List-Mania: Childhood Toys

The last time I did one of these type of columns was back in October! After reading some of my cousin's blogs, I thought this would be a fun subject to cover. I could have just listed all the fun video games but I decided to go with actual toys. Here are my Top 5 Favorite Childhood Toys.

5) Cobra Rattler

After Star Wars I needed something else to play with and GI Joe fit the bill. They had cool action figures and vehicles and they also had some of the best villains. One of my favorite vehicles was the Cobra Rattler. It had a cool large Gatling gun and a ton of missiles and bombs. It also came with Wild Weasel (the pilot). I think the biggest reason why I loved this toy was because the first GI Joe comic (#34) featured this cool jet.

4) Space Legos

I loved Legos as a kid and I never thought anything could top that. Then Space Legos came around. Luckily I was a spoiled kid and I got a ton of these. I used to love to build my own ships. I still have them at my mom's house and one day I will get them and let Logan have them. The best part about Space Legos is that I was only limited by what I could think of. I would spend hours making ships.

3) Star Wars Blasters

I had two cool Star Wars guns. I had a Stormtrooper rifle and Han Solo's pistol. When we would get a ton of snow in Edmonton my friend Alvin and I would play outside with these guns all the time. I still have the rifle and I know I have the pistol somewhere. I was lucky to live in a day and age when toy guns could be all black.

2) AT-AT

This toy made all my friends jealous. This thing was so huge! You could place your hand inside of the AT-AT and manipulate its head to swivel around. I had a small die-cast snowspeeder that was a perfect size so I could re-enact the Hoth battle. And I did hundreds, perhaps thousands of times!

1) Secret Wars Wolverine

I remember the day I found this cool action figure. It was at this large toy store in Edmonton and I was browsing down the aisles. Marvel never had any action figures out and I was shocked to Wolverine (this was before he became big). He had a pair of silver claws that you could snap on the wrists. I had to have it. But right next to him was Spider-Man in his black costume. My parents would only allow me to get one (see? I am not that spoiled) so I grabbed Wolverine. I do not regret it even though I have never seen that black Spider-Man again. I still have this guy and his claws.

Honorable Mention:

Vic Hockey Stick

No matter what, if you were a kid growing up in Edmonton, you had a hockey stick. It didn't matter if you played on ice or on the road. You had a stick. Me and my friends used to play almost every Saturday during the winter. The roads were so icy that we could skate on them in just our shoes. We used a tennis ball as a puck and we would be out for hours. In our old house, I used to go downstairs and play hockey down there too. I would use the bottom of the stairs as the goal and I would take shots from all over the unfinished basement. If you were the right socks, you could skate around too.