Top Ten Toys from my Childhood > Reviews (21)

Top Ten Toys From My Childhood!

The other night me and my brother sat down and watched Beavis and Butthead Do America, we hadn't seen it for such a long time and wanted a bit of a laugh. After the film finished we started talking about how much we use to love Beavis and Butthead when we were younger and then started talking about some of the things we used to watch on tape. One subject lead to another and we soon got onto talking about some of the toys and puppets we used to like, believe me...if you're around me and my brother too long we can be quite embarassing to be around especially when were talking about Sooty & Sweep, Button Moon, Fireman Sam and Rainbow.

My brother would sit there and say to me "I would love to get all those series of Button Moon on DVD" and then he would start signing "WERE OFF TO BUTTON MOON" and I would say next "Have we still got all those Sooty & Sweeps on tapes". I'm 26 and my brother is 27 and we still love that kind of thing (we still don't there and watch them though we haven't got the time) it brings back memories of our childhood. These kind of shows we used to watch all the time when we were little, when you've been brought up with something as a child you tend to look back and think...these were a classic I always use to love sitting there for hours and hours watching this show.

Soon enough, we started talking about some of our old toys we used to love and play with when we were young, some of them I even took out with me just because I was attached to them. It got me thinking about my childhood past again and how some of those things made me feel happy and kept me quite for hours, so I thought...what I'm going to do now is write a about some of my favourite childhood toys and share out some of those fond memories. Some of these toys I've still got somewhere proberly up in the loft in a box, but these were the toys that kept me entertained for ages...

1. Sooty & Sweep puppets:

These were my favourite things ever when I was younger I use to treat them like my little friends, I loved putting them on my hands and doing all the actions. I would pretend to be Matthew Corbett and play out scenes of Sooty & Sweep and my brother used to pretend he was a friend of Matthews (a special new character called Pete...I don't know who Pete is we just made him up) crazy I know but we would act out for hours and in the six weeks school holiday sometimes we'd be there all day.

We used to do what any other little kid with a puppet would do and that's play with them and trying do the noises to them. When I had Sooty on my hand I used to make out he was whispering in Matthew's ear and when I had Sweep on my hand I used to go "WEEP! WEEP!" that used to drive my parents mad. Me and my brother used to share a room (we don't now though) and we used to take it in turns sleeping with Sooty & Sweep...sorry how that may of sounded...don't worry nothing happened.

It's like...when your that age and you have a favourite cuddly toy you want to sleep cuddling it for comfort, I'm sure everyone some point in there lives used to sleep with a cuddly toy or comfort blanket (I've never had a comfort blanket by the way but I do know one or two people who have) I never used to let Sooty & Sweep out of my sight and when I weren't looking after them my brother was, he used to have one of them on he's hand and I used to have the other on mine.

When we used to go for a day out to Southend-On-Sea or Margate or anywhere like that me and my brother used to take them on the trip with us (obviously when we were really young and with our parents) that's how attached we were to them. We used to do what other kids used to do at that age, we used to have pretend dinner parties with them up at the table along with all there friends including duck, paperbag (which was another hand puppet) Michael and George (two twin monkeys) pink rabbit, big teddy and stippy jumper teddy...Oh Yes! We used to do all that you know.

Sooty & Sweep have been great servants on my hand when I little, they used to be there everywhere with me, everywhere I went they'd be there. I'm not ashamed to admit this...but the funniest part when we used to play with the puppets we used to get so serious and start telling them off and we were so noisey my mum used to come in a say "Are you alright in here" and I used to say"Yeah! I'm just telling Sooty off". These were good times, nowadays poor Sooty & Sweep are stuck up in the loft...

2. Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle toys:

I used to love the old original turtles and I did have all the series of them on tape, these turtle figures were the original and proper ones from the T.v program. I had near enough all of the collection from the three turtles themself (Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo and Raefelle) I had Splinter, Bebop, Rocky Steady and Shredder, the only two I didn't have was April (the news reporter) and krane...I think that was he's name. The best part was I had the turtlecom and even the turtle blimp, they were all the same one's you see on the old series.

Me & my brother used to sit there watching series of turtles on tape and then after they'd finish we would start to play out a story with our toys, it was all great fun back then. We used to mainly play with them out in the passage and one good thing we used to do is...one of us held the blimp over the bannister with a piece of long string hanging from it whilst the other got all the four turtles and slid then down the string to make it look as if they've just jumped out of the blimp.

We had all sorts of ideas for the turtles we would be there making up stories for ages, that's one good thing about me and my brother we always like to act out because it makes it more fun and exciting. I'm sure they're still around somewhere...there most proberly in the loft with Sooty & Sweep.

3. Ghostbuster toys:

I used to have every ghostbuster toy...I had all four ghostbusters, the marshmellow man, that green one (cant think what its called now) I had the ghostbuster garage, the ghostbuster car, the ghostbuster green goo...you name I had it. I even had a ghosterbuster torch, so when you shine it in the dark you get to see a picture of a ghost on the walls and on the ceiling, when I was younger and in the kitchen on me own with all the lights out it used to freak me when I first saw it.

The goo used to be exciting though...It was really sticky stuff and smelt a bit weird but I loved smearing it on top of the ghostbuster garage so it looked as if it was dripping from the roof.

I loved the ghostbuster car If I can remember I used to be able to open the doors and put the ghostbusters sitting on the seats inside and the back door used to open as well, the only problem with the back door...sometimes it kept falling off on its own when not shut properly.

Once, I remember accidently dropping the car on floor breaking all the doors and was very upset, so my dad had to go out and buy me a new one. I loved these toys so much back then I didn't want to damage them or see them damaged, Its like having a little precious collection of stuff and would like to keep it in good condition. As the years pasted though the cars did eventually get dirty and scratched up a bit, proberly all those times I used to drive it through the garden with hand...I will never forget those days I used to call for the ghostbusters.

4. Wrestling toys:

I started collection wrestling figures way back in the mid 90's when the likes of Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Macho Man Randy Savage, The Bushwackers and The Nasty Boys were still wrestling, I had all of those old superstars. I've collected wrestling figures from then right up until The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin error, which is proberly up to the year 2000, but has I've got older I've stopped collecting them. When I was younger I used to play with my wrestling figures out on the kitchen table, It used to keep me entertained for ages.

I did also purchase a wrestling ring with red ropes, steel steps and four sides of a steel cage that you can easily assemble, I used to love playing steel cage matches and trying to make my wrestlers climb up and over the plastic cage structure. Most of the time I used to shout and commentate trying to act out the voices of Jerry the king Lawler and JR (Jim Ross) and so excited whilst I was fighting with the figures, my brother can alf shout though and when he commentates he lets the entire street know he's commentating.

One thing I bought to make up the arena was a titantron which has a button on the side that makes certain entrance noises and what came with it was a grey suited Vince Mcmahon figure, I think he's the one with the entrance music on the titantron...even now this still does sound awesome...I'm sure I still have the ring and titantron put away in their original boxes and in a T.v box along with all the wrestling figures i've bought over the years.

5. Trainset:

This is one of the most commonly known play things for any young child, everyone I've known has said they used to own a trainset when they was younger. Trainsets used to be such a popular toy (I'm not sure how popular they are these days) It was great fixing the tracks together into all sorts of shapes and then watch the train go around has you control it. I can't remember what type of trainset I had now, but I can still remember what the train looked like and the tracks were very easy to put together.

I once tried to do a figure of eight with the tracks and once the train got around to the middle I used to be able to change the lines so it ends up going up and around a couple of times.

I can still see the carriages in my head right, there was at least five of them and when they moved on the tracks they moved quite steadly and smooth. I cant remember whether the train made a noise has it went round, but I used to play with the set for hours on end.

I don't exactly know whats happened to it now...I wish I can remember what make I had because it would of been interesting to look it up on the interenet to see if they still done that same type. I loved the train part of it I cant seem to see one similar in any catalogue or on any type, If I was lucky enough to spot the same one I would have to buy it and put it away safe...It would be a collectors item from when I was a child. I may be tempted to try it out first just to see how it worked again, that's If I can see it around again...I'll certainly know the make and type if I see it.

6. Remote Control Go-kart Mario:

Back then I was completely Mario mad and couldn't help myself wanting everything I saw to do with Mario, I definitley think Mario is a classic. So, when I was younger I was bought this remote control go-kart Mario toy, the time I used to spend in the back garden steering this up and down the path...I had loads of fun with it. Most people would rather a remote control car or a monster truck, but I found this different and it was a character from one of my all-time favourite games in the seat.

I used to race other kids next door and down the road with my Mario Kart against there cars and trucks, It used to go quite fast and ended up coming first or second in a race. The way Mario is seen in the Super Mario Kart games (especially the one on the SNES) that's exactly how this one looked, it certainly does look as if it came straight out of the screen. If rightly remember the remote control only had two buttons on it and that was the basic acceleration and reverse buttons.

I took this everywhere with me even when I went round to see my relatives, I was only a little boy back then and like anyone that age with a favourite toy I would want to carry it around everywhere so I could carry on driving it whilst visiting family....it gave me something to play with whilst the grown-ups talk. I've notice on Amazon they still sell the same one but at the moment its currently unavailable, if I do sometime decide to get it again I'll just keep it for a collectors item or when I have my own kids.

7. Subbuteo:

This was one of the most fasinating football toy / game I've ever seen, it ain't what you would call mind blowing but it was a fun little game back then. First of all you would have this big football pitch mat where I used to lay out on the floor in the front room, then I used to set up these little football men either side of both halves of the pitch to make it look like a match is about to start. These little football players were small and used to be on these round stands so you can flick em about, I used to have more reds than blues on the pitch in the end.

I had to little goalie nets standing up both ends on the markings on the mat and a goalkeeper in both of the goals, the formation I used to play was a 4-1-2-1-2.

Obvisiously, it came with a little football to kick around which half the time used to flick under the chair everytime I was flicking the players trying to score. I had lots of fun with these back then I was there for ages playing one match after the other against my family, friends and neighbours.

To make things more interesting and exciting I would set up a cup, write down the matches and choose one team to be whilst someone else chose the other. We would normally go through round after round knocking each others teams out until we got to the final, the only thing I cant remember who won most of those competitions and who won the most games. It was such a long time ago that I have seen a Subbuteo I sure you can still get the green football mat because I've seen boxes of these Subbuteo players still on Amazon.

8. Remote Control Jeep:

I still love this Jeep even though the remote control cant operate it anymore (my little cousin came round one day and pulled the wiring out) its still in really good condition other than that. I used to drive this around the house and into the back garden, somehow I managed to get it over the step which is quite big. I bought this one from a toy place in the shopping centre down Ilford, but I cant remember how much it cost my though. Its not one of those open Jeeps with the big wheels its one that looks like a large people carrier.

It is a nice green vehicle with black windows, the only thing is the doors dont open but I still love the size of the Jeep. What I loved about it was not only you can accelerate and reverse but there were buttons where you could here the horn and hear the window wiping sound, even though the window wipers didn't move. Its just a shame that I cant operate it anymore with the remote control, anyway...I still have it somewhere so if I wanted to find it and take at look at it then I 'll just have to try and dig it out.

9. Giant Control Terminator:

This Terminator didn't move but it was quite big, it had five buttons on he's back which said things and made noises. I can just about remember the five functions and what they did...if you press one of the buttons it will see "I'LL BE BACK" and press another button and it will say "HASTA LA VISTA, BABY" another button used to light up its eyes whilst the other two buttons made two different gun noises. Even though I couldn't its arms, legs or head I still loved it because it was the Arnold Schwarzenegger character, it was the terminator with the black leather outfit.

I've got an idea where this is right now but I'm not going to bother getting it out now because It means lifting so many boxes off the one its in, maybe one day again I'll get this out and take another look at it. One side of he's face had skin missing and like in the film he had pieces of metal showing on one of he's arms and one of he's legs. I like the fact that even though he was wearing black shades you could clearly see the eyes light up when you press the button.

10. Mortal Kombat Flick Figures:

I had quite a few of these including Rayden, Sub Zero, Scorpian and Sonya...

these were only small but I kinda liked them because I've always been a big fan of Mortal Kombat. The size would proberly put some people off from buying but to me it weren't about the size, it was how they were made and the different type of figure they were. It was toy / figures I remember playing with back then and the reason why I like them so much is because I remember playing with them quite alot up at the fence with my next neighbour.

The arms and legs used to spring forward once you've pulled them back making a quick force punch, whack or kick. Luckily, I never went too mad with them like force the arms or legs back too much that they'll break and even now I've still them somewhere in a box still looking as good as new. I wanted to be gentle with them because at the time I was told they are very rare to come by and get hold of...I'm not sure whether I can still get my hands on the other characters I didn't have.

They would make good collector's item to me beings I always used to like Mortal Kombat and always played the video games, as well...there only small so they wouldn't take up much space at if I was to store them away in a box or something. I may have to start looking around on certain sites to see if they still do them, the first place I'm going to look and its on my favourite shopping site...Amazon!

ThankYou for taking the time reading my review!

*JasonJRogers*