HISTORY'S GREATEST TOYS

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.