There are a number of 70s toys that are still popular today, while others have gone out of fashion. Continue reading to see how many you remember!
Examples of Play Things from the 1970s
Connect Four
Connect Four is a form of Tic Tac Toe played on a vertical plane. Players take turns dropping colored pieces into the top of the board. The winner is the first person to connect four of them in a row. The person who was victorious got to call out "Connect Four!" and pull a flap located at the bottom of the playing board, causing all the playing chips to fall out onto the surface where the game was being played.
Sea Monkeys
Sea monkeys were fascinating creatures advertised in the back pages of comic books. The picture depicted a family that looked a lot like mermen and mermaids. The idea of owning these exotic things was very attractive to youngsters, who could picture them living in an undersea kingdom full of sunken treasures.
In reality, sea monkeys were tiny crustaceans. They lived in a container filled with tap water. The sea monkeys hatched from "instant life" eggs (which were brine shrimp) and owners fed them with powdered aphids.
Six Million Dollar Man
Steve Austin, television's Six Million Dollar Man, was distributed as an action figure wearing a red track suit. The toy was equipped with a magnifying glass eye to mimic the character's bionic one. It also featured a "bionic" arm with "skin" that could be easily pulled back to show some plastic components. Austin's bionic grip was achieved by pressing down on a red button on his back.
Stretch Armstrong
Stretch Armstrong was an action figure that children could pull on to stretch out his arms and legs. He looked a little bit like a wrestler and kids would get creative trying to see just how far they could make Stretch, well, stretch.
If the kids used too much force and broke Stretch Armstrong open, they would see that he was filled with a strange material that could only be described as "ooze." It was this substance that gave Stretch his power to go back to his original size after he was stretched out. If the toy was broken open, he wouldn't work properly again.
Twister
Twister was invented in the late 1960s, and became popular after it was featured on the Tonight Show. Host Johnny Carson and Eva Gabor treated the viewing public to a demonstration of how to play the game.
The idea behind Twister is a very simple one. The game is made to be played by three to six players. It comes with a plastic mat covered with colored dots. Players take turns operating the spinner and moving their body into the position the spinner stops at, such as "Put right hand on red."
Viewmaster
A Viewmaster is made up of two parts. First you need a viewer, a plastic contraption that looks a little like a pair of binoculars. Then you need a round card with 12 images or so. Simply insert the card into the viewer to see a story presented for your private viewing in 3D. Pressing down on the lever on the viewer makes the card move forward to the next frame.
Some Toys Are Gone, Some Remain
Connect Four, Twister, and Viewmaster are examples of 70s toys that are still available. Children can still get sea monkeys, but they may not be as easily fooled about what they really are as kids were in the 70s. The Six Million Dollar Man and Stretch Armstrong are associated with that decade, and are no longer being produced. Maybe it's time to search that old toy box in the attic and see if you have any collectibles.
