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Watchmojo put out a typically unscientific top ten toys popular in the 70s vid yesterday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiogLGxBoXU. It was interesting to see what was left over from before and what was new to the 70s and the toys I had versus what my nieces and nephews had.
Honorable mention
Giant bounce-on-it ball. - I think these were invented in the 60s but not sure. My brother's kids had one.
Silly Putty. - Definitely from the late 50s. My brother bought some when we were kids. It came in a little egg. Interesting properties, but easy to lose interest with it. His kids had an egg's worth in the 70s
Evil Knievel toys. Obviously after my time. I don't think any of the nephews had any of the stuff. I wonder if anyone born in the 80s or beyond would even know who he was.
Erector set. - About a 100 years old now. I wonder if my dad wanted one when he was a kid, since both my brother and I got sets. My brother's boys got one set.
Silly String. - A very 70s fad. I think, one year, it was something every tween had to have.
10. Hungry Hippos - Definitely past my childhood days. Younger kids including my nephews enjoyed it. The video said it was rugged, but I think my nephews' was broken by the time I saw it.
9. Punch-me - There was something very similar in the 1950s. I wanted one, but my mother thought it was a bad idea to have me slugging things in the house. One of my nephews had one of the 70s version.
8 Pogo Sticks - I don't think my nieces or nephews had one. I certainly did. It took some practice to be able to even stay up on the thing for more than four or five bounces. I got good at it, which amazed my aunts and uncles who repeatedly asked to watch me hop around, and that in turn surprised me. That trick stuff in the video though,... that would be for the insane.
7. Walkie Talkies - They were a desired toy when I was a kid. But till the transistor radio came out they were mostly non-functional. You could get real war-surplus walkie talkies when I was a kid, but they were too expensive for toys. Definitely something that could have been a much better toy in the 1970s with the CB radio craze. I don't think my nieces or nephews had a pair. As the video points out, kids have phones these days. So who needs walkie talkie toys now?
6. Fisher-Price garage. - I know positively that my nephews had one. Fisher Price was still making wooden toys when I was the right age for their stuff. I don't know if I had any of the wood ones. It was a long time ago! But I remember my younger cousins having some of the first of the plastic Fisher Price toys.
5 Star Wars toys. - Obvious not my era. All the nieces and nephews got Star Wars something, and I know that you can still get Star Wars Lego sets.
4 View Master. - One of the few toys I remember my sister having. I think she got it before I was born. The pictures with it were mostly National Parks; Grand Canyon and Yellowstone. At least one of my nieces got one. Hers came with lots of pictures of cartoons.
3. Lite-Brite. Though the video and wikipedia claim Hasbro invented the Lite-Brite in 1967, I pretty sure something very similar existed in the 1950s. Maybe the pegs were different. I think all my nieces had one.
2. Simon. Another big fad. Both my sister's and my brother's kids had one.
1 Hot Wheels. There were certainly Tonka Toy collectible cars before Hot Wheels existed (I don't think my brother or I had any). But Hot Wheels took over the world for a while at least. I presume they are still being sold.
Honorable mention
Giant bounce-on-it ball. - I think these were invented in the 60s but not sure. My brother's kids had one.
Silly Putty. - Definitely from the late 50s. My brother bought some when we were kids. It came in a little egg. Interesting properties, but easy to lose interest with it. His kids had an egg's worth in the 70s
Evil Knievel toys. Obviously after my time. I don't think any of the nephews had any of the stuff. I wonder if anyone born in the 80s or beyond would even know who he was.
Erector set. - About a 100 years old now. I wonder if my dad wanted one when he was a kid, since both my brother and I got sets. My brother's boys got one set.
Silly String. - A very 70s fad. I think, one year, it was something every tween had to have.
10. Hungry Hippos - Definitely past my childhood days. Younger kids including my nephews enjoyed it. The video said it was rugged, but I think my nephews' was broken by the time I saw it.
9. Punch-me - There was something very similar in the 1950s. I wanted one, but my mother thought it was a bad idea to have me slugging things in the house. One of my nephews had one of the 70s version.
8 Pogo Sticks - I don't think my nieces or nephews had one. I certainly did. It took some practice to be able to even stay up on the thing for more than four or five bounces. I got good at it, which amazed my aunts and uncles who repeatedly asked to watch me hop around, and that in turn surprised me. That trick stuff in the video though,... that would be for the insane.
7. Walkie Talkies - They were a desired toy when I was a kid. But till the transistor radio came out they were mostly non-functional. You could get real war-surplus walkie talkies when I was a kid, but they were too expensive for toys. Definitely something that could have been a much better toy in the 1970s with the CB radio craze. I don't think my nieces or nephews had a pair. As the video points out, kids have phones these days. So who needs walkie talkie toys now?
6. Fisher-Price garage. - I know positively that my nephews had one. Fisher Price was still making wooden toys when I was the right age for their stuff. I don't know if I had any of the wood ones. It was a long time ago! But I remember my younger cousins having some of the first of the plastic Fisher Price toys.
5 Star Wars toys. - Obvious not my era. All the nieces and nephews got Star Wars something, and I know that you can still get Star Wars Lego sets.
4 View Master. - One of the few toys I remember my sister having. I think she got it before I was born. The pictures with it were mostly National Parks; Grand Canyon and Yellowstone. At least one of my nieces got one. Hers came with lots of pictures of cartoons.
3. Lite-Brite. Though the video and wikipedia claim Hasbro invented the Lite-Brite in 1967, I pretty sure something very similar existed in the 1950s. Maybe the pegs were different. I think all my nieces had one.
2. Simon. Another big fad. Both my sister's and my brother's kids had one.
1 Hot Wheels. There were certainly Tonka Toy collectible cars before Hot Wheels existed (I don't think my brother or I had any). But Hot Wheels took over the world for a while at least. I presume they are still being sold.