HISTORY'S GREATEST TOYS
Added on: 25th May 2015
ARMY MEN
Manufactured by Bergen Toy and Novelty Co., Army Men is a set
of small monochrome plastic American soldiers. It became
popular among boys in the 1930’s because it realized their
fantasies of becoming U.S. Army soldiers wearing batiks and
depicting different action poses. These toys were sold in large
plastic bags and had pod feet to allow them to stand during battles.
HOT WHEELS
Introduced in 1968, Hot Wheels are generally toy cars originally
produced for children. However, with the product’s license to make
scale models of real cars using original blueprints of car companies,
the toy company Mattel Inc. which first manufactured the toy also
started to make models and limited edition cars for adult collectors.
Introduced in 1968, Hot Wheels are generally toy cars originally
produced for children. However, with the product’s license to make
scale models of real cars using original blueprints of car companies,
the toy company Mattel Inc. which first manufactured the toy also
started to make models and limited edition cars for adult collectors.
SLINKY
The Slinky was developed in 1943 by a mechanical engineer named
Richard James. The development of the toy was the unintended
by-product of a new line of sensitive springs that were intended to
protect fragile equipment on ships. The toy got its big break in 1945
when, in a matter of minutes, Philadelphia’s Gilbels Department
Store sold 400 of it.
MAGIC BALL
Magic Ball was derived from the Syco-Seer, a fortune-telling
crystal ball developed by Albert Carter. Unfortunately, this toy
was never fully realized because Carter died. In the 1950’s,
Abke Bookman turned the Syco-Seer into a black and white 8 ball
with a floating 20-sided die. When shaken, the die in the ball flats
and reveals answers to questions about the future.
LEGO
Lego bricks were originally sets of interlocking blocks, normally
red and white in colour. In 1958, the Lego Company patented the small
blocks to allow children to create structures freely by using limitless
combinations. As of today, the company has already manufactured and
sold over 320 billion Lego bricks.
RUBIK’S CUBE
Named after its inventor Erno Rubik, the Rubik’s Cube was originally
called the Magic Cube before its formal debut in the market in 1980.
It is a 3D combination puzzle with six faces covered by nine stickers,
the goal is for players to solve the cube in such a way where the
results yield one colour on each face.
SIMON
One of the first memory games in history, the Simon game slogan says:
“Simon’s a computer. Simon has a brain, you either do what Simon says
or else go down the drain.” The Simon game machine has four buttons
of different colours which produce different sounds when pressed.
A player must press the right buttons after the machine plays the sound
to survive the game. The number of buttons that must be pressed by the
player increase after every round, which makes it harder for the player
to remember which buttons made the sound.
MR. POTATO HEAD
Mr. Potato Head was invented by George Learner out of his goal to get
kids to like vegetables. Mr. Potato Head is a set of pointy-backed features
that are meant to be jabbed into a real potato and was introduced to
the market in 1952. It earned the Hassenfeld Brothers Company more
than $4 million in just a matter of months.
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