fighting game when so small.

Books,  however where my  biggest love. From Black Beauty, scores of YA-books when I was..well a young adult to to indeed like nearly everyone  of my generation. Harry Potter. Like Owar I got into it when around the age of being able to get a letter to Hogwarts.  Of course these days that warm affection for the wizarding world has soured over time for reasons I don't really want to get into.

[ArgontheDevil Ormega]

Good heavens.  How to make me feel old.

Television?  I can't remember a time without it, because my parents bought their first b&w set, that' all the had then, before I was born.  So I grew up with Tom Corbett, Space Patrol, Rocky Jones...the usual.  When I was 8 the Outer Space Community Theater was running the old Flash Gordon serials and as they conflicted with church, church just had to go.

Movies?  Well, I saw Forbidden Planet for the first time when I was 13 and I WANTED THAT KRELL MACHINE! 

Toys?  So many I could not tell you my favorite but I had more toy guns that every other kid in the neighborhood combined.

 

[SlammedSam]

Rocky Jones! =D

I got turned on to Rocky Jones, first by way of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Then some years later, I came across a box set of the whole series. Love it, as I have a soft spot for vintage sci fi.

I still need to see Forbidden Planet, and it's on my bucket list.

In other shows that came out before I was born, my folks introduced me to the likes of Leave it to Beaver, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Addams Family, McHale's Navy, Gomer Pyle, Green Acres, Mister Ed, F Troop, in addition to the aforementioned OG Star Trek.