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30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them
According to the philosopher and writer Johan Huizinga, toys are vital for human development, because by playing, the child models their future activities in adulthood, and besides, the game itself, no matter what, is our life in miniature. Therefore, it is necessary and vitally important to play, at literally any age.
Just don't tell your kids about this, or you'll have to buy them whatever toys they want in any store, and buying toys will take up most of your family budget! And for us, adults, in childhood, everything was definitely not like that...
Well, let's agree, each of us - unless, of course, our parents were in the Forbes Top 1000 - had some special toys that we longed for as children, but alas, we never received them. For one it may have been some kind of stunningly beautiful doll, someone else may have desperately wanted a computer game, and someone else was a huge fan of a Transformer car. And all this is united by the fact that we never got the opportunity to play with them. In our childhood, that is.
Recently, a thread appeared in the AskReddit community, the author of which asked readers this question: "What is a toy you always wanted growing up, but never got?" Now there are already more than 700 different comments in the thread - and we could not even imagine that there are so many different cool toys in this world!
Bored Panda has compiled this selection of the most outstanding, interesting and simply popular comments from the original thread especially for you, so please feel free to scroll this list to the very end, upvote the best submissions and, of course, add your own favorite toys in the comments below the post. After all, we all come from childhood, so let's dive into our memory once more!
More info: Reddit
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#1
The Brave Heart care bear. He was my favourite. I asked for him many times, and I never got him (or any care bear for that matter).
This casually came up in conversation once early on in my relationship with my boyfriend. He bought it for me for my 35th birthday that year.
RELATED:
#2
The Barbie Jeep that you could actually ride in. But once I had kids, I bought them one (not the Barbie version, but still). And guess what? I was five pounds under the weight limit so I was able to ride in their battery-powered Jeep. I mean, it was a couple decades late, but I eventually got to do it.
#3
Castle Grayskull, from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
Mad Dragon 1 year ago
I wanted that SO badly! My best friend had everything He-Man, so I still got to play with it when I was at her house, but I wanted my own!
#4
A chemistry set. This was during the 1960s, before the 1969 Child Protection and Toy Safety Act. I didn't get a chemistry set, but I did get a Thingmaker, which at the time was an open hot plate that metal molds were set on, to cure Thingmaker goo into rubbery shapes. Releasing fumes that would set off coughing fits if breathed too deeply, and sometimes getting burned by the hot plate. 'Twas a wild time for children's toys.
Powerful Katrinka 1 year ago
I had something similar, but it was called "Creepy Crawlers." I shudder to think about what toxins were released during the hearing process.
#6
Easy - Bake Oven
#8
A real RC car. Not the garbage my parents had gotten me from Radio shack that took 723 AA batteries and couldn’t move on anything but the hardwood floor.
No. I wanted a proper Taniya monster truck like the Lunch Box or a buggy like the grasshopper. Or an amazing one from Kyosho. They took real NiCd battery packs. Had real transmitters. Could plow through dirt and grass.
As an adult my wife and I were driving and I saw an RC shop and said “hey hun. Can I stop somewhere for a sec?” She ofc said “sure”.
That was 20 years ago.
I now have 16 different RC vehicles from planes to helicopters to buggies and monster trucks. Of all sizes. Being an adult means getting the things I always wanted.
#9
walkie talkie
unfilteredCigarette73 1 year ago
I bought a set with some chore/B-day $$ when I was 11. Depending on the channel it would pick up neighbor's phone calls if they were cordless phones, cellular phones, and police radio calls it was a blast
#10
Hotweels. But I’m a girl and those were “boy toys”. Still pissed. Anyone old enough to remember the slime ramp s**t they came out with will get it. Hot wheels knew slime was gonna be a hit 20 years prior edit: the Harry Potter slime gummy maker thing. Y’all know what I mean
#11
There was a super mega barbie mansion that came out with an elevator and garage or something. Maybe it was a pool. Idk but it looked sick af to 8 year old me
#14
A typewriter. It was at the top of my Christmas list when I was about 11, and I begged and begged for one. That Christmas, my younger sister got one, but I didn't. I even double checked the tag to make sure there wasn't a mix up.
I didn't say anything, but I was so incredibly disappointed and confused and didn't know what I did to warrant what felt like a punishment. I thought I must have come across as too entitled or something since I had insisted it had to actually type (ie, not a 'pretend' one).
I mentioned it years later to my mom - yeah, it stuck with me. She didn't remember it at all and denied doing it as any kind of punishment or lesson. I think she just got a little confused about who wanted what when she was buying gifts and got it in her head that my sister was the one who wanted the typewriter. There were 4 of us to keep track of after all.
My sister was a little s**t about it. She gloated and would never let me use it. Brat.
#16
Play-do Barber Shop. I became a hairstylist years later.
#17
Sea Monkeys.
Once I learned about Artemia nauplii, there was no point...
OurLadyOfLunch 1 year ago
Desperately wanted Sea Monkeys because of the ads in magazines. My 6th grade science teacher had us raise brine shrimp in class. Imagine my 11 year old heartbreak when I realized they were the same thing and not at all like the nuclear underwater family pictured.
#18
A real cabbage patch doll. All my friends had them and would bring them to school and play with them at recess. My mom got me a fake doll from the craft fair. And it looked exactly how you'd picture a fake cabbage patch doll from the craft fair to look
Ches Yamada 1 year ago
"A fake one from the craft fair" - sadly, the "real" cabbage patch kids were created at those craft fairs. Xavier stole the concept from crafters.
#20
The playback voice recorder that kevin had on home alone lol
The red side pistol the power rangers used to carry. Those were the hardest to find toys on the market at the time.
nooneimportant 1 year ago
I finally got a Talkboy about 6 years late, and always wanted the White Power Rangers talking sabre
#21
Barbie. My two sisters each got a Barbie.
I got Midge.
#23
You know all those Lego "Collect all of these sets to make this bigger build" sets? It's not that I never got them, but I never got more than 1 set, so I was never able to make the big build
The next best thing I did get was a similar set of builds from K'Nex, which I did get all 4 sets
Bad Mole 1 year ago
We were too poor for me to ever get Lego, and my dad wouldn't buy me any even when we had a bit of money for Christmas gifts (his hobby was marriages so there were always a rotating cast of step brothers and sisters, too). Now my kids have moved out and one of their bedrooms is my Lego room.
#24
The gi joe uss flag aircraft carrier
Adam Belaire 1 year ago
Ditto (Unless you're in Winnipeg then nevermind :))
Load More Replies...
Bekki Sala 1 year ago
My best friend has one! It's his holy grail for his collection. Mine (that I also now own) is the original 70's Kenner xenomorph from alien
Jay TheSaltLord 1 year ago
I don't know if that thing ever made it to australia. No one I've met in life, online or at cons has ever seen one irl.
Marie Dahme 1 year ago
There was a guy who sold his to P**n Stars on tv. To make sure all the parts were there, they put it together and it was huge ! He got serious bank too like over $100 for it, I’ll have to google it!
Pauly Donahue 1 year ago
If you are ever in Madison, Wisconsin check out The Toys of Our Lives, Meep Meeplton's World of Fun, and Dicast Express. Bring a credit card. We also have 3 kick a*s arcades, 2 of which have liquor licenses. OH!, and 2 ax-throwing places. Did I mention I like Madison?
LovingKnuckle 1 year ago
This shît was the holy grail. In my neighborhood having any GI Joe vehicle, plane, etc was almost considered showing off. But the aircraft carrier, that you could put your planes on?! Shiiiiiit, that was over $100. No one had one. And if you did people literally thought you were Richey Rich.
#25
A rock tumbler
Margrete Sonnenberg 1 year ago
Another thing I asked for and my dad already had. We tumbled some rocks, due to the noise it stayed in the garage when it on.
#27
A mini-bike like they advertised in the Sears Christmas catalog.
#29
An American Girl doll. Loved the books so much. I've been tempted to buy myself a Samantha now that she's out again, but I like the original outfit better.
#30
Bop it
What do you think ?
K- THULU 1 year ago
The big AT-AT from empire strikes back...... Wanted it soooo much but we were too poor, 40 yrs later still want it but just can't justify the price the original ones cost now..... ( though I have paid some pretty ridiculous prices for rare toys in the last couple of years! Don't shop when high, kids!!!)
Lousha 1 year ago
I really wanted one of those fishing toys, where a round disk with holes is going round and round, and in each hole there's a little fish and they open their mouth from time to time, exposing a little magnet. The players each have a fishing rod, and the aim is to catch as many fishes as one can by timing it right and touching the fishing rod's magnet to the mouth's magnet when it's exposed. When I was about 38 and happened upon one in a Pound Shop I bought one on my launch break. When I went back to work I played with it for a glorious five minutes, satisfying the long lost child in me, then I dropped it off to a charity shop, hoping it can serve someone else well yet.
V 1 year ago
A Lego pirate ship. But I was a gUrL so no Lego for me unless I paid for it myself, and I was not getting enough birthday or Christmas money for a big set.
Austin Sauce 1 year ago (edited)
I always wanted a slip-n-slide. My dad was too cheap to buy one so he just laid down this weird smelling tarp in the backyard, turned a hose on and said “knock yourself out.” Which I then proceeded to do literally.
Vermontah 1 year ago
I had that. By the time you had enough ice chips for a slushie half the chips had melted
Load More Replies...
SandraG_lak 1 year ago
Barbie. Dad didn't want me to have the unrealistic body image. That backfired because I have the unrealistic body image.
Elita One 1 year ago
A Wii. I must have been the only kid at my school who didn't have one, everyone in my class had one. In year 10 (2015) my math teacher bought in his Wii for the class to play in our final math class of the year. The embarrassment I felt cause I didn't know how to use it was horrible 😓
Layna Andersen 1 year ago
We didn’t get Barbies. I now have several but my real passion is for 12” male fashion dolls and action figures. Boys need a lot of points of articulation to get on my shelves. And good hair is a big plus. XD XD XD
JMP 1 year ago
Crash Dummies and their car. Never even got to see one in real life, but my wife told me all about them because she said her brother had them. Apparently I really missed out because they had a blast. b8253e3bab...4514b6.jpg 
Elizabeth 1 year ago
My older brother and I really want Nerf brand Swords (because shooting each other dart guns just wasn’t violent enough for us apparently), but our mom adamantly refused to buy us some. I think she argued that we would hurt each other too much. Jokes on her, because anything can be a sword if you hit your sibling with it! Personally, I think getting hit with a stick sword hurts more than a foam one would have, but it is what it is.
Austin Sauce 1 year ago
“Anything can be a sword if you hit your sibling with it.” Including another sibling.
Load More Replies...
NewNicknameAlert 1 year ago
I wanted that Ele-fun kids game where the butterflies fly out of the elephants trunk and you have to catch it with a net. I recently bought this game for my 2 year old daughter to share in the joy of getting a toy I've always wanted. I was so pumped to play with this toy either my daughter I could barely put the batteries in correctly. THIS. GAME. SUCKED!! The trunk barely stayed inflated to shoot out the butterflies and the butterflies was plastic with a tie in the middle to make wings on each side. I'm glad I got to share an anticlimactic moment with my daughter. She enjoyed it so that's all I could ask for lol
Molly Reece 1 year ago
I only ever wanted a Barbie. Just one. My friends had dozens. I coveted those beautiful dolls. Now as an adult I collect the most unique and lovely ones. It's something just for me. And even if I happen to like the annual Holiday Barbie, I'll get her, because I can!
Pam Steele 1 year ago
Derry Daring. She was like Evil Knievel on a pink motorcycle. My grandmother got one for my sister instead of me.
Greenmantle 1 year ago
Wanted a pool. Or a tree house. Or a giant mound of dirt to build a fort on.
Lee Henderson 1 year ago
I got most of the toys I wanted but never got a tree house. I am now 62 and still don't have one...😕
Unaffected 1 year ago (edited)
A bike.Begged for years.My younger(a favourite) sister just opened her mouth and got it.Favouritism still ripe decades later 🤨
Old Roadie 1 year ago
Microscope and telescope. Instead, I got a terrifying Patti Playpal doll that stood at my bed with unblinking eyes (º _º) glowing eerily in moonlight.
Islandchild 1 year ago
Galaxian mini arcade game. My five year old nephew got one and broke it in a couple of days. I have held the bitterness for decades.
Betsy Green 1 year ago
As long as you can find it, can afford it and it's safe, buy it now!!! (And by safe I mean if you are 94 years old and want to play in moon shoes.....well, that might not be a good idea, but make your own decisions) Seriously, getting that toy will fill a little peice of your heart. I wanted a stuffed Figment from Epcot, mom said No Dragons. Got one a few years ago & it's beside the bed & makes me so happy😊 so do it!!!
Patricia 1 year ago
The Eaton's or Sears catalogues had these farm sets back in the '50s: barn, fencing, animals, tractor & attachments, you name it. I used to dream over those pictures. No surprise that I have a bunch of ERTL animals with an adorable barn my DH made for them, and a bunch of Schleich animals in a larger scale with lots of fenced fields I made from shallow wooden boxes.
Jose Ortiz 1 year ago
Does anyone remember Captain Power??? I feel like I made that up in my head because everyone i ask that's my age(40) has no idea the awesomeness of those interactive toys!
Lisa Crow 1 year ago
Never heard of it, but...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Power_and_the_Soldiers_of_the_Future
Load More Replies...
M Calad 1 year ago
Early 90's. Our second trip to US. I was 8-9 years old. One day we went to Toys 'r' Us. Toys frigging us! To me, it was the most amazing shop ever. A dream come true. Aisles of toys, cars, lego, barbies, you name it. We could choose one toy. One. I mean, how on earth is that even possible? But 8 yo me knew exactly what I wanted: the Barbie apartment house! 3 floor apartment house with furniture and stuff. It came in a huge box. My mom didn't want me to get it, you know, pricey, big, bla bla bla. "If you get it, you'll carry it all the way at the airport". I promised I would do that. They bought it. I was happy. And hated it the day we had to travel back. What a massive box! I cried many times, got back pain afterwards but managed to carry that bloody thing back home. Why didn't they checked that box in, you may ask? No f-ing idea. Revenge I guess. Or they wanted to make every penny worth it. But all the girls in my neighbourhood envied me for awhile. Glorious times!
Full of Giggles 1 year ago
I wanted a green Light Saber and Ewok. Santa is still on my s**t list.
A Jones 1 year ago (edited)
I wish my stuff wasn't taken from me without consent or any notice (didn't get warned or even a hint of punishment). Would of been nice if they were instant they say like for "donating to a kid in need" or "that it was broken and isn't safe" I be more inclined. Thing is they never cared if I had any emotional attachments and they cleared out like the entire room a few times. When I was a young kid had this plastic toy gator I carry around like a teddy and had a stuffed puppet rabbit when I was a toddler. I was able to re-buy the same model rabbit after remembering the exact details, it was unique 80's antique. Now as an adult I collect antiques (not crazy old, but stuff from before the 90's: dishes, pottery, etc.) and this is one of my favorites. I think this family trouble had gotten me into collecting, but not into hoarding. I donate/trash old stuff I CHOOSE. Having that sensation of power as an adult helped me not become a hoarder I suppose.
Orange 1 year ago
I never owned any toy as a kid. But always wanted to buy a Lego set and try playing in a play station. The sad thing is now I am working but still could not offer to buy one. Hope one day I could!
Raabh Aquino 1 year ago
As a poor kid from Brazil in the 80's, there were a lot of toys I wished I had, but #1 on my wishlist was a regular Barbie doll. They were crazy expensive back then. I thought about buying one several years later, but, I don't know, it wouldn't make me happy now as it would back then.
ADHORTATOR 1 year ago
Playmobil sail ship...the greatest gift I ever got, I had to share it with my little brother but who cares..... He still has it after 40 years
SheamusFanFrom1987 1 year ago
I've always wanted to get my hands on HW Attack Pack vehicles. Toothslayer and Stego-Striker were/still are my targets.
Austin Sauce 1 year ago
I remember spending so much time in our encyclopedias, that’s a good choice.
Load More Replies...
K- THULU 1 year ago
The big AT-AT from empire strikes back...... Wanted it soooo much but we were too poor, 40 yrs later still want it but just can't justify the price the original ones cost now..... ( though I have paid some pretty ridiculous prices for rare toys in the last couple of years! Don't shop when high, kids!!!)
Lousha 1 year ago
I really wanted one of those fishing toys, where a round disk with holes is going round and round, and in each hole there's a little fish and they open their mouth from time to time, exposing a little magnet. The players each have a fishing rod, and the aim is to catch as many fishes as one can by timing it right and touching the fishing rod's magnet to the mouth's magnet when it's exposed. When I was about 38 and happened upon one in a Pound Shop I bought one on my launch break. When I went back to work I played with it for a glorious five minutes, satisfying the long lost child in me, then I dropped it off to a charity shop, hoping it can serve someone else well yet.
V 1 year ago
A Lego pirate ship. But I was a gUrL so no Lego for me unless I paid for it myself, and I was not getting enough birthday or Christmas money for a big set.
Austin Sauce 1 year ago (edited)
I always wanted a slip-n-slide. My dad was too cheap to buy one so he just laid down this weird smelling tarp in the backyard, turned a hose on and said “knock yourself out.” Which I then proceeded to do literally.
Vermontah 1 year ago
I had that. By the time you had enough ice chips for a slushie half the chips had melted
Load More Replies... SandraG_lak 1 year ago
Barbie. Dad didn't want me to have the unrealistic body image. That backfired because I have the unrealistic body image.
Elita One 1 year ago
A Wii. I must have been the only kid at my school who didn't have one, everyone in my class had one. In year 10 (2015) my math teacher bought in his Wii for the class to play in our final math class of the year. The embarrassment I felt cause I didn't know how to use it was horrible 😓
Layna Andersen 1 year ago
We didn’t get Barbies. I now have several but my real passion is for 12” male fashion dolls and action figures. Boys need a lot of points of articulation to get on my shelves. And good hair is a big plus. XD XD XD
JMP 1 year ago
Crash Dummies and their car. Never even got to see one in real life, but my wife told me all about them because she said her brother had them. Apparently I really missed out because they had a blast. b8253e3bab...4514b6.jpg
Elizabeth 1 year ago
My older brother and I really want Nerf brand Swords (because shooting each other dart guns just wasn’t violent enough for us apparently), but our mom adamantly refused to buy us some. I think she argued that we would hurt each other too much. Jokes on her, because anything can be a sword if you hit your sibling with it! Personally, I think getting hit with a stick sword hurts more than a foam one would have, but it is what it is.
Austin Sauce 1 year ago
“Anything can be a sword if you hit your sibling with it.” Including another sibling.
Load More Replies... NewNicknameAlert 1 year ago
I wanted that Ele-fun kids game where the butterflies fly out of the elephants trunk and you have to catch it with a net. I recently bought this game for my 2 year old daughter to share in the joy of getting a toy I've always wanted. I was so pumped to play with this toy either my daughter I could barely put the batteries in correctly. THIS. GAME. SUCKED!! The trunk barely stayed inflated to shoot out the butterflies and the butterflies was plastic with a tie in the middle to make wings on each side. I'm glad I got to share an anticlimactic moment with my daughter. She enjoyed it so that's all I could ask for lol
Molly Reece 1 year ago
I only ever wanted a Barbie. Just one. My friends had dozens. I coveted those beautiful dolls. Now as an adult I collect the most unique and lovely ones. It's something just for me. And even if I happen to like the annual Holiday Barbie, I'll get her, because I can!
Pam Steele 1 year ago
Derry Daring. She was like Evil Knievel on a pink motorcycle. My grandmother got one for my sister instead of me.
Greenmantle 1 year ago
Wanted a pool. Or a tree house. Or a giant mound of dirt to build a fort on.
Lee Henderson 1 year ago
I got most of the toys I wanted but never got a tree house. I am now 62 and still don't have one...😕
Unaffected 1 year ago (edited)
A bike.Begged for years.My younger(a favourite) sister just opened her mouth and got it.Favouritism still ripe decades later 🤨
Old Roadie 1 year ago
Microscope and telescope. Instead, I got a terrifying Patti Playpal doll that stood at my bed with unblinking eyes (º _º) glowing eerily in moonlight.
Islandchild 1 year ago
Galaxian mini arcade game. My five year old nephew got one and broke it in a couple of days. I have held the bitterness for decades.
Betsy Green 1 year ago
As long as you can find it, can afford it and it's safe, buy it now!!! (And by safe I mean if you are 94 years old and want to play in moon shoes.....well, that might not be a good idea, but make your own decisions) Seriously, getting that toy will fill a little peice of your heart. I wanted a stuffed Figment from Epcot, mom said No Dragons. Got one a few years ago & it's beside the bed & makes me so happy😊 so do it!!!
Patricia 1 year ago
The Eaton's or Sears catalogues had these farm sets back in the '50s: barn, fencing, animals, tractor & attachments, you name it. I used to dream over those pictures. No surprise that I have a bunch of ERTL animals with an adorable barn my DH made for them, and a bunch of Schleich animals in a larger scale with lots of fenced fields I made from shallow wooden boxes.
Jose Ortiz 1 year ago
Does anyone remember Captain Power??? I feel like I made that up in my head because everyone i ask that's my age(40) has no idea the awesomeness of those interactive toys!
Lisa Crow 1 year ago
Never heard of it, but...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Power_and_the_Soldiers_of_the_Future
Load More Replies... M Calad 1 year ago
Early 90's. Our second trip to US. I was 8-9 years old. One day we went to Toys 'r' Us. Toys frigging us! To me, it was the most amazing shop ever. A dream come true. Aisles of toys, cars, lego, barbies, you name it. We could choose one toy. One. I mean, how on earth is that even possible? But 8 yo me knew exactly what I wanted: the Barbie apartment house! 3 floor apartment house with furniture and stuff. It came in a huge box. My mom didn't want me to get it, you know, pricey, big, bla bla bla. "If you get it, you'll carry it all the way at the airport". I promised I would do that. They bought it. I was happy. And hated it the day we had to travel back. What a massive box! I cried many times, got back pain afterwards but managed to carry that bloody thing back home. Why didn't they checked that box in, you may ask? No f-ing idea. Revenge I guess. Or they wanted to make every penny worth it. But all the girls in my neighbourhood envied me for awhile. Glorious times!
Full of Giggles 1 year ago
I wanted a green Light Saber and Ewok. Santa is still on my s**t list.
A Jones 1 year ago (edited)
I wish my stuff wasn't taken from me without consent or any notice (didn't get warned or even a hint of punishment). Would of been nice if they were instant they say like for "donating to a kid in need" or "that it was broken and isn't safe" I be more inclined. Thing is they never cared if I had any emotional attachments and they cleared out like the entire room a few times. When I was a young kid had this plastic toy gator I carry around like a teddy and had a stuffed puppet rabbit when I was a toddler. I was able to re-buy the same model rabbit after remembering the exact details, it was unique 80's antique. Now as an adult I collect antiques (not crazy old, but stuff from before the 90's: dishes, pottery, etc.) and this is one of my favorites. I think this family trouble had gotten me into collecting, but not into hoarding. I donate/trash old stuff I CHOOSE. Having that sensation of power as an adult helped me not become a hoarder I suppose.
Orange 1 year ago
I never owned any toy as a kid. But always wanted to buy a Lego set and try playing in a play station. The sad thing is now I am working but still could not offer to buy one. Hope one day I could!
Raabh Aquino 1 year ago
As a poor kid from Brazil in the 80's, there were a lot of toys I wished I had, but #1 on my wishlist was a regular Barbie doll. They were crazy expensive back then. I thought about buying one several years later, but, I don't know, it wouldn't make me happy now as it would back then.
ADHORTATOR 1 year ago
Playmobil sail ship...the greatest gift I ever got, I had to share it with my little brother but who cares..... He still has it after 40 years
SheamusFanFrom1987 1 year ago
I've always wanted to get my hands on HW Attack Pack vehicles. Toothslayer and Stego-Striker were/still are my targets.
Austin Sauce 1 year ago
I remember spending so much time in our encyclopedias, that’s a good choice.
Load More Replies... Related on Bored Panda
