Favorite Toy of Childhood

Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle

Thank you Keith @ https://nostalgicitalian.com for inviting me to do this. Keith had bloggers over to his site to write about their favorite toys while growing up.

Whenever I see red, white, and blue not only do I think of the flag but I think of Evel Knievel. A hero to many in the 1970s… He is responsible for more broken arms, legs, bruises, bumps, and scrapes than anyone… Kids set up homemade ramps and then jumping them with their bicycles. I said kids…it wasn’t exclusive to boys because I remember some girls jumping also.

Riding down hills standing on your seat, popping wheelies, jumping ramps with your buddy stupidly laying in-between. We wanted to be Evel Knievel jumping over those cars or buses.

He was THE Daredevil… There are Daredevils around today but no one has reached the popularity that Knievel achieved. Not only did he jump and crash he looked cool jumping and crashing. He was like a cool Elvis in a jumpsuit jumping various objects.

I got the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle and Figure when I was 8 years old on Christmas Eve. I have a picture that I can see halfway unwrapped. I immediately started to play with it that night. Over the next couple of months, I would jump everything in sight.

 

I would make it jump on our porch, our outside dog, and finally, I got a great idea. It took me hours to set it up but I finally got it right. I had ramps going over my mom’s car. I never could get it to go completely over but I got it really close when it came down on the trunk…who needed the Snake Canyon? My mom wasn’t a big fan of the Stunt Cycle…when Evel missed and hit the flowers…some flowers would be missing. When I revved it up in the house…more than one glass shattered making mom shut down my jumping activities.

I wouldn’t mind getting one now to tell you the truth!

Pong

Another…well Keith could disqualify this but it was a toy to me…it was called Pong. Basically, it was magical! It would connect to your television, and you could play table tennis all day long. It was the forerunner of modern games that we have today. It was simple black and white, but I can’t tell you how it felt playing the thing.

I got it around 1977 and we just didn’t have things like this. There is one thing I remember well though…mom made me play it at night or on rainy days. The days were made for kids to go out and play baseball, play in the creek, or ride their bicycles for miles. What I wouldn’t give to relive one of those days being 11 again.

 

 

 

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

45 thoughts on “Favorite Toy of Childhood”

  2. Lol…aaahhh, it’s like you grew up with my little brother & I. He got that Evel Knevil thing the Christmas that it came out & we played with it ’til it broke…lol. Along with my ‘Johnny West’ & ‘Action Jackson’ & his ‘Six Million Dollar Man’ doll. We played with dolls back then & we were macho boys…lol. Oh yes, pong we played it for hours when we got it & “Break Out’ also in the basement ’til our parents made us go to bed…good stuff Max!

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    1. I loved that Stunt Cycle man…I mean loved it. I thought about getting one now. Anything breathing or nailed down got jumped by it.
      I had a Star Trek foldup deck with all of the Star Trek characters… with everything on the deck that was on the show.
      I would have loved to have a Six Million Dollar Man…

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      2. I just looked up Johnny West…I forgot about those…my grandmother had that at her house that I played with…I forgot totally about that.

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      3. I’m a few years older…lol…as I’ve mentioned you & my little brother (57) are around the same age. I had the whole ‘Johnny West’ collection…I wish that I still had it & I don’t know what happened to it.

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  5. I’d never seen that Evel K toy but it’s sort of cool. I do remember him though, boy he was a big name for awhile. You don’t really hear of celebrity daredevils anymore

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      2. I just looked it up to be sure…yes I have. I played it once or twice at a pizza place we used to go to back in the late 70s or 80s.
        Jim…do you remember those pinball machines with holes in them and you tried to connect the lines or numbers? In some places the management would actually pay off on them.

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  10. Got a Pong for Christmas, ( I gave it to myself), sat for hours playing the stupid game. My best toy of childhood was my Fanner 50 Pistol that shot real plastic bullets, and they actually hurt. Most of my kid crew on our block also got them, so there was plenty of gun-fights.

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    1. Now that would have been a cool gift for a kid. That would have been fun…coming from me who shot roman candles at my sister…and her back.

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  11. My favorites were Gumby and Pokey figures, Spirograph, and View-Master. Thankfully I still have my View-Master. It’s one of the few things I didn’t give away to my nieces and wished I’d kept. Evel’s big jumps always seemed to be broadcast on the ABC network.

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    1. I loved Spirograph and View-Masters. I still enjoy the view masters now when I come across one. I was an Evel fan….couldn’t get enough of him…on Wild World Of Sports I think.

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      1. Do you remember another show on ABC called the Superstars? They had different athletes from all across sports competing in obstacle course, swimming, track, etc. The reason I ask is the only person I specifically remember on there was Steve Garvey. My sister and I loved that show.

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      2. Yes and battle of the Network Stars… Ron Cey and Steve Garvey were two of my heros growing up…more Cey but I liked Garvey.

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  12. I remember Evel K when his stunts were televised. Of course they had to make a toy for kids to try it themselves. Laughing at your stories around the toy. I also remember Pong. My best friend and I would go over to her older sister’s house quite a bit. One day we went down into their finished basement and saw her nephew playing it. I thought it was the coolest toy I’d ever seen. We’ve come a long way, Baby!

    My favorite toy as a little kid was probably the sand box. I had a good time with my imagination in there. My bike was probably 2nd favorite. Oh also the record player was in there as well but not sure if you can call that a toy.

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    1. Yes we have come a long way….Pong always relaxed me…I played it not long ago over a friends house who has an original one.
      That is hard…what is a toy and what isn’t a toy? I don’t Pong would count either.

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      2. I think you and I are the only ones that liked the Tron Sequel…I love that movie.
        I would love to have a pinball machine from the 60s and 70s.

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  13. I think I would have enjoyed that Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle and Figure as well. I don’t recall hearing about it back in Germany. As previously commented on Dave’s blog, while I knew of Evel Knievel, I don’t think he was as popular in Germany as in the US. A school friend had the Atari console, which included Pong. I remember playing it a few times at his house. In regular mode I didn’t find it that engaging, but once you increased the speed, it became challenging pretty quickly!

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    1. He was SO American…with that red white and blue…there was no doubt what country he was from… he was so exciting to watch. Sometimes I pull up his old jumps and watch.

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  14. That Evel toy would have been a kids dream! I love the obvious crass marketing ploy ‘cycle sold separately.’

    I bet if you go looking for a set to buy now both bike and Evel figure will be battered and battle-scarred. Unless it’s pristine In Original Packaging.

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    1. I’m sure the original ones will be barely together..if it was played with correctly!
      They remade them in 2020 so I need to check one of those out.

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