Lise's Ramblings

Complaints abound about how toys don't last very long. Pieces break off. Electronics stop working. And the list goes on. Doesn't that make you yearn for indestructible playthings? Try as she might, the puppy next door couldn't chew that toy to bits. Your class bully couldn't break it by tossing it out the school bus window. A sibling couldn't trash it by knocking it down the stairs. Now those were toys. Tonka trucks come to mind. You could stand on them. Drop them from a treehouse. Crash them into one another. Leave them out in the sandbox. No matter what, those yellow trucks pulled through to see another play date. Maybe it's a pail in a wooden sandbox. What's the worse that can happen? The handle might snap off your pail. That won't stop you from filling the pail up again. Your sand castle may crumble, but the sand is there for future play. Rain may flood the box or snow may temporarily bury the sand, but you know a little sunshine will rest...

 Oooooh, it's a Big Wheels. Flashback to the early 1980s!  In the past, I’ve blogged about special places remaining relatively unchanged . Today, I highlight toys that have barely been affected by the passing of time. Even with the abundance of Dora, Elmo, Disney princesses, Lightning McQueen, LeapFrog and Baby Einstein toys in store aisles and family playrooms, it’s amazing to see how many retro toys still exist. After all these years, you can still buy the following toys brand new: ·           the basic Fisher-Price Rock-a-Stack (tower of coloured rings) ·           the Play-Doh Mega Fun Factory (or as my niece calls the squishy stuff: Oh-lee-oh-lee-oh) ·           a Barrel of Monkeys ·           wooden xylophones, puzzles and building blocks ·      ...