I just want to let everybody know how old were they when they lost interest in toys.  I was 12 years old at the time.    Even though I was  getting into the pop culture(music, videos, TV shows, movies, fashion) during my preteens (1986-1989), I was still playing with toys and watching cartoons.  I'm being honest.  So how old were you?

11 or 12 was probably my last full year as my Mum gave away most of my toys when I schooled abroad. However, I always had a few toys with me throughout my life... even stuff like Lego. I've also been re-building my retro toy collection since about 2000. I have everything from Star Wars to Smurfs!  :)

i've never really given up. i still collect Barbies, but i don't play with them. i collect and photograph them.

i've never really given up. i still collect Barbies, but i don't play with them. i collect and photograph them.


^what he said.... I am 40 - I haven't collected any new barbies because I don't like how they changed and I can't afford the old ones but I still have my collection... sometimes under high stress I will comb the hair on my Jem dolls for relaxation.

I play with toy cars, tops, yo-yos and dominoes.... I really want a good set of wooden blocks...

And I play video games for hours on end.

Is this weird?  No wonder I am single... ah well at least my dog loves me!

:D Like ^ said I'm not giving up either. I'm 33,  I don't play video games, but I have a fair collection of beanies, stuffed bears and horses. it's a collection now more than toys to play with.  But being a person who does childcare 1/2 time, one can never totally give away the toys and fun items like playdough, because you never know what will be available at the next meeting place to amuse the children...so you bring your own.  Coloring is therapeutic! I watch cartoons sometimes too. what's wrong with having a good laugh now and then?  I'm in college, I read mystery novels, I work 1/2 time so it's not like I'm sitting around watching cartoon network reruns of scooby doo all day or anything quite so irresponsible.  But I haven't quite let go of the "collection" yet.  I was hoping to pawn it off on my niece in a year or two, then it can be her junk.

I'm talking about as far as PLAYING  with them, not collecting them.  If you collect them, then that's different, but if you play  with them, then that's another story.

11 or 12 was probably my last full year as my Mum gave away most of my toys when I schooled abroad. However, I always had a few toys with me throughout my life... even stuff like Lego. I've also been re-building my retro toy collection since about 2000. I have everything from Star Wars to Smurfs!  :)


WOW!!!  Maybe you can give me a few pointers.

I'm talking about as far as PLAYING  with them, not collecting them.  If you collect them, then that's different, but if you play  with them, then that's another story.


I think combing my Jem dolls hair counts as playing with them right... grooming a "barbie" is kinda childish...sometimes I put the girls in the rockin' roadster and take them for a spin around the apartment ( :o did I just say that out loud  :-[ )

They laugh at me at work because  I get Happy Meals for the toys and I also play with those cars you pull back to rev em up and watch em go...

^ i LOVE Jem. i have Glitter & Gold Jem and Video (the camera girl) dolls.

i also brush my dolls hair, and style it, and change their clothing. so i guess i play with mine....

^ i LOVE Jem. i have Glitter & Gold Jem and Video (the camera girl) dolls.

i also brush my dolls hair, and style it, and change their clothing. so i guess i play with mine....


Jem Rocks I have them all... I took them all out of the box - btw I was in my 20s when I got them  ;D and as a collector I knew they were more valuable in the box I wanted to pose them and display them a certain way... plus I wanted to play with them.. Hey I may be 40 but I am still young at heart!

I think combing my Jem dolls hair counts as playing with them right... grooming a "barbie" is kinda childish...sometimes I put the girls in the rockin' roadster and take them for a spin around the apartment ( :o did I just say that out loud  :-[ )

They laugh at me at work because  I get Happy Meals for the toys and I also play with those cars you pull back to rev em up and watch em go...



Sometimes I get tempted to get a Barbie or Jem Doll from E-Bay just to have them as collectors and decorations in my apratment, and sometimes do their hair and dress them because I like to do dolls' hair, you know, like a Mannequin, but people around my age group, and especially my family will let me have it so hard that it's not funny!!!! ;D

I still watch cartoons, but the cartoons I'm mostly into were originally intented for adults (and children)  in the early/mid 20th century.


Though I thought they were kiddie fodder until I bought the DVDs and did some research on Looney Tunes, MGM, and even Disney.

I still watch cartoons, but the cartoons I'm mostly into were originally intented for adults (and children)  in the early/mid 20th century.


Though I thought they were kiddie fodder until I bought the DVDs and did some research on Looney Tunes, MGM, and even Disney.


I'm guessing parents saw the pretty colors and, ignoring the content, deemed the cartoons child appropriate and just placed their kids in front of the TV without paying attention to what they were watching.

I've said it before...you know woops.... I watch a lot of "age inappropriate" television. I love Sponge Bob, Danny Phantom, As Told By Ginger, Jimmy Neutron, Weekenders, Pepper Ann, Recess, Degrassi Old School, Degrassi Next Gen, Ready or Not, and other teen shows  but not raven or Hannah Montana  8-P.

I guess I've just always resisted growing up.  ;)

I've never stopped playing with toys...I've always been a kid at heart. Now that I have a child..it makes it easier for me to keep playing with them! ;D

Depends on the toys. I always liked a few of them and never really stopped, but I did it more in secret around 11. From 12 to 15ish I definitely wanted to be perceived as more "adult" and taken seriously, so I hated anything that would make me perhaps get lumped in with little kids (i.e. openly liking Disney movies) but I never gave up on that in terms of liking it myself.

My favorites were those circular pulltoys where it has about 12 spaces you can pull a string on to where the voice will talk and make a sound effect. They have a certain theme too. Like "farm animals". As a kid I even learned a trick on one that I STILL use when I see those, is to ever so lightly tug the string so it'll change course. For example:

"The cow says"---"meooooww". ;D

secretly I'm hoping santa brings me a race track set with a loop and that half circle that goes up the wall!  ;D  I love the way the cars smell when they zoom around the track.... did I mention I'm forty in 13 days?  ;D

I still have my old stuff, from when I was a kid.  ::)

I was maybe 10 or 11 years old when I stopped playing with toys. These days, I enjoy displaying them at my home.

I'm talking about as far as PLAYING  with them, not collecting them.  If you collect them, then that's different, but if you play  with them, then that's another story.


Well I might still get my little Ewok figures out for a quick play... I always get bored after 5 minutes though.  ;D

As for my collection, I collect whatever I always wanted but was too afraid to ask for as a young kid. I now have the Star Wars Ewok village playset - which I thought was too expensive for my parents at the time...  ;D

Jem is cool - I have the first season on dvd. I wish the US boxsets would get re-released or come down in price.  >:(

secretly I'm hoping santa brings me a race track set with a loop and that half circle that goes up the wall!  ;D  I love the way the cars smell when they zoom around the track.... did I mention I'm forty in 13 days?  ;D

Wow, I know what you mean. If only someone could bottle the smell of burnt ozone from new battery/electric toys (slot cars/toy trains, etc), pine needles, and an open fire on Christmas day...kids today aren't going to get that from a X-Box or iPod.

I'm still a kid and I DO play with my toys, that I still have. I collect other stuff too, but I collected toys when I was a kid, so its still of form of "playing" I guess.
Never stop "playing" with your toys, playing with your mind or anything else. Play is exercise for the mind, keeps the mind young.
As soon as you stop, THEN you start to grow old (anyone remember that "Kick The Can" Twilight Zone episode?).

BTW I just turned 40 a month ago, you'll enjoy it.

Wow, I know what you mean. If only someone could bottle the smell of burnt ozone from new battery/electric toys (slot cars/toy trains, etc), pine needles, and an open fire on Christmas day...kids today aren't going to get that from a X-Box or iPod.

I'm still a kid and I DO play with my toys, that I still have. I collect other stuff too, but I collected toys when I was a kid, so its still of form of "playing" I guess.
Never stop "playing" with your toys, playing with your mind or anything else. Play is exercise for the mind, keeps the mind young.
As soon as you stop, THEN you start to grow old (anyone remember that "Kick The Can" Twilight Zone episode?).

BTW I just turned 40 a month ago, you'll enjoy it.


great episode great concept... I keep joking about turning 40 but the truth is I look REALLY young for my age people will guess mid 20s... some guess 30s but only because they've talked to me enough to know I am older than I look.... I like to think its my mindset that keeps me young....although I have grey hair= a lot of grey hair people overlook it....

My friend who is a year younger says I look young b\c I don't have kids.  Whenever I wanted to get her riled up I'd ask someone which of us was older they ALWAYS chose her... she said its cuz her bratty kids were sucking the life out of her... she was right- her kids were bratty!  ;D

I never gave up on toys, they just became more expensive as I grew older.

Are cats considered toys? Mine is really like a Slinky that you have to feed. Maybe I should get my cat a Slinky for Christmas. And some catnip... and stairs.

Ant

secretly I'm hoping santa brings me a race track set with a loop and that half circle that goes up the wall!  ;D  I love the way the cars smell when they zoom around the track.... did I mention I'm forty in 13 days?  ;D


Ah, Tyco cars bring back memories! I loved those, but it was rare we'd make it two laps around the track before the cars flew off or got stuck. That smell IS unique, too.

Ant

I never gave up on toys.  But I don't really buy them anymore, apart from old games for my existing systems

I still have some of my old toys from when I was a kid.  Just the other day, I was playing with my old LJN Wrestlers.  Hulk Hogan lost to Paul Orndorff :D

Well, as far as Barbies and Dolls go, I think I gave up dolls earlier than my Barbie dolls. I probably stopped dolls around age 9. I finally gave up on Barbie around age 11. My Barbie companion was 2 years older than me and she pretty much gave up on playing. So, I stopped not too long after. I still have them packed away, but I did give up a lot to Salvation Army a few years back. I still play board games that I liked at that time. Some other toys are still fun just for kicks.

The last time I actually bought a new toy was when I was 11 years old. It was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure in 1991. I stll continued to play with them on a fairly regular basis till I was 12. After that, I might have taken them out to play a few times as well, but only very sporadically.

I still play with toys from time to time. The ones I will NEVER outgrow are stuffed animals. I still have a bunch when I was VERY young-in fact, just the other day I took them out to take a pic of them for my sister. The special ones are in the bedroom and the rest are in the basement.



Cat

Great topic !! The secret to remaining a kid forever is to have kids !!! My girls love me because I am such a kid at heart. I dont play with their toys at least not when they are around lol.  My mother always says how I always loved dolls when I was little and now  she says I have three of them to play with all the time :))))))))

9 or 10 i suppose ... I work with toys.... they're crapper now!

I've never stopped playing with toys...I've always been a kid at heart. Now that I have a child..it makes it easier for me to keep playing with them! ;D


My room mate caught me looking at the Strawberry Shortcake doll stuff on ebay again.  ;D

I think everything in life can lead us back to a Seinfeld episode remember the Easy Bake Oven episode ???

I think everything in life can lead us back to a Seinfeld episode remember the Easy Bake Oven episode ???


Yes, I remember that episode.

Funny I was just thinking about the Rankins-Bass cartoon Santa Clause is coming to town.  When Chris Kringle gives Burgermister Misterburger the yo-yo. :)

My room mate caught me looking at the Strawberry Shortcake doll stuff on ebay again.  ;D



I know what you mean...it's so hard to resist...she smells SO good!! ;D

I still play with those snake things (get your mind out of the gutter) that are filled with water and slide from one hand to the next... someone at work has one of those on her desk.

I still play with the magic 8 ball

And the Etch a Sketch.

I have been in the mood to play with Fashion Plates... remember those??  I haven't seen those in decades!

I still play with those snake things (get your mind out of the gutter) that are filled with water and slide from one hand to the next... someone at work has one of those on her desk.

I still play with the magic 8 ball

And the Etch a Sketch.

I have been in the mood to play with Fashion Plates... remember those??  I haven't seen those in decades!


I have the Barbie Fashion Plates.  I could play with them for hours.

I often yearn to pull out a doll my mom bought me when I was just a tot. It was called a "Chocolate Chip Doll" and it was the cutest thing. The person who made it knitted the entire dress and bonnet in choc. colors (whites, beiges, browns) and made small choc. chip cookies and even added a choc. chip smell to it. I wish I could find that doll. She was a doll I really cherished and took care of.

I often yearn to pull out a doll my mom bought me when I was just a tot. It was called a "Chocolate Chip Doll" and it was the cutest thing. The person who made it knitted the entire dress and bonnet in choc. colors (whites, beiges, browns) and made small choc. chip cookies and even added a choc. chip smell to it. I wish I could find that doll. She was a doll I really cherished and took care of.



that reminds me of these two little dolls that I had when I was young. We bought them at Children's Palace. They were called, Peanut Butter & Jelly (PB was a boy and Jelly was a girl)....I LOVED those dolls!!

I just want to let everybody know how old were they when they lost interest in toys.  I was 12 years old at the time.    Even though I was  getting into the pop culture(music, videos, TV shows, movies, fashion) during my preteens (1986-1989), I was still playing with toys and watching cartoons.  I'm being honest.  So how old were you?


I think I was about 12 as well...

that reminds me of these two little dolls that I had when I was young. We bought them at Children's Palace. They were called, Peanut Butter & Jelly (PB was a boy and Jelly was a girl)....I LOVED those dolls!!


were they strawberry shortcake? did they smell like PB&J cuz that would be cool!

were they strawberry shortcake? did they smell like PB&J cuz that would be cool!



no, they weren't strawberry shortcake ones...infact, I don't remember if they smelled or not...but they were SO cute!

were they strawberry shortcake? did they smell like PB&J cuz that would be cool!


I think they were another toy companies take on the Strawberry Shortcake doll.

I was about 12. I was starting to get really serious about my fanhood of Michael Jackson and I would rather spend money on his cds or dvds rather than a new Bratz doll or something.

It's a better investment.  ;D

I was about 12. I was starting to get really serious about my fanhood of Michael Jackson and I would rather spend money on his cds or dvds rather than a new Bratz doll or something.

It's a better investment.  ;D
  I know that's right!!! ;D

that reminds me of these two little dolls that I had when I was young. We bought them at Children's Palace. They were called, Peanut Butter & Jelly (PB was a boy and Jelly was a girl)....I LOVED those dolls!!


Wow, I bet those were adorable!! Do you still have them? I know I have mine somewhere, but I just wish I knew where  :(

Wow, I bet those were adorable!! Do you still have them? I know I have mine somewhere, but I just wish I knew where  :(



no, unfortunately I don't. :-\\

no, unfortunately I don't. :-\\


Ahh, well, maybe they'll pop up on Ebay  ;) If I find mine, I'll make sure to take a picture of it. I think you'd really enjoy the detail on it  :)

Ahh, well, maybe they'll pop up on Ebay  ;) If I find mine, I'll make sure to take a picture of it. I think you'd really enjoy the detail on it  :)


Oh, definitely. I just looked on Ebay..no such luck right now...however, I did find them on their awhile ago. :)

I just want to let everybody know how old were they when they lost interest in toys.  I was 12 years old at the time.    Even though I was  getting into the pop culture(music, videos, TV shows, movies, fashion) during my preteens (1986-1989), I was still playing with toys and watching cartoons.  I'm being honest.  So how old were you?


About 11.  My growing obsessions with current fashion, music, and of course BOYS basically strangled off my toy obsession.

(Of course there are toys I never gave up on...not to mention grown up toys...  ::) )

I don't know.  I haven't given up on toys yet.  Hope I never do.  It's amazing the fun you can have with a dremel tool, a soldering iron, or some Lego Mindstorms NXT.

If nobody's selling the coolest toy in the universe, you just have to Make it yourself.

The paradox is that the more you fiddle with things, the harder it is to walk past the toy aisle without seeing at least a couple of fun weekend projects.  I'm looking forward to seeing how programmable/trainable the Pleo turns out to be.  I wonder if I can train it to chase a Roomba.  The Roomba made vaccuming easy.  Watching a little robot dinosaur chasing my robot vaccum cleaner all around the house would make it fun!

I didn't give up on toys; toys gave up on me!
>:(

 
  Thirteen.  I replaced toys with poster collecting.  Still have most of them, but I traded all my old Star Wars toys to a friend for his leather and denim Guess jacket.  Girlfriend wanted it...



(Of course there are toys I never gave up on...not to mention grown up toys...  ::) )



  God love her...

I was kind of late 13 or 14, but it was getting into slightly more 'serious' stuff like making frigates and Aircraft carriers out of lego and then using the little one blocks to crew the ship.  I just love toys and came back with a passion in my early thirties when I developed it as a hobby, although I collect way too many toy lines the 'core' group of five is Toycloud Play Asterix, Kenner Star Wars, Britains Deetail (toy soldiers), Nintendo Game and Watch, and Smurfs.

I was kind of late 13 or 14, but it was getting into slightly more 'serious' stuff like making frigates and Aircraft carriers out of lego and then using the little one blocks to crew the ship.  I just love toys and came back with a passion in my early thirties when I developed it as a hobby, although I collect way too many toy lines the 'core' group of five is Toycloud Play Asterix, Kenner Star Wars, Britains Deetail (toy soldiers), Nintendo Game and Watch, and Smurfs.


I still collect Vintage Star Wars (mainly ewoks) and Play Asterix (mainly the Gauls). In fact those are my major two collections. Other than that it's Medicom Planet of The Apes, Smurfs and a few GI Joe's.

that reminds me of these two little dolls that I had when I was young. We bought them at Children's Palace. They were called, Peanut Butter & Jelly (PB was a boy and Jelly was a girl)....I LOVED those dolls!!


I finally found an image of my old choc. chip doll. I guess it was a crochet pattern. The pattern must've been used by the lady who sold it to my mother. I'm still wondering how she got the doll to smell like chocolate.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/ultraviolet521/ChocolateChipdoll.jpg

I finally found an image of my old choc. chip doll. I guess it was a crochet pattern. The pattern must've been used by the lady who sold it to my mother. I'm still wondering how she got the doll to smell like chocolate.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/ultraviolet521/ChocolateChipdoll.jpg


I've never seen that doll.

At age 17, I gave up playing with my barbie dolls and hot wheels cars.

At age 17, I gave up playing with my barbie dolls and hot wheels cars.


Mine were given to my niece without my permission.

Gave up on toys???

Im 47 and still build models, play video games, create resin castings, race slotcars and work on my HO layout (slotcars to me are like model trains to many)....

You may call it playing with toys, I call it having hobbies, or "STRESS RELIEF". Its how I relax and gives me a creative outlet. I also enjoy racing and photography.

Its better than sitting in front of the TV and doing nothing.

NozmoKing

Im 47 and still build models, play video games, create resin castings, race slotcars and work on my HO layout (slotcars to me are like model trains to many)....

What he said.

I'll give up toys when someone pries them from my cold, dead fingers. 

Technology has made it easy to do things today that we could have only dreamed of building as kids.  I hear tell there's going to be a modern-day model of the HERO robot coming out in a few months.  When I was a kid, my folks couldn't afford a robot kit, so they got me a computer instead.  Because of that computer, a few decades later, I can finally buy my own robot kit!  w00t!

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa235/snozberries44/calvin.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa235/snozberries44/calvin.jpg


The real last strip:
http://picayune.uclick.com/comics/ch/1994/ch941030.gif

The Fake Last Strip:
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/1180/calvinretouchdistressediv8.jpg]

Karma for the great parody -- but if I had the choi-hey, wait, I do have the choice!  I will take Watterson's last script over the real world's version!

Haven't. My 'toys' have just grown up with me. Instead of toy cars it's real cars, etc.  ::)

I noticed that my girls are not really obsessed with toys as much as they are obsessed with anything related to Hannah Montana and High School Musical. They fight over the trading cards etc. I guess maybe they are growing up

this Hannah Montana thing has gotten totally out of control  ;D

i guess i stopped playing with toys in 1991 at the age of 13.  i was supposed to get a bunch of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures for my birthday that year.  Instead, for some reason, I got a few Madonna albums.  LOL Well all it took was one listen and I was hooked.  Toys took the back burner and quickly faded out.  But I'd love to have all those old toys again.  If only we would have known as kids that one day we'd miss those toys, maybe we would have taken better care of them... and not thrown them away!  >:(