Are Toys Still Fun?

[Brian]

As I've been researching and watching videos relating to the toys of my youth, it made me wonder if toys are still fun for kids. It may just be nostalgia, but it seems like toy lines in the 80s were more fun and general. Between Star Wars, G.I. Joe, He-Man, and Super Powers, you had toy lines that were either 5 POA, or had action features, but either way we're a blast for kids of my generation.

I was watching a collection tour one day where the narrator was showing figures from the last couple years of Hasbro, and commented that while he still bought them, they were just kind of boring. I can see the point. Although the return of the vintage collection, and the advent of things like the Sail Barge, have admittedly made the future look much better - that is aimed more at us than at kids.

I get that kids age out of toys sooner these days, or turn to other areas like video games, tablets, or LEGOs. Times have changed, but I just miss those simpler days. Toys were fun, collections were attainable even for kids, with 10-20 figures per year, and many figures continued to be released and re-released. There was one Chewie, one Vader, one Superman, etc.

[efranks]

Man, I don't know. That's a tough question.

I don't know exactly what the draw was with toys when I was a kid, obviously Star Wars was fun because I loved the movies, but GI Joe or the Fisher Price Adventure People? They were just fun to play with, I had friends that also played with them, and we'd just go outside and set them up and play.

I walk through the toy aisles now and look at what's available and I see some toys that still look like fun. The Jurassic Park toys that Mattel just released? I'd have been all over those as a kid. Some of the Star Wars stuff still looks like fun, especially some of the $30 and under vehicles. I even like the looks of many of the 5POA figures and I think they may be better toys than some of the more articulated stuff. If I was headed outside to play, I'd rather those than a TVC Luke w/ soft goods for example.

For me, Lego is probably the overall best toy available right now because of the sets that are available and just the fact it's Lego and you can build whatever you want. The 6" SW and the various superhero lines for Marvel and DC? It may be because I'm an adult, but I don't see "toy" when I look at those and with a $20 price tag it just seems too expensive to play with. You can get a JW Jeep, Owen figure and dinosaur for under $30 and that's a play pattern.

I also don't see "toy" when I look at all the Roblox and Five Night's at Freddy's stuff, or a lot of the Minecraft stuff (other than the Lego sets which are kinda cool). And certainly not with the Funko stuff out there.

NERF. That's a toy that if I were still a kid I'd be playing with. But man, a lot of stuff in the toy aisle just doesn't seem like a "toy" anymore and that may have something to do with it. It's all kitschy stuff or treated like a collectible. Even with the pull of video games and things like that, kids today should be playing with toys because they're being raised by our generation, the ones that grew up with all the amazing toys in the 70's and 80's. Seems like we goofed somewhere and didn't pass that down or something.

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