A Few of My Favorite Things…
Posted by Karen Foley in Blaze Authors, Karen Foley, tags: eBay, Karen Foley, toys, Wii
One of the things I like to do when I’m procrastinating writing, cleaning, or paying bills, is to search for things I don’t need on eBay. I have huge lists of things I “watch” but will never bid on, just because I’m curious how high the bidders will go on items like Ursula Leyk lighthouses from Germany (very popular with military wives back in the 90’s), or Villeroy & Boch Christmas ornaments. While browsing the lists, I was surprised by how many vintage toys are available for purchase, and began to search for toys that I had as a child.
My absolute favorite was the Sunshine Family dolls, a sweet hippy family made by Mattel, consisting of Mom, Dad, and Baby Sweets. My older sister had Barbies, but I only wanted to play with the Sunshine Family, and I brought them with me everywhere. I think they cost about $10 back in 1974, and I saw them on sale for about $70 on eBay.
The least favorite toy I had was a ventriloquist Bozo the Clown doll that scared the bejeezus out of me. I would grab it by a foot and, holding it at arms’ length, would fling the thing deep into my closet. My mom would pull it out and put it back on my chair, and I never had the courage to tell her how much I hated that doll. My uncle came to visit one day with his golden retriever, Molly, who had an obsession with burying things. My sisters and I gave the Bozo doll to her and watched in glee as she buried it behind our garage. After that, we were too afraid to go back there for fear that it would crawl out of the ground and come after us.
These days, my favorite toys include things like my iPod, my laptop, and my Wii. What about you? What were some of your favorite toys as a child, and what about now? Leave a post here, and I’ll select somebody at random to receive a $25 Amazon gift card toward the purchase of a new toy!;-)
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I wasn’t much for playing with dolls when I was young, I liked my brothers cars and trucks. They had some great Tonka trucks and back then those things were made out of heavy metal. They could take a beating and still look great. They don’t make toys like that anymore. I agree about the clowns, I think they are creepy. Someone gave my oldest daughter one when she was small and she was scared to death of it. Then when Poltergeist came out and the clown came out from under the bed, even though she was older she still freaked out. So no clowns for the grandkids. Now that I’m older, we won’t say how much, I like my Playstation, phone, MP3 and my computer(even though it’s ready for retirement).
Linda, my younger sister was totally into the Tonka trucks! She had a dumptruck that she used to ride all the way down the driveway! It was indestructible and she eventually gave it to her nephew, about 20 years later.
Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy! Dolls of kinds, Barbies and Barbie’s world, books, Etch-a-Sketch, Lite-Brite, E-Z Bake Oven, Monopoly, Twister, Toss-A-Cross, checkers, card games, dress up, tea parties, 007 James Bond Spy Kit, Chatty Kathy, playing records, going to movies, TV, Cartoons, “entertaining” my family–my captive audience!
I still love those things : ) Today, I am just a large adult size version of that kid. Add the PC and the web, and I’m all set to play! Want some milk and cookies? : )
I was the checkers champ in our family (I hated to lose), but these days it’s my 13-year old daughter who kicks my butt.
My old toys…Barbie, I had so many, my favorite was Golden Dream Barbie. Then My Little Pony…Smurfs…I still have a bazillion of them boxed away. The old Strawberry Shortcake dolls before they modernized them and made them look…erm..slutty. My favorite baby doll was Baby Soft Sounds…
Now my toys are my ipods…and zens, my netbook, my desktop and digital cameras..I hoop to have a nook soon to play with.
Andrea, I’m hoping for a GPS for my birthday, although I’d love a nice digital camera, too! Those are the two toys on my current wish list.
I love my digital cameras. I have 3…two with really good zoom for concerts and when I go on vacation and a cute nikon coolpix for day to day stuff..and food…cos I’m a food blogger
Good Morning Karen! First I have to say that just seeing that picture of the clown creeps me out, lol! I have hated clowns since I saw the movie IT when I was a kid. As for favorite toys as a kid, I was a total Barbie kid. I had hundreds and all the crap to go with them, lol. My best friend had the Sylvanian Families toys that we used to play with at her house. Aside from that Monopoly was always a favorite family game, and Twister is still one of my favorite games of all time. I even played it when I was 4 months pregnant, lol! Now my favorite toys are my IPod, my computer and my husband. Oh wait he’s not a toy, lol! Have a great day!
Oh, too funny, Alina! My husband would be thrilled if I put him in my toy collection!
I was a Barbie girl all the way. I still have the one I was given on my 12th birthday (I turned 50 this year). I also loved my Marx dollhouses. My favorite toy now is my laptop, my Kindle, and my iPod. I still like playing with the Nintendo 64 and Wii — our favorite games are Mario Party and Mario Kart.
Ooh, I haven’t tried Mario Party, but I’m getting pretty good at Mario Kart! I’m still debating on the Kindle, since I’m not so sure I can give up the hard copy books!!
I had the Barbies, but the Sunshine family! I had the house (which was more like a barn) and the family and the requesite accessories. My mother felt it was less ‘degrading’ than Barbie (LOL). I also loved my Easy Bake oven. I used to cook ever weekend. Thank you for bringing me back to a happier time
I had the cute little camper…funny, but I never wanted the “new” family that included the toddler girl and baby boy, or the grandparents.
Didn’t have “toys” as a kid. No dolls. One stuffed bear that was only allowed to sleep with me but not go elsewhere in the house. Played solitaire (in various fashions) by myself. Used the blackboard in the garage (sometimes with neighbourhood kids), pretending I was the teacher or vice-versa. Had a skipping rope and a ball to bounce on the garage (but wasn’t allowed to hit the garage door). Made a “yogi” by tying elastics together, then stretching it between the telephone pole and our maple tree, so I could practise high jumping (long before you fell into something — back in those days, you landed on your feet and kept on truckin’). I did have a child’s and adult’s library card at young ages. They fulfilled me greatly.
Today, I play various mahjjong games on the computer, do Sudoku puzzles at bedtime, and read books in grocery lines, doctors’ offices, in the tub, and while a passenger on “longish” car rides. I still don’t have actual “toys”, I guess. I play sports five nights a week, eight months a year (and twice a week the remaining four months), so I keep active, both physically and mentally.
What? No toys?? At least you had your books and a good imagination! And I’ll venture to say that with all your sports, you’re in much better shape than I am…sitting at a computer doesn’t do much for my physique, lol! Thanks for sharing!
I loved to play with my Barbies when I was little. Now, I prefer my laptop.
As a kid my fav toys were My Little Pony, Barbie, and Transformers! Now my fav toys are my Nintendo DS, my e-reader, and my computer! As for clowns, not a fan here…
Colleen, they didn’t have My Little Pony when I was kid, but I remember collecting the Breyer horses…these were as close as I was ever going to get to having my own pony (at least if my parents had anything to say about it!).
I love my Pound Puppies and Play Doh. I never got that Easy Bake Oven I always wanted, but I did get the Snoopy Sno Cone Machine. Now I love my portable DVD player, iPod and, laptop and phone.
Jane, I didn’t have a Sno Cone machine, but I had a Mr. Peanut grinder, meant to grind peanuts into peanut butter. My sisters and I used to grind all kinds of food through it, but weren’t as enthusiastic at cleaning it out and it turned into a huge mold machine, lol.
As a disabled person many toys were difficult for me to play with. But once I found something that worked for me I bought lots of versions of that particular toy. My favorites were Matchbox cars, Lite Bright, Flip and Fold Fashions, Fashion Plates, and Cabbage Patch Kids. I especially loved the fashion ones, designing clothes was and still is a dream.
Lite Brite!! Fashion Plates! Jody, you just brought back all kinds of memories! I used to love Paint by Numbers, too.
Hmm, as a kid, I had my Barbies (my favorite was my astronaut Barbie!
Okay, grew up and realized that she wasn’t the best astronaut in the world, given the outfit was pink, but hey, she was an astronaut. LOL). . . and my Star Wars figures. . . and my He-Man/She-Ras. Me at 33 now, have my Donald Ducks, Ernies, Star Wars and Star Trek stuff, Space Shuttles and my too slow in growing Rubber Duckies. Of which they do have an astronaut rubber duckie, but alas, I haven’t gotten it yet. And I found a picture of a long since discontinued astronaut Ernie doll that I soooo wish I had. No astronaut Donald that I know of, but I guess him as a stormtrooper can be considered close. 
Lois
My older sister had an astronaut costume that was totally realistic. She was about 7 years old when Apollo 11 landed on the moon, so astronauts were the super-heroes of the day!
One of my favorites was my spirograph. I also had a Barbie-type (a generic one) hair styling and makeup head that I really liked. A small table-top organ . . . I feel sorry for my parents having to listen to me play that for hours.
Always wanted a train but those usually went to one of my three brothers. And I totally agree, that clown looks scary!
I had two favorite toys growing up. My tea sets. I loved to have tea parties all the time with my youger sister. Yes we would dress up with the hats and gloves and drink sugar water. It was the best time!! I also loved this time of the year because my siblings and I would save our money and walk down to the local drug store and buy a new bat and ball to play in the backyard with our neighbors all summer long. This is where i got the love of the game and now I get to enjoy this past tme with my boys now! All great memories!! Thanks:)
Barbie was my favourite as a kid. Now I’d be lost without my imac.
The winner of the Amazon gift car is VIRGINIA C…!! Send me an email at karenefoley@comcast.net and I’ll get this gift card out to you! Congratulations, and thank you to everyone for stopping by!
Thank you so very much! I have emailed my info.
Congrats Virginia!