Browsing all posts by Allison Whitehead.

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Retro Toys: Space Hoppers – A Garden Relic?

Well perhaps not, since space hoppers have enjoyed something of a resurgence in recent times. But there is nothing quite as good as the original space hopper, which was bright orange and had a bizarre and slightly alarming face on the front of it. The hopper is made out of a strong rubber that allows [...]

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Retro Toys: Sindy And Barbie – Toys For The Girls

Most women today can remember having either a Sindy or a Barbie when they were little. Sindy was the British rival to Barbie and although she never had quite the same appeal or fanbase as Barbie did, she could still be found in many little girls’ bedrooms. Sindy arrived in 1963 so she was a [...]

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Retro Toys: Operation – The Game

Retro Toys: Operation – The Game

How steady were your hands? Would you have made a good surgeon or were you destined for other things? These were the questions that could be answered, usually with a loud buzz, by the game “Operation”. This was a popular game back in the day when computers were merely fiction. The game is still available [...]

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Mastermind – The Vintage Game

Coloured pegs in a simple plastic board. It does not sound like a whole lot of fun, does it? And yet during the Seventies lots of children were playing this exact game. The kids of that particular generation will remember it fondly, regardless of how good they were at it. It revolved around coloured pegs [...]

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Cabbage Patch Dolls – More Than An 80s Fad?

Do you remember Cabbage Patch Dolls? This was the name they were given in the UK, while Americans will remember them as Cabbage Patch Kids. But no matter what the name was, they were a significant toy fad during the 1980s. Many adults of a certain age will remember wanting one, begging for one for [...]

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Action Man – A Man Of The Sixties And Beyond

If it was ever uncool for boys to play with dolls, it all changed when Action Man burst onto the toy scene back in 1966. He was the British version of the G.I.Joe doll which was enjoying success in America back in those days. Although we have had a couple of lapses in the Eighties [...]