You Are What You Were. Celebrate Retro Pop Culture At Retroland.
Scientists claim that hippos (Hippopotamus amphibious) are herbivores, but millions of kids can attest otherwise. Their experience suggests that these gentle beasts have an insatiable appetite for little white marbles. Many a feeding frenzy has been observed during the course of a rousing round of Hungry Hungry Hippo.
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Sometimes the simplest of challenges are the ones most frustrating, which pretty much encapsulates a little board game called Trouble. Introduced by Kohner in 1965, it brought out the competitiveness in everyone who played, sometimes raising their stress levels to the point that the game maker thought it wise to protect the lone die behind a globe of plastic, lest it get flung across the room.
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At a time when role-playing aficionados wielded war and wizardry with pencil and paper, Milton Bradley introduced an electronic God into the mix. Released in 1981, Dark Tower proved to be a little bit of everything. It was a board game around which players moved tokens according to the roll of the dice; it was an electronic game, with every player answering to a randomly generated fate on each turn depending on where they landed; and it was a nod to the intriguing world of Dungeons & Dragons.
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Oh, not a dud! Please don’t let it be a dud! When that little white door opened, you wanted to see the man of your dreams, a studly skier, a dashing dancer in a tux, a beachgoing babe – anything but the dreaded dud. And should Prince Charming be ready to greet you behind door number one, you best be prepared. And yet, with all of these stressful possibilities, there was nary a slumber party around in the 60s that didn’t include a rousing game of Mystery Date on the itinerary.
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In the ever-expanding universe of toys, November of 1979 witnessed a significant advancement in the world of domestic science fiction with the entrance of Big Trak, a toy that appealed to every aspect of childhood imagination. Added to the idea of a tank were lights, noise, and a relatively new feature in the technologically burgeoning toy industry -the ability to program.
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Few games have the risque reputation associated with Twister. Then again, few games have ever asked you make body contact with your opponents as you practice your contortionist skills. Competing toy companies have tried to paint the game as nothing more than a precursor to sexual activity, but that hasn't slowed the popularity of Twister one iota, a family friendly game firmly entrenched in pop culture ever since it arrived on the scene in 1966.
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Label a game as "educational" and it might just sit on a shelf gathering dust. Sometimes more covert tactics are necessary to get kids to put on their learning hat during playtime, perhaps by dangling a bunch of delicious-looking cherries from a tree. What youngster wouldn't want to be a part of the picking action? [...]
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The tales of origin vary. Some say it hails from the name of a biting insect in Malaysia, Polynesia, or some other pacific island. Others believe that it cursed the American occupation of the Philippines at the turn of the twentieth century. Still others believe it came out of the American trenches in Europe during the first World War. But one thing everyone could agree on was no matter where the term came from, Cooties were imaginary. For a while.
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All games would like you to believe that they are oodles of fun to play, but only one can boast that it is as fun as a barrel of monkeys? In fact, it is a Barrel of Monkeys! And for over four decades, kids have played with these interlocking primates for hours on end in this endearing and enduring game that tests one’s patience and coordination like no other.
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Most athletes have the ability to take a good pounding to the noggin without suffering in their performance. And, if they should happen to hold the title of Super Jock, not only is head-banging an understood occupational hazard, it is precisely what is needed to get the job done. Able to take the abuse time and time again, without ever having to worry about landing on the disabled list, Super Jocks, introduced by Schaper Toys in the mid-70s offered a line of invincible athletes with a penchant for abuse and the ability to perform brilliantly under the pressure.
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