Things we HAD to have. . .

I've recently taken a walk down memory lane by playing some of my favorite childhood games including connect four, candy land, jenga, and Sorry! I think we have all forgotten how fun these simple games can be. So it got me thinking about other toys that as a child I had to have. The type of toys that if you didn't own them you would be outcast from your friends. Here are a few that changed my life as an 8 year old.
SKIP IT!!!!

Hands down one of my favorite toys ever. Our parents must have been sitting inside laughing it up. I mean think about it. . . let's strap a ball to our kids ankle and let them swing it around a billion times. And this actually worked. One point for the parent's team. Well played mom and dad, well played.
POGS!

Um hello. . .can we say obsessed much? This mindless and pointless game consumed my recess at school. And it was also the demise of many friendships. Its amazing the kind of impact small pieces of round card board can have.
Beanie Babies

I want to start out by apologizing to my father who had to put up with my psychotic behavior over these bean filled devil animals. I probably had over 300 of these. Current Status: they are all chilling in boxes in my parents attic. Once again sorry dad.
Puppy Surprise!

How many puppies are there inside? 3. . .4. . .5 . . .6! Now that I look back this is kind of creepy. And not to mention I always only got 3 puppies inside. Fuck You puppy surprise.
Trolls

Trolls were the shit. Kinda weird but nonetheless awesome.
Micro Machines

Badass! Besides the obvious choking hazard, these little guys distracted my older brother from beating the shit out of me for at least one hour a day. Thanks micro machines!
Power Wheels


I don't know about your neighborhood but if you weren't cruising around in one of these, you were not cool. This was one of my all time best christmas gifts. Expect for the fact that they ran out of battery in like 20 min and then it took like 5 hours to charge, the barbie corvette rocked my world. Looking at this picture I have no fucking clue how my ass ever fit in this car.
Easy Bake Oven

Piece of Crap! This dumb toy never produced anything edible in my book. They made it seem like you could make awesome brownies and cakes. . .Bullshit! Lies.
Ouija Board

A sleepover was never complete without the Ouija Board. The power of suggestion is crazy. Quickly following the Ouija board was light as a feather stiff as a board. Another game we all thought was magical until your 300 lb friend wants a turn and you and your friends all look at each other wondering how in the hell you are going to pull this one off.
And last but not least my personal favorite. . .
The Love Swing

I can't even calculate the number of hours I would spend on my love swing with my friends. Just swinging back and forth, laughing! Oh the joy. I always felt a little different after a long ride on the magical swing. Then one day my parents found my love swing and threw it away. . .I always wondered why?

Oh wait. . . am I the only one who had a love swing. . . AWKWARD!