Vintage Toys & Games

Tony Temple – arcade game historian, collector, and writer – divulges the ups and downs of arcade collecting and restoring.

Milton Bradley’s Battleship game pits two players against each other in an effort to decimate the opponent’s navy fleet before losing their own.

While Mego can easily be considered the Holy Grail of superhero action figures, there is another beloved toy line featuring the “World’s Greatest Super-Heroes” – Kenner’s Super Powers Collection.

In 1971, Mattel released Instant Replay Record Player, offering sports fans a new way to re-live the “agony and ecstasy” of famous play-by-play moments in sports.

On Star Wars Day, Toy Tales takes a look back at the LEGO Star Wars theme with Graham Hancock, toy collector and deputy editor of Blocks magazine.

In 1962, Kenner released a toy musical instrument called the Banjo-Matic that allowed a child to “play real banjo music.”

After the massive sales success of its Nerf Ball, Milton Bradley released the Nerf Disk in 1970.

Released by Schaper in 1969, Ants in the Pants is a classic game that still endures with the preschool set, thanks to its simplicity and the fact that a parent can legitimately be beaten at the game by a three-year-old.

Nicolas Ricketts, Curator at the National Museum of Play at The Strong, details Scrabble’s route to success and game-night domination.

In 1982, Remco introduced the Official Sgt. Rock action figure toy line, based on the fictional DC Comics character of the same name.

Released in the early 1960s by Hasbro, the Frosty Sno-Man Sno-Cone Machine allowed children to beat the summer heat by preparing icy treats themselves.

At the peak of the spy-fiction television series’ popularity in 1965, Milton Bradley released The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Card Game.

Long before Sony’s AIBO robotic dog hit the scene, Ideal released Gaylord the Pup, a mechanical pet.

As we look to unplug, spend less time online, and engage face-to-face, let us remember the enduring the popularity of tabletop games.

Released in 1964 by Ideal, Hands Down was a high-energy game that encouraged 3-4 active participants to get “slap happy.”

Before helping E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial find his way home in 1982, the Speak & Spell from Texas Instruments (TI) made a splashy debut in June 1978 at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago.

Kids play with the food they don’t want to eat. George Lerner, an inventor who figured that vegetables and fruits with a little personality might have a better chance, created a set of silly face parts that could be stuck into produce. The result is a toy that would evolve to become a beloved object of play for generations.

Originally released in 1964 by Parker Brothers, Probe is a Hangman-style word game fun for the whole family. Sets are still readily found in thrift shops and on eBay for an accessible price.