What is the best toy you ever had?
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MVVM # - I did it My Way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')
Dunno. There's too much malloc for remembering the other bits.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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If I had to pick just one, it would be the American Basic Science Club series my folks got me at great expense in its time. I doubt you could even create such a thing today, with all the lawyers working so hard to prevent kids from learning anything. Even if it was possible to create again, I doubt anyone could afford it today. But among other choices, a microscope, a chemistry set, a telescope, a Tonka 9-piece construction set (the steel ones, not plastic), the original Erector Set with the heavy duty 120V ac motor with gearbox - all were excellent toys. Also fun, but not a toy, was my Marlin 101-T .22 cal rifle, which I got when I was 8, the same year every boy in the neighborhood got his first gun. Oddly enough, no one ever lost an eye, or a finger, nor did anyone ever get hurt with any of the toys and tools they won't let kids have today. We learned a thing called "responsibility" from our parents, and practiced it until we got it right. A pity it's become a lost art... :sigh:
Will Rogers never met me.
+1 for the American Basic Science Club kits. I had more than a few chemistry sets too.
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The best toy I ever had was a Meccano set (Number 6). Using it you really learned mechanics, while building your own toys at the same time. I'm sad to learn that Meccano isn't around in the same way as it used to be. So while planning away what to buy for my kids in the future I'm wondering what was/is the best toys you ever had?
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES! Abraham Lincoln
In addition to Lego, Technic, and Commodore 64 (all of which I saw mentioned by others), I would suggest the old Radio Shack learning kits were great. Remember, the ones that came with a manual of 160+ electronic devices you can "build" using wiring diagrams, a mix of a hundred blue, red, green, and yellow wires, and a board filled with transistors, capacitors, solar cells, etc?
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The best toy I ever had was a Meccano set (Number 6). Using it you really learned mechanics, while building your own toys at the same time. I'm sad to learn that Meccano isn't around in the same way as it used to be. So while planning away what to buy for my kids in the future I'm wondering what was/is the best toys you ever had?
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES! Abraham Lincoln
Honestly, probably a little shovel I "borrowed" from my Moms gardening toolbox. Before they filled it in at the summer I think the pit I dug behind the house was probably at least a cubic yard in volume. Sadly I'm much harder to amuse now than when I was five. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
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The best toy I ever had was a Meccano set (Number 6). Using it you really learned mechanics, while building your own toys at the same time. I'm sad to learn that Meccano isn't around in the same way as it used to be. So while planning away what to buy for my kids in the future I'm wondering what was/is the best toys you ever had?
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES! Abraham Lincoln
Construx(LEGO competitor that sadly was discontinued). Could make just about anything I could think of (cars, planes, guns, giant robots etc). It was vastly easier (for me at least) to build stuff than Lego. It consisted of various length beams with joint connectors and panels to fill in spaces. This may explain why I like coding in .NET over a "closer to the metal" language like C....
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Well, hope you didnt get this item: http://able2know.org/topic/190258-2[^]
Actually, I did. In the ABS Club kits, though not packaged separately as shown, I had a bottle of uranium oxide, a small dot of radium, and I built a cloud chamber (requiring handling dry ice, which we kids did regularly in complete safety). I also made a spinthariscope with the kit. Further down the page is a mercury maze game. I had one of those, too, but we all had fun playing with mercury from broken thermometers without such silly, harmless toys. We mostly made our own toys back then, another lost art.
Will Rogers never met me.
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The best toy I ever had was a Meccano set (Number 6). Using it you really learned mechanics, while building your own toys at the same time. I'm sad to learn that Meccano isn't around in the same way as it used to be. So while planning away what to buy for my kids in the future I'm wondering what was/is the best toys you ever had?
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES! Abraham Lincoln
It went zip when it moved, bop when it stopped and whirr when it stood still. I never knew just what it was, and I guess I never will.
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+1 for the American Basic Science Club kits. I had more than a few chemistry sets too.
I only had one chemistry set, but it was a big one in a wooden or steel case - I forget. I think Gilbert made it. I added on to it by purchasing chemicals, glassware and supplies by mail order, and became fairly adept at plumbing with glass tubing bent with the aid of an alcohol lamp and a blow-pipe, then connected by bits of rubber tubing. Happy days! :-D
Will Rogers never met me.
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The best toy I ever had was a Meccano set (Number 6). Using it you really learned mechanics, while building your own toys at the same time. I'm sad to learn that Meccano isn't around in the same way as it used to be. So while planning away what to buy for my kids in the future I'm wondering what was/is the best toys you ever had?
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES! Abraham Lincoln
Right now, I am split between my Arduino and my Raspberry Pi. Before that - as a childhood toy, it had to be my Mamod Steam Engine (Mecanno compatible).
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The best toy I ever had was a Meccano set (Number 6). Using it you really learned mechanics, while building your own toys at the same time. I'm sad to learn that Meccano isn't around in the same way as it used to be. So while planning away what to buy for my kids in the future I'm wondering what was/is the best toys you ever had?
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES! Abraham Lincoln
Radio Shack 100-in-1 Project Kit (or whatever it was called in the 70s) On a related note: The Marvelous Toy[^]
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The best toy I ever had was a Meccano set (Number 6). Using it you really learned mechanics, while building your own toys at the same time. I'm sad to learn that Meccano isn't around in the same way as it used to be. So while planning away what to buy for my kids in the future I'm wondering what was/is the best toys you ever had?
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES! Abraham Lincoln
The Kenner Mold Master[^]. It was a plastic injection molding toy that let you build toys like army men, tanks, trucks, jeeps, and rockets. If the toys became scuffed or broken, you crumbled them up to remelt them to make more. That and the Kenner Girder and Panel[^] sets. You could make buildings and bridges.
Psychosis at 10 Film at 11 Those who do not remember the past, are doomed to repeat it. Those who do not remember the past, cannot build upon it.
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Was your home a hollowed out volcano by any chance? Andy B
Nope, just a quiet little southern California beach community. My father worked for an aerospace company and had a penchant for giving his kids unusual (and really fun!) gifts. He even brought home a bunch of optics one weekend (lenses, beam-splitters, detectors, etc.) and [while mom was gone shopping for the day with grandma and my sisters] we built a sand-table on the dining room table and performed a bunch of laser based "experiments". We had a lot of fun with it but the look on mom's face when she got home and found her dining table turned into a sand-table was absolutely priceless! [we went out to eat dinner that night and the dining room was returned to normal before we went to bed].
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The best toy I ever had was a Meccano set (Number 6). Using it you really learned mechanics, while building your own toys at the same time. I'm sad to learn that Meccano isn't around in the same way as it used to be. So while planning away what to buy for my kids in the future I'm wondering what was/is the best toys you ever had?
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES! Abraham Lincoln
Legos, I was able to build many things with them. :)
CEO at: - Rafaga Systems - Para Facturas - Modern Components for the moment...
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The best toy I ever had was a Meccano set (Number 6). Using it you really learned mechanics, while building your own toys at the same time. I'm sad to learn that Meccano isn't around in the same way as it used to be. So while planning away what to buy for my kids in the future I'm wondering what was/is the best toys you ever had?
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES! Abraham Lincoln
I had CAPSELA when I was young. It was a building set with plastic orbs with gear sets and connectors that you could build all sorts of things. I learned a lot and got my engineering mind moving. I just bought a bunch for my three year old son on ebay.
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The best toy I ever had was a Meccano set (Number 6). Using it you really learned mechanics, while building your own toys at the same time. I'm sad to learn that Meccano isn't around in the same way as it used to be. So while planning away what to buy for my kids in the future I'm wondering what was/is the best toys you ever had?
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES! Abraham Lincoln
My old Erector (Meccano) set, Lincoln Logs set, some plastic build-a-structure toy, all figure very highly in my mind. However, the absolute "best" toy I ever has was/is my solderless breadboard. I still get it out and play with it every now and then.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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Actually, I did. In the ABS Club kits, though not packaged separately as shown, I had a bottle of uranium oxide, a small dot of radium, and I built a cloud chamber (requiring handling dry ice, which we kids did regularly in complete safety). I also made a spinthariscope with the kit. Further down the page is a mercury maze game. I had one of those, too, but we all had fun playing with mercury from broken thermometers without such silly, harmless toys. We mostly made our own toys back then, another lost art.
Will Rogers never met me.
I wouldnt trust adults with that stuff, and I dont think you government does that either :laugh:
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The best toy I ever had was a Meccano set (Number 6). Using it you really learned mechanics, while building your own toys at the same time. I'm sad to learn that Meccano isn't around in the same way as it used to be. So while planning away what to buy for my kids in the future I'm wondering what was/is the best toys you ever had?
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES! Abraham Lincoln
http://www.girdersandgears.com/erector-type3.html[^] I spent years making everything I could imagine with this kit. Ended up with a career as a civil engineer, city planner, website designer, ASP.net programmer, vb.net application/utility programmer, the techy-go-to-guy in the office, and construction cost estimator. I think being able to see (or imagine) how things fit and work together is a large part of my success. I don't know if any of these are related - but as they say "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life". :-D
-Bob