Plastic Army Men have been around since the 1950s. They are molded out of green or tan plastic and stand about 2 inches tall. One of the earliest manufacturers was the Louis Marx and Company who sold battleground play sets. For example, one set was World War II Americans against Germans. The men often came molded with different accessories including rifles, machine guns, pistols, grenades, flame throwers and bazookas.

These toys saw a decline in the United States during the Vietnam Era, but popularity has increased recently. No longer made in the United States, they are usually made more cheaply in China and do not included the elaborate accessories.

The toy became popular again after they were featured in the 1995 Disney movie, Toy Story.

I can’t believe it! They are actually thinking about making a film about the popular toy Stretch Armstrong. The release date for the movie has been set for April, 2011.

Steve Oedekerk is developing the screen adaptation of the toy and Ron Howard may be directing the film. It seems that there aren’t many original ideas roaming around Hollywood these days and producers and writers are turning to vintage toys that weren’t that interesting in the first place, for movie ideas.

According to producer Brian Grazer “Stretch Armstrong is a character I have wanted to see on screen for a long time. He’s an unconventional kind of super hero with a power that no one would want. It’s a story about a guy stretching – if you will – the limits of what is possible to become all that he can be.”

If you can’t remember Stretch, here is an old commercial:

Slot cars are miniature race cars which is guided by a groove in the track. The first commercial slot cars were sold in 1912 by Lionel, but the product was discontinued in 1915. Many other models were introduced over the following years, but did not gain much popularity until the 1960s. By 1963 a million and a half models had been produced by Aurora Plastics Corp who then changed the design of the motor. It was so popular that slot car races were nationally televised with hosts like Mike Douglas, Steve Allen and Johnny Carson. Even Elvis had a room at Graceland devoted to slot car racing. The track was 155ft long.

In 1968 there were actually more slot car racing facilities then there were bowling alleys. By the late 1970s, the slot car boom was over only to return again in the 1990s.

Here is a short video of a slot car on a fancy track:

Remember, when the best we could get to a personalized book was to write our name on the pages? Now, you can get personalized books with the child’s name printed in the pages from Frecklebox.com! Children books that actually have their name in it. This one is so cute. It actually has the child’s name written in nature such as leaves, clouds, flowers, ladybugs and pigeons.

I received two personalized products for my son. When he received them, he was so excited. He loves to see his name in print and I think that this is now his prized possession. He is planning on taking it to school to show the other children and his teacher.

Both of the books are coloring books and crayons are included! Here is a sample page from one of the books, you can see how it is personalized.

If you are looking for a cute decoration for you child’s room, they also have Personalized posters. You can order a firetruck, race car or flowers to name a few.

Personalized puzzles are also fun, and they even have one with a Christmas scene. Santa is in his sleigh in the sky and the child’s name is spelled out in the stars. Or, choose a sugar cookie puzzle!

I plan on getting the Zoo Personalized Book for my nephew. He loves animals and there are great real pictures of animals in the book. One each of the pages, the animals address your child by name.

These products are great gifts, I wish they had these when I was a kid.

My nephew is enthralled with the Slinky! He brought one over the other day and was laughing hysterically as it went down the steps. While working in the shipyards in Philadelphia, Richard James, a US Naval engineer decided that a torsion spring would make a great toy. He received a $500 loan in 1943 and made 400 toys. His wife came up with the name. He set up a display in Gimbels Department Store and sold his 400 Slinkys in just 90 minutes.

A factory was built in 1948 in Philadelphia and then relocated to Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. The line expanded an other toys were added. The Slinky was actually used as a mobile antenna during the Vietnam War. It is also the official toy of Pennsylvania.

Richard James decided to join a evangelical religious sect in 1960 and relocated to Bolivia. He left the company to his wife who took over as CEO. She got the company out of debt and introduced the new jingle that you can hear in the commercial below. Richard James died in 1974 in Bolivia. The company, James Industries, was sold to Poof Products, Inc. in 1998.

Skittle Bowl was one of those games that I wanted as a kid, but we never did get. The game consisted of a triangle piece of wood with 10 wooden pins. Attached was a pole with a “bowling ball” on a long metal chain. The object of the game was to use the ball to knock down the pins. You can buy the game on eBay now for about $10.00 to $15.00.

Before the Commodore 64 appeared on the market, there was the Think-A-Tron, the first computer toy. It is not like any computer that you see today. There was no mouse or big screen or Cat5e Keystone jack. This computer ran on two “D” batteries and came with punched cards which had questions on it that you wanted answered. After feeding the card into the computer, the answer would appear on the screen. There were even flashing lights. The toy retailed for only $10 in 1967 and you can still find them at auction sites for $30-$50.

Odd Ogg was a strange toy from the 1960s. It was made by the Ideal Toy Corporation in 1962. Odd Ogg was half frog and half turtle. The object of the toy was to roll plastic balls toward it. If you rolled a ball right under its belly, Odd Ogg would roll forward. If you rolled the ball off to one side, Odd Ogg would roll backwards, open its mouth and stick out his tongue.

If you have this toy somewhere in your closet, you can sell it for $250 – $500!

Barky Puppy was a toy made by Fisher Price in 1931. This was one of the first toys that Fisher Price ever made. The puppy was on wheels and when you pulled it, the puppy crouches down on its front legs and then it tilts its head upward. The puppy actually barks.

My son just watched Alien vs. Predator (the old one) on television. I let him watch it because it was very edited with much less violence and blood and gore. Good thing he doesn’t know about the Alien toy they use to sell. I just found the old commerical on YouTube. I figure if this country ever gets too populated and real estate is at a premium, we could unleash of few of these beasts!