There are countless toy noises and movements I loved as a kid and still like to remember.
I adored the snug fit of the visor on Major Matt Mason's helmet, particularly when it closed. It was a tight fit over his head too. All in all it was great fun.
Action Man's field radio was a similar tactile triumph. First you had to open the little green case, then pull out the headphones jammed in there, then unravel the cables and place the phones on A Man's head. Joy! ( did it involve a morse code unit too?)
I also got a kick from pushing the small plastic coloured pegs into my Lite Brite. If it was a new paper picture beneath the screen then even better! I think the clown was my favourite image.
Another memory is the smell of heated elements inside battery operated motors like inside a robot or beneath a scalextric car. It was an intoxicating whiff of engine oil and iron. Pouring pink meths into a steam engine was a similar nasal peak. It had a chemical odour like unwanted dentistry.
Corgi Rockets provided further satisfaction with the gold key. Placing it in the plastic chassis was a fine feeling only bettered by the turn you made to release the wheels. Sublime!
A similar treasure was the extra force you had to apply to the snakehead handbreak on the old die-cast Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in order to spring the wings, which themselves made a marvellous click as they opened.
The list is as endless as childhood days. What do you remember readers?
PS. Name the song from which the posts' title is taken!
I remember bangs and sparks ... and the unforgettably satisfying smell of a reel of caps being fired with my Lone Star toy cowboy gun, Woodsy. Not sure if toy cap guns are even still made these days?
ReplyDeleteAh yes, cap guns. Wow! They were superb Tone. Like a little keg of gunpowder going off. I got a few brand new rolls a few years back. They must still be avaialable now.
DeleteOoh yes, the cap gun smell! How could I forget that - thanks for bringing back a memory, Tony.
ReplyDeleteWhat I wanted to add are two smells as well.
The first is that other smell produced by old electric motors, those in my vintage tinplate trains in particular, which I can't describe but you'll know instantly when you smell it. And which is actually ozone. No idea about how or why this happens, but it permeates the room after a couple of circuits round the track.
The other is of course PlastiGoop baking in a ThingMaker, the smell then lingering on the finished Creepy Crawler. When my boys were younger, I sacrificed a NOS oven to let them try one of my favourite childhood toys, using new PlastiGoop as well as leftover remnants from vintage flagons that surprisingly still worked(!). They loved it, and proudly showed their insects etc to my brother, who of course immediately sniffed them with the smell of the vintage PlastiGoop bringing a large grin of remembrance to his face. The new PlastiGoop didn't smell, but I've been told that due to numerous parents' requests, the new stuff is now made to smell like the old.
Best -- Paul
Ozone! That's solved that one Paul. I wondered what it was that smelt like that in electric motors!
DeleteAnd that is a cool memory about PlastiGoop. I'm pretty sure we had some as kids too but I just can't focus the memory. Amazing that the new makers gave included the old smell. That's nostalgia in action!
My fave smell has already been mentioned-Goop!Summer days on the front porch making bugs and reptiles and monsters!I also love the sound of the Starbird rising and falling through space.The song title is Sir Elton's "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"right?
ReplyDeleteGoop on the stoop then eh Brian! ha ha. I never had a Star Bird. I may have been too old having sprouted in '60. I shall track it down on You Tube. And yes, that's the song from Elton's brilliant Goodbye Yellow Brick Road LP. Get a little action in!
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