My Top Ten Favorite Toys from the 1970s

Being born in the Spring of 1970, I was situated to have a wonderful decade. Raised on Ultraman, Speed Racer and Star Trek reruns, it was a great time to be a kid. Television was four channels at best, and apart from Saturday mornings and after school… there wasn’t much to pull your attention away from playtime. As I get older, I find that I reflect more fondly on my time as a child with a very vivid imagination. These are some of my favorite toys from my first ten years of life, and as I write this more seem to pop into my head, but I am going to stick with these ten for now.

The Fisher-Price Little People Houseboat.

The houseboat was so much fun, and I am sure if I had other action figures at the time, they would have been going on adventures with it. I still have the little dog, of which I still adore. This is something that I received secondhand; Dad was in the Air Force and had other jobs on the side. Money being tight all the time really taught me to appreciate everything I had. Nothing has changed since those days.

Status: Had

Mego’s World’s Greatest Superheroes: Spider-Man

I still have a picture of my maternal Grandparents visiting us for what may have been my fourth birthday, and this was one of my gifts. Spider-Man and I had many action-packed adventures together.

Status: Have

G.I. Joe Adventure Team: Mike Powers, the Atomic Man

I had multiple Joes over the years, but Mike Powers was special to me. His translucent limbs and helicopter accessory were fun, and all of my previous Adventure Team gear fit him perfectly. Like I said, we were poor and having anything that could stretch along multiple figures was a bonus. People on base would usually share the toys that their own kids had grown out of as well. Things made the rounds back then.

Status: Have

Kenner’s Six Million Dollar Man: Maskatron

I love this guy so much; I still have one! One time I took it to see my paternal Granny in hospital after an operation and I had a great time explaining to her about all of the ways he was really neat. I can recall her smile and that still makes me smile to this day.

Status: Have

Ideal’s S.T.A.R. Team’s Blue Zeroid

The time was post Star Wars and Ideal struck while the iron was hot, and the competition was slow. This was the only item I had from the Star Team, but it would regularly team up with the Super Joe Commander to fight against Gor, King of the Terrons. He lit up, but what struck me most were the rolling rubber treads.

Status: Want

Kenner Star Wars: Millennium Falcon

Nothing was greater than the Christmas Eve that I received my Millennium Falcon from my paternal Grandparents. At this point in my life, this trumped everything, and my mind was blown! This was the most expensive brand-new toy I had ever received. My previous “Falcon” had been a shoebox. Now I not only had a vehicle to fly my figures around in, but I also had a playset to stage all sorts of scenarios.

Status: Have

Vanity Fair: Spider-Man 35mm Camera

Yes, this was an actual camera. It needed flashbulbs and you loaded it with standard 35mm film. I can recall getting this one Christmas and just enjoying the process of photography. I sort of wished I had taken more photos of my toys and other fun things, but hindsight is 20/20.

Status: Had

Tomy’s Mighty Men and Monter Maker

I can remember spending HOURS playing with this wonderful set. It allowed you to create multiple combinations of heroes, monsters and aliens. I remember that I would do the rubbings lightly so I could adjust the linework more by hand to create pieces that were unique, not just use the templates they supplied.

Status: Have

Mattel Shogun Warriors’ Godzilla

At this point I had a few of the Shogun Warriors in my life. They were all second hand from either a trade with other kids or from yard sales. Godzilla was a milestone in my life because, along with the Hornetroid, it was one of my first large toy purchases. I had been saving my money for months and received more for my birthday… me being me, I HAD to spend it. I like to thing that I chose wisely. The King of the Monsters fought many battles for both good and evil. I would love to own another, but I have no room, but I do own the tiny Super7 replica.

Status: Had

Mego Micronauts’ Hornetroid

Along with Godzilla, I picked up the Hornetroid. It is probably my favorite ship design of all time, and that’s why I wanted it… it looks COOL. Heck, I picked up a boxed one a few years ago, and have yet to find the will to part with it. My only issue was my favorite Micronaut wouldn’t fit in this one. Repto wouldn’t be far from any playtime from the time I got it, and I would fly them around together. Yeah, I still have Repto too.

Status: Have