What toys from your childhood would you love to see again?

[BlossomingSlowly]

I'm a 90s baby and have recently been reminded of my old Polly Pocket collection. I've kept a fair few of my childhood toys (Sylvanian families and various Playmobile sets) for my future children, but am thinking of starting to collect vintage Polly Pocket sets just for nostalgia!

If you could have/collect any of your childhood toys, what would you wish to have most?

Puppy, Kitty and Pony in my Pocket 😍😍😍

Puppy, Kitty and Pony in my Pocket 😍😍😍

Yellow teapot
Green treehouse
Sindy three storey house with horse and caravan.
Born in 1972

Oh my just seen a picture of the plastic boot I loved mine!

@Laiste me too, I loved the pippa dolls especially the one with the long blond hair

I had a Mary Quant doll which I loved, early 70s

Micro machines

The small transformers

I still have this hidden in my wardrobe. It only has the faintest scent of strawberries now but it's still amazing.
My DD has the newer Polly pockets and they are nowhere near as good.

It’s so visceral isn’t it? The feel, smell and sound of these toys? I can remember well the velvet nap of the bodice and red hearts on that dress, the sensation of the ‘crystal’ outfit and the bobbly snakeskin type bumps on the Peaches and Cream Barbie’s top.

These feelings sink deep into our childish plastic, mouldable brains. Embedded by all our senses and hardwired by the way we were enveloped by these toys.
The fact that we didn’t have as many toys in comparison to children these days and the variety of items available was less (plus before internet advertising and multi-channel marketing) seems to have focused our attention on these toys that have become cultural signposts of our childhood.

Also, it was probably helped by the fact that manufacturing processes were subtly different, using plastics and materials that off-gassed. Barbies don’t smell the same these days and I’m positive that the smelly erasers that I so loved would be banned as carcinogenic!

I’ve noticed that the smell of new electrics has changed too. The Tandy cassette player I hastily unwrapped on a Christmas Day in the early/mid eighties was nestled in squeaky icebergs of polystyrene and whiffed of slightly sweet burning with overtones of futuristic plastics.

That smell seems to have disappeared with the advent of ‘plug already included’ appliances. Seems bonkers to think that electrical goods came without one, bare wired with a forked tongue of copper twists!

…sorry, my post was in response to @EishetChayil remarks about how her 1983 Crystal Barbie’s dress felt

One Christmas I got 'Mimi and the Goo Goos Fun Park' still remember it so well! I loved it.
www.amazon.co.uk/Mimi-Goos-FABULOUS-DELUXE-PLAYSET/dp/B001N4W8E8?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I'd love to see my Sindy's clothes again - not so much the Sindies themselves who were relatively interchangeable apart from Masquerade Sindy with her amazing curly hair. I especially loved Rain and Shine Sindy with her mac, umbrella and sun dress, the aforementioned Masquerade Sindy with her cream ball gown, fan and mask, and a Sindy outfit with a long white dress, brown floral pinafore and floppy hat. Also a pink Laura Ashley type dress.

I did have Pretty in Pink Barbie with her slinky trousers, pencil skirt and boa, but didn't love her as much as the Sindies. I might have felt differently if I had had Crystal Barbie though, she was spectacular.

@Stath

It’s so visceral isn’t it? The feel, smell and sound of these toys? I can remember well the velvet nap of the bodice and red hearts on that dress, the sensation of the ‘crystal’ outfit and the bobbly snakeskin type bumps on the Peaches and Cream Barbie’s top.

These feelings sink deep into our childish plastic, mouldable brains. Embedded by all our senses and hardwired by the way we were enveloped by these toys.
The fact that we didn’t have as many toys in comparison to children these days and the variety of items available was less (plus before internet advertising and multi-channel marketing) seems to have focused our attention on these toys that have become cultural signposts of our childhood.

Also, it was probably helped by the fact that manufacturing processes were subtly different, using plastics and materials that off-gassed. Barbies don’t smell the same these days and I’m positive that the smelly erasers that I so loved would be banned as carcinogenic!

I’ve noticed that the smell of new electrics has changed too. The Tandy cassette player I hastily unwrapped on a Christmas Day in the early/mid eighties was nestled in squeaky icebergs of polystyrene and whiffed of slightly sweet burning with overtones of futuristic plastics.

That smell seems to have disappeared with the advent of ‘plug already included’ appliances. Seems bonkers to think that electrical goods came without one, bare wired with a forked tongue of copper twists!

Reading your post @Stath hit me with a massive scent memory of my not-walkman i got for a birthday or Christmas. The smell of the polystyrene and plastic...

I had a lot of puppy in my pocket which looked like the actual dog breeds, now they have huge heads and eyes, same with my little pony, they used to be more in proportion and now have gigantic heads and eyes. I also had werebears which were fun because they changed from a cute cuddly bear to one with fangs and claws.

I LOVED this and wish I'd kept it. You swapped the plates around to make different outfits and then put paper over the top to make a picture with the crayon thingy

@suckingonchillidogs

I LOVED this and wish I'd kept it. You swapped the plates around to make different outfits and then put paper over the top to make a picture with the crayon thingy

There’s a similar thing still available, possibly Melissa and Doug. On a similar note, in addition to my list above, I loved my fashion wheel as a child. Last year I got one for my DD as I had fond memories of it and she wasn’t impressed at all - it’s hard to get the pictures to come out well

Great post, Slath.

I don’t think it will be the same for the children of today in the future because there is so much variety now and they have so many more toys.

Back then we watched adverts because there wasn’t much choice whereas now we fast forward through - I’d want things I’d seen advertised, whereas my DC don’t see adverts.

Does anyone remember the Rub a dub dub dog? That was something I really wanted after seeing it advertised continuously. I got it for Christmas - it was my main present - and it was the most wonderful thing ever to me despite being inexpensive and not really doing much. I think my DC get far too much!

@Rubyupbeat
@mumofEandE
@3dogsnorth

to fellow ex Pippa owners!

I think i remember the purple trousers! It's vague but it's coming back in flashes. One outfit came with a green fabric cap with a tiny white plastic brim. I was always proud i hadn't lost it but I could never get it to stay on their head!

I think i had the one with long white blond hair. Brit? One had 'real' lashes ... can't remember the name of that one. My favourite was princess pippa with really long gold hair. I had the red car and the brown pony. I have a very vague memory of some furniture but not sure if i'm mixing it up with Barbie.

Poster upthread mentioned the smell and texture of toys being strong in your memory. SO true. I can remember the plasticy smell of Pippa's car. And the fact that opening the boot felt dangerously close to snapping it off it's hinges because of the design!

I remember the excitement of receiving a doll or a new outfit. The mad 70s packaging!

Have you seen what they sell for on ebay nowadays?!

True that perhaps we had less toys than kids do nowadays, and certainly true for me is that i had to be quite inventive making furniture or outfits for them. Remember Blue Peter and their craft slots showing how to make furniture for certain size dolls?

DD (7) has a few of the Disney princess dolls since she was 4 ish - Belle, Jasmine, Elsa, Merida ect. I thought she was starting to tire of them, but this xmas out of the blue MIL bought her a proper actual Barbie doll in her car and DD has gone mad for it! Way more than the Disney dolls ... what is it about them?!

@suckingonchillidogs

I LOVED this and wish I'd kept it. You swapped the plates around to make different outfits and then put paper over the top to make a picture with the crayon thingy

I had something similar, loved it too

My Lego houses. We had tons of the stuff, but these were my favourites.

Anyone missing Sindy, there is a large Sindy community on Facebook & Instagram I'm a collector & have 5 original dolls & 5 of the new play collection. I don't like the new clothes on the play dolls because they aren't the same quality as the original ones. I collect clothes from 1963 - 1979, there are lots of auctions & there are always lots on Ebay.

This has brought back memories. I gave all my Barbie dolls to my younger cousin, I was so pissed off as she didn’t look after them. I had the Peaches and Cream one and Crystal Barbie, she was my favourite and I remember the feel of the dress.

I also had one of those Star Traveller motor homes. How I loved it and I have happy memories of getting it for Christmas and spending Christmas Day with my Dad helping me put the stickers on the right place. That went to ungrateful cousin too, last I saw her brothers were using it as a ride on toy I was too old to play with them so they did have to go, but I was so upset to see them being treated roughly.

I still have Speak and Spell and Speak and Maths. I loved the Spell one, my brother had the Maths one. I remember when I couldn’t sleep I would press my hand over the speaker to keep it quiet.

I wanted, but never got a Poochie.

Didn’t attach the Star Traveller motor home photo.

Clackers. Wonderful and completely dangerous.

@OnceUponAMidnightBeery

Tapping into your wisdom, does anyone remember small plastic dolls, that you clipped their plastic outfits onto? Mine had lilac clothes, maybe a dress and a shorts set? And a hat? And (I think) a small round circle with shoes moulded in, so they could stand up. It came with a small 2 storey (?) house, you clipped in the balconies (yellow) etc on the roof.

Also think the eyes might have been stickers, but that could just be me.

Was this Dolly Pops? I loved them!