Toys of the 80's or toys of the new millenium?

This evening after dinner I sat outside watching Sam do this...

And Noah do this...

And I took little mental walk down memory lane - you see, one of the highlights of my childhood summers was the SLIP and SLIDE! Now our slip and slide was just a yellow plastic mat that you laid the hose at the top of and just let the water run down it and looked a bit like this...
except that I grew up in the mountains in Colorado and our house was built on a hill, so imagine the above picture going down a hill at about a 30-45 degree angle - FUN!!! I have such great memories of the slip and slide and am so excited that it has come back around (or maybe it never left...) for my kids to enjoy. Then I did some more thinking about all of the toys from my childhood that are back on the shelves for this generation to enjoy - Of course they are updated a bit...

Like this one...
Carebears were all the craze in the 80's and it freaks me out that they are back on the shelves.

One of my personal favorites as a kid...
Strawberry Shortcake, circa 1979 - Cannot believe that she came back around, although I don't think her friends Blueberry Muffin or Huckleberry Pie are back on the scene - I think I had EVERYTHING made that was strawberry shortcake!

Then there was this...
Little Glow Worm, every toddler's bedtime companion. Remember the light up face? It really was a bit creepy, and I was for sure we wouldn't see it again, but here we are.

And now for some of the toys my boys are currently playing with, that my brother played with like...
The original Transformer - Notice the bright colors all together - very symbolic of the 80's toys. These were the cutting edge toy for boys - I remember my dad even trying to figure them out.

And then there is the ever popular...
Original Power Ranger! Now my boys would look at this and go - "Thats not a Power Ranger... Power Rangers only have one color" So, yes the Power Ranger of the 80's was in a bit of an identity crisis, but nevertheless one of the cooler boys toys when my brother was growing up.

These are just a few examples, and although the toys have changed quite a bit over the years, it is really fun to walk down the toy eisles and think about my own childhood. And I love that all of these represent toys that you actually have to play with, like with your hands and have to get creative with. I think that this generation has lost some of its imaginary play ability because so many things are hooked in with technology. Like with the slip and slide, we would spend hours coming up with new ways to sail down a piece of plastic and now there is so much competition with video games, DVDs, computer games and the like. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE these things, but I also want my children to really know how to PLAY! So that they look at me like this at the end of the day...

So, now I turn it over to you... What were your favorite toys growing up and do your children play with any of the same toys that you did?

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