Ben Summers
The Internet may be the most powerful advance in technology of recent years, but the past has never been more easily revisited. Nostalgia has never been so much fun. Witness the toys of your childhood for example, such as Mr Potato Head.
In production since 1952, Mr Potato Head had a resurgence of his early popularity after the release of Disney’s Toy Story. Hasbro’s site at www.mr potatohead.com has a Flash-driven online Potato Head construction kit, but higher-grade nostalgia is available at www.fun1st.com/collectors.html.
The toy you may remember from the 1960s and 1970s is Clackers plastic balls on a string that could occasionally be made to bounce off one another with a satisfying “clack”. More often, though, they hit children’s fingers and faces, or exploded in a hail of sharp plastic. They were soon banned. But a certain Mr Beers (http://home.jps.net/ mrbeers) bought big into the craze and still has hundreds of Clackers stockpiled for sale.
One of the great toy inventors of the Clacker era was Marvin Glass. He was the man behind Ants in the Pants, Evel Knievel, Operation and the Mouse Trap Game. A former member of his staff has set up a tribute page at http://westwood.fortunecity.com/ mugler/419/glass/glass.htm.
Hundreds of sites exist for people whose interest in the real classics, such as Lego, has blossomed with age. You might think there is only a certain amount that can be done with Lego, but the tiniest niches in the market are catered for. Frank Filz’s Lego links page(http://www.mindspring.com/~ffilz/ Lego/castle-details.html#minifigs) helps those interested in creating medieval castle scenes, with a particularly handy tip on how to make a joint of meat look convincing.
Meccano fans on the other hand may be distressed to find that the French official homepage is up (http://www. meccano.fr/), while the United Kingdom one (http://www.meccano.co.uk/) is still under construction, if you’ll excuse the pun. While the building work continues, there are dozens of sites to see on the Meccano webring (http://www.meccanoweb.com/meccring), along with box illustrations from the toy’s golden era (featuring dads smoking enormous pipes). The webring even admits sites that concentrate on “Meccano-like” toys (www. metallbaukasten.de).
If you are a Thatcher’s child, however, revisit the 1980s at nostalgia sites such as Yesterdayland (http://www.yester dayland.com/) and In The 80s (InThe80s. com/toys). The pictures and slogans alone will regress all but the most forgetful. There’s enough about Burnin’ Key Cars, Care Bears and Magic Sand for several nights of slightly embarrassing reminiscences down at the pub.
Devotees of electronic toys may recall the MB Big Trak robot truck. You may well have pestered your parents for one, claiming that you’d play with it for years to come. You were lying, of course. But Eric Jones of Boston is still making the most of his 20 years later; his Big Trak is still crashing into the sofa and scaring the dog. Find his geeky but charming site at http://scv.bu.edu/~ejones/ BigTrak.
Few sites are so good that they make you miss what you never had, but Gobler Toys is one that can. It’s the brainchild of two Americans who have created a fake company history and a collection of retro toys, including model cars powered by whipped cream (“you can eat the exhaust!”) and the Super Snoot smell amplifier (“smells objects up to 100 yards away”).
It’s just one of the thousands of delights that prove the Web is one of the best toys ever invented.