Toys you had as a kid and that you kept

V

vavavroom

Joined
Oct 31, 2017
Messages
13,981
As a little kid, I was a toy car nut, now I'm just nuts. My dad used to gift me one toy vehicle every week for several years until I Iost interest in toy cars at about age 10 when I really got into skateboarding. My favorite toy vehicle ever was, and still is, my Corgi Holmes Wrecker that I got when we were living in the UK. I believe that's a Ford C series. I don't know where my dad found this toy truck because I got it when I was 7 or 8 and it had been out of production by 1975, one year before I was born. Maybe my dad had kept hidden it away for a few years? This truck is about 1/50 scale and bit over 4 inches long. It has twin swing booms that may be operated independently. The red bubble light doubles as a switch that allows switching between the two winches. The cab tilts to reveal the engine. The undercarriage is fairly detailed and the vehicle has working suspension. Even at 8-years old I could not help but modify my toy wrecker. I added stronger and longer "cables" for "mountain rescues." The wing mirrors are actually mirrored. The mirrors, horns, ladders, and exhaust pipe didn't break off - I was very careful with my favorite truck. I lost a Fiat Balilla while towing it across the railing of a footbridge in the park. Apparently, toy Fiats don't float. I still have my Corgi Holmes Wrecker. It's older than me by a couple of years. I have the box and the figurines of the driver and the mechanic stored away. The truck has been on display on a shelf for at last 10 years. I just like looking at it ever so often.

Note the ball-shaped LEAD weights above the hooks. I'm expecting my mental decline to occur anytime now.










[url=https://postimages.org/]
 
Last edited:
Trav said:
When I was 9 I got a model working steam engine for Christmas, it got damaged moving a year later. I have been looking since ebay started and finally found an original one new in box a couple of years ago. I cost 10x+ more than it did in 1967 but it was my holy grail.
Click to expand...
Was that a Wilesco? Those things were cool. They ran on ESBIT tablets. They even made a functional steam roller. I just checked. They are still available. Maybe still in production, maybe NOS. Almost $800 brand-new.
 
Last edited:
This was my favorite toy as a child. Lord I wish I'd kept it.
Screenshot_20220725-170222-199.webp
 
WylieCoyote said:
This was my favorite toy as a child. Lord I wish I'd kept it.
View attachment 109679
Click to expand...
We played with those in the sandbox, down by the pond, and in the cemetery (Don't ask - we were trying to excavate "dinosaur bones"). My friend had an articulated excavator and I had a dump truck and a cement mixer. Those vehicles actually started rusting and really looked the part. Nobody was worried about getting tetanus, I mean "titnuts"?
 
Last edited:
Corgi made some top of the line toys back in the day. I remember having a Caterpillar motor grader when I was about 5 years old (65 years ago) but it’s long gone. I drove the Ford CL 9000 series many thousands of miles back in the 70’s when I drove for Estes Express Lines. IIRC the C stood for cab over and the L for the Ford truck plant in Louisville Kentucky. I actually owned a 1989 Ford LTL 9000 tandem axle sleeper cab tractor and had it leased to Southern Freight pulling their line haul freight between Greensboro, N.C. and Birmingham, AL until about 1995 when I sold it and got a real (home every night) job! The Louisville series were some great trucks. My sons (in their late 40’s) still have their snow sleds from when they were kids.
 
My mother grew up during the Great Depression. She saved old jars and lots of other worthless stuff but threw away the old toys that are now worth big bucks. My cousin was away at college and when his mother died, my family took over his house and all its belongings. I guess we sold it for him. We moved all the stuff to my house and sold the house and my grandfather held the mortgage. They had a lot of cool old stuff in the basement. This was around 1970. One old game that was my cousin's that I remember was this weird baseball game. The baseball was a square magnet and you pitched it with this spring loaded launcher onto a metal sheet that had the strike zone printed on it.

Alas, I don't have any old toys except for an old rodeo flashlight. My stepson (38) has all of his old toys in my basement. A lot of them are valuable. There is a Derek Jeter rookie signed baseball down there somewhere.
 
the Fischer Price airplane, original Rock em Sock em Robots, original Mattell Electric football handheld game, a Coleco version, Steve Austin, 6 Million Dollar Man action figure (lost the engine he used to curl), electric football (the metal, green vibrating field) with 6 different teams...we didn't throw much out in my house.
 
vavavroom said:
We played with those in the sandbox, down by the pond, and in the cemetery (Don't ask - we were trying to excavate "dinosaur bones"). My friend had an articulated excavator and I had a dump truck and a cement mixer. Those vehicles actually started rusting and really looked the part. Nobody was worried about getting tetanus, I mean "titnuts"?
Click to expand...
The scoop on mine was painted (powder coated?) yellow, unlike the one in the pic. The scoop edges were a little rusted, but that was it. I loved that thing, along with my Mighty Mo dump truck.
 
I still have a 1930’s era hand me down metal pedal tractor

Also have my nes/snes/gameboy

Mom made me toss my channel F I bought for a dollar (back on the day, disappointed I did)
 
Starman2112 said:
Got this for Christmas in either 1973 or 1974 when I was 5 or 6 years old. Still runs great. Unfortunately, I do not have the box it came in.

View attachment 109714
Click to expand...
I think I had that exact same train set! That thing was indestructible! I ran it full blast every time I played with it. I had mine around the same time you did, and about the same age too. I loved the transformer with that metal swing arm throttle lever!! (y)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Should you wait until the bulb check is complete before starting?
2
Replies
36
Views
2K
javacontour
D
Wix Filter Rusted Through
2
Replies
25
Views
3K
KevinMalone
S
I love the snow but ... Kinda done with it
2 3 4
Replies
65
Views
2K
Just a civilian pilot
R
My 10,000 mile review of the 2024 Tahoe
Replies
16
Views
2K
redhat
M
1 Week Review - 2025 Toyota Tacoma Hybrid Limited
2
Replies
24
Views
3K
RobbS
Back
Top