Nicolas Ricketts explores vintage games that mirror summertime recreational activities.

Introduced in 1962, Remco’s Barracuda Motorized Atomic Sub allowed children to imagine underwater adventures without needing water.

Released by Milton Bradley in 1975, the Blockhead! stacking game incorporated spatial reasoning, hand-eye coordination, and steady nerves to construct a tower of colourful blocks.

In 1965, Topper Toys released Johnny Express, a modular line of battery-operated, remote-controlled trucks and accessories designed to simulate their full-sized counterparts.

In Mattel’s Slime Monster, players competed against each other to defeat a creature that invaded a town and oozed the green, viscous compound.

Released in 1972 by Mattel Preschool, Talking Pictures Schoolhouse was a sight and sound system that taught children about themselves and the world around them.

The roll-and-move game was positioned as a hipper version of Clue and a reflection of the TV series’ swinging, martini-drinking, sports car-driving style.

In 1971, Topper Toys launched Ding-a-Lings, a line of robots from an imaginary universe.

Published in 1978 by Milton Bradley, the Terrytoons Mighty Mouse game pitted the anthropomorphic superhero against the evil Dr. Catenstein in a race to save his girlfriend, Mitzi.

Graham Hancock, toy collector and editor of Blocks magazine, examines LEGO’s 928 Galaxy Explorer set from 1979.

Published by Milton Bradley in 1969, The Wacky Races game involved players traversing an illustrated countryside in flamboyant automobiles attempting to race past their opponents for the win.

Harvey Comics collector Jonathan Sternfeld explores rack toys manufactured by JA-RU for Harvey Comics’ characters Richie Rich and Casper.