Top Five: Toys of My Youth

I spent a half an hour today in a Toys R' Us looking for a birthday gift for my favorite soon-to-be six year old. As I was standing in one of the dozens of aisles dedicated to girls' toys I was a little overwhelmed by my options. It was a very nostalgic experience, not because I played with girl's toys as a kid, though I can't say never, but because I was a toy fanatic as a kid. But then again what kid isn't. I landed on a toy that has been a staple for all little girls since I was a kid, My Little Pony. I'm not going to lie. It's a pretty cool toy. And of course I got some Hot Wheels for her brother, a staple for all boys' toys. It was actually a lot of fun being back in a store dedicated to toys. I am a huge kid myself and if I had millions of dollars I would have a room in my house dedicated to toy collecting.

Anyway, while I was there my mind wondered back and dusted off the memories of me playing with my favorite toys as a kid. The toys from the 80s and early 90s were the best. So, I figured I would make another Top Five list of my favorite toys from my childhood.

1.) Marvel X-Men Action Figures

These were the crème de la crème of toys when I was a kid. The cartoon was on FOX kids and in full swing. I was obsessed. I still remember humming the theme song throughout the day at school. I had a fantasy of being one of the gang. Mimic was my name and my powers were the ability to change form to look like anyone. I also had the "Rogue" ability to absorb mutant powers for a short time by touching that mutant. In essence I was cheating because with these powers I could be anyone I wanted, even if only for a short period of time. And, for all you X-Men fans, yes there is already a Mimic... I didn't know that at the age of 11. But since I couldn't be Mimic I settled for the next best thing, Wolverine. You can't go wrong with adamantium claws. I remember spending hours having X-Men battles in the back yard. It was beyond epic. Marvel toys redefined the action figure with this collection.

2.) Masters of the Universe

What kid didn't like HeMan in the late 80s? Santa got generous one year and brought me, pretty much, the whole collection of toys. I remember going nuts that Christmas morning. Castle Grayskull was, by far, one of the coolest hero bases ever. It had a secret door and a falling-rock trap at the front gate. Skeletor and his minions had no chance. And even if they did ever break through, HeMan's oily muscles, stunning power sword and faithful friend Battle Cat would destroy them. I HAD THE POWER!

3.) Ninja Turtles

This was another classic toy dynasty from the early 90s. Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, Splinter, April O'Neil, Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady, the footclan, Krang, the Turtle Van, The Sewer System... the list goes on. This was one of the coolest collections of toys. The thing I remember the most were the accessories. The various weapons, vehicles and environments that were in the collection were amazing. I even had quality (plastic) replicas of the turtle's weapons so I, too, could be a turtle in my own back yard. The cartoon was fantastic as well. I remember as a kid this particular toon came on for a full hour on Saturday mornings. And for those of you who are a little younger and think the later TMNT cartoons that followed were just as good or better... you couldn't be more wrong. The TMNT cartoons to follow never did the original justice.

4.) Battle Beasts

These were some of my favorite toys. I had a million of them. They came in packages of 4 or 5, I can't remember, and they covered every animal imaginable. On the front they had a square powercell that showed one of three elements: fire, water or earth. They "activated" when you held your thumb against them for a couple seconds. These elements indicated which "team" they were on. Like the ever popular, Pokemon, of the next generation, I had to have them all.

5.) Legos

I loved Legos. I had three Lego cases full of them. But of all the Lego series out during my youth the Ice Planet collection was my favorite. I had the whole series. Just looking at the pictures bring back so many memories. The two images to the left I built on Christmas morning on the kitchen floor. It took me all morning to put the whole series together and then I spent the rest of the day playing "Ice Planet". I mined ice crystals and fought off space pirates, played by characters from the Space Minifig series. I think my parents were convinced that I would grow up to become some sort of toy engineer. I would spend hours building my own models. I won second place and got a 250 dollar Lego gift card for a lego building competition when I was 12. That was one of the biggest highlights of my youth. Alas, math would become the bane of my existence and engineering would become a less attractive avenue. Besides, I had plans to become a weatherman... that didn't happen either.