Restoration Hardware

There’s just something about a leather chair, a cup of coffee and a good book, isn’t there? The fall set is up in Restoration Hardware and I was anxious to check it out because I heard from Andrews-McMeel that Timeless Toys was going to be featured. Niiiice. What surprised me was how many vintage toys and games I saw. Winning Moves has a beautiful Monopoly replica game prominently displayed. Magic 8 Ball and Rubik’s Cube are being hailed as great stocking stuffers, as is Silly Putty. As I walked around the store, the toy hits just kept coming.

Curious, I went home and checked out their website and found even more toys in retro packaging. Scrabble, Pedal Cars, Pogo Sticks, Sleds, Train Sets, Slot Cars, Etch-A Sketch, Slinky, Wee-Lo…even Wooly Willy!

Legendary Playthings Up for Auction

The biggest name in the business is Barbie. She is the most successful proprietary toy in the history of toy manufacturing. I bought the original 1959 Ponytail #1 Barbie that graces the pages of Timeless Toys in 2001. Sure she’s had some Photoshop work done on her in this picture, but what teenage model hasn’t? Today she’s an icon and she still looks pretty darn good for being 47.

Likewise, the Monopoly chapter of Timeless Toys had to be special. First I secured a picture of Thomas Forsyth’s famously rare edition of The Landlord’s Game. Coup number two was when Charles Darrow’s son allowed me to photograph the rejection letters his father received from Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley. Yes, even Monopoly was originally rejected. Cool enough, but something was still missing. Then I found a copy of Charles Darrow’s “black box” edition of Monopoly in 2001! The last edition he printed and sold before Parker Brothers changed their minds and then changed game history.

So now I find myself, five years later, about to launch a new and exciting toy project which I can’t wait to share (but must). Stars and schedules are aligning! Finance is needed! Ebay is calling!

And so the two biggest hits in the business are leaving The Playmakers Collection via eBay. So loyal readers, if you have it in you (or in your wallet), go now and bid on Barbie or the Black Box Monopoly and stay tuned here to see what this money will help finance in the near future. (psst…it’s gonna be fun!)

Big Wheel

In Timeless Toys I wrote:

It’s the summer of ’70, and I am six years old. My older sister is selling lemonade from our family’s suburban driveway. Her friends are there too, and in an attempt to impress them, I decide to pedal some doughnuts.

Twenty feet from her stand, the handlebars begin to vibrate in my hands. The distinctive rumbling of plastic on pavement is so loud that it threatens my sister’s fledgling enterprise. I pick up speed, my bony little knees pumping frantically. When I’m ten feet from the stand, I hit the brakes. Simultaneously, and with timing I’ve perfected over months of practice, I turn the wheel on my Big Wheel. The chubby back tires begin their perfect arch amidst the pebbles and debris in our driveway. Then, with the hollow sound of scraping plastic still in my ears, my ride comes to a grinding halt. “Check out the doughnut!” I boast. Granted, it’s hard to appreciate coolness when there’s dirt sprayed into your lemonade, but I think somewhere deep inside they all longed to be me.

Okay, maybe not.

It’s not hard to put your finger on the appeal of Big Wheel. It was visceral. When you rode one, every bump and imperfection in your path instantly transferred through the shuddering plastic to your various appendages. Whether skidding to a sliding halt or leaning into a 180° spin, the application of the brakes sent a reverberation up your backbone that turned your spinal column into a tuning fork—Big Wheel nirvana.

Here’s proof that this feeling has been passed on to my daughter.