Strollerderby : retro toys

The Little People Turn 50!

SunnyChanel — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:30:00 GMT

I just had a wicked flashback. Suddenly I was three again and happily playing with my Fisher Price Little People Farm House. As a little person myself, I spent oodles of hours with the simple cog like limbless figures, farm animals and their home, the portable barn. I can recall vague memories of clutching the blue handle in my hand as I would take along my Play n’ Go farm to visit grandma’s. Those were the days.

What brought on this flood of memories? The current celebration of Little People’s 50th Birthday. Man, they are old! This past March 21st marked the 50th anniversary of the first Little People release, the Safety School Bus. Since that day, more than one and half billion, yes billion, Little People figures have been produced. Originally a wooden peg like character, the modern Little People are poseable figures with actual features rather than just simple lines to represent the face. “Parents and children alike have been playing with Little People toys for half a century,” said Bruce Fox, Fisher-Price toy historian and author. “Toys with longevity that bridge the generational gap are rare these days. We’re very proud of the fact that the Little People brand has stood the test of time for 50 years and foresee that the brand will continue to inspire creative, imaginative play for generations to come.”

The big people who make the Little People will be celebrating 50 years of play in a variety of ways. One of the things they’ve done a Limited Edition commemorative release of The Little People 50th Birthday Play ‘n Go Farm and School that reflects “the classic look of the original farm and school introduced in 1968 and 1971, respectively. The playsets feature retro-styled Little People figures and nostalgic, collectible take-along tins.” Along with the toys, they’ve released a Limited-Edition 50th Birthday CD that includes fifty popular sing-a-long classics that have been released throughout the years. And they’re also taking the Little People on the road. They’ve produced a Little People Live show which will be debuting on April 18th and will makes stops at the San Diego zoo, Zoo Atlanta, Brookfield Zoo, Tampa ’s Lowry Park Zoo, Toledo Zoo and the San Francisco Zoo. Plus they’re doing tie-ins with Loews hotels and the Royal Caribbean International Cruise line.

Yeah, they know how to party. You can check up on all the events, specials and celebrations here.

And if you wanna have your own flashback, just check out this old school ad below.

Crafty: Shrinky Dink Your Christmas Tree

JeanneSager — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:36:00 GMT

If you're not one of those "everything has to match" holiday tree people, you're my kind of parent. The more nursery school Santas and one-eyed reindeer the better in my book.

With the economy, well. . . you know what the economy is like . . . this year we'll be decorating the tree in a way that's both nostalgic AND futuristic. Think shrinky dinks (remember those?) from recycled plastic.

Instead of picking up the sheets of shrinkable plastic from a retro toy store online, rescue clear #6 plastic from your recycling bin (it's usually in the form of those single-serve take-out boxes from restaurants, salad bar containers or those the grocery stores use to store strawberries and blueberries).

Cut off the excess plastic so you have a flat sheet to work on, pour out a pile of markers and let them have at. Have your cookie cutters out to make holiday cookies? Trace around them, and let them add their embellishments. Let them write out a holiday message . . . whatever. Then cut around the picture. Make sure you cut a small hole near the topto later slip a string through to hang the ornament on your tree.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and drop the rack to the lowest spot it can go in the oven. Create a "tray" out of aluminum foil, and place the kids' plastic pictures across it - just make sure you keep the pieces spaced an inch apart.

The plastic will start to get wavy in the oven, but it will flatten out, shrinking to about one third of the original size and nine times the original thickness. For a piece that's about six inches across, cooking time is about three and a half minutes - a little less for smaller pictures. You can keep an eye on the plastic through the oven door and take it out after it's finished the shrinking process and flattened out. Remove carefully (using tongs) - when the plastic is still hot, it is still relatively pliable.

Stick your string through after the "ornament" is cool, and commence decorating.

Image: Playlibrary

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Have You Brought Your Toys Out of the Closet for Your Kids?

JeanneSager — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:33:00 GMT

A discussion via e-mail with some of my fellow Strollerderby writers sent me on a mission the other night to find the ultimate toy of my '80s era childhood. Tub Town was suction-cupped to the wall of my parents' bathroom for the length of my tubbing time.

Punching it into trusty Google, I wasn't surprised to find an everything eighties fan site pop up atop the list. We were raised in a material world, and you're darn tootin' if you think I was a material girl. I've made toys of my childhood research into a bit of an obsession since my daughter was born. The toy portion of our office/playroom has exploded to the point where calling it an office is like calling George Bush a president (yuk, yuk). Still, I manage to convince myself that that perfect toy that kept me enthralled when I was a kid will be the one she will never bury beneath a pile of puzzle pieces and abandoned kitchen towels long ago "borrowed" to use as a baby blankies.

The bulk of the toys from my kid-dom are gone, abused by a younger brother and later chucked as my bedroom went the way of most "kid who moved out first" rooms. It's now an office/catch-all room where the catch-all explodes with grandkid stuff the way the playroom has taken on its own life across town. So I've turned to eBay, where thousands of sellers are preying on eighties kids-turned-parents like me, who are desperate to find the Glo-Worm treehouse ($100, but it comes with 11 vintage Glo-Worms - tempting, very tempting) or the solitary cow still missing from a Fisher Price barn rescued from mildew in their parents' basement.

What is it with us? Our parents' generation said to hell with all of that old crap. Raised by our grandparents who grew up in the Great Depression and counted every penny, our parents went to the other extreme and created us, eighties-era monsters with an eBay habit. There are some among us who have been thisclose to whoring themselves out in exchange for the entire Garbage Pail Kids collection or a Pound Purry.

My proudest purchase since my daughter was born is a British book of children's stories, out of print since the eighties, that I finally tracked down and had shipped overseas to take up residence on my shelf, waiting until she's old enough to hear one of 365 bedtime stories every night of the year. And if only I could find the Tub Town. I'd pay . . . maybe give up the first born? Er, I mean, I'd be your best friend.

Image: Inthe80s.com

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How Did We Survive? Unsafe Toys From Our Childhood

Karen Murphy — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 14:34:00 GMT

I'm pretty sure that if the safety rules we impose over the toys our kids play with were imposed on the toys we played with when we were little, we would have been playing with nothing but rocks. Wait. Scratch that. Not rocks. They're, you know, hard. Uh, cotton balls! Yeah. Nice, soft cotton balls. Wait, they're chokable aren't they? Never mind the cotton balls. What about ... uh ... blocks of wood? (splinters. nope.) Um...what, then?

Well, Kelly remembers the evil, dangerous toys we all had. It's a wonder any of us are still alive, having survived BB guns, Easy Bake ovens (I had a jewelry maker that melted plastic. Tell me THAT thing was safe), and the heartbreak of Sea Monkeys.

Go read her piece over at The Poop. She's funnier than me. Go on. Go!

Dear 1960, Thank You For the Etch a Sketch

Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass) — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 11:27:00 GMT

That plastic knobby timeless wonder, the Etch a Sketch, debuted in 1960 to excited kids and jealous parents everywhere. If you didn't have one as a child (or at least fight your cousin to use his while you were sleeping over), then I certainly hope you've indulged yourself as an adult (or at least co-opted your kid's during nap time).

It was originally created by a French inventor who had trouble selling the product but eventually turned it over to a manufacturer who continues to produce the toy. Although it has been around since Kennedy took office, I hesitate to refer to it as "retro." This toy that looks basic on the inside but is packed full of techno coolness is still one of the best toys around.

I never cared about the technology as a child while I was busy trying to dot the i in my name with a sharp-pointed heart, or during those long seat-beltless hours on family road trips. However, in the ever-amplifying geekdom of my thirties, I am pretty fascinated by its complex powder and pulley system insides. Not fascinated enough to crack open my son's Etch a Sketch on the dining room table and peek at its workings myself, but fascinated enough to snag it out of his sticky little soy butter hands and give it a turn or two just for old time's sake.