Tomorrow is the first day of school for Primo. His first day in the big scary world of public school where we drop him off at 8 and don’t get to see him again until after 2 in the afternoon. We met the teacher, checked out the class room, got the lay of the land. He is excited, anxious, ready for to get started. We talked about his feelings about the new adventure and he has no fears that he can articulate, just nervous excitement. I’m not sure how I feel about the whole thing other than ready. I’m ready for him to get this public education started and see where journey takes us. Beautiful will drop him off tomorrow on her way to work and I think she will respond with the proper emotion sending her baby into the world, releasing more control then we have previously let go of. I will be there to pick him up and pick his brain. Gauge his response, talk about the other kids, and get the lay of the people. He will not provide enough information to satisfy our curiosity but we will learn a lot from his demeanor.

I feel like this should be bigger for me, and maybe it will be tomorrow, but for now I am ready to let him go. To let him drift a little from the boat and see if he can swim, to find his way back. I’m ready to see what he will learn and what he already knows. He’s 5 but already I see a 5 year old that makes good decisions. I’m looking forward to seeing how he makes decisions in this new world and what he brings back. I’m proud of him and I’m excited to see where this roller coaster takes us.

Original AD&D Players Handbook cover

If you’re a geek dad who grew up in the 1970s or 80s playing roleplaying games, it is very likely you got your start playing Dungeons & Dragons. While some of us have never left the hobby, a lot more parted ways with roleplaying games sometime in their late teens or early twenties. Whether it was dating, university, or a career, a lot of people seemed to disappear from the game table in those years. However, the thrill of fighting dragons and looting dungeons is something that is hard to deny and many “middle life” geeks find themselves longing to play the game again. For some, it is the desire to get together with some like minded geeks and relive their youth. For others, the goal is to introduce their children to the hobby. If you’re like me, the box sets, hard cover books, and pile of modules you treasured as a teen were likely lost, sold or thrown away a couple of decades ago. Thus it is not surprising that one of the most common questions that comes up on RPG forums is “How do I get back in to D&D?”

Unfortunately that question is not terribly easy to answer and more often than not it sets off a rather heated debate about the merits and flaws of the recent edition(s) of D&D. Even if you dodge those issues, the situation is hardly simple. Whether you love it or hate it, the later editions of D&D (i.e., 3rd and 4th edition D&D) bear little resemblance to the game most of us grew up on: the dice may look the same and some of the terms might be identical, but there has been a very definite shift in the focus of the game mechanics and style of play which leaves some returning players scratching their heads.

What many returnees to the hobby do not realize is that they can still play the same editions they grew up on, despite the fact that they have been out of print for several decades. First of all, there is nothing wrong with the older editions and newer does not always mean better but rather just different. Times have changed and so has the game, but there is no reason you can’t play the same game you grew up playing.

One obstacle though in playing the “old” editions is finding the materials unless you have a box hidden up in your mom’s attic. Ebay is one option since many of the early material is readily available although it is not necessarily cheap. However, there is a much better option available: in the past few years there has been a resurgence of interest in the early editions of D&D (often referred to as old school D&D) and thanks to the Open Game License (OGL) that Wizards of the Coast introduced with the 3rd edition of D&D, some enterprising enthusiasts have been publishing clones of the original versions. These “retroclones”, as they are now referred to, are essentially republished versions of the early version of D&D under different titles and rewritten (they’re not simply word-for-word copies) under the OGL. Some of these games are near identical to a particular edition, while others include more extensive revisions or additions to the original material. As a result,  it’s fairly easy to find a flavor that suits you and your group’s tastes. Even better, most of these games have free electronic versions available.

Aside from the games themselves, a quick search of the various D&D blogs, forums, and websites will reveal that that there is a lot of interest and enthusiasm about these games and the Old School Renaissance movement. Whether it is debating about the merits of  random monster tables, discussing Gary Gygax’s contributions to the game, or sharing their favorite house rules, it is hard not to find something of interest to anyone who grew up battling the forces of the Temple of Elemental Evil or trying to uncover the Secret of Saltmarsh. So whether you’re a lapsed D&D enthusiast or are just looking for a way to introduce your children to something you enjoyed when you were there age, take a look at what is available. At the very least it is worth taking a little time to download some of the pdf versions of the games since it won’t cost you a penny and you just might enjoy the trip down memory lane.

To help, I’ve provided an overview of the major D&D retroclones. Keep in mind that this list is not exhaustive and there are retro versions of other popular 80s games as well so it’s worth spending a little time visiting places like Dragonsfoot and Grognardia if you’re interested in seeing what else is available. In most cases, I have included a link to the free PDF version but it’s also possible to buy hard copies of these games, either directly from the publisher or through a print-on-demand service. In some cases, you might even find a copy of these on your local game store’s shelf.

S&W Cover

Swords & Wizardry, published by Mythmere Games, clones the original 1974 rules (often referred to as OD&D). S&W won a silver ENnie Award when it was first released and since then has seen quite a bit of support both in terms of various versions (including a “complete” version produced by Frog God Games) and adventures. The book is available free as a PDF, or comes in both softcover and hardcover formats.

Labyrinth Lord is a near identical clone of the classic Moldvay Basic/Expert box sets. The game is published by Goblinoid Games and is available in a few different formats, including as a free PDF. Goblinoid Games have also produced a few supplements to the game which let Labyrinth Lord emulate either the original “White box” version or AD&D while still staying true to the core B/X rules. LL plus the Advanced Edition Companion is by far my favorite version of old-school D&D to play since it captures everything I loved about AD&D while leaving out the wonky parts (e.g., weapon speed factors).

Dark Dungeons is a retroclone of the Rules Compendium version of the game, which collected together all of the material from the BECM (Basic/Expert/Companion/Master) box sets from the mid-80s, which began with the classic “Red Box” basic set with the Larry Elmore cover. DD is available as a free PDF as well as through print-on-demand services.

OSRIC (Old School Reference & Index Compilation) is by far the largest and most extensive of the retroclones because it collects nearly all of the material that originally appeared in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, and Monster Manual. OSRIC is very faithful to the original rules, including things like weapon speed factor and vs. armor class ratings. The free PDF version can be found here, but print versions are also available through the website.

Finally, if you’re looking for something that’s very much inspired by the original versions of D&D but with a lighter and more extensively revised set of mechanics, Old School Hack may be just your style. The fact that it’s free and won an ENnie ought to be enough to at least have a look at it.

As James mentioned, this week our oldest got his shots, got his eyes checked, got his finger pricked, got new school shoes and got registered for kindergarten. And to me, this generally indicates that he has started the process of being grown up and leaving us. I could cry just thinking about it. In fact I fully expect to be sobbing silently by the time I finish writing this, wiping my snotty nose and my smeared mascara for the very sadness of the fact that kids who were little get big.

I think the hard part is mostly that we have been slowly losing control as he grows up and has other influences and gets more capable and independent. The start of public school education marks a significant jump in this lack of control. He will be away from our home for somewhere around 7 hours a day where he will be interacting with other kids and taught by other adults. I realize this is inevitable and healthy. And I also realize that it is inherently irrational that I would be counting the hours he is away from home when I work away from the home for more hours than he will be gone.

But I read a blog post recently where this woman described this same feeling, this “empty-lapped” feeling where you start to notice that these kids have started to be busy with other things than holding onto your leg vice-style while you stand at the sink doing the dishes or driving matchbox cars over the stretchmarks on your belly while you lay on the couch trying to read Entertainment Weekly or pepper you with “8942-hundred” questions while you try to follow the google map instructions to a friend’s house. And it feels a little lonely, knowing that they will gradually have more and more things that have nothing to do with us.

That same blog post, she mentions how she has always felt about getting in bed at the end of the day with her husband, how it feels a little like touching down in a plane, home at the end of a trip. That feeling of relief that we all made it and we are back. I couldn’t agree more. And the kids have become a part of that. The routine at the end of the day, the finding of jammies and reading of books—it’s all a part of returning again, of touching down.

I know I have a lot of years still where the kids will be part of that touch down at the end of the day. And a lot of years of them running out to my car in the morning, demanding that I give them a kiss out the car window as I leave for work, of holding my hand a little too tightly on the escalator, of hiding behind my legs when there are new people to meet.

But it has started. The Growing up. Or I guess the better thing to say is: it continues, the growing up. And I can’t say I’m entirely thrilled to watch these landmarks pass. He’ll do great in kindergarten and I’m proud of him. But I ache a little for his chubby little baby legs, his mispronunciations, his dependence.

A skeleton puppet from Jason and the Argonauts – Sophie Brown

This weekend saw the first annual Empire Big Screen film festival take place at London’s O2 complex, featuring three days of film premières, classic screenings, panel sessions and more. A number of famous names were present discussing their work and meeting fans along with a large array of shops and displays.

As I could only attend for the Friday, I tried to pack as much into my time as possible. Unfortunately I was hindered on occasion by sessions not running to time, often with no information given out by staff. The worst incidence of this that I came across was waiting for a film studio showcase to begin, I left half an hour after the posted start time when nothing had happened and no indication had been given as to what was going on or when the screening would begin. Most sessions were only delayed by five or ten minutes, however for those of us trying to arrange a schedule of sessions, these times could make a difference between arriving on time or missing the beginning; possibly even missing out on attending another popular session if it had filled up.

[Read more about Sophie's adventures at GeekMom!]

Flickr user clevercupcakes / Creative Commons licensed

A comic with a long publication history and a obsessive passionate fan base offers nearly limitless opportunities for historical overviews. Last month, I linked to a gallery of Batmobiles.

This month’s clever gallery, at Zillionarts, is a collection of 70 years of Batman covers. (Not all of them, obviously–a representative selection.) For each decade, there’s a brief potted history of new developments in the comic. Some of these are more helpful than others. (For example, we learn that “In the years following World War II, DC comics adopted a postwar editorial direction. The impact of this editorial approach was evident in Batman comics during the postwar period.”) Overall, though, it’s a good representation.

Also in Bat-news, The Idler (slogan: “refusing to apologize for the things we enjoy”) featured Batman Week earlier in the month, with posts on the TV shows, movies, books and video games. I particularly liked Lindsey Malta’s “Batman: A Memoir in Media”:

Yes. I skipped my college graduation and went with future Idler editor Kevin Mattison to see Batman Begins. I have never regretted this decision.

In comments to that post, Idler writer Gavin Craig offers up a suggested reading list to Gotham’s favorite hero. Plenty of reading to get through the rest of winter!

That in and of itself isn’t that remarkable, I mean, I just described half of American teenage boys, right?  But what was interesting to me was that in both cases my sons had just left the company of their friends.  To be more specific, they were having more fun with their friends not being there than if they were there.  Are you getting this?  They were together with their friends, but then decided that playing games online with said friends was better.  This is so far removed from the vivid memories of my childhood years that it is stark in contrast.  Let me explain…

I was pretty much your average middle-class, subdivision-living, kid back in the 70s and 80s.  The neighborhood kids would all hang out in someone’s yard, or tromp through the woods (as much as you could call it woods) in the backyard and our moms would have to holler out the back door when it was time to come home to eat dinner.  And many times we would pretend not to hear mom because of course we had more important things to do like climb trees and generally wreak havoc with the neighborhood girls.  My kids don’t have any memories like that.  None.

Now, this is not to say that my childhood was the iconic dream world that every kid should have the privilege of enjoying, or that somehow my kids have been permanently harmed because of this fact.  I remember my first gaming systems (can you say Atari 2600??) and the joy I found in technology that captured my imagination as a kid, and still does today.  I ‘get’ the whole gaming thing, still enjoy a game or two when I can find the time, and in truth at times am jealous of those gorgeous, immersive gaming experiences that my kids utterly enjoy daily.  And if I could get away with it (and not get grief from my wife), I just might join them in their nazi-fragging bliss.  But now that I have the benefit of endless streams of wisdom because of my vast years of experience as a man and a father, I am a bit concerned.

You see, I am afraid that my kids aren’t going to know how to do lots of things. I learned how to manage my time for maximum playtime and enjoyment before mom hollered.  I learned teamwork.  I learned how to make forts out of tree branches and the art of making the perfect mudball. (Skills that obviously serve me well in my career today, right?) I developed a respect for nature and my surroundings.  I learned how to make my own fun even when I didn’t have many things to have fun with.  And I learned endless life lessons from the arguing, fighting, reconciling, negotiating, sharing, and secrets that I shared with my buddies.

Maybe I am just jaded, or maybe I am slowly turning into a grumpy old man.  But I am fearful that in my quest to give my kids the ‘things’ that they desire and that all their friends have, that I am doing them harm.  I fear that my kids are going to grow up into adults that don’t know how to interact with co-workers, family members, and neighbors.  Kids who won’t appreciate nature and the sheer joy that comes from climbing a tree and getting sap all over your hands.  But I think I figured it out.

Tomorrow I am gonna take the XBox away, give them each a stick and force them to go outside and play in the woods.  Better yet, I’ll go with them and show them how to make a mudball and throw it at girls.  Yeah, that will fix everything.  Or maybe I’ll just kill some nazi zombies with them.  That sounds more fun anyway.

Related posts:

1. Kids Are More Tech-Savvy, But Does That Make Them Smarter?
2. 10 Things I Miss Now That My Kids Are Older…
3. Checks And Balances: Is It OK For Your Kids To Be Tattle Tales?

Remembering that he was that little

We have internet access at the new place and a wifi signal that is strong like bull. I couldn’t get the laptop to communicate with the wireless router at first and I was starting to get a little frustrated. Before getting to be home with the kids I worked for various software companies in tech support and training so setting up a home network is right in my wheel house. I have certifications for this and everything. When I couldn’t connect I started to think of all the complicated reasons why: MAC filtering was turned on or the previous WEP password was wrong. After multiple stops and starts, reboots and fist pounding I called my friend Jesse and asked his opinion. I ran through the situation and he listened patiently before saying “Just hit the reset button stupid.” There was a reset button that you push with a pin, restting the factory settings and allowing you to easily set up the network. It was such a simple solution and one I would have advised had someone asked me what to do two years ago, but I seem to have forgotten how to trouble shoot basic issues since being at home.

This past weekend Beautiful and I celebrated our sixth year together with a little dinner and some one on one time. Part of that time was spent in the boys room looking at pictures and videos in iphoto while they were at my parents house. I know right, do we know how to party or what. If you listened to the podcast you also know we went to the dump on the morning of our anniversary. Who says romance is dead? Sitting on the couch in their room though we looked back at pictures of the boys as babies and tried to remember what it was like. Those sleepless nights and nervous awkwardness as new parents. All those milestones reached and documented and celebrated. It seemed like I was remembering the pictures and not the actual events. Now I am notorious for having a terrible memory, I think it was all the drugs my parents did in the seventies, those were crazy times man, crazy times. Wait what was I talking about again? Oh yeah forgetting, but not really forgetting just not remembering as clearly. At the time of these pictures I would have thought it crazy that the feeling I had at the time would go from vibrant to a muted hue, but that’s what has happened. Memories fade over time and it’s by sitting down on that couch in the boys room looking back over the pictures and watching the videos that we remind ourselves and crank up the color again.

Before moving to Portland we lived in Indiana in this great downtown neighborhood called Fountain Square. It’s one of those neighborhoods that was cut off from the city center when the freeway came to town but has bounced back all these years later. This sunday as I think of what I will make for dinner in our new community here in Portland, I think back to the community we had there. Below is a post from my old blog about Sunday Nights in Fountain Square:

Sunday nights we have dinner with a growing group of people in our neighborhood. The meal is hosted by a different family each week and we now have 9 different families who host meals. The host invites whomever they want to join the core group and the meals are always great. This past Sunday dinner was at the Aalsma’s house which is one of my favorite places in the neighborhood. The Aalsma’s are just so cool that you could easily be intimidated, but they are too friendly for that feeling to last long. Their house is big with lots of great art, funky old furniture, stacks of books, and toys for kids of all ages. They had two tables set up in the dinning room and kids running around everywhere as parents took turns eating and watching each others kids.

Like I said the meals are always great but part of the magic of Sunday nights is community. The living of life in close proximity to each other. I got my haircut in the middle of the room where the babies were pulling every toy they could reach out of the box on the floor. Older kids ran around Tina as she deftly maneuvered her pregnant belly and scissoredhands without hitting me with either. College Basketball played silently on the TV in the corner even though very few beside me cared what happened between Kansas and Kentucky. A friend of one of the families, who happened to be a pediatrician, stopped by to check on an ear of one of the kids. Around the table Beautiful was recruiting writers for the neighborhood paper and babysitting duties were traded like baseball cards.

Next week the dinner will be at our house again and it might be nice enough to be outside. I can’t wait to see what happens, who comes, where the conversations goes, what gets broken. This week beautiful and I will worry about what to make, not with any unhealthy pressure to impress, but with the desire to cook something fitting of the great people that will come. We will invite someone from Beautiful’s work that she wants to be friends with and neighbors from down the block. It will be a great night and most of us will not realize just how great until years later. We don’t often get a sense for how great something is until much later in life but lately I have had a real tangible sense of how great Sunday night is. There is something so beautiful about the time, the people, the whole event that I sometimes start to think about when it will inevitably end and can’t help but get sad. But it is not ending this week, and this week we get to have our house over run with life and the energy of it lived in such close proximity and it makes me smile.

Polaroid Rainbow SX-70. Photo: Photojojo, used with permission

In a world where your phone’s camera is possibly better than the camera camera you owned a few years ago, film is a hard sell. But for many people Polaroid cameras are a special exception—so much so that when Polaroid decided to discontinue its film, a bunch of Polaroid employees and instant film enthusiasts teamed up to reinvent the film. But because a lot of the original Polaroid color dyes and components were no longer available, they called themselves The Impossible Project to reflect the difficulty of achieving their goal.

Well, that goal has become a reality, and my favorite DIY photo site Photojojo has some limited edition Polaroid Rainbow SX-70 cameras for sale, starting today. These are the original cameras, made between 1977 and 1982, so it’s a pretty rare item. Each camera comes with two packs of the Impossible Project’s monochrome PX 100 film. This is the first time the PX 100 “First Flush” film is available, and the only store where the SX-70 is available.

Of course, it won’t come cheap—$210 for the package, and $21 for addtional 8-exposure packs of film—but nostalgia never does, right? (Unless you’re lucky and find a bunch of old Star Wars toys in your parents’ basement.)

And if you’re not into the instant film craze? Check out the Photojojo store anyway—you might find something else nifty, like the bottle cap tripod, a helmet camera mount, or these goofy-but-nifty camera dial decals for your laptop.

Just for fun, I’ll leave you with this: an old Muppets commercial for Polaroid:

Update 4:30pm EST: Well, as might have been expected, those sold out fast. But Photojojo has kept one back to give away. Head over to their Tumblr page for instructions on the contest to win the last one!

Companies also began to innovate on educational toys for kids, whether it was teaching them about electronics, programming, or offering educational games. Additionally, electronics became cheap enough to expand what toys were capable of doing, from playing music to increased interactivity. As a child of the ’80’s, I had many of these toys and played with them much longer than a kid’s attention span would dictate.

A year ago, one of my first posts for GeekDad was a popular article reminiscing about five of these more educational toys. I’ve taken those and added five more that I have the fondest memories of – whether they were my own or my neighbors toys which were coveted the most. And hoping to instill that same child-like wonder in my kids, I’ve also included what the modern equivalents are in the market today.

Science Fair Electronic Project Kits

(flickr user: mightyohm)

What is was: Arthur C. Clarke has said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. As a kid in the midst of an increasing technological revolution, electronics were at the heart of that. Learning electronics was made easy through the Science Fair Electronic Project Kits found at Radioshack. Through the project guides, kids could construct various ‘experiments’ by attaching wires to terminal springs that make circuits. The terminal springs would wire in components such as LED segment lights, photo sensors, resistors, diodes, etc. While it was fun getting the projects to work, the manuals lacked in depth explanation as to what was happening in the circuit to produce the project’s result.

Why it was awesome: First, it was a simple buy for parents. Everything you needed to get your child interested in electronics was right in the kit. You didn’t need to breadboard or solder. I remember a distinct feeling of accomplishment making a high-water alarm or a light-sensor game with the realization that the bundles of wires springing up from the kit were actually doing something!

Modern equivalent: You can still pick up variations of the 100-in-1 kits, but their popular replacement seem to be Snap Circuits by Elenco. All of the components are mounted on a plastic base with a contact on either end which interconnect with each other and the plastic base that projects can be mounted to. Each component also has the electrical diagram symbol for that component drawn on it so it can help you read schematics. For that reason alone, I like these better.

VTech Pre-Computer 1000

A Precomputer 1000 in a Thrift Store (flickr user: mikek)

What it was: One of many educational computers hitting the market during the early 90’s, the VTech Precomputer 1000 wrapped learning in a quasi-game format that taught kids about science, history, geography, math and typing — or as much as quizzes can teach anyone about anything. But at least in two player mode you could school your friends by buzzing in your answer first.

Why it was awesome: The Precomputer 1000 featured a slimmed down version of BASIC called Pre-BASIC, and the wire-bound manual featured several programs and games which could be typed in to RAM. The programs were there to teach you the basics of programming computers and demystified many of the built-in games and quizzes by showing you how to make your own. However, programming was quite challenging as you could only view one line with 20 characters across the LCD display. Debugging was limited, and you lost your program if you replaced the battery.

Modern equivalent: VTech is still making educational laptops for kids that feature similar learning activities as the Precomputer 1000. These are packaged to look like mom and dad’s laptops enticing kids to play on their own. However, none of the current models in their catalog feature access to a programming language.

Also, the XO-1 from the One Laptop Per Child organization is much more advanced in capability and features a bevy of educational software, though less focused on general knowledge and more on applied knowledge. OLPC’s learning model is based on exploration, trial and error. And there are are plenty of learning tools to foster such exploration such as an offline wikipedia, music composition software, and Pippy, a Python Programming Language/environment. (Read GeekDad’s previous coverage of the XO-1).

Etch-a-sketch Animator

What it was: Like a traditional Etch-a-Sketch, the Animator featured two knobs and a screen and allowed you to make drawings. But instead of a mechanical stylus removing aluminum powder from the screen, the Animator featured an LCD matrix and the knobs would move a cursor around the screen. Pressing a button would allow you to turn individual pixels on and off. Once a drawing was made, you could save it to memory and make another. Careful planning and ‘flipping’ back to previous drawings (not unlike traditional animation) allowed you to create a sequence of drawings. You could program the sequence to flip to any drawing in any order to create the illusion of animation.

Why it was awesome: It was kind of like a computer and more complex then making a flip book. You really weren’t programming, you couldn’t interact with it like a game, and the metallic sound effects were a really weird choice. But in the ’80’s, you felt like you were creating something amazing.

Modern equivalent: While there is plenty of software available that allow kids to make simple 2-D animation, the killer application for portable animating fun is an upcoming Nintendo DSiWare titled called Inchworm. Still in beta but under negotiations with Nintendo for an upcoming release, Inchworm features a wide variety of features including a color pallet, various pen styles, basic shape drawing, layers and onionskin animation. Numerous tutorials are on the Inchworm website, including demonstrations on a web-uploading feature that will allow people to share their animations outside of the Nintendo DSi.

Casio VL-1 Keyboard

(wikipedia.com)

What it was: A relatively inexpensive keyboard, sequencer, and calculator (!) that featured 5 built-in sounds, 10 rhythms, recording functionality, and the ability to create your own sound by modifying Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release (ADSR) values. It was a fun toy to play around with as building your own sounds was the highlight of the toy. But it was monophonic (only one note at a time) and the built-in sounds were astonishingly bad. Plus the demo song teased you into thinking you could change sounds on the fly.

Why it was awesome: It was small, portable, and programmable. It didn’t matter that you couldn’t get faithful piano or violin sounds out of the thing. I wouldn’t say it’s a perfect toy for a budding musician, but it is perfect for a music geek. You could spend hours and hours adjusting the ADSR values creating crazy synth sounds. Plus, was your keyboard also a calculator?

Modern equivalent: The Korg microKorg modeling synthesizer is bigger, badder, and while more expensive than the VL-1, it is infinitely more usable, mostly due to the Korg being an actual instrument and not a child’s toy. Featuring multiple waveforms to model, multiple filters, two ADSR envelopes and a vocoder, it’s a great synthesizer for beginners. But is it kid friendly? Hard to say. The more features you throw at the thing, the more difficult it is to program and likely the less fun a younger kid might have, but older kids won’t be limited like we were with the VL-1. Consider this a call for the Casio’s of the world to bring back a programmable synth toy.

Erector Sets

Difference Engine made with an Erector Set (flickr user: joegratz)

What it was: The classic toy construction set that has been around since 1913, Meccano Erector sets were made of metal containing girders with holes that could be attached with nuts and bolts and other shaped elements. The pieces allowed you to build a variety of models including cars, planes, windmills, bridges, etc. Budding mechanical or civil engineers got a taste of constructing models or building toys in a much more grown-up way.

Why it was awesome: To a kid who mostly played with plastic toys, erector sets represented a graduation of sorts to a more advanced toy. The models were similar to some of the stuff you could build with Lego, but you got to use real tools to assemble your project.

Modern equivalent: Fortunately, Erector sets are still around. Meccano has smartly segmented their product line around age groups, having kits with all plastic parts for the 2-4 year olds, through advanced wifi-controlled robots. But the classic kits are where it’s at, with generic pieces that don’t limit the imagination. Lego may be the most popular construction toy, but it’s nice to see options still available.

My First Sony

What it was: An unabashed attempt to hook kids on Sony gear when they were young, My First Sony was a line of kid-friendly electronics such as a walkman, cassette recorder with a microphone, and headset walkie-talkies. They were brightly colored and very geometric; just look at the crazy triangles on that headset!

Why it was awesome: Sony was king in the ’80s. The walkman was the iPod of its time. If you’re parents bought you a My First Sony product, you must be somebody pretty special. The tape recorder with the detachable microphone was my favorite. Somewhere there must be a surviving cassette tape with my friends and I playing DJ

Modern Equivalent: It’s hard to pin down a modern equivalent to the My First Sony. The product line is dead, but the idea remains. There are plenty of kid-friendly versions of popular consumer electronics such as MP3 players, camcorders, or cameras. Unfortunately, none have the dead simplicity and huge buttons that made My First Sony so accessible for kids.

Electronic Organizers

A Citizen MD400

What it was: I’m not going to lie to you – my friends and I were all dorks growing up. So much so that we drooled over electronic organizers at our local Radio Shack. Tiny computer-like devices that stored contacts, calendars and appointments, memos, alarm clocks and calculator functions. They were cheap at around $20-30 and they measured their storage in the number of records they could save. And if you doubt that electronic organizers could be toys for kids, don’t forget that InfoGenius made a personal organizer cartridge for the original GameBoy.

Why it was awesome: It was more for pretend then actual organizing, or at least that’s what I’m telling myself right now. But it was like holding a tiny computer in your hand; it had a display, a keyboard, memory for storage, and later models had menus with icons (yes, I went through several of these). Looking back, however, it’s really no surprise I’m a GTD guy today.

Modern Equivalent: It’s really surprising how little these devices have changed over the years. Most look like 90’s PDA’s and all pretty much do the same thing. Having an iPhone or even an iPod touch means I would never need one of these today. If I were that kid today, though, I’d probably go retro-chic with a Palm Pilot. All the features of an electronic organizer but not the connectivity or apps resembling anything Apple makes.

Armatron

An Armatron (flickr user: unloveablesteve)

What it was: Another Radio Shack toy, the Armatron was a robotic arm that you could move along various axis to pick up and place small objects. There was a ‘game’ of sorts by way of the energy meter. Essentially a timer, the energy meter would deplete as you used the toy, so you tried to accomplish whatever tasks you set out to do before the timer was up.

Why it was awesome: Robots. And a wicked dose of the movie Short Circuit. And it had orange accents and was industrial looking. Did I mention robots? I can’t remember that we ever played the game.

Modern Equivalent: The armatron exists in name only today, owned by a company called Power Gear and is basically one of those hand-extension gripper toys. Weak. However, there is something called the Robotic Arm Edge made by OWI that looks pretty similar. Not only do you get to build the robotic arm yourself, you can also get a USB interface cable and some software to program the arm. Wicked.

Mr. Microphone

What it was: Mr. Microphone was a microphone with a built-in AM transmitter allowing you to tune in to yourself over the radio. I didn’t have a Mr. Microphone, but one of the many copy cat products in the 80’s. While Mr. Microphone was first, mine had a chip-tune synthesizer built in along with various songs that you could sing along with. It was yellow, which I thought was cool for some reason. (My many thanks to anyone who can help me remember who made it in the comments!)

Why it was awesome: Playing DJ with the My First Sony tape recorder was great and all, but we weren’t broadcasting. It was the Mr. Microphone that enabled us to operate our little pirate radio station out of my bedroom. Incidentally, I later did some radio production while in college and have since become an amateur music producer. No doubt a lot of these toys had an influence on my interests growing up.

Modern Equivalent: You can still get FM transmitting microphones, but apparently they’re only for girls, sporting brands such as Hannah Montana, Bratz and Disney’s Mickey or Minnie Mouse. With options limited, want to rock out and practice your soldering skills? Go for the FM Wireless Microphone Kit. Bonus: Assembly required.

Hit Stix

What it was: Drum sticks attached to a little amplifier/speaker module that allowed you to play drums on anything. They even allowed you to AIR DRUM! Yeah, there some electronics voodoo going on there that made air drumming produce drum sounds. Being the 80’s, they also featured a neon yellow/orange color scheme.

Why it was awesome: My dad is a musician and had a big influence on me growing up. We had a real drum set in our basement along with a PA and speaker stack for guitar, bass and vocals. I learned to play the drums by playing along with music over the PA. That 350-watt Peavey Amp gave me all the volume I needed to hear the music over my drumming. When I got the Hit Stix for my birthday, I could then play drums in my bedroom along with the radio. That was cool, but looking back I wonder who the toy was really for…

Modern Equivalent: While the Hit Stix were cool for the air drumming aspect, they tone bank they had available was fairly limited. A drum pad would be a much better and more faithful replacement. The Kawaski Drum Pad seems to be a good option for the budget-conscious toy buyer. A bunch of pads plus a bunch of sounds equals a bunch of fun! Looking for a drum set without the drums? Check out the ION IED12 Pro Session Electronic Drum Set. It’s not so much a toy as the Hit Stix are, but again, it’s a lot quieter than real drums would ever be.

Any others?

Do you have a favorite electronic toy from your childhood? Let us know in the comments!