Toys and games from your childhood that don't exist now

OMG, Astrowars! I hadn’t though of that in years, and now have the beeping and pinging sounds going through my head.

Lego and Action Man were my main things, but I have fond memories of Escape from Colditz, Mousetrap (which never worked), and my brother’s Steve Austin figure.

I had a Grandstand TV game thing, with the tennis and “football” games supplemented with a gun that you shot at a moving dot on the telly. The latter was brilliant, loved it. For about 2 hours, and then it was easy and boring forever.

oh, I never had any of these. I would be glued to the rich kids shoulder trying to watch them play.

I had Flight Deck. Seem to remember trying to “improve” it somehow. Action man of course. I had the Scorpion tank and my little brother only had an armoured car. I suspect my mum still has them.
Not a bought game but playing. Why don’t kids play cowboys and Indians any more or soldiers. Dads used to make wooden guns ( mine was special, its was a Sten with a removable wooden magazine) we would buy army surplus WW2 jackets and nailed cadet boots for pence. School playgrounds would be dominated by a gang of boys, arms round shoulders , making a long line and chanting “any body want a game of war” until we had enough.

Still got a Mario Game & Watch.

I would be glued to the rich kids shoulder trying to watch them play.

Sounds like when the first person to get a Game Boy got it.

I didn’t have Astro Wars, I had a UFO Master Blaster …

and this thing

I had totally forgotten about galaxy invader !
Mine had a wonderful smouldering electronics aroma .

& Crossfire – I played it until my fingers bled .
Burst blisters !

I had this.

Coolest kid on the block.

sekiden gun brilliant but jammed loads when you used dried peas instead of the expensive balls.
You’d get shot playing with these now.

Rebound, Crossfire and Space Attack. I was lucky to have all three of those. Hours upon hours crouched on the carpet in brotherly grudge matches. Brilliant memories!

Really wanted the Action Man Multi-Terrain Vehicle.

I still have a board game based on the Napoleonic wars – Campaign. Does anyone Else remember it from the 1970’s?

Rebound, Crossfire and Space Attack. I was lucky to have all three of those. Hours upon hours crouched on the carpet in brotherly grudge matches. Brilliant memories!

Really wanted the Action Man Multi-Terrain Vehicle.

I still have a board game based on the Napoleonic wars – Campaign. Does anyone Else remember it from the 1970’s?

I got a weird flashback when I opened this thread to Action Man loyalty stars. A cursory google reveals I didn’t imagine them…

My mam always got me Action Jacks. They fell to bits when you pulled the head out. I built up a fair sized army of them, which got washed out to sea in its entirety in a moment’s inattention that fateful day on the beach near Skeggy Butlin’s.

Did anyone else have a selection of knitted outfits for their action man?

I got a weird flashback when I opened this thread to Action Man loyalty stars.

What I loved was the lack-of-action accessories you could save your stars for – like ‘Sentry Box’ – nothing says ‘Action’ like standing in the rain at the entrance to a carpark 🙂

Lets Cook!

proper Tonka Toys that required tetanus jabs.

Admittedly I was 27 when I bought one like this – saw it in the window when I drove past a junk shop and had to go back and buy it

and of course the old-school lego figures before the ‘mini figure’ that now outnumbers humans.

You just for the heads and arms and had to make the rest yourself. Studs for ears so you could build things onto the side of their heads.

Followed the the original scary faceless, armless mermaid mini fig

and this thing

(Auto Race)

Woah, that just fired a synapse or two. Wasn’t there a clockwork/analogue version of that or something similar akin to those mechanical horse race games when you choose a colour/number and bet. The cars sloooooowly worked their way to the top/finish and it was anyone’s guess which one would cross the chequers first

So many memories – I had completely forgotten action jacks and it’s the thing that looked like a welding helmet that reminded me of them. Were they very cheap?

We had a crossfire which we spent hours playing in the loft and my brother had a cops chase TCR iirc – it got a lot of hours use but then we had it on a board so maybe it was more stable or something. AND dragster – many hours playing that too.

You lot have also reminded me of Astro Wars which I must have played for days on end. I now don’t think I’ll ever be able to criticise my kids for spending time on a computer game ever.

The one I got at a primary school party was this

Bombs Away is a simple game of magnetic planes that drop ball bearing bombs on targets.

The aim of the game is to pick up metal ball bearings from the side of the board with your “magnet” plane, then try to fly the plane across the plastic covering — with the plane on top of the plastic and the ball hanging below it — and aim to drop the bomb onto one of the targets below. Each target gives a different score, and the player with the highest score wins.

Not exactly in line with our new world pc ways though it does fit in pretty well with Brexit. 😉

Thanks guys

😆

Ghost Castle was called Haunted House when I was a kid (born ‘65)
I remember Buccaneer, my stepdad had it from when he was a kid.
I had the FlightDeck thing, and the helicopter on a stick, which never worked. Maybe that’s why I now have four RC helis and a quadcopter…

We also had a board game called Movie Maker, that was excellent.
A friend had Treasure Of The Pharaohs. Same idea as Haunted House but set in a pyramid and with Mummy / Carter related props

Subbuteo.

I didn’t even like football particularly.

^

Still available! Approx £30 for the UEFA Champions League set

Who are you lot trying to kid.

We used to spend many a happy afternoon as young kids playing Contraband with my nan.

1950s/60s card game where you try and smuggle objects such as brandy and fags past customs and excise. Perfect game for 2 under 10s and a septuagenarian 😆

Subbuteo football was (and still is) fairly popular.
But I had Subbuteo Cricket.
You had these tiny plastic wickets that were fitted to green plastic bases (they even had bails!)
To bowl the ball, you put it in a metal hoop attached to a figure of a bowler, and flicked him forward, thus propelling the ball towards the stumps at about 100mph. The batter had a plastic bat you rotated in your fingers.
Hitting the ball was total luck, and if anything touched the plastic base the bails would fall off, so you were out. The rest of the players were plastic figures with bases that the ball was supposed to lodge in (out caught).
It sounded great but we must have played it once. I’m sure I still have it somewhere!

Campaign. Brilliant Napoleonic strategy board game.

Sorry, hadn’t seen your post. It was a great game. Still have it!

Still got…
https://www.flickr.com/photos/7430965@N05/5847312313

A load of Action Men

Still acquiring Britains Deetail Toy Soldiers figurines, any one got any they would like to donate or sell 😉