ADVERTISEMENT

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

#1

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them 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.

ladymierin , Visit the Care Bears Store Report

#2

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them 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.

smugmisswoodhouse , Rusty Clark ~ 100K Photos Report

#3

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Castle Grayskull, from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Maso_TGN , Boynton Report

Add photo comments
POST
happyhirts avatar
Mad Dragon
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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!

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#4

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them 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.

Nmyownworld , Jonas Ahrentorp Report

Add photo comments
POST
alixpitcher avatar
Powerful Katrinka
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had something similar, but it was called "Creepy Crawlers." I shudder to think about what toxins were released during the hearing process.

michfie avatar
Mitchell
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wanted and got a chemistry set. To this day I love chemistry equipment. I use flasks in the kitchen and keep salt im a test tube rack.

annegill avatar
Contrariwise
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OMG I had a ThingMaker set for both Mini Dragons and Creepy Crawlers when I was a kid. It was AWESOME! One of my favorite toys. Yes, I got my fingers burned a couple of times but it was definitely worth it

markberry1968 avatar
Sleestak
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My older brother and his best friend each had different chemistry sets back around 1975. Separately, they were pretty benign. They mixed something from one with something from the other and melted a glass test tube. No documentation. No scientific method. Just 9 year old kids playing with volatile substances.

robert-thornburrow avatar
Robert T
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I actually had a Merit chemistry set. I remember the silver cover on the instruction book and the red and blue labelling. The thing in the bottom right is a methylated spirit burner. What fun! :D

revrobuk avatar
Rob Williams
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I always wanted a proper chemistry set but never got one. I remember recreating some experiments at home by buying stuff from the pharmacy. Yes, when I was eleven I could walk into the local chemist's shop and buy little brown bottles of sulphuric and hydrochloric acids as well as other chemicals!

phillybobsquires avatar
A Bobcat From Philly
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had the Creepy Crawlers sets and the Incredible Edibles sets too! That "Thingmaker" would burn the living hell out of you with the "plastigoop" and the edible goop! Also the chemistry sets with the Sodium Ferrocyanide etc! How we didn't blow up the house.

mariedahme avatar
Marie Dahme
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The chemistry set I think was changed because it had a vial of real mercury and a small vial of something radioactive too. Lol. Ahh, well kids had *real* toys back then lol

jameskramer avatar
James016
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had one of these as a kid. Mixed some of the chemicals together with a friend and it fizzed up and went everywhere

drh95051 avatar
G'ma B
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My kids had years of fun with their "Creepy Crawlers" set especially scaring their little sister! When they grew up they wanted to buy a set for their own kids and they were nowhere to be found on this earth. How disappointing!

ralphmw avatar
Ralph Watkins
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I discovered my cousin's old chemistry sets in my late mother's basement recently. Potassium cyanide is in there. What can possibly go wrong with a kid playing with that?

juliefmouton avatar
Rougarou Cher
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I loved my chemistry set as a kid. When I think about it now it's funny how many chemicals it came with and even a frog in formaldehyde and a scalpel.

vonblade avatar
VonBlade
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

WOW. I had that exact one and had totally forgotten until now.

khalida_ryuu avatar
Taryn Bailey
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had one, but I was never allowed to do any of the experiments or anything

briandroste avatar
Brian Droste
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My siblings and I had something like this myself. Could make insects and reptiles. It used something called goop. If you got the backside wet you could stick the objects to like glass. Remember it very fondly.

pl_donahue avatar
Pauly Donahue
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It'll be fine, it includes safety goggles! "safety goggles" do not appear to have lenses.

maryemosher avatar
Mary Mosher
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wasn't there a similar toy where you could cook edibles? Yeah, that's it! Incredible Edibles!

joneswalker441 avatar
LovingKnuckle
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The best way to start any paragraph about toys is “this was in the 1960’s, before the 1969 Child Protection and Toy Safety Act”.

lavorrach avatar
Lavor Rach
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Fun fact Chemistry kits in the US and UK had Uranium Dust in them for a while it was removed due to lack of profits

thomasdjafari avatar
Thomas
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had a chemistry kit that included a lot of stuff and I had crazy fun with it

ashseto avatar
Ash The Duck
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In the early 1900s there was a chemistry set that came with actual u235

rumpleslunkskin avatar
rumple slunkskin
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I use to play with my dad's chemistry set from the 1950s, sure that was real safe!

abigor avatar
Cyber Returns
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I got one of them, and it was taken off me by Boxing Day because I made 'Worrying things'

susanjohnsen avatar
Cerridwn d'Wyse
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember making and selling fishing leurs with that at a local flea market when I was a kid

craigreynolds avatar
Craig Reynolds
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had a Chemistry set. My parents took out the magnesium strips because they were dangerous, but not the uranium, sulfur, potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium hydroxide, glycerin, hydrochloric and sulfuric acids, and some other wild stuff. Yeah, let's worry about the magnesium strips, not the gunpowder, nitroglycerin, and other dirty bomb ingredients. Of course, back then, you could order a shotgun from the Sears catalog...

ovataacronicta avatar
Ovata Acronicta
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My friend has a whole bunch of Thingmaker plates. She lent me the bugs and other creepy critters and I cast a bunch in silicone. Still planning on making more for Halloween goodie bags this year. Plus silicone isn't Mystery Rubber! but please, they're small, do not let your child eat the bugs.

wingsofsteel avatar
Babsevs
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had that exact chemistry set....loved and adored it. Even as a grown up ....I worked as an industrial chemist for a bit too (was qualified btw...just moved into engineering as a career path) my little brother had the creepy crawly hug maker thing...that was fun too, even if I was too old to play with it haha

mcc avatar
MC C
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yea, but we all lived through it, I like to think of these toys as a bit of Darwinian action at play

rainbow1969 avatar
Jackie Warner
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I got one (in France) for Xmas 1983. One of the best presents ever.

romanhans avatar
Roman Hans
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I got a chemistry set for Christmas & loved it. My favorite activity was pouring the mercury in my hand & then watching it slide around. Kids these days don't know what they're missing. Aside from the brain damage.

austinbremers avatar
Austin
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I got the discount version from the grocery store toy section. I was making gunpowder unsupervised at the age of 8yo.

hannahreyniers avatar
Hannah Reyniers
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I found this one last week at a goodwill shop. Nearly new from 1989!

avsfan80526 avatar
Liz Downing
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think this might be what my brother used to make the concoctions he used for blowing up the Hot Wheels cars...

bsellenriek_2 avatar
Ben
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Had this one as well. Never used once. But the one I had was in the 80's.

rooteetwo avatar
Snorkeldorf
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I too wanted Creepy Crawlers, but my mom deemed the set "too dangerous", especially for a girl (what????). Kid up the street got one. In the summer he would make bugs and sell them for a quarter a piece. I bought so many I could have almost paid for my own but again, mom said no.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#5

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Lite bright 🥲

anon , thomas ambridge Report

#7

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Mousetrap board game

anotherorphan , artistmac Report

#8

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them 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.

wormholeweapons , MIKI Yoshihito Report

Add photo comments
POST
robert-thornburrow avatar
Robert T
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One that would actually drive on carpet would have been nice!

View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#9

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them walkie talkie

iFister , Joe Haupt Report

Add photo comments
POST
willuhrhammer327 avatar
unfilteredCigarette73
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#10

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them 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

Kidslikeus , Joost J. Bakker Report

Add photo comments
POST
jessicazultanky avatar
Jessisaur
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I was a little girl I collected toy cars and I'm so glad my parents let me. Toys shouldn't have genders.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#11

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them 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

JollyMcStink , Brand: Mega Bloks Report

#13

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Moon shoes ))):

anon , Character Toys Report

#14

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them 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.

RemmiKam , Charles & Hudson Report

ADVERTISEMENT
#16

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Play-do Barber Shop. I became a hairstylist years later.

SugarsBoogers , Julie Magro Report

Add photo comments
POST
kellyhoward_1 avatar
Kel_how
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had the Play-Doh dental thing but definitely didn't become a dentist 😄

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#17

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Sea Monkeys.
Once I learned about Artemia nauplii, there was no point...

still_grinding_on , Visit the Big Time Toys Store Report

Add photo comments
POST
shaunaclodfelter avatar
OurLadyOfLunch
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

View more commentsArrow down menu
#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

Po_Momof4 Report

Add photo comments
POST
loudmanslover avatar
Ches Yamada
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#19

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them The ninja turtle pizza thrower van.

Ph33r-Enigma , prbecker Report

#20

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them 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.

Mundane-Ebb-3209 , 20th Century Studios Report

Add photo comments
POST
stevendenton avatar
nooneimportant
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I finally got a Talkboy about 6 years late, and always wanted the White Power Rangers talking sabre

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#21

Barbie. My two sisters each got a Barbie.

I got Midge.

AMerrickanGirl Report

#23

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them 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

Zer0Studioz , Dave Catchpole Report

Add photo comments
POST
badmole avatar
Bad Mole
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#24

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them The gi joe uss flag aircraft carrier

deputytech , gijoe Report

#25

A rock tumbler

Picklesgal111 Report

Add photo comments
POST
margretesonnenberg avatar
Margrete Sonnenberg
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#26

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them G1 Megatron. He was always sold out everywhere.

yeahwellokay , Chen Zhao Report

#27

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them A mini-bike like they advertised in the Sears Christmas catalog.

XploringTheWorld , smallteam Report

ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#28

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them I always wanted an electric guitar, but never got one.

blacklamp2623 , Luis Villa del Campo Report

#29

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them 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.

horseruth , Jim, the Photographer Report

Add photo comments
POST
ellepearson11 avatar
Willow
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Our generation dolls are basically these except a third of the price for more stuff. I totally love them!

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#30

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Bop it

TheManDirtyDan , Visit the Hasbro Gaming Store Report

Add photo comments
POST
fjlop23 avatar
best turtle
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

bro i always wanted a bop it during my childhood because me and my sister were so competitive with the one they had in my after school program

View more commentsArrow down menu

Note: this post originally had 42 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.