*fittedwearer's note: Retro Toybox is written towards the inner child in any folk who may read this. I think most of these were pretty universal among kids around my age at the time, and are intended to give the reader a quick flashback to childhood, a place I don't think most people visit enough. (Course, some people, like me, vacation there about half the time.)
Remember these? I do...the year was about 1995 and a new phenomenon swept playgrounds and after school programs everywhere. What wonderful new mid 90's technology or advanced toy had they invented to mesmerize children everywhere? None at all, it seems...instead most kids I knew were transfixed by a simple plaything probably favored by Amish children and invented centuries ago (right after those big metal hoops you would push with a stick as a toy...those never made a comeback tho)...the wooden spinning top. It was simple to use...just wind the string around it, give the string a good yank, and voila! So easy even a window-licker could do it.
Back in the day, they cost a dollar and came in just 3 colors (blue, green, and red). Mine was named Tornado (I felt giving it a name would benefit its performance, even though looking back, it was no different from the millions of others.) It was blue and had a Cowboys helmet sticker that I put on it...which made it look nice, but affected the rotation and airflow properties slightly....oh well, it was the best top in school to me lol... For a while, you wasn't shit at recess unless you could pick up the top while it was spinning and have it spin on the palm of your hand...that was the ultimate (and just about only) trick you could pull off with the thing.
Unfortunately, kids soon discovered how limited it was and shunned it in favor of toys from that century, and the fad, like most childhood fads, faded as quickly as it appeared. However, those 1.5 months when it was the hottest selling thing at the corner store will remain in the back of hearts and minds of late 80's and early 90's babies forever. I'll never forget you, Tornado....
2 comments:
I want one! This picture makes it seem like they're still in stores though- I mean those aren't even wooden, they're plastic! But hey I'll take what I can get, I'm on a hunt now, lol.
~A.V.
Yo, I know it's not the actual ones we used to play with, but if you only knew how hard I scoured the internet just to find that pic...the wooden ones are impossible to find even in picture form...but if you do end up finding some, you should get me one too lol
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