Doesn't this PLASTIC world drive you a little bit nutz?

I remember my brothers had a small metal submarine that wound somehow with a rubberband int he bath tub. Those were the toys that lasted. He is over 60 and still has it!

Everything is made to be disposable now. On top of that, the old wooden toys we played with have all lost their paint and the metal ones rusted up. At least now things are mainly non-toxic and hurt alot less when launch across the room, lol.

The plastic part of this world that drives me crazy, is the debit cards that we swipe over and over again! Money is no-longer that. Just like how the casinos stopped using quarters in their slot machines. We take the value away from the ole' paper dollar and give it a plastic value. Tell me this isn't some covert plan to keep consumers digesting digitally?

Our old toys are worth more, as well as our old money... -Peace-

I recently had a bit of Deja Vu when I was standing in the supermarket checkout line & spied a plactic recreaction of my wooden baby rattle! They were beautiful to see, but not the same as my original. They lacked lead based paint, sharp metal parts, & that nice sound that only wood can give when it strikes another piece of wood. Still, the plastic parts were a pretty good replica of the sound my old one makes. I would never have noticed it on the shelf if it didn't have the same exact face painted on it as my 50 year old model! I didn't buy one, but I should have. Now I can't find them anywhere.

Plastics do seem to be taking over in the area of the cheaper goods. I can't go into wallmart at christmas due to the fumes that all those decorations give off. They must have noticed it too, because last year they moved them out to the garden area of their stores. It was still a bad mix of chemicals next to the poisons & plant fertilizers...yuk!

Perhaps they should hang a sign that says "VOC LAND"!

I am astounded that more plastic seems to be used nowadays for packaging and food service takeout containers. I thought we were supposed to give back to the earth, instead they all end up in a landfill if there isn't proper recycling.

But, after all, plastic is derived from petroleum, which is derived from crude oil, so there is another use for that precious commodity which is hitting record high prices per barrel on the market now.

Personally I always try to use more paper and paper-based packaging and patronize establishments which have the same.

As for favorite toys, there was nothing to compare to a metal Slinky --- the plastic ones just don't "cut it."

I had a wooden rocking horse that I adored when I was only 2 years old. Don't have it anymore, but yes...too much plastic these days. The wooden toys always lasted a lot longer too. You can step on a plastic toy and crush it. Not those wood-made ones.

I have one stuffed animal that I have had since I was about 7. It's an owl, and on the top of it's head sits a tiny little mouse with a single kernel of corn. The card I got with it is in my memory books, it reads even the wise old owls needs a friend like you. It was given to me by one of my grandmothers friends. She had been in the hospital and every afternoon I would go and read the news paper or part of a novel she had been reading. She had both hands burned so she couldn't hold stuff like that. I remember she used to call me her smallest friend, with the biggest heart. I didn't understand the real meaning of the words back then, I knew they were nice, I just knew she was a reader like me and not being able to hold a book or magazine would kill me. She was in the hospital for three weeks, they had to operate on her hands, and I never missed a day. The day she came home she was so happy they had rewrapped her hands so she could use her fingers and was able to hold things that wasn't to heavy.

She was always like a second grandmother to me after that.

I still have my first and only Walking Doll. I got her for Christmas when I was in first grade. The toys were made to last(this is just my opinion) because we didn't have a lot of new toys.

The plastic toys keep the kids now days as interested as anything else. Toys! Toys! Everywhere! Some are cheap and some are only cheaply made. They pacify our young ones usually a short time, and like pampers, they are dumped and on to the new!

It is interesting that some day an old man will look at a plastic toy, maybe a star wars toy, and remember his childhood. I have a little race car that was made from recycled aluminum from second world war airplanes. I had two but only one is still on my memory shelf. The twenty-two caliber single shot that Dad gave to me when I was eleven years old is still in my gun rack.

Oh, yes indeed. I had a set of wood Lincoln logs which I really enjoyed, but I think they got passed down to a cousin.

Nowadays, I really get annoyed at the plastic packaging in the markets. The Oscar Mayer Deli cuts package is IMPOSSIBLE to open with getting out the tin snips. I won't be buying that anymore.

I like wooden objects as well....they seem more natural and earthy. The use of plastics can be a bit overwhelming but generally, very useful and in many cases an improvement over metal or wood. My Mom stills has the wooden blocks and Lincoln logs we played with as kids for the grandkids to use...some things never go out of style or use. The hammers I use in construction projects have wooden handles and I still have ones my grandfather passed on to me from his farm.

Wish I had the means to build one of these...

http://www.joeharmondesign.com/

If you have a hankerin' for old fashioned toys...this place in Fountain City, Wi is a museum of them.

http://www.elmersautoandtoymuseum.com/

well to be honest toys now a days are safer for young children. If not a tad too politically correct. I remember playing marbles when I was a kid . All we needed were our marbles and a circle drawn in the dirt . I had a great collection of shooters, purees and cats eyes . I recently found a small part of that collection in the back of my closet . I almost cried I was so happy . haha go figure