Posted on 09/14/2012 7:06:46 AM PDT by JoeProBono
Visitors to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis' website have picked G.I. Joe as the top toy of the past century followed by Transformers and Lego blocks.
Museum officials picked their top 100 toys of the past 100 years and more than 24,000 votes were cast online to narrow the list down the top 20, which was topped by G.I. Joe, Transformers, Lego blocks, Barbie and the View-Master.
The list also included the bicycle, Cabbage Patch Kids, Crayons, Play-Doh, Monopoly, Raggedy Ann, Spirograph, Etch A Sketch, Little Golden Books, Hot Wheels, Lincoln Logs, Candyland, Roller Skates, Silly Putty and Mr. Potato Head.
"The feedback and support from the public for this initiative has been extraordinary," said Jeffrey Patchen, president and chief executive officer of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. "The stories people have shared about intergenerational learning, family traditions and memories has been heartwarming and life-changing in some cases. Toys are a powerful tool for exploration and imagination as we learn and grow. They foster many shared memories across generations and, as was represented in the voting and story sharing for 100 Toys, across cultures as we read stories submitted from Germany, Canada, Australia and Israel."
Nah, they cost a pretty penny then (1964-1968) would hate to pay today’s prices.
I recall a few years ago they were re-introduced as collectibles somewhere around $75 or so each... obviously not for throwing around in the dirt.
I too had a spacecraft, but it was sold during the Apollo era, though it could still only fit one astronaut Joe.
“Life-like hair”, but pre-kung-fu-grip.
It came with a (square flexible plastic!) recording of the lunar landing one could play on a record player.
Far and away my favorite toy from that era (five years old).
God only knows how Joe has been re-branded in our present PC milieu.
They reissued it in the late '90s. FAO Schwartz had a couple hidden behind the plushies. I discovered that I still wanted it, but at $199.95 it was in my "if I'm going to spend that much on something it had better shoot real bullets" zone, and I deferred again. I guess I'll never own that darned thing.
Yes, they are not worth anything since they are reproductions, but if one wants to recapture childhood, they are highly recommended.
They are part of Hasbro's "GI Joe Timeless Collection," and cover all branches of the military. US Navy Combat Diver, USAF Scramble Pilot, NASA Astronaut, US Infantry Soldier, US Green Beret, US Marine, etc...
Here are a few images:
I wonder how many people today even realize that they used to put records in magazines?
I own that one, actually, and it’s awesome. FAO put them on clearance at one point!!!
I can’t believe it beat out Silly Putty.
I got the capsule from Santa for Christmas.. It was 1965 and it came with a recording of John Glenn’s radio comms from Mercury -7 launch etc.
By 1970 it was gone (Goodwill as the recipient I imagine)
Same thing happened to my old Gas (Cox fuel) string controlled airplanes....
I don’t think that all of those versions were available when we started our collection (1964), but in addition to regular soldiers, I know that we had a Medic. We definitely would have had a Sailor, if one had been available. They were beautiful toys — well made, durable.
Darn, I missed that. I only got in FAO once before they closed. I got a load of the prices and said “h*ll no.”
Actual toys (robots, spaceships, GI Joe) are capable of doing that, but many kids is this generation view toys as archaic as they prefer digital things like I-pads and video games.
As today's children become more and more surrounded by digital screens, they will become even more unimaginative and uncreative with each passing day.
Some of my best toys went to Goodwill. Frequently before I was done with them. But I blew my Cox car up. I put something other than the standard fuel in it (perhaps Ronsonol? Those years are getting hard to remember.) It did not work well. ;-)
Those are the ones I recall seeing available - Amazing. Would be worth the memories alone, don’t need vintage for vintage’s sake.
As I look at Amazon, the prices for these are creeping skyward as well.
I remember buying one of my grandsons an “historic” GI Joe (full sized) of a Revolutionary War soldier in the late 1990s. I think it was supposed to be George Washington.
Did you shoot your eye out??
I can’t argue with that. GI Joes and their accessories were just too cool!
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