Three Towns Forum
The Local => Times Past => Topic started by: Ian on September 27, 2010, 02:39:19 pm
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Remember Bayko or Trix Twin? What toys from your childhood evoke particularly strong memories, even now?
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Tonka!
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Hornby Dublo, Dinky toys, Corgi Toys, Lego and Star yaughts, When we came to Llandudno on holiday in the Sixties I would spend some of my saved up pocket money in Toytown on a model yaught and then off to the West shore boating pool to sail it <:> Having just remembered that I may look on Ebay for a Star yaught and then sail it again at the West shore (assuming there will be any water in the pool when I go there!)
Does anyone have a pic of the old Toytown shop??
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well I've just bid on this and another similar boat as 'er indoors' wants one too! <:>
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Star-Mk2-pond-yacht-Endeavour-2-/230529275787?pt=UK_Toys_Creative_Educational_RL&hash=item35ac9d978b (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Star-Mk2-pond-yacht-Endeavour-2-/230529275787?pt=UK_Toys_Creative_Educational_RL&hash=item35ac9d978b)
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One of my favourites was Meccano. I had piles of the stuff and could make almost anthing. Kept me amused for hours. D)
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Like most, I went through phases .... toys were in and out of favour with me ..
I loved my teddies ... and then it was lego, ... and I played with that for hours.
Then it was my bike, from which I was inseperable.
But when not outside, I invested a lot in Airfix models and soldiers ..all different types.
Then I moved onto Subbuteo, which was a total waste of time and money.
I collected loads of teams, stadiums, accessories ....spent a fortune and never EVER played a game of it.
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Tonka!
"Real tough toys for real tough boys"
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I think I had this one:
(http://www.hobbydiscounter.com/toy-games/Classic_Toys/Tonka_Classics_Dump_Truck_B000PEHDFG.jpg)
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The set box design bore little relation to the model you could make with the set..
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I think I had this one:
(http://www.hobbydiscounter.com/toy-games/Classic_Toys/Tonka_Classics_Dump_Truck_B000PEHDFG.jpg)
I think we ALL had that one!!! L0L
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Magic Robot was also fascinating, and is still going. Always amuses me how large they made the toys seem in relation to the children...
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This was bought for me to compensate for having Asian 'Flu when I was a nipper
...
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I invested a lot in Airfix models and soldiers ..all different types.
I also loved Airfix kits and I still have many old Airfix catalogues (and kits!) just the other day at a boot sale I found a made up Airfix Vauxhall Viva HA for a pound D) D)
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This was bought for me to compensate for having Asian 'Flu when I was a nipper
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Supurb 8) looks in mint condition too! love the Bayko and Magic Robot pics too!
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I think I had this one:
(http://www.hobbydiscounter.com/toy-games/Classic_Toys/Tonka_Classics_Dump_Truck_B000PEHDFG.jpg)
I think we ALL had that one!!! L0L
I grew up before Tonka was around (I think anyway or perhaps my parents never showed me it? ;D)
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I had a Teddy dressed as a sailor and I've still got him but he's lost his cap!
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Bayko? Not sure ... was that the little bricks you had to cement together?
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Bayko was a rod and brick system, which used green, perforated bases ,into which you inserted small metal rods, then slid the relevant bricks down the rods to make entire buildings. Sadly, these days, it probably wouldn't be allowed for reasons of H & S.
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For a detailed account and lots of pics about Bayko, this site is worth a visit:
http://www.baykoman.com/ (http://www.baykoman.com/)
They ended production in 1964.
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I see Bayko was produced in Liverpool - just like Meccano & Dinkey Toys. *&(
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Liverpool was something of a hub for the major toy manufacturers in the 30s - 60s. Probably because of the proximity of the docks.
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My son had a Tonka truck like that in the early 80's. I recently found it in my loft and gave it to my grandson aged 3. I also found some Weebles for my younger grandchildren who love playing with them, so have been buying more of them on ebay!
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My son had a Tonka truck like that in the early 80's. I recently found it in my loft and gave it to my grandson aged 3. I also found some Weebles for my younger grandchildren who love playing with them, so have been buying more of them on ebay!
"Weebles wobble but they don't fall down" :)
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I played for hours with Bayko and had many a hole in my hand from the metal rods, I also had a Magic Robot and Fuzzy Felt.
Thinking back I also had a row of crows on a wire with a cork gun to shoot them and a thing called Tap Tap which was a cork board with a hammer and real nails which you hammered in to make patterns ! Can you imagine H&S with that little lot? They'd have a field day.
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I see Bayko was produced in Liverpool - just like Meccano & Dinkey Toys. *&(
I used to have an uncle who worked in the Dinky / Meccano factory and I used to get the odd free Dinky car 8) Ironically I always prefered Corgi Toys ^*^0
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I see Bayko was produced in Liverpool - just like Meccano & Dinkey Toys. *&(
When I was a kid all my toys were "Made In Hong Kong"!
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One particular Xmas I got an excellent shooting game called 'Targetland'
It was Nemesis' post that reminded me of this ....
It had a rifle that fired rubber suction bullets at various targets, clay pigeons, ducks on stings etc...but I didn't think it was very powerful.
Therefore I decided that it was perfectly reasonable to fire these bullets at my pet budgie as it flitted around the room ... this went on for a couple of years and I never managed to hit it, in any case it wasn't powerful enough to trouble the bird.
Or so I thought ...until the day I DID hit it.
Poor Joey fell to the carpet and never moved again.
Embarrassed and scared of parental repercussions, I popped the stiff Joey back into its cage, closed the door, and walked away with an innocent whistle.
Some hours later my Mum and Dad discovered the deceased budgie, and agonised over how to break the news to me.
My acting as I feigned shock and upset should have won me an Ocar
I have never told them to this day what actually happened ...
I do hope they are not members of this Form ... but who knows? aaa.gif aaa.gif
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Is that what I saw hovering over the pier?
Joey's ghost?
Poor thing. :'(
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My brother is 2 years older than me & one christmas we got bikes, I can't have been that old because mine was only a 24 inch wheel but it was a brand new one...his 26 inch boys bike was second hand....ha!!
then a couple of years later he got his own back & got a drop handlebar bike with dinamo lights (the ones that went out when you stopped pedalling) I was jealous for years & knicked off with it whenever I could much to his annoyance.
Now as an avid mountain biker riding all over the country off road I wouldn't touch a drop handlebar (road bike) with skinny tyres at all.
Oh & he has just turned 50 years old and doesn't know I've STILL got his favourite teddy (that he got for his 4th birthday when he had his tonsils out ) in my cupboard upstairs....................
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Who would want a brother like you? :twoface: :twoface:
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My brother is 2 years older than me & one christmas we got bikes, I can't have been that old because mine was only a 24 inch wheel but it was a brand new one...his 26 inch boys bike was second hand....ha!!
then a couple of years later he got his own back & got a drop handlebar bike with dinamo lights (the ones that went out when you stopped pedalling) I was jealous for years & knicked off with it whenever I could much to his annoyance.
Now as an avid mountain biker riding all over the country off road I wouldn't touch a drop handlebar (road bike) with skinny tyres at all.
Oh & he has just turned 50 years old and doesn't know I've STILL got his favourite teddy (that he got for his 4th birthday when he had his tonsils out ) in my cupboard upstairs....................
Welcome to the forum, Scott. ;)
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Welcome aboard :-))
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I`m sorry about my comment Scott it was meant as a joke ))*Welcome to the forum.
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We had our Star yacht delivered today so we took it to the West Shore to sail it, must be around 40 years since I sailed a boat there and it was a Star yacht exactly like this one (my thanks to this forum for reminding me of this :) ) D) D) $wales
(http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/AustinRover/October%202010/DSCF0505.jpg)
(http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/AustinRover/October%202010/DSCF0508.jpg)
(http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/AustinRover/October%202010/DSCF0510.jpg)
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Looks like your Yacht sunk?
Did you have a string attached?
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Looks like your Yacht sunk?
Did you have a string attached?
No it did'nt sink (solid wooden hull) it was a strong wind though :laugh: no string, just Helen with a pole with a hook on the end and if that did'nt work a pair of wellys in tne boot L0L The boat sailed very well, but they are not cheap on Ebay, everyone seems to want one D)
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Well done then, to you and H. &well&
I was wondering though, using the detailed skills which you have ... couldn't you MAKE such boats yourself? and if they are so sought after, maybe you could sell them too? ££$ ?{}?
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they want the original ones ,to relive their youth,
http://www.vmyg.org.uk/pages/resources/small_boat/star.htm (http://www.vmyg.org.uk/pages/resources/small_boat/star.htm)
you can get cheaper ones, I might have a go making one sometime (after I've built the garden railway D) )
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Looks wonderful :-))
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Great-- you took me back to the days my poor long suffering Dad stood at the side of the pond with myself at the other, sailing just such a boat !
Hope I spot you there sometime :)
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One of my favourite toys, if one can actually call it a toy (more a plaything) was Plasticine.
I had a rather warped mind and a great interest in Black Magic so I used to make representations of people I didn't like and then stick pins in hoping that the Voodoo spirits would take effect and give them a pane in that particular place. Never in nasty places, just things like fingers, arm, feet, legs and that sort of thing. WWW
I still do it nowadays but have no idea if it works, has anyone on the Forum felt any twinges lately??? L0L L0L
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(http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-violent058.gif) (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php)
Only when I laugh ! ;D----- Joke
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I`m sorry about my comment Scott it was meant as a joke ))*Welcome to the forum.
No offence taken...other than I just thought I should put you straight that I am an evil little sister not brother L0L
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So Scotty is a girl, Nemesis is a girl .... and Barbiroli, (as in Sir John Barbiroli) is a girl ......what a strange cyber world we live in. :paranoid:
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And Yorkie is a bar of chocolate!!! _))*
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So Scotty is a girl, Nemesis is a girl .... and Barbiroli, (as in Sir John Barbiroli) is a girl ......what a strange cyber world we live in. :paranoid:
Hardly a girl at my age as you well know, But Nemesis is the Goddess of Revenge. :-X
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And Yorkie is a bar of chocolate!!! _))*
Which Scott, Nemesis and Barbiroli are not allowed to eat. L0L
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Go on just one bite each :weeping: :weeping:
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Ah well we'd better go back to the Mars Bars then-- at least they have now lowered the fat content ! :-*
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BOT, for one Christmas I was given a Trix Twin railway
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Over the years, we bought the kids their own sets, and all were Hornby Dublo. Recently, I decided to unpack the sets and found some of the original Trix track still there. My set had been second hand when I got it, because the system was quite an old one, its main characteristic being the ability to run two trains on a single track.
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Of course, the earliest set I can remember is the clockwork set
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Later on, it was
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One year got a Mr Potato Head for a birthday
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My cousin had a train set and I was always green with envy.
Mr Potato was good unless you forgot and put him in the toy box for a while complete with potato!
OMG what a pong !
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Reading all the posts about model trains of years ago, and, bearing in mind that I presume most forum members are locals-----does anyone remember GEM model railway system manufacturers? If you do remember the firm, did you know that GEM stood for George E. Mellor and he operated from Rhos on Sea? And GEM model trains were known nationwide.
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I went to visit GEM many years ago for a model, but for the life of me I can't remember the address now, must be around 30 years ago!
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This is completly from memory. Bear in mind thats 60 years. I havent got time to find a Rhos street map but the name Marsden Drive or road comes to my mind. Somewhere around the Parish Church area, I think
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just found an old advert from 1951 for GEM, 31A Rhos Road, wonder what that is now? (and yes the magazine is older than me! L0L )
somewhere around here, on Google Streetview
31 rhos road rhos on sea - Google Maps (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=31+rhos+road+rhos+on+sea&safe=off&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=31+Rhos+Rd,+Rhos-on-Sea,+Conwy+LL28+4,+United+Kingdom&gl=uk&ei=as24TKWoDM-ysAbk9JDlDA&sqi=2&ved=0CBQQ8gEwAA&ll=53.308713,-3.741405&spn=0,0.002057&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=53.308737,-3.741276&panoid=3C--igAxHMqkoig13M5GCA&cbp=12,283.28,,0,10.87)
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That's a real gem you've found there Merddyn. :-X
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There are several hits for 'Gem model railway' in Google.
http://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/suppliers/162-GEM_Model_Railways (http://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/suppliers/162-GEM_Model_Railways)
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George Mellor's place was behind the end shop on the left hand side as you go up Rhos Road from the Prom. He lived in Brewis Road, opposite Llandrillo Church. $uk
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I most certainly should have known that. The only business I knew down this entry which ended in Everard Road was a stables run by (I think) a Mr Davies.
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Like most, I went through phases .... toys were in and out of favour with me ..
I loved my teddies ... and then it was lego, ... and I played with that for hours.
Then it was my bike, from which I was inseperable.
But when not outside, I invested a lot in Airfix models and soldiers ..all different types.
Then I moved onto Subbuteo, which was a total waste of time and money.
I collected loads of teams, stadiums, accessories ....spent a fortune and never EVER played a game of it.
I never had a Subbuteo set, but played it a few times at friends' houses. However, it used to bore me quickly - flicking the player's around with your finger at the oversized ball.
I tried to make it more realistic once, but my friend became annoyed when I broke off Glyn Pardoe's leg by smashing George Best into him in a re-creation of the December 1970 Manchester derby. :twoface:
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Stickle Bricks! :)
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Ker Plunk A tantalising game of nerve and skill $happy$
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The Airfix dogfight doubles was a good series. When I had made both planes, I would use a lighted match to create damage to the fuselage and engine cowlings etc.
I would then hang the aircraft from my bedroom ceiling with cotton & Blu Tack to simulate the aircraft being involved in a dogfight.
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Westmorelands in Lloyd St always springs to mind when I think of toy shops.
Of course, The Orme Cycle Co in Vaughan St was always a firm favorite too.
I also remember a shop in Craig-y-Don, which sold a vast array of models & kits. I think it was called The Model Shop and it was located next-door to the County Hotel in Queens Road.
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I wonder if the era of the small toy shop is finally over? The Orme Cycle Co was a firm favourite of our two, when they were little. I suppose however, that the prices in places like Toys R Us steadily drove the small shops out of business.
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There's a toy shop in Ruthin that has been there for years which sells a good range of quality toys and lots at affordable prices. Ruthin's well worth a visit for Christmas gifts with its wide range of upmarket shops! ))*
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Don't forget Hippo Toys, a traditional toy shop in Colwyn Bay next door to Speakers Corner!
http://www.hippotoys.co.uk/shop/index.php (http://www.hippotoys.co.uk/shop/index.php)
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does anyone have a picture of 'Toytown' thats the name I seem to remember, somewhere near Tribells and opposite the Town Hall I think?
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does anyone have a picture of 'Toytown' thats the name I seem to remember, somewhere near Tribells and opposite the Town Hall I think?
Westmorelands was on the corner at this location. That's Back Madoc St straight ahead, with Ball & Boyds in the distance.
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In the early '90s a place called Platform 3 trains (I seem to remember) started up on the platform in Colwyn Bay station. They sold nationally, by mail order, and were very good on price.
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In the early '90s a place called Platform 3 trains (I seem to remember) started up on the platform in Colwyn Bay station. They sold nationally, by mail order, and were very good on price.
Yes, Platform 3 was based in the disused...Platform 3 at Colwyn Bay Station. There was also a bar of some sorts there and a full size steam train. Lasted a few years and then they went bust, I think, and that whole section of the station was demolished.
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The chap concerned bought the lease for the entire platform, created a very passable coffee bar and housed a restaurant in an old carriage. It was a great shame that went bust, as it did with many others in the big recession of the early '90s.
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The chap concerned bought the lease for the entire platform, created a very passable coffee bar and housed a restaurant in an old carriage. It was a great shame that went bust, as it did with many others in the big recession of the early '90s.
The location, although great in many ways, had the big drawback that access from the town was only through the Station and over the Footbridge. I believe there was access from the Prom as well, using the little pedestrian tunnel under the Station originally created for guests at the Colwyn Bay Hotel. The signs for Platform 3 are still there today on the Prom.
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That's right. But the issue was the access which was more convoluted than many folk liked.
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Used to enjoy playing Waddington's board games. In particular Careers...
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Another thing I'd forgotten about was the 3D viewers - Viewmaster - series which is said to have ceased production in 1960s but I know that Disney World still sell new ones.
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Have sold a few of those in the Charity Shop--- they always sell well.
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Another thing I'd forgotten about was the 3D viewers - Viewmaster - series which is said to have ceased production in 1960s but I know that Disney World still sell new ones.
I have quite a few of the slides for these, some good ones of North Wales including Llandudno. The 3D system works well!
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I loved my teddies
?{}?
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Yorkie Action Man....with eagle eyes.
http://youtu.be/Q4VKd-Nuz9Y (http://youtu.be/Q4VKd-Nuz9Y)
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anyone remember fentons in the bay? one side toys the other side electric lamps!!! the other one millers on rhos front also anyone remember the model shop at bog island in the 70s and the one in conwy on the road down to the quay there was another good model shop in craig y don in them days corner of victoria street think its an antique retro shop now
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I remember the model shop in CyD.
It was run by a good friend of mine from Deganwy by the name of Chris Watson.
Chris eventually took over Dunphys further down on the corner.
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I remember Fentons, when I used to go to Colwyn Bay with Mum she would always buy me a Matchbox toy car! (1950's)
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George Mellor's place was behind the end shop on the left hand side as you go up Rhos Road from the Prom. He lived in Brewis Road, opposite Llandrillo Church. $uk
Hello everyone. I'm new to this site so just catching up on some older posts. I was interested to hear your recollections of George Mellor and GEM. My Dad was a train buff and knew George socially. Latterly, George and his wife Laura moved to a house in Crossley Road nearly opposite St. George's Church. As a lad, I can remember visiting him with my Dad. He had a large loft which contained not only his railway layout but a small home cinema set-up. I can remember watching some of his old railway film reels. Happy memories. It's only about 3 years since Laura finally passed away - she lived to a great age. I wonder what happened to all of George's stuff... maybe went to auction at Rogers Jones?
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Lego was probably my favourite in childood/1st time round Pydew day. At one time. I particularly liked the train sets and tracks but you could make all sorts just with plain blocks. The product as far as I can see seems to have moved with the times and while maybe even much further that just blocks (and I remember my excitement at just a lighting brick) and I gather remains popular.
A later gem to me was a Mamod traction engine - any one remember them. I don't have my original but still now have one of these and a Wilesco "Old Smokey" traction engine. Also in a similar line do have a simple Stirling engine. I rarely fire them up but look at these as things to be played with once in a while rather than being one who say would want to keep a Mamod as an unfired collectors item.
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My box of Lego was my staple toy in the house, and my beloved bike outside.
I had a lot of subbuteo stuff, and soldiers of all kinds (airfix soldiers) and model aircraft and ships.
But Lego was amazing to me, I’d spend hours each day usuall making the exact same things time afterntime.
I had a a kit that made a London Bus, and I used some of those parts to make Star Trek space ships.
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I bought 2 of my brothers Airfix “classic car” models for Christmas presents about 4 years back. I (who admittedly doesn’t have much reason for looking for toys these days) hadn’t seen it around in a long while. I think they enjoyed assembling and painting them.
A repeated favourite Lego one of mine was a bomber plane. I used a bit of cotton so that you could slide the “bomb flap” open and closed by pulling the cords at the back of the plane. I was quite proud of that “invention” once upon a time…
Another toy that has passed the test of time is a jigsaw. They have actually proved quite useful therapy (both in keeping helping hand movement and in mental challenge) for my father in more recent years. He only has about 6 of this make but the Wentworth puzzles are particularly good. Relatively expensive as jigsaws go but wooden pieces very cleverly (I believe laser) cut. You can’t for example simply pick out the edge pieces with them and they have a few “Whimsy” pieces related to the picture, eg. a church might have an angel that goes in somewhere. They are more challenging than standard jigsaws as a result. They also do custom ones. I took a picture of a local church that turned out really well and keep meaning to get the camera out again one day to see if I can get him another “local interest” puzzle made...
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Moving from Lego, another popular with us that I see is still going was fischertechnik (https://www.fischertechnik.de/en (https://www.fischertechnik.de/en)) which I guess we found mid 70s. Like Lego, it seems to still exist but to have moved on a bit. At the time or at least with what we had, I’d probably describe it as a cross between Lego and Meccano. Its plastic parts and ease of assembly were closer to Lego but the parts enabled more of the (let’s call them) engineering type structures that (to me fiddly and I never really took to) Meccano enabled. I’m not sure those of us who enjoyed Lego would ever completely outgrow* it but for me, probably around 15 at the time, it did feel like a bit of progression.
* I guess I could still play with plain Lego blocks now although I’ve gone with something more modern to play with recently. I’ve got an Arduino kit to play with. I can to some degree program and do some basics but focus has always been on working out something for a home project rather than having a pack of input and output (eg. sensors and motors) to learn play with and experiment with. It’s hard really to relate what is around now to my own (b 1960) childhood. I guess one could argue that one could do more with less back then and that imagination (eg. with the build stuff, a blocky Lego “aeroplane” could seem “real”) played a greater part but I can also wonder what childhood would have been like for a (in my case only slightly and, like Fester, I also enjoyed outdoor things) more geeky child with the stuff available now back then...
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Our boys had several Lego castle sets but none quite like this:
[smg id=3389]
These day Star Wars is high on the xmas lists...
[smg id=3388]
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Incredible!
Of course while I've focused on things that have lasted and I could still have an interest in, I could also mention a couple of failures (which I suppose could still exist) which were out of the box once, never to be played again. They would include Kerplunk and Mousetrap which looked more exciting on the TV ads than they really were. But I suppose we were never that good at family games. Monopoly could descend into rows as could a game of cards (not helped by a mother who would not say even remember if an ace had been played in solo whist - a game where you need the help of a partner).
Although that reminds me of 2 other long standing games: We still have a cribbage board but it's years since I played it (or possibly any card game outside of a few patience games) and dad and a visiting niece had a great time with dominoes not so long back.
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Roller skates were my favourite. Wore out the rubber wheels on mine !
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recently found while sorting out my shed/motorbike workshop a 1960s tinplate "powerhouse" mobile crane truck must have had it since i was a kid not worth anything coz in my younger days i painted it bright yellow and carefully? painted "buckleys glan conway" on it !!!!! brought back a few memories though
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Buckley's another local family firm still going strong,..... Gaz have you tried the search function on the forum, some interesting comments from the past, good luck.