Thread: Toys, what role do they play?

I ended up with this "rocket ship". A printed cardboard thing I could fit into. It was sold through the back pages of a comic book I think. It was WAY too limiting.
I got FAR more mileage out of an old refrigerator box that fulfilled all KINDS of
imaginary purposes, and if it was found wanting,(no eject button, or non-descript gauge/meter thingy) 10-15 minutes with a few crayons, or a serrated steak knife, on it fixed the problem.

I asked about "the box" when I bought a new refrigerator a few days ago. Apparently they're not shipped like that anymore.

Then there was the trusty, all purpose, "stick"...

Klackers were cool for a (short)while. They were loud, moved really fast, and provided the opportunity to hurt yourself if you didn't "do 'em" just right. But that's ALL they did. (yawn)They were outlawed of course....

An eraser shield. Stamped metal piece with different sized shapes used for erasing very specific parts of typewritten stuff.
THAT was the BEST drawing template for race cars, fighter planes, and machine guns, while otherwise unchallenged in "public" grade school.

We DID have a huge sand lot in warmers months, and HUGE piles of snow banks in cooler months, and spring
melt flooded driveways when it got warm again.
ENDLESS "engineering" and invention (OK, re-invention, but new to US dammit!) went on in there.

Toys, what role do they play?

absolutely none-except to drive a parent crazy for the ridiculous waste of $$$ they are,only to find out they are worthless in the end-fuckin' junk

as far as toy guns go-a stick with special sound effects from the user,always worked well when i was a kid

I had an Easy Bake Oven. I would try to come up with my own recipes and see how they would come out. I've always enjoyed helping in the kitchen, so this was an awesome toy for me.

Legos was also a favorite of mine. I would play with them for hours and just build things.

Etch a sketch was fun.

Had My Little Ponies, Barbies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Cabbage Patch too.

Pogs was a fun toy game. Had tons of those. I have a collection of 50 of them still. All in a protective case.

Quote from CaptDMO

I ended up with this "rocket ship". A printed cardboard thing I could fit into. It was sold through the back pages of a comic book I think. It was WAY too limiting.
I got FAR more mileage out of an old refrigerator box that fulfilled all KINDS of
imaginary purposes, and if it was found wanting,(no eject button, or non-descript gauge/meter thingy) 10-15 minutes with a few crayons, or a serrated steak knife, on it fixed the problem.

I asked about "the box" when I bought a new refrigerator a few days ago. Apparently they're not shipped like that anymore.

I remember playing with boxes like that as a child. I usually turned mine into a spaceship or pirate ship. lol

Quote from outdoors

absolutely none-except to drive a parent crazy for the ridiculous waste of $$$ they are,only to find out they are worthless in the end-fuckin' junk

as far as toy guns go-a stick with special sound effects from the user,always worked well when i was a kid

I disagree. I think toys help you learn certain skills that will be needed later in life and help a kid figure out how things work.

Toys help you learn all kinds of things.

Not worthless at all.

Quote from FuzzX

[I]
''Toys are mechanisms for learning,'' Ms. Pogrebin said. ''Parents should take seriously the ill effects of sex stereotyping. It gives children half a life. The shopping cart is typical. When a girl is 3 or 4, she will figure out what it stands for, and she will understand that most people pushing shopping carts in the supermarket are women.''

Indeed - Does it stand for being chained to the oppressive symbol of the brutish raping testosterone poisoned pig patriarchy...

Or does a shopping cart stand for the opulence of choice that the modern supermarket is, particularly compared to hunter gatherer days - when 'ripe' had a rather different meaning.

BTW - No Mention of the Money it takes to fill up said shopping cart, and where these poor enslaved pushers get the funds (was it from a Man, or Government as Surrogate Husband ) to indulge their whims ...

- whether it be buying enough food to eat well (a rarity in much of human history) or a visit to the makeup counter - where the big girls buy their toys.

Consider - if Women cut in Half the amount of Disposable Income they Already Spend on such things as makeup, accessories, drag... They could fund all the social programs ever hoped for, and have enough to challenge poverty as well. And they wouldn't have to 'ask men's permission' - as Women alone control their Own Discretionary spending on Cosmetics Etc...

Just a Thought - admittedly and Un-Good One, but this is AM.

Ohso

I disagree. I think toys help you learn certain skills that will be needed later in life and help a kid figure out how things work.

Toys help you learn all kinds of things.

Not worthless at all.

i agree with you-i am just sick of fucking toy's everywhere

Quote from outdoors

i agree with you-i am just sick of fucking toy's everywhere

Then tell them to clean them up.

Those that can't take care of toys, don't get any. I learned that real quick with my parents. lol

[QUOTE=FuzzX;232479][I]Nowhere is this law of unintended consequences more evident than in the controversy surrounding the question of toy guns. Play involving toy guns has many of the cues that boys naturally find more interesting than girls. When teachers stop them playing with guns, therefore, they are implicitly sending boys the message that their natural curiosity is wrong. The result is not that boys switch to a different (feminine) kind of curiosity. Rather, the result is that they switch off.

Again,and i hate to sound like a broken record,the problem lie's not with boy's playing with toy gun's or even a finger that goes bang,but with the teacher's in the school system and their master's in the state,they are the one's with a problem with those boy's and their game's,and even if we were to eliminate those lethel finger's,they will find something else to bring down our boy's in their never ending hatred to the young male's,the only way we can redress this is by removing our children from their control.

Quote from haute macabre

Then tell them to clean them up.

Those that can't take care of toys, don't get any. I learned that real quick with my parents. lol

they are cleaned up-want some?

Quote from outdoors

they are cleaned up-want some?

What do you have?

Any from the 80's or 90's? lol

Quote from FuzzX

The reason that teachers stop boys playing with guns is, it claims, because "adults can find this type of play particularly challenging and have a natural instinct to stop it"

Really? When I was a child, my schoolyard friends and I were usually using a stick as a gun and I don't recall teachers or parents (or other adults for that matter) screaming at us to drop them. In fact, I recall one or two Dads (of other kids) would play along and use their two fingers pointed out as a make-shift gun to return fire and shoot the kids that were 'shooting' at them.
If parents have had this 'natural instinct' to stop boys playing with guns (makeshift or plastic or otherwise), I would suggest it has come about because they've read in so-called parenting magazines that allowing boys to play 'bang bang' is definitely going to lead to them being bank robbers or evil rapists in later life. And with the advent of the single-parent (typically single mother) home, the women who are bringing up these children can't relate to their Sons... which is where a Father SHOULD come in to the equation. But, rather than allow a child to have quality time with his (or her) Dad, it's just easier to tell the kid "No, you can't play cops n' robbers any more - my Ms Magazine says you'll turn into a rapist if you do that"

Quote from FuzzX

Ms. Pogrebin, an editor of Ms. magazine, wrote its toy buying guide for many years.

Oh there's a fuckin' surprise.

Quote from FuzzX

''Toys are mechanisms for learning,'' Ms. Pogrebin said. ''Parents should take seriously the ill effects of sex stereotyping. It gives children half a life. The shopping cart is typical. When a girl is 3 or 4, she will figure out what it stands for, and she will understand that most people pushing shopping carts in the supermarket are women.''[/I]

Right, I'd somewhat agree with that - but, as a child with a sister & older brother, I played with ALL SORTS of toys that were available to me.

Yes, I played guns... I played cops n' robbers... I borrowed my sister's Cindy & Barbie dolls, and even the play horses and would 'mix n match' with Action Man figures and even with Star War's figures (my brothers). It was great fun trying to fit Cindy (about 6" or so) into a 3" X-wing fighter.
I often played with imaginary toys too. I was a huge Doctor Who fan, and would often hide in bushes from aliens that were 'invisible to everyone but me'.... or sometimes, 'invisible to everyone but me and my mate who was also playing the same game' lol Hiding from Daleks that were invisible was excellent fun! Even the Doctor himself wouldn't have been able to outwit those ones.

All this 'boys shouldn't play with boys toys' is rubbish. Why are feminists insistent on feminizing young boys?

I bought a G.I. Joe to kick Ken's ass and bang the shit out of Barbie.

I agree with Marx, people really need to just let kids be kids, including boys. Children aren't weighed down with the hardships of life and they shouldn't have gender issues forced on them, especially when it comes to crap like this. I had alot of random toys when I was young, like Ponies, Dolls and then toy cars, even used to play with toy wrestlers. The only thing that makes me angrier than society forcing men into a corner is when they push things onto children, like specifically targeting little boys. I also agree that toys can be great for learning as well, but this crap about "boys can't play with boy toys" and such is just ridiculous. Further, why should toys be separated between little boys and girls? I mean, they should just allow kids to have (and take care of) whatever toy they find interesting, and not just limit it to what people see as fit for one gender.

~ Raz

My mum and dad were/are shop-aholics who basically grew up dirt poor, my father had 'kick the can' and my mother had 1 red crayon. So as a kid, my parents bought me almost every toy known to man. I had almost every single Star Wars toy, Gi-Joe, He-Man, Lego, Duplo, Playmobil, Space Tent, Garbage Pail Kids Cards, Wacky Cards, Lite Brite, Game-Boy, M.U.S.C.L.E's, Army Ants, Food Fighters, G.U.T.S, Nintendo, Transformer, Care-Bears, Micro-machines, Bucky o'hare, my dad even bought me a TRON arcade game... I spent most of my Christmases in the hospital though, I was a really sick kid. My fondest memory of a toy was basically, I really wanted this AT-AT toy that had just come out. It was sold out of every single store and my dad drove 11 hours to get it for me. I played with it the whole month while I was sitting in a asthmatic tent in the hospital. It was an awesome child hood and I spent most of my time in my room, I don't think I was a hard kid to raise, however, I was a spoiled child, no doubt about it. At one point, my parents asked me what I would like for Christmas and I couldn't think of any toys... I saw what the other kids had and said "I WANT A LITTLE BROTHER!". My parents bought me a 'my buddy doll' that Christmas... but I demanded a little brother. Well... I got him and even though he can be a prick sometimes, I would trade all my toys for him. He's been the best present I've ever got AND I even got to name him.



I grew up a happy kid until I started high-school but even then I still managed to stay clear of drugs, alcohol & crime. I think it was due to having enough toys to play with as a kid which evolved into tons of hobbies. Also, I noticed that while both my parents have alcohol problems, I think it was primarily due to them not having any hobbies... both my father and mother pour all their time into 'the house' and TV.... when there isn't anything to do around the house, they drink and fight. One of my cousins grew up with a mom who was too cheap to buy her ANY toys, as soon as she hit 12 or 13, she got into drugs and sex and is still there 20 years later. I have a feeling that the popular kids in school were the children that never got any toys at home and thus looked to sex/sports early on to busy themselves. I could never be bothered with either, I was too busy playing video games and watching science fiction movies. Anyway, I think toys are extremely important in developing a child's imagination and keeping them out of trouble. I understand that families today can't really afford to give their kids too much, but I would like to point out that there are tons of inexpensive toys that you can give your kids that they will cherish forever. I have found out that I'm pretty happy on my own, I have lots of interests that I sort of ignored when I had a girlfriend. I am a much more fun and engaging person when I'm by myself.

I'm hoping to give my kids a similar childhood experience even though I don't have the same access to money that my parents had. Here are a few of the things I'm saving for my kids. These are fairly inexpensive and will provide hours of entertainment for your kids.

Star Wars D6, Spell Jammer, D20 Modern, Dungeons & Dragons, TOON, Paranoia XP (Campaign Books)
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There is no end of adventures you can have/create with this. For about $100 New or $30 used you can give your kid a whole world of imagination to play with. You can pick up almost everything on EBAY for next to nothing. I never had anyone to play with, so I spent most of my time just creating worlds from the source material. A couple of us tried to start a D&D club in school but the teachers banned it after hearing it was EVIL.. You can pretty well use any toys you have in conjunction with Dungeons and Dragons so it's an excellent add on for anything you buy for your kids.

Dungeons & Dragons: TSR Cards
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These were trading cards that you could use in your Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. Although they are written for 2nd ed. you can use the stories and convert the stats. You can get a whole box of them on EBAY for about $20, they are some of the coolest cards I've ever seen.

Chris Hart: How To Draw Cartoon Animals
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This guy has a ton of great books and gives kids the ability to cartoon their creations into life. I've picked up almost the whole series for under $5 a book.

Magic The Gathering CCG
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You can pick up used cards on EBAY for next to nothing. I've bought a huge box of them... I think like over 2000 cards for just under $20 and managed to put together about 12 Decks. MTG will give your kids the ability to think strategically, math skills. etc.. You can also pick up the Pokemon CCG used on EBAY for nearly nothing. Personally I'd rather my kids get hooked on buying cards than drugs.

Toy Gun
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Doesn't have to be anything special... a kid can have endless hours of fun with a toy gun. If you buy them a science fiction gun then you don't have to worry too much about them becoming interested in real guns... we don't have any real guns here so its not such a big deal.

Nintendo UNO
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Nintendo UNO is such an awesome improvement over regular UNO... it adds a lot of neat features and just about everyone I know loves to play it. $5

Clix (Mech-Warrior, HALO, Baseball, Marvel)
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These are really cool little action figure type toys that have bases which rotate and click different rules, hard to explain but really easy to play with. You can find them on ebay in huge lots and they are fairly inexpensive for the amount of fun they provide. My brother and I sunk about $500 into them a few years ago.

Star Wars Minis: Starship Battles
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Its been a few years now and you can probably pick them up fairly cheap on EBAY. For the whole set, you might have to do a little digging but this game is awesome and two kids can play for hours... my brother and I own every single ship. You can actually supplement Star Wars Micro-machines for the ones you can't find.

Guess Who?
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You can pick up this classic board game for $2 or $3 at your local 'thrift store' or buy a new one from Walmart for about $20. This game is good for both girls and boys and you can play it for hours without getting bored.


War-Hammer 40k
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Try and find this stuff used, honestly my brother has sunk over a thousand dollars into this stuff. The strategic gaming really appeals to him and he also loves painting his own armies. Only super nerds play this game and you can be pretty much guaranteed that your kid will be spending 100's of hours sitting inside comic shops and building miniature scenery. While my brother was getting over his alcohol problem, he got back into War-Hammer.

SPRITE ART
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My recommendation is to buy your kids 100's of little wooden blocks and inexpensive paints. This is an excellent hobby and really REALLY inexpensive. I bought about 2500 little wooden blocks for about $50. If you liked 8 Bit Nintendo characters, then you can bring them to life in the form of art. Anyone can do it and they look great standing in your room. You have to download the BITMAPs yourself but they are free on the web. Some people use perler beads, which can get fairly expensive. I prefer just to chop up bit of cardboard. The Wooden blocks allow some of your sprites to stand on their own two feet. So far we've made Dragon Warrior, Super Mario, Galaxian and River City Ransom sprites for our games room. Everyone comments about how cool they look.

Featherweight's Mecha Manual
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I bought this recently and managed to make about 7 helmets... the last 3 look great. I made them out of cardboard and paper mache, I think the only thing that cost me anything was the paint. The PDF only cost $5 and if I were still a kid, I would have had no end of fun making up my own robot costumes.

Chunky Dungeons (http://www.worldworksgames.com/store/)
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If your kid has access to a printer/photocopier you can make your own playsets by ordering these PDFs. I mention these because my brother recently bought the village set for his wh40k armies and they look fantastic. I think the total cost for the colour prints came to $5 but you can use black and white and I'm sure they'd still look great. I can't imagine kids not loving these.

Comic Books
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While not technically toys, they are an inexpensive way to provide your kids with fun reading material and what you can't find online you can buy at your local library. I buy comics out of the discards box for about .10 each. You can also find huge lots of MAD Magazines and Old Comics at like 20 bucks for several hundred.

Dance EJAY
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I got this as a present when I was 21 and I haven't stopped using the series since. The program is easy to use and much like LEGO except you instead build dance music by using sound samples. The newer versions have every genre of electronic music and you can export the tracks to MP3 files. My friends and I all made our own music for a year and a half and were giving each other CD's we had made to listen to in the car... it was most excellent, and the program only cost $20.

Break Dance Videos
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I have dropped hundreds of hours watching and practicing break dance with my friends at nightclubs and in parking lots. For less than a hundred bucks you can teach your kids some really great skills that they can use for the rest of their lives. I would recommend (wedancehard.com), (glowsticking.com) and (breakdancingvideos.com)... as a caution, try to keep your kids in the popping and locking side of things. One bad headspin and you can wind up in a wheelchair for life. I recommend anything by Mr. Wiggles or Salah.

Kites (http://www.gombergkites.com/plynn2.html)
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I remember my father use to take me out once in awhile to fly kites... its amazing how much fun you can have just holding on to a string. Later on in college I got really heavy into the kite scene and dumped a couple thousand dollars into some really awesome kites. You can find good kites for as low as $10 at walmart and they will provide kids with an unforgettable experience. The website at the top has giant inflatable kites that cost about $1000 but are absolutely amazing. I bought a Wright Brothers Airplane kite, it is almost as big as the real thing and it requires at least 2 people to fly it.

YO-YO
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Shouldn't cost more than 3 bucks... this is pretty self explanatory. I played with mine for years... in fact I still bring it with me whenever I know I'll be standing around for long periods of time.


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There is no reason you can't give your kids an excellent fun filled childhood without needing to drop tons of $$$ on expensive toys.

I also had the easy-bake oven, but the problem with that was that you'd always run out of cake mix/icing and would have to special order the packages... I think a safer alternative would be to give your kids a Global Sun Oven... at least you wouldn't have to pay for electricity, and they can have fun preparing you all sorts of meals...haha

School Kids build cardboard gundams: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news...dboard-Gundams