45 Classic Toy Gifts

What Christmas gifts did you get when you were little? My wife and I were reminiscing about Christmas presents past. We both enjoyed games (Yahtzee for her) and books (Richard Scarry's Best Rainy Day Book Ever for me). But not every toy is timeless. One of my favorites was Ideal's Electronic Detective — now only available from sites like eBay. Start Electronic Detective's computer and you would hear gunshots fire, followed by a funeral dirge. Compete against other players by interviewing 19 different character suspects to solve who murdered the 20th character — much more involved than Clue.

Still, many of the toys we received from Santa decades ago remain winners for kids (or even young-at-heart grown-ups) to unwrap today.

1. Ants in the Pants — Spring red, blue, green and yellow insects into a pair of pants; watch out for the suspenders.
   


2. Barbie — Her full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts, hailing from Willows, Wisconsin. As of 2006, she is back together with Ken.
   


3. Barrel of Monkeys — Link together a dozen monkeys by their S-shaped arms. Drop one and lose your turn.
   


4. Battleship — I can still hear the kid in the TV commercial cry out "You sank my battleship!" Milton Bradley also offers an updated version with sirens, battle sounds, lights and voice commands: Electronic Battleship Advanced Mission.


5. Big Wheel — I loved my Big Wheel low-rider tricycle, a '70s childhood icon. Mine featured the hand brake on the side for that spin-out stop.
   


6. Bristle Blocks — These colorful, connecting blocks are now known as Krinkles.
   


7. Building block sets — Watch kids form whole cities from wooden blocks, then knock them down like Godzilla.
   


8. Cabbage Patch Kids — My little sister was overjoyed to receive a Cabbage Patch Kid for Christmas in the early '80s. The dolls are now back to celebrate their 25th anniversary.
   


9. Candy Land — Pick a card to advance your gingerbread token the color you chose on a winding path. Suited for ages three to six.
   


10. Capsela — My best friend growing up had Capsela. We spent hours as kid engineers, making cars, boats and robots from those clear plastic capsules. Add motors, wires, gears, wheels and yellow pontoons and watch them go.
    
    
11. Clue (classic version) — Clue (also known as Cluedo) underwent a "reinvention" in 2008. I have not played the new version which includes intrigue cards and re-imagined characters. Professor Plum is now Victor Plum, billionaire video game designer.
    


12. Colorforms — University Games has released the original version of Colorforms from the '50s.
    


13. Dressy Bessy and Dapper Dan — These dolls help teach children basic dressing skills like buttoning, buckling and tying laces.
    


14. Duncan Yo-yo — The Imperial and the Butterfly are classic starter yo-yos from Duncan.
    


15. Easy Bake Oven — Hasbro replaced the light bulb with an actual heating element in this iconic toy oven.
    


16. Erector Set —Olympic gold medalist A. C. Gilbert invented these construction kits in 1911.
    


17. Etch A Sketch — First released by the Ohio Art Company in 1960, this red-framed drawing toy always challenged my hand-eye coordination.


18. Fisher Price Little People — Today's Little People are more defined: with arms, detailed clothing and even names.
    


19. GI Joe — While the 12-inch Joes are still available, the smaller "real American hero" line of action figures (first introduced in 1982) are more popular.
    
    
20. Gnip Gnop — This tabletop ball game draws its name from spelling "ping pong" backwards.


21. Hot Wheels Cars — Mattel estimates 41 million children grew up playing with Hot Wheels die-cast metal cars since 1968.


22. Hungry Hungry Hippos — Perhaps the game lost some of its appetite for marbles: it's now just Hungry Hippos on the game box.
    


23. Lego — The colorful interlocking bricks celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2008.
    


24. Lincoln Logs — Look for the original wood piece sets over the plastic ones for a truly classic toy.
    


25. Lite-Brite — This glowing toy now comes in a cube, allowing four colorful peg-lit designs at once.


26. Matchbox Cars — Lesney Products & Co. designed these cars to fit in a matchbox because a co-owner's child could only bring toys smaller than a matchbox to school.


27. Memory — For Christmas 2008, we will give one of our nieces a Disney Princess-themed version of the memory card game.
    


28. Monopoly — Tell your giftee to get a monopoly on the red properties; Illinois Avenue is the most landed-on property space.
    
    
29. Mr. Potato Head — The tater toy was the first to be advertised on television in 1952.
    


30. Nerf — Check with your giftee's parents before giving the foam projectile blasters (or just go with the Nerf balls).
    


31. Operation — The patient with the red-light-bulb nose is Cavity Sam.
    


32. Play-Doh — Open the cans of red, blue and yellow clay to relive the texture and scent of childhood.
    


33. Radio Flyer Classic Red Wagon — The #18 Classic Red Wagon had its shape trademarked.
    


34. Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots — The Blue Bomber and the Red Rocker square off to "knock his block off!"
    


35. Scrabble — Give the joy of a triple word score. Best for ages eight and up.
    


36. See 'n Say — Fisher Price replaced the pull cords with levers, but the cow still says moo.
    


37. Star Wars Figures — As a kid, my favorite Star Wars figure was the bounty hunter Greedo. And, yes, Han shot first.
    
    
38. Stratego — Chess with playing pieces in disguise. I enjoyed my old Electronic Stratego board game. The "1812 Overture" played when you captured the flag.
    


39. The Game of Life — The car pawns were switched to SUVs in 2005.
    


40. Tinkertoys (Classic Set) — Classic sets of rods and wheels use wood instead of plastic (except for the flags).
    


41. Tonka Truck — Go for indestructible steel Tonka Classics rather than the plastic versions.
    


42. Trivial Pursuit — Finally, all the useless knowledge in my head was put to good use starting in 1981. Give the Totally 80s edition to thirty- and forty-somethings on your list.
    
    
43. Uno — Be sure to say "Uno!" before anyone notices you're down to one card. We're giving Uno Flash this Christmas to our eight-year-old niece.
    


44. View-Master — Sure, they want a Wii. But the simplicity of a View-Master still allures kids today with its 3-D picture reels.
    


45. Yahtzee — You have a 4.6 percent chance of rolling a Yahtzee (all five dice showing the same number), earning 50 points in this classic game.