Shaka’s Top 7 Toys from Childhood

Yes, I had a My Buddy Doll and no, I don't want to talk about it.

I don’t plan on including video game systems, though they are pretty much a given as a big part of my childhood, simply because they’re not really toys. Everything else on this list however, is.

7. X-Men

I’m a little hesitant to even add the X-Men toys to my list; this only started to happen during the last days of my childhood when I picked up more comics and less and less toys, but I still feel it important. I didn’t own a lot of them, but I admit I owned a ton of Wolverines, probably because I had no idea where the hell to go to find my favorites (Gambit and Psylocke), plus I wasn’t allowed to ride public transportation alone yet.

6. G.I. JOE

Every boy had one, and if you didn’t, one of your friends probably left it at your house and forgot about it, thereby making it yours (boyhood law). To really re-enact the show, you had to make him escape from a vehicle just before it exploded, because we all know no one ever died in G.I. JOE.

5. Godzilla

Back in the day I was a certified Godzilla junkie, and I can vividly remember watching the films every Saturday in my parent’s tiny apartment on Park Ave (in the Bronx, that is). Dinosaurs were cool, but the idea of a radioactive one with Atomic Breath (oh god I loved the AB) was just the joint. I also had Rodan, but let’s face it – he was a bitch.

4. Transformers

On certain random days, a few meaningless thoughts will rattle around my head: a crazy dream I had, old girlfriends I dated, random subway images, and the fact that my little brother and I (for an incredibly short time), owned one of the original Optimus Prime toys – the one where his trailer becomes the mobile fortress – and then lost it about a week or two later on a construction site with our dad. I hadn’t done it in a while, but I’ve checked ebay today, and that fucker is worth over $200. Kids are idiots.

3. Hot Wheels

I will admit this: the toy cars that are made these days are admittedly much better than when I was a kid (thank moder automotive aesthetic design for that), but Hot Wheels were undoubtedly a cornerstone of my childhood, and definitely still stay with me in a way. For a person who has never had a driver’s licence, I know more about cars than most people who actually own one. My shame has long faded away into apathy on that last one.

2. Power Wheels

I credit Rufus for reminding me of this expensive ass gimmick – that I totally loved. My brother and I would fight over who got to drive and who rode shotgun, and the worst part was waiting for the battery to charge (when you live on an island where electrical output differs from the U.S. it’s a big deal). I’m pretty sure we hit a cat once, and I’m pretty sure it was ours.

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I can sum up my 80's with this pic.

You name it, my brother and I owned it: Multiple variations of Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo, the Shredder, the Turtle Van, Turtle Blimp, Bebop & Rocksteady… even April O’neil and Splinter, with his raggedy-ass burgundy kimono and walking stick. Not that I’m proud of it, but we lost more Ninja Turtles than some people ever owned. You can call that perseverance.