Calling all 70's retro toy experts...

[flyfish29]

I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but my Grandfather (he might have had a partner in the deal) created Clink a Links and began producing them in his basement. My mother can remember boxing them up in the evenings. I've got some other photos I'll post later of my Grandmother at a trade show display. The photo I posted was dated 1958. I think he sold the rights to a larger company a few years later which is probably the version you are familiar with. I'll try to dig up some more details.

Wow, who would have thunk that I could find a family member of the creator. Cool stuff- did he create any other toys we might know?

 

[clinkalinks]

Clink a links!!!

Hi Duende and Flyfish I am so very happy to read your posts . Duende , My boyfriend grew up in Wisconsin and around 4 or 5 modeled for your Grandpas Clink a Links, I am trying to find them. He said it was in a canister like the old lincoln logs... I would love to have this box with his picture on it , Can you help???Thanks!!

 

[flyfish29]

I remember the cannister for the clink a links....have not found anything else on them-

 

[steve2112]

No, Hot Wheels were definitely around in the '70s, although I preferred Matchbox cars.
One thing I always wanted as a kid was a Big Wheel (see pic below if you don't know what a Big Wheel is), but my parents would never let me get one. The darned thing rides so low to the ground I guess they were afraid I would be invisible to cars. I still wanted one though...

The Big Wheel was cool, but I really wanted the Green Machine.

http://sprenzy.com/shopping/articles/2006/11/21/ode-to-my-favorite-toy-the-green-machine

I had to settle for the Big Wheel, though. I had a huge Hot Wheels collection. Once my family figured out I liked 'em, I would get them all the time. Christmas, birthday, Easter, etc. Then my mom and grandmother gave away/sold them after I went to college. To compound the matter, a couple of years ago, I found an article discussing how valuable some of them were. I had owned several of the rarest models.

I actually had an Atari 2600 (actually the Sears knockoff model) and later, a CelecoVision. Then I had to beg my parents to buy the CelecoVision expansion that allowed me to play my Atari games, since there weren't many games available for Celeco.

 

[millerj123]

Lawn Darts, anyone?

Best. Game. Ever.

I also had a bow and arrows. Great fun.

 

[obeygiant]

 

[sysiphus]

You guys are making me feel old again. I don't think Legos came out until I was already a teenager. I'm from the era of Lincoln Logs, Erector Sets, and those great Kenner Girder and Panel kits.

Lego blocks similar to what we have now first came out around 1958ish, but weren't seen in mass in the US for a little while thereafter. My mom's family (in Denmark) sent them over to the US relatives in the late 50s-early 60s, and they were a novelty item here.

EDIT: according to Wikipedia, Lego bricks were first sold in the US in 1961. As a testament to the quality of the toys, most of the blocks leftover from my mom's childhood still work fine today! (Also have a couple of the pre-interlocking brick Lego toys....fun old stuff!)

 

[ski2moro]

Nerf Balls

My friend's son ate a nerf football and pooped it out in little pieces.

I can't make this stuff up.

 

[Tilpots]

The Big Wheel was cool, but I really wanted the Green Machine.

http://sprenzy.com/shopping/articles/2006/11/21/ode-to-my-favorite-toy-the-green-machine

Green Machine FTW! We had a Green Machine and the Big Wheel for me and my older brother.

What about Verti-Bird!?!

And the Dukes of Hazard Slot Car Race Track! (This might have been early 80's, can't remember...)

 

[flyfish29]

I ACTUALLY STILL USE my childhood Little Professor in my second and third grade classroom- the students LOVE IT! (Yes, it actually still works- made by TI I think.)

I think I wanted the green machine due to sheer speed that thing would get- the bigwheel was better for spin outs- I had that blue handled brake and we lived at the bottom of a huge hill which was a cul de sac so spinning out and doing so while jumping those huge curved concrete curbs we had in our neighborhood and landing in zoysia grass. (the grass was awesome for sliding in football too! soft landings!)

I remember the merlin but don't remember what you did with it- my friend had one.

I had an Atari 2600 as well- Adventure was my favorite game.

Nerf b-ball was the best! So many times did I scrape my hand on the popcorn ceiling doing dunks!!!!Even when we were inside we were running around- not like my son these days....the thrid grade vegetable he has become!

Jarts- my wife says her sister used to have her run and check to see if one made it in the ring...while her friends used to throw the next jart in the same direction!!! Luckily for me she was not killed.

My kids get this catalog which has some cool retro toys like the Evil Knievel set- I had this along with tons of GI Joe stuff
Back to Basics

Anyone have MICRONAUTS? Not the newer plastic ones, but these metal looking ones with the small hands!

 

[Tilpots]

Great thread resurrection, BTW. Had to add this one to the list:

Too much fun...

 

[flyfish29]

They still sell Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots at Target- or at least did last winter.

what about electronic football- vibrating board. My father in law still has one we get out occasionally for the kids- they love it.

 

[Tilpots]

They still sell Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots at Target- or at least did last winter.

what about electronic football- vibrating board. My father in law still has one we get out occasionally for the kids- they love it.

I've seen the Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots but haven't picked them up. My wife isn't interested in playing...

We used to have epic vibrating football battles. They'd last forever. "He's at the 30, the 20, the 10, wait! He's turning around. He's at the 20, the 30, oh no..."

We also used to have a football kicker that you'd slam on the head and his foot would kick the ball at the uprights we'd put across the room.

There's tons of other toys we had, hope people can remember a few more. It's a nice trip down memory lane.

 

[bruinsrme]

No, Hot Wheels were definitely around in the '70s, although I preferred Matchbox cars.
One thing I always wanted as a kid was a Big Wheel (see pic below if you don't know what a Big Wheel is), but my parents would never let me get one. The darned thing rides so low to the ground I guess they were afraid I would be invisible to cars. I still wanted one though...

that is the Big Wheel. I remember getting on for my birthday, damn that was one of the best days of my life.
The Green machine became another similar option but the Big Wheel was where it was at.

 

[rhett7660]

I'm in the same boat. LEGOS were my favorite toy for most of my childhood. Then it was Erector Sets.

Hmmm... I miss childhood. Youth is wasted on the young

Yup, me too. I still have and collect Lego sets. Love them!!!! One of the greatest toys I think.

I had GI Joe's, Star Wars, Army Men...but I still went back to my Lego's. I also really liked Lincoln Logs. I used to builed them both together....... Ah the days.

 

[mscriv]

How about

Slinky

Lite-Brite

GI Joe, Transformers, and Star Wars. I had them all in the 80's, but before these I had the good old Lone Ranger.

 

[CaptMurdock]

OMG! I had a Merlin! Great little electronic toy, about six or seven different little games. So cool.

I also had, in no particular order

• Legos (when they just came in huge boxes and not premade kits -- what's the fun in that?)
• Six Million Dollar Man action figure, with bionic arm action and bionic eye telescopic vision
• Various Marvel comics superhero action figs
• Hot Wheels
• Various rubber snakes, spiders and alligators
• Green army men (the kind that came a hundred a bag for a buck
• "Dart" guns (that had those hard plastic darts, not the "safety" kind for wimps, and "jet disk shooters"
• Magnovox Odyssey II videogame system, with knock-offs of Asteroids, Pac Man and Donkey Kong.

 

[flyfish29]

The Bionic Mac- of course- there was that steel beam he used to hold!

How about STRETCH Armstrong?!?!

But the ultimate- Wacky Packs...if I remember right there was a large picture you could create using the backs of the various cards if you had enough???

http://www.wackypackages.org/index.php

And here is a link to show many of the wacky pack cards- like Bum Chex, Wind Chex, Cult 45, Badzooka gum, Crust toothpaste, Weakies, and many others.

http://www.wackypackages.org/sheets/sheets.html

 

[peskaa]

Lego. I still have all my childhood Lego, and I've added about £6k worth in the last few years... Still really annoys me when people call them "Legos" - there is never an "s" on the end. Ever. Full stop.

I also remember those click panels, but octagon shaped.

 

[Raid]

I had all of these, quite fond memories of most of them too

One thing I always wanted as a kid was a Big Wheel (see pic below if you don't know what a Big Wheel is), but my parents would never let me get one. The darned thing rides so low to the ground I guess they were afraid I would be invisible to cars. I still wanted one though...

I had a big wheel that got flat spots in the hard plastic front wheel with all the sliding stops I did on it. IIRC I wore a hole into it... man those were fun. And for what it's worth your parents were right, my first traffic stop by a cop was a result of me riding my big wheel on the street. He didn't like seeing 4 yr olds getting run over...

Funny but I was looking at a family album the other day and there's a picture of me playing with a new "little professor" that my grandparents gave me. It was a fun way of learning math.

And the Dukes of Hazard Slot Car Race Track! (This might have been early 80's, can't remember...)

Yeah it was the '80s the dukes of Hazard slot car set was fantastic, I loved how the patrol car lights lit up.

What about speak and spells? Anybody else remember these talking techno wonders of the 70's (ok maybe early 80's)

 

[obeygiant]

I had an Atari 2600 as well- Adventure was my favorite game.

Did you ever find the "dot" in the black castle?

Map of entire Adventure game.

Atari 2600 emulators

Inside the black castle catacombs (on difficulty level 2 or 3), embedded in the south wall of a sealed chamber (accessible only with the bridge), is an "invisible" 1-pixel object referred to as the grey dot.[5] One must "bounce" the player cursor along the bottom wall to "grab" the dot. The dot is not actually invisible, but simply the same color as the wall and is easily seen when placed in a catacombs passage or over a normal wall. The dot is not attracted to the magnet, unlike most other objects in Adventure.
Bringing this dot to the east end of the corridor below the golden castle while other differently-colored objects are present causes the wall object to also become 'invisible', allowing the player to pass into a room displaying the words "Created by Warren Robinett".

 

[flyfish29]

Did you ever find the "dot" in the black castle?

Map of entire Adventure game.

Atari 2600 emulators

I actually did find what they call the microdot- it was cool- I spent hours on that game!!

 

[clinkalinks]

FlyFish Help!

I remember the cannister for the clink a links....have not found anything else on them-

Flyfish do have some advice how I can get my hands on this Clink A Links cannister of my boyfriend...its his birthday and he has no contact with any family...and has nothing from his childhood...he has turned his life around...this would be a truly meaningful gift to him... Thanks

One more thing, love the Wacky Packages stickers, you reminded me of my childhood!

 

[flyfish29]

Flyfish do have some advice how I can get my hands on this Clink A Links cannister of my boyfriend...its his birthday and he has no contact with any family...and has nothing from his childhood...he has turned his life around...this would be a truly meaningful gift to him... Thanks

One more thing, love the Wacky Packages stickers, you reminded me of my childhood!

I would start emailing retro toy web sites and collectors and see what comes up- but I have never found a picture of the toy or cannister other than the one posted here and it was not the cannister. I will keep my eyes open for a lead for you. I dont even know what company produced the product- if you could find that out it might help as they may have a collectable in their company to copy or take a picture of.

good luck

 

[clinkalinks]

Thanks

Thanks FlyFish, I have contacted many retro stores....nadda!!! I wish I could get in contact with Duende who stated it was his Grandpas business..Maybe one day he will read this! Thanks again!