31 Coolest Toys Of The Seventies and Early Eighties

The other day I was at an antique shop I happened across the Bionic Man Doll. I remember having it, and you could look through his Bionic Eye from the back of his head.

It made me think of other cool toys I had back in the day. I was born in 1968. So, (in no particular order) here are the best toys I can remember:

Army Men

I wasn’t really into these, but every friend I had was. Everybody had them.

Atari

Before I had my own, I used to babysit the kids down the street just so I could spend all night playing Space Invaders. It was around the time Pitfall came out is when I had my own.

Atari

Barrel Of Monkeys

This wasn’t even really a game, but it was cool to link a bunch of Monkeys together.

The Big Wheel

Big wheels were the coolest of cool, and you could beat the crap out of them on a daily basis. The only problem was the flat spots that ended up on the wheels from skidding so often. Parts were not available. Remember the brake by the back wheel?

The Bionic Man

Oscar Goldman and the Bionic Woman were also available, but nothing beat Steve Austin’s Bionic Eye.

Coleco Vision

I never had this game, but I remember playing it at a friend’s house. The Donkey Kong graphics were unbelievable.

Electric Football

Remember this one? You each line up your players and turn it on? The field simply vibrated which moved the men around, and you’d stop it when the quarterback got touched. Were passing plays available in that game?

Fisher Price Movie Preview

I vaguely remember this one, but can’t remember how it worked. Does anyone remember?

The Green Machine

After the success of the Big Wheel, this was another company’s answer to take over. It was a pimped out Big Wheel and you had to pedal with your hands.

Intellivision

I think this was before Coleco Vision, and it was lame. The baseball was state of the art though.

Stretch Armstrong

Who didn’t have one of these. Do you remember the commercials?

Lincoln Logs

Lincoln Logs were way better than Legos. Remember the green pices of wood to make the roof out of. Are they still around?

Mattel Electronic Football and Baseball

I think this was early eighties. They were pretty addicting, and every kid would be playing theirs on the school bus.

Merlin

Merlin was a cool game. It was more than just one game, there were several including Tic Tac Toe, Music Maker, Memory, Black Jack, Magic Square and Master Mind.

Mouse Trap

The board game itself was pretty lame, but setting up the trap and watching it work was the best part.

Mr Microphone

I never had one, but I remember the massive television campaign they ran. The commercial was so obnoxious.

Mr Mouth

This was one of those games you had when the batteries died you never played it again. the commercials made it look cool though.

Mr Potato Head

“You know it’s true, Mr Potato Head I love you….”

Perfection

There was a timer involved. You had a set amount of time to stick all the different shapes into their appropriate places. If you ran out of time it would bounce up and the pieces would fly everywhere.

Red Flyer Wagon

OK, is there anyone that didn’t have one of these in the yard? Even if it just sat there or mom used it to plant flowers.

Rock’em Sock’em Robots

One of the coolestt games ever. The commercials made them even cooler.

Sea Moneys

These little creatures were on the back of just about every comic book on the market. We now know it was brine shrimp. It took like 4 – 6 weeks for delivery, and we were all disappointed when they arrived.

Snow Cone Maker

My sister had one of these, and she wasn’t into sharing that much. She’d bribe me for Snow Cones.

Space 1999 Ship

This was my favorite toy. I remember picking it out of the Sears Catalog one Christmas. It was pretty big too.

Spirograph

These neat little tools could turn anybody into an artist.

Spirograph

Stratego

This is one of those games I ad to have because of the commercials. I did get it, but I don’t think I ever played it after reading the directions.

Tonka Toys

Need I say more?

View Master

View Master were hip, but I can’t remember how many discs came with it.

Wacky Packages

I used to call them Wacky Packies. These were popular around the same time you could buy Star Wars, Charlies Angels and Mork & Mindy Cards.

Wheel O

Remember this thing? I think it was magnetic.

Weebles

Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down.