20 Toys That Were Your Childhood

BandaiThere€™s no feeling quite like nostalgia. It€™s not just a fond memory or a sense of longing; it is unique and powerful and near impossible to properly explain. Sometimes bitter, often sweet, it jumps out at you suddenly and without warning and pushes you down a waterfall of weird, tingly emotions. Being reminded of the toys and games from our childhood is something that almost guarantees this nostalgic pang deep inside. Whether it€™s a Hungry Hungry Hippos game, a first generation Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle or a Cabbage Patch Kid, these are the things which entertained us for hours on end. You may have forgotten them, their importance in your brain replaced by silly things like trying to find a job or coaxing another human to have special cuddle time with you, but one look at these classic toys will bring those memories flooding back. They didn't have to be expensive either - children are renowned for being easily taken by any sufficiently colourful bits of plastic as long as the packaging is intriguing or if there is some shameless film/television tie-in involved. Most of the time we were led astray by clever marketing or bouncy, jovial advertising which soon had us spreadeagled on the floor kicking and screaming until our parents gave in and bought the damn thing, or beat us half to death until we stopped. Ah, those were simpler times. These were toys which we owned and loved, or toys which we longed for but which our parents refused to buy; either way, there€™s a very good chance that many of the items on this list will trigger that special feeling somewhere deep inside...

20. Sea-Monkeys

Transcience CorporationEven for a grownup, the idea of Sea Monkeys can be perplexing. For a child though, seeing a few sachets of powder turn into something alive when added to water is just too much to handle. And, when coupled with the comic book adverts and the images on the packaging which showed off a whole underwater society of the tiny little creatures, well, it's enough to make a kid go a little odd in the head. But, like Keats accusing science of ruining the rainbow by explaining away its mystery, once we're told that these magical creatures are just dormant brine shrimp that have been kick-started back into action, the whole idea loses much of its shine. Also, any child with access to a heavy duty magnifying glass would have noticed a distinct lack of monarchy, society, or much else of interest in there, regardless of what the box art showed us.

19. Tomy Waterfuls

YoutubeNext up, and keeping things water-based, we have the Waterfuls range - a classic from toy juggernaut TOMY. Essentially a mini underwater ring-toss game in a plastic jug, the TOMY Waterfuls were the perfect single-player time-sink in the days before nonsense like Candy Crush Saga or the Gameboy. Fill the thing with water, pump that button, and watch in wonderment as a jet-force of liquid excitement sends the tiny plastic hoops spiraling upwards. Wiggle and tilt it to get the rings over the little ring poles, and then bask in the the roaring applause of, well, no one - this was a truly single-player game, the silencer of the eternally lonely only child. Still far more enlightened entertainment than Candy Crush.