Thank you for visiting my Toybox and reminiscing with me. I would love it if
you would add your own toy story to this
guestbook I am keeping! Tell me about that special toy from your youth or
just tell me how you liked the site. And note that many people find the site
through the Vertibird page (the coolest
toy ever made). If an entry is talking about some cool toy and the author
doesn't mention which one, it is most likely the Vertibird. Cheers, Sam.
I had that Kooky Carnival game as a child--won it in a raffle at my dad's company picnic. My brother and I played it a lot. Not sure what happened to it, but you know how that goes.
Bert
USA - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 21:06:50 (MDT)
Hi,Sam, I have a 1949 Schaper Cootie game complete with box one eye missing, my mother had save it for me all these years. It look just like the one you have on your web site.
Gary Cinader <gbcinader@qwest.net>
Peoria, AZ USA - Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 22:47:23 (MDT)
I taught high school in 1974, mostly Physics, but one year I began a new class in basic electronics for freshman. I bought the 65-in-1 kit to teach the class. They learned a lot and I didn't have much class prep.
MPC <hawktwo@hotmail.com>
Gaithersburg, md USA - Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 12:24:29 (MDT)
EXCELLENT SITE !!!.....Did it ever bring back memories ! Found your site looking for the 'Dynamite Shack game'. Lots of great toys on this site that our parents and grandparents paid very little for ( In comparison ) for our birthdays and Christmas or just for being a good kid with a few A's on te report card. My favorite was the 0M Sonic Blaster by Mattel. Designed somewhat like a bazooka, It delivered a deafening blast of compressed air that could easily cause permanent hearing damage from a considerable distance. Lots of fun though !! I have no idea what my folks gave for this toy back in the mid 60's but I read a blog when the writer said one might be aquired for about 3000.00 !!!...Should have held on to one. Just like the 63 corvette I sold in 1976 for 3300.00..Live and learn !!!....lol.....Again- Great job !!
Ken West JR. Sc.D <Knight121757@yahoo.com>
Carson City, NV USA - Sunday, April 06, 2008 at 22:19:28 (MDT)
I have been into RC aircraft for over 30 years and I have had the Mattel Vac U Form machine for a long time but have never used it. While doing a project for a friend we had need for vacuforming some covers and I decided to give the former a try. It still workes just fine. However, I have never had the instructions and searched the web for them. Found your site and the copy you have provided. I would like to thank you very much for being kind enough to provide them free to those who need a copy but not necessarly an orginal. Thanks Sam
John Lockwood <rcjohnwoodchuck@hotmail.com>
Layton, Utah USA - Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 21:44:05 (MDT)
Hi I got a Mattel's Injector Western World a few years ago from the original Mattel toy creator, who's name I won't mention, It is brand spankin new All I did was open the end (Very Carefully) and look at it. It is all cello wrapped also I got the Gentleman from Mattel to send me a paper stating who he is (autographed Paper). Does any one know what is worth with the authenticated paper? Nice web-site! Thanks for your time Aurora1Craig.
Craig <aurora1craig@yahoo.com>
Western New York, N.Y. USA - Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 16:19:58 (MDT)
Just had to say your site is brilliant! I have been looking for information on the disappearing square and you have solved it for me. The students I work with will be well pleased! I aquired the game recently, but knew nothing about it or how it was meant to be as it was in pieces. I will now look through your site more thoroughly to see what memories it brings back. Thank you for such a fantastic resource. Best wishes from the UK
Tina <kevin.start@tiscali.co.uk>
seaford, east sussex england - Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 12:36:58 (MDT)
I was with Anchor Toy Corp. 1958 thru 1972 Anchor was a division of Transogram located in Sikeston Mo. Many of the toys used on the set of the movie Yours, Mine, and Ours were made there in Sikeston when I was in the sample and toy show display department. To see your website brought a lot of old and very good memories.
Jerry Fraley <jfraleysr@bellsouth.net>
Old Hickory, Tenn USA - Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 20:48:48 (MDT)
I really never missed all these great kits until I realized that they are hard to find. And that they cost a great deal more then when I was young. I fear sometimes that kids today don't make model kits. They are too busy with other things. They really don't know what they are missing. Thanks Bob
Bob Burrow <burrobo@hotmail.com>
Tulsa , Okla USA - Sunday, March 16, 2008 at 14:14:47 (MDT)
Hi Sam, Love the site - it's an endless flashback for sure! I really like seeing the changes in packaging and artwork over the years too. Just wanted to mention that Electronic Detective came with a floppy 45rpm record with a commentary/promo spoken by Don Adams - I don't think it was advertised anywhere and probably most have been lost over the years. If you're interested, I have the game with record. Keep up the collecting. Cheers.
Dave <dynacolt@msn.com>
Melbourne, Down Under - Sunday, March 09, 2008 at 23:25:58 (MDT)
Sam, what a wonderful site you have. I've been looking on ebay, as well other sites for a long time, and I finally found the game I've been looking for. It is called Open Sesame by Ideal. Like some others wrote, I too wish I had taken better care of all the wonderful toys I had when I was a kid. Thanks for sharing all of your terrific treasures. Gloria G. So. San Francisco
Gloria Giusto <tomgiusto@sbcglobal.net>
So. San Francisco, Ca USA - Saturday, March 08, 2008 at 00:39:56 (MST)
The more I look around and read on this site, the more I miss MY toys. I wish that as a Child I would have taken better care of my toys rather than to have played with them like I did. I LOVED the Inchworm and rode that toy till it literally fell apart. I hear that Wal-Mart is selling them now, but am not positive that it will be the same. I had the neatest little tea set which matched my Momma's Corning ware with the little blue flowers. Baby Dolls that laughed whrn you bumped them or that shrank when you pulled a string on their back only to grow to full size again when you let that string go. I just wish that I could remember the names of all of the neat things I had. Does ANYONE remember the purple colored Octopuss that you could stretch like crazy? It would have been similar to a stretch armstrong I suppose. If anyone does remember this, please let me know... I'd love to atleast find a photograph of one.
Susie <Tybeebeachbound@aim.com>
Statham, GA USA - Thursday, March 06, 2008 at 12:18:24 (MST)
I had this same Pepsi Dispenser when I was little. This was made in the mid to late 1970's as I was born in 1974. I guess I must have been about 3 or 4 when I got it and I sure served a lot of "customers" (family) with this soda machine. I wish I still had mine... oh well, hind sight is 20/20.
Susie <Tybeebeachbound@aim.com>
Statham, GA USA - Thursday, March 06, 2008 at 12:05:42 (MST)
When I was a kid in the 50's, my grandmother would visit bringing Donald Duck comic books, Hostess Cupcakes or Twinkies, and cap rockets. I spent a lot of time playing w/ the latter (and banging rolls of caps w/ a hammer). Of course, as a kid, you take that stuff for granted, but now it is just a memory. I regret to say that I don't see kids outside playing on their own much any more. My grandkids park in front of a TV playing video games and I'm not sure if they've even had a snowball fight. I know my complaint isn't just a by-product of getting older. I read that the parks and conservationists are complaining that people just aren't getting outdoors like they used to.
John Shuey
md USA - Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 09:14:15 (MST)
I want my toys back! by Peter Barton Fletcher I want my toys back My big brother (RIP) dismantled my best toys and left them to be thrown out by my mom. I had a "Big Bruiser" tow truck that I waited two Christmas's to get. I had an "SST" Jaguar car that was so cool that I took it to school for show and tell and everybody thought it was best thing anyone had ever brought. I had a "Fright Factory Thing Maker" set that made glow in the dark eyeballs and spiders. Not to mention a regular "Thing Maker" for you're more run-of-the-mill "Creepy Crawlers". I had "Estes-Rockets" that were so perfect that I would never set them off because they looked so awesome sitting on my dresser. Well, my brother set'em off and I wasn't even there to see it. They were useless after that. If you haven't guessed by now, these toys are all from the sixties and seventies. Lethal, dangerous and fun! Lots of small parts to choke on and many sharp edges that would cut, scrape and mutilate. And no pesky warning stickers to quash your fun. A "Thing Maker" was basically a hot-plate that you poured noxious plastic "Gobble DeGoop" (Yep, that's what it was called.) into metal molds and plugged it into the wall and let that sucker get to about 140 degrees and cook that plastic until the whole house smelled like the brakes of a "Mack" truck going down a ski slope. I can smell it now and I still get a buzz just thinking about it. The "Incredible Edible" Thing Maker cooked "Creepy Crawlers" that you actually ate. For the girls there was the Kenner "Easy Bake Oven". There's nothing like a miniature cake cooked by a light bulb encased in a plastic molded oven with metal walls inside and you used metal tongs to remove the cookies, brownies, cakes or muffins. Plenty of additives-plenty of preservatives! Early skateboards were no more than a piece of particleboard with metal roller skate wheels attached to the bottom. They were loud and you would fall an awful lot. No helmets-no kneepads. "Estes Rockets" were scale replicas of actual rockets that you hooked up to a 12 volt dry cell battery which ignited a cylinder filled with some type of blasting powder that would send that rocket 1000 hundred feet in the air-along with fingers, eyeballs and small household pets. You still may be able to get these rockets but you probably have to be eighteen and have certificate in firearms training to get one. Mousetrap, Operation, Kabala, Rock'em Sock'em Robots, Hands Down, Kennedy Airport, Spirogragh, Secret Sam, Rings'n'Things...the list could go on forever-I want them all. Not the contemporary versions but the authentic article. With the advent of Ebay, I'm slowly retrieving my nifty stuff. And my brother can't get to them! He lives in Florida and I only talk to him once or twice a year. But if he ever comes to my house, he's gonna stay the hell away from my stuff. I'm not trying to recapture my childhood; I just kick myself in the ass that I don't have those great toys on a shelf somewhere in my pad. AND THAT REALLY PISSES ME OFF!
Peter Fletcher <pfletcher@laweekly.com>
Hollywood, Ca. USA - Friday, February 08, 2008 at 13:18:40 (MST)
I bought the toy, Monster Machine, for my son back in the 70's. After a divorce things like this turned up missing!! My son has always wondered where this toy went, because he spent hours and hours using it. It was such a cool toy!! Hope I can find it somewhere also. I might just surprise him with a special Christmas gift. Thanks for the pictures, and the memory!!
Bev King <dozer1@frontiernet.net>
Indian Lake, NY USA - Wednesday, February 06, 2008 at 15:10:05 (MST)
I enjoyed all the classic toys like this as a child growing up in the sixties. I had the creepy crawlers, and made many a glow in the dark skeleton with it, and I also had the incredible edibles as well as the time machine in which you would put colored flat squares in the chamber, and they would turn into dinosaurs. Ahh, the memories, those were the days. Thanks for the look back. Steve
Steve Burke <sjb1776@yahoo.com>
Johnstown, NY USA - Friday, January 25, 2008 at 20:56:35 (MST)
Dear Sam, What a wonderful site you've created. Great memories. Incredible Edibles has been on my mind (and my siblings) for years but we could never think of the name. Astrolite was a bonus !! Thanks for taking me back to my fun childhood where our games and toys were the BEST EVER !! Cheers, Kris
Kris Bowler <kb@gargoylesoftware.com>
Seagrave, ONT Canada - Friday, January 18, 2008 at 10:22:05 (MST)
Sam, Home over the holiday, my parents, who are in their 80's, asked me to move all of the stuff in their attic to the basement, as the attic is diffcult to access. Amongst the stuff up there, I found some great old toys. The Arnold Palmer Indoor Golf Set was very well preserved, although the "green" had folds in it. I played a quick nine in the basement. I also had two of the IDEAL Motorific Torture Tracks. These were the biggest of the sets. I got one for Christmas and got he other the following Christmas. All the parts were there as most of the cars. Two other cool items; an old Coleco electric football set and a hockey set. This was not the type that had the sliding men on rods that hit a puck; these guys were stationary but rotated. You used a marble to play. We had about 8 different teams you could play with.
Dave Hanak <davehanak@earthlink.net>
Phoenix, AZ USA - Wednesday, January 02, 2008 at 15:07:12 (MST)
Contact me: Sam Cancilla, sam@samstoybox.com.
