Sweet Memories of Childhood Cars: A Matchbox Retrospective

I wrote an article last week about Hot Wheels cars, but upon posting it something started gnawing at me. While talking about Hot Wheels, I had completely neglected to mention Matchbox, the opposing brand. What makes this worse is that as a kid, I couldn’t distinguish between the two as both brands made little toy cars. They still do of course, so it’s only fair that I give you the other side of the story. Read more

The Glory of G.I. Joes: A Retrospective

We’ve been over how much I love Ninja Turtles at least twice. You may also remember a long while back I had a thing or two to say about the G.I. Joe toys based on the movie. But it’s taken me this long to realize that what I really need to do is talk about the real G.I. Joes and why they rival Ninja Turtles for Greatest Action Figure status. Ready? Oorah! Read more

Still Leading the Way: A Hot Wheels Retrospective

Little known fact about me: I grew up as a little boy when I was a lot younger. What this generally meant is that Barbies weren’t typically in my play-cycle and Hot Wheels dominated most of my free time in between Ninja Turtles. I’m happy to say that even though I’ve taken a long hiatus from the small die-cast cars of my youth, they’ve been waiting around should I ever choose to get back into the habit. It’s always great to know that my kids will someday have the chance to play with my favorite toys. Read more

Talking Cars, Space Ships, and Classic Americana: The Most Popular Die-Cast Toys

I’m taking another day off video games to go into one of my favorite things from my childhood: Die-cast cars. The term can be applied to a lot of things, such as Hot Wheels and the like, but I actually won’t be bringing Hot Wheels into this since, well, that makes for an article in of itself sometime next week. Okay, not the classic thought of what makes a car a Hot Wheels car at least. I can’t lie, I’m talking about the most popular die-cast cars right now, so Hot Wheels are going to show up in some way or another. Read more

Let The Good Times Roll: Ideas For Popular Ride-On Toys

I’ve been hung up on video games a lot lately, and I apologize for that. There’s just been an abundance of games getting released in such a short time frame. Plus, it sounds as if half the US has been snowed in for a while. To make up for all this sitting around in front of the TV, I think it’s time to take a look at the complete opposite here and talk about getting those kids outside and on something that moves. No, not a car, not even a bike, but one of these handy active outdoor toys. Grab your helmets and kneepads and let’s talk about some popular ride-on toys.

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The Plastic Wars: A Retrospective on Army Men

I like toys. I know, we’re talking revelation of the year here. I’m also a guy, so typically whatever toys I’m playing with are required to have some sort of firepower or at least look like they are capable of fighting either each other, or some other toy I have yet to purchase but will feel the need to as soon as I see it. I’ve mentioned that G.I. Joes are the perfect action figures and that Ninja Turtles are the coolest, but I want to go even more old school than those. I’m talking zero points of articulation, absolutely no accessories or outfits or anything. How could a toy still be awesome after all that? Aha, I’ve got you now don’t I? How about if I’m talking a whole squadron of toys? Yeah, let’s talk plastic army men.

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Bundle Up and Get Outside: Great Outdoor Toys For the Snow

Winter is fast approaching, and if you’ve been paying attention you may have noticed that the temperature outside has dropped to something near “Why can’t I feel my feet?” levels. That can only mean one thing: Snow will be here soon. That also means that your kids (and hopefully yourself) will be outside playing in the snow rather than situated in front of a TV screen. I’m all for video games, but when there’s snow, dang it, there is playing to be done!

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