Before PlayStation: The toys I grew up with

In no particular order…

Transformers

“Robots in disguise”. I remember when toys were made of metal. They had sharp pointy bits that could take an eye out and were built to last millenia. Transformers were such toys. The cartoon series was one of the first created to sell the inevitable toys that would follow but when the toys were so damn good I truly did not care. I had Optimus Prime, a large metal truck that converted into a robot as well as its back end becoming a base a small buggy came out of. I also had Jazz, a racing car and Starscream, an evil Decepticon fighter plane that could easily have been used as a lethal weapon. Each toy was die cast metal and would surely be banned in the plastic world that toys seem to exist in today. I loved them though and the new release are flimsy and cheap in comparison.

He-Man and Castle Gray skull

He-Man was perhaps the campest cartoon on television. This leather-clad, blond-haired warrior was every child’s hero as boys wanted to be him while girls had a secret crush on him I think this was the first toy I actually asked Father Christmas for and was ecstatic to receive. Castle Gray skull was a big plastic castle which opened up and had traps for the evil Skeletor and his minions as well as a working drawbridge. I was very excited at the time and would spend hours reconstructing battles from the cartoon. The figures all had one spring operated action whether it be the He-Man’s weird snake hips or the hilariously named Fisto with hammering fist action. The entertainment value was virtually endless.

The Millennium Falcon

None of this new fangled Star Wars/Transformers crossover nonsense. I had the original 1980’s Millennium Falcon and was the envy of all my friends. It was an absolutely massive piece of toy genius with a gun turret for Chewbacca to sit in, satellite dish, secret panels it truly was the dog’s wotsits. We would endlessly have battles with this and my mates AT-AT walker and it never became dull and of course when on your own you could pretend the bath was the trench from the “Empire Strikes Back”!

Monopoly

What other game turns a relatively reasonable family into a bunch of angry lunatics who argue the finer points of bankruptcy and re-mortgaging to the point of divorce and adoption! Every household has it’s own variation on the rules making it an impossibility for any visitors to play and win and it is one of those games that never seems to end. It amazes me that an eight-year-old can suddenly