"Blinky, Pinky, Inky & Clyde"
For those of you who follow me on Tumblr, Pinterest or Facebook, you know I've been on a flashback kick these last couple of weeks: scanning old pictures, organizing old negatives, thumbing through old papers, and browsing for images of old toys from my childhood.
Most of this is just retro curiosity - every once in a while I take a fond look back at things I used to enjoy as a late 70's early 80's kid. Sometimes I don't go back far and sometimes... well... I maybe go back TOO far. Either way it's usually quite a kick of a ride and a learning experience to boot.
Throughout the last few of days, as I've sorted through pictures of toys and gadgets from the past (and sharing them on Tumblr, Pinterest, and Facebook), a number of questions have come to mind regarding the toys I used to own: what were they called and when were they made?
In some cases I'm learning what those answers are for the very first time...
In the coming days I’m going to share with you some of these insights, starting with this one…
This, my friends, is the best way to wile away the time at school when you’re bored out of your goard. This is a Nelsonic Pac-Man watch!
Made in 1982, this game retailed for between $25 and $35 and quickly became one of the most popular Nelsonic Game Watches, selling over 500,000 units.This unit was released with several different faceplate graphics and at least 2 different styles of physical layout - one with 4 directional buttons and the other with a small joystick that could be assembled. But I had the one pictured above.
And yes, I got plenty of use out of it! :)
Of course, let us also not forget the Transforming Robot Watch, who has earned an honorable mention on this post! Kronoforms from Takara, were the originals and naturally spawned a number of copy-cats. I had one such copycat, a grey one branded by Quartz. But it looked exactly like the picture below!
Most of this is just retro curiosity - every once in a while I take a fond look back at things I used to enjoy as a late 70's early 80's kid. Sometimes I don't go back far and sometimes... well... I maybe go back TOO far. Either way it's usually quite a kick of a ride and a learning experience to boot.
Throughout the last few of days, as I've sorted through pictures of toys and gadgets from the past (and sharing them on Tumblr, Pinterest, and Facebook), a number of questions have come to mind regarding the toys I used to own: what were they called and when were they made?
In some cases I'm learning what those answers are for the very first time...
In the coming days I’m going to share with you some of these insights, starting with this one…
This, my friends, is the best way to wile away the time at school when you’re bored out of your goard. This is a Nelsonic Pac-Man watch!
Made in 1982, this game retailed for between $25 and $35 and quickly became one of the most popular Nelsonic Game Watches, selling over 500,000 units.This unit was released with several different faceplate graphics and at least 2 different styles of physical layout - one with 4 directional buttons and the other with a small joystick that could be assembled. But I had the one pictured above.
And yes, I got plenty of use out of it! :)
Of course, let us also not forget the Transforming Robot Watch, who has earned an honorable mention on this post! Kronoforms from Takara, were the originals and naturally spawned a number of copy-cats. I had one such copycat, a grey one branded by Quartz. But it looked exactly like the picture below!