Favourite toys growing up.

[bennett]

On 24/05/2021 at 13:04, Newbornbairn said:

Did nobody here make a bogey?

Loads of fun and good practical experience making them. I had one where the main spar was a bit of railway sleeper - weighed a ton but went down the Swan Brae in Methil like the clappers. You made them out of what you could find and woe betide anybody who left the pram out in the garden cos those wheels were nicked. The laddie up the road got his dad to make his - all shaped plywood, caliper brakes, cushioned seat - we took the piss out of it mercilessly. 

Planks of wood pinched from building sites and pram wheels and brakes were your feet, which usually ended up with wrecked shoes. 

 

 

 

[Sergeant Wilson]

2 minutes ago, bennett said:

Planks of wood pinched from building sites and pram wheels and brakes were your feet, which usually ended up with wrecked shoes. 

 

 

 

I made do with a book on a roller skate.

[topcat(The most tip top)]

50 minutes ago, madwullie said:

Was the zx81 only 1k? Fucking hell. I was about 3 so remember piss all about it, or what he even did with it. Pretty sure it was hooked up to a B&W portable altho why I'm unsure. 

It was a black & white computer

the “Spectrum” was named because colour graphics were the big innovation 

[BFTD]

1 hour ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:

It was a black & white computer

the “Spectrum” was named because colour graphics were the big innovation 

...and what an innovation. Eight retina-searing colours.

Inclined to think that everything since has been a bit of a muchness TBH.

[tamthebam]

2 hours ago, BFTD said:

"16K of RAM? When I were a lad, we used to DREAM about16K of RAM..."

Aberdeen fan found...

[tamthebam]

The old man was a teacher and we used to get a shot of his school's BBC B computer during the school holidays when he brought it home.

While everyone else was playing space invaders we were playing educational games. There was one where you were the captain of a fishing trawler and had to decide which fish to catch etc. You made a loss every time IIRC.

[BFTD]

3 minutes ago, tamthebam said:

The old man was a teacher and we used to get a shot of his school's BBC B computer during the school holidays when he brought it home.

While everyone else was playing space invaders we were playing educational games. There was one where you were the captain of a fishing trawler and had to decide which fish to catch etc. You made a loss every time IIRC.

My mum used to take me up to the school she worked at during the holidays and park me in front of their BBC Micro while she caught up on paperwork.

Granny's Garden was the tits. Can't remember if I ever made it past that fucking witch.

[Arch Stanton]

13 hours ago, Arch Stanton said:

I did well at Primary School a couple of years in a row, my parents got me this one year, it now regularly goes for over £200 on ebay...

The AM uniform was incredibly accurate, here's ma wee Da in 1955 aged 18 during his National Service. He's wearing a Balmoral rather than a Glengarry and the normal tunic rather than the dress but check the sporran, hose and spats.

 

 

Edited May 25, 2021 by Arch Stanton

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Arch Stanton said:

The AM uniform was incredibly accurate, here's ma wee Da in 1955 aged 18 during his National Service. He's wearing a Balmoral rather than a Glengarry and the normal tunic rather than the dress but check the sporran, hose and spats.

 

 

Great picture T. 

My auld man has sadly passed away. I’m trying to source details from Army records in Glasgow for my mum, but they so far have not responded to a request I made two months ago. 

He served in Malaysia and Singapore from 1946. I believe she would qualify for care at Erskine which is why I’m trying to get details.

I reckon I’m going to have to write to them again. 

https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records/apply-for-someone-elses-records

[Alert Mongoose]

I remember being distinctly disappointed after getting a free house for the afternoon and firing this on.

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by Alert Mongoose

[Hedgecutter]

Looking back, I have no idea what the big appeal was, but I had a few of these things:

[Florentine_Pogen]

On 24/05/2021 at 13:04, Newbornbairn said:

Did nobody here make a bogey?

Loads of fun and good practical experience making them. I had one where the main spar was a bit of railway sleeper - weighed a ton but went down the Swan Brae in Methil like the clappers. You made them out of what you could find and woe betide anybody who left the pram out in the garden cos those wheels were nicked. The laddie up the road got his dad to make his - all shaped plywood, caliper brakes, cushioned seat - we took the piss out of it mercilessly. 

Spit Nolan by Bill Naughton (excerpt)

"Our trolleys were simple vehicles for getting a good ride downhill at fast speed. To make one you had to get a good piece of stout wood about five feet in length and eighteen inches wide. Then you needed four wheels, preferably two pairs, large ones for the back and smaller ones for the front. However, since we bought ours from the scrapyard, most trolleys had four odd wheels. Now you had to get a poker and put it in the fire until it was red hot and then burn a hole through the wood at the front. Through this hole you fitted the giant nut and bolt, which acted as a swivel for the steering. Fastened to the nut was a strip of wood onto which the front axle was fixed with bent nails. A piece of rope tied to each end of the axle served as steering. Then a knob of margarine had to be slanced out of the kitchen to grease the wheels and bearings. Next, you had to paint a name on it: 'Invincible'  or 'Dreadnought', though it might be a motto: 'Rangers Died In 2012' .

That done, you then stuck your chest out, opened the back gate, and wheeled your trolley out to face the critical eye of the world." 

Edited May 26, 2021 by Florentine_Pogen

[19QOS19]

Looking back, I have no idea what the big appeal was, but I had a few of these things:

^^^ Using an internet picture as he doesn't want to take a photo of all his Polly Pocket's.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

10 hours ago, tamthebam said:

There was one where you were the captain of a fishing trawler and had to decide which fish to catch etc. You made a loss every time IIRC.

Brexit m8.

[bobbykdy]

On 23/05/2021 at 21:07, philpy said:

Did anyone ever frequent  "tandy"??

Aye, used to be in the Postings. A lot of their stuff was of the "radio shack" brand.

They had a helluva lot of good gear in there but was pretty expensive. Spent many an hour as a kid wandering round looking at what I liked but couldn't afford.

Edited May 26, 2021 by bobbykdy

[Brummie Clyde]

Transformers including Rock Lords, He:Men, Thundercats, Manta Force, Subbuteo, ZX Spectrum, Amiga 1200 (in particular; Sensible Soccer).

[strichener]

All this talk of computer reminded me that I first started programming on one of these 

 

Even added the memory expansion cartridge to take it from 4K to 20K.  Didn't realise that there were less than 20,000 ever sold.  I also had the expansion unit that allowed 2 cartridges to be used at the same time and had the (now) very rare Microsoft Extended Basic module.  No doubt the whole lot is in some third world landfill now.

Parents also had this - 

Intellivision

Edited May 26, 2021 by strichener

[philpy]

4 hours ago, bobbykdy said:

Aye, used to be in the Postings. A lot of their stuff was of the "radio shack" brand.

They had a helluva lot of good gear in there but was pretty expensive. Spent many an hour as a kid wandering round looking at what I liked but couldn't afford.

I used to love a trip to "scoonie hobbies" on St Clair Street.  An absolute treasure trove.

[renton]

7 minutes ago, philpy said:

I used to love a trip to "scoonie hobbies" on St Clair Street.  An absolute treasure trove.

Still there.

[Mark Connolly]

I used to love going to visit my uncle in Ayr, as there was always a trip to Beattie's involved. I'm sure they later opened one in the shopping centre at Clydebank as well.