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Courtenay
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Toys and Games

Post by Courtenay »

Split from 'General Natter Room'.

Here's a bit of nostalgic fun for many of us: UK toys celebrated on Royal Mail stamps

Most of those toys were or are available in Australia as well, so I recognise a lot of them. This is my favourite (we even had this exact set, the farm! :D ):

Image

And I always wanted one of these, but then when I finally picked up a second hand one, the pens didn't work and I couldn't find any others with narrow enough points to fit in the holes... :(

Image

Does anyone else have a favourite or two in there?
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Re: General Natter Room

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

I used to have fuzzy felt back in the late 50's, and I did have a Sindy doll too. :)

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Re: General Natter Room

Post by Daisy »

My children enjoyed fuzzy felts and had that farm one - also my grandchildren have enjoyed playing with them too. We also had a spirograph which all the children have enjoyed.
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Re: General Natter Room

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Lovely stamps. The Hornby train set and the Space Hopper are the most nostalgic for me. My sister and I spent hours and hours playing with both of those as children.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
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Re: General Natter Room

Post by Daisy »

We also had a space hopper and stickle bricks - the latter lasted years and have entertained grandchildren too.
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Courtenay
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Re: General Natter Room

Post by Courtenay »

I remember seeing stickle bricks as a child, but we always had Lego at home. My cousins had a space hopper when I was really little, but I never did get the hang of it! :lol:

I like the stamp with the boy gaping delightedly at his Hornby train set — with the Royal Mail car taking up the foreground, appropriately enough! :wink:
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Re: UK Toys Celebrated on Royal Mail Stamps

Post by Rob Houghton »

We had a space hopper, which we loved as kids, until it got a puncture. :-( I also had many sets of Fuzzy Felts.

I had a Noddy fuzzy felt set but sadly it got lost/thrown away. I bought a similar set a few years ago though! ;-)

This Fuzzy Felt Monsters set was my favourite -

Image


Stickle Bricks were something I was familiar with, but only ever played with at school. Those were the good old days where we often had an hour of play in the afternoons - stickle bricks, Plasticine, lego, beads, etc. :-D There was a table for each activity and we moved round so that everyone could have a go at each thing.

While I'm searching for toys, I came across this game, which gave us hours of fun -

Image
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: UK Toys Celebrated on Royal Mail Stamps

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Your image of Misfits wasn't showing for me the other day, Rob, but it is now. My sister and I had that game and played it often - along with Operation, Haunted House, Mouse Trap, Frustration, Stay Alive, Connect Four, Mastermind, Othello, Buccaneer, Snakes and Ladders, Dominoes, Draughts, Jack Straws, Tell Me, The Nancy Drew Mystery Game, Yahtzee, Scrabble, Monopoly and Cluedo. My own children like/d many of the same games but unfortunately they never had Misfits, which was passed on to our cousins.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Re: UK Toys Celebrated on Royal Mail Stamps

Post by Rob Houghton »

You played many of the games I also enjoyed or owned. :-) My sister's friend had both Operation and Haunted House, where you dropped the ball down the chimney - a game I really loved playing! I had Mousetrap - so much better back then than the new version they brought out about 10 years ago - and my sister owned various Mastermind games - one with coloured pegs, one with letters) plus Scrabble and Jackstraws (the version with little tools and ladders etc!)

We also loved 'Mousie-Mousie - where you had to be quick and catch other player's mice under a cup - and Ker-Plunk, plus of course Snakes and Ladders, Cluedo, and Sorry. :-)
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: UK Toys Celebrated on Royal Mail Stamps

Post by KEVP »

Wow. Fuzzy Felt makes me think of another time, another place. Like a whole world that has now disappeared.

Misfits has a similar effect on me. We bought it second hand, and we didn't have the rules so we made up our own.
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Re: UK Toys Celebrated on Royal Mail Stamps

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Yes, it's amazing how just a glimpse of a childhood toy, game or book can whisk one back through time.

We had the same version of Jack Straws, Rob, and we've still got Haunted House so my own children also grew up with 'Ghoulish Gerty drops it down the chimney' and 'Glenda the Good breaks the spell'. :D KerPlunk is another one my sister and I had, and we played Mousie-Mousie at a friend's house. I've never played Sorry though. I didn't know a new edition of Mouse Trap had been brought out - our old one was given away to our cousins.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Rob Houghton
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Re: UK Toys Celebrated on Royal Mail Stamps

Post by Rob Houghton »

Ghoulish Gerty and Glenda the Good! That brings back good memories! This game is regularly for sale on eBay, sometimes for as much as £60! :-D
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: UK Toys Celebrated on Royal Mail Stamps

Post by Courtenay »

Gosh, I never had that game, but it sounds good! :D We used to play board games very regularly when I was little — we had plenty of different ones, but I think Cluedo was one of the biggest favourites, or else a dice game called Greed. Hungry Hungry Hippos was the most raucous, especially when my sister and I had our two closest cousins staying over and we'd play it together — happy times! I always wanted Mousetrap but never did manage to persuade Mum and Dad that it would make a good birthday present ("too many fiddly plastic bits!" was Mum's verdict, if I recall rightly)... :wink:

When I last spoke to my parents and sister on Skype a few weeks ago, they'd been having a game of Greed, like we always used to, so some things haven't changed too much. I'll have to make sure we drag that and a few more of the old games out again next time I'm back in Australia. And I must remember to take the Faraway Tree card game with me next time (which I was planning to show my family last time I was over there, but forgot)! :D
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Rob Houghton
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Re: UK Toys Celebrated on Royal Mail Stamps

Post by Rob Houghton »

For those of us of a certain age! ;-)

Image
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: UK Toys Celebrated on Royal Mail Stamps

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Haunted House is great fun, Courtenay. You slot together a cardboard-and-plastic house with four spooky-looking rooms and move your character through each room and up the stairs. The best part is when someone picks up a card which allows them to drop a ball bearing down the chimney, which can cause havoc. Your character can get knocked downstairs, tipped off a loose section of floor or swept over by a broom. At other times, s/he can be turned into a mouse.

(Edit: I see Rob has posted a picture!)

I've never played Greed but we still play board games and card games regularly, favourites being Cluedo, Scrabble, Monopoly, Yahtzee, Last Word, Coppit and Uno. We've also got (but haven't played for a while) a Prince Caspian board game, a Harry Potter board game, a Downton Abbey game, the Famous Five Treasure Quest game, Journey Through Fairyland, Don't Say It!, Minotaurus, Carcassonne, Balderdash, The 221B Baker Street Game, Connect Four and The Nancy Drew Mystery Game.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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