Your best ever xmas present as a kid

arnieboy said:
A great reminder of simpler times
He also made my sister a fantastic dolls house with lighting, wallpaper, curtains etc.
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yup - and again I forgot Dad made my sister a dolls house - just as you describe. Simpler times indeed. But back in the early to mid-60s we had very little money to 'spare' and so my Dad made stuff. We two were just fortunate wee lads who had dads who were cabinetmakers.
 
Many classics to choose from but clear leader for me is also subbuteo. Think it was 1970....I was 6. Played it constantly throughout my childhood and teens. Went on to get cricket, which I loved, and rugby (not so addictive).

One of of my earliest memories was playing it on that first Xmas morning, was a club edition, and I knelt on a player (one of the key risks of playing it on carpet). Dad had to get the glue out!

i also repurchased some about 10 years ago and still have it. There is still quite a following of "old subbuteo ", with a good forum. I even entered a tournament a few years ago organised by the forum and believe it or not many Italian players flew over to play as its massive in Italy. Also worth looking on e bay if anyone has some lurking in the loft. Rare teams go for hundreds now and even basic ones are probably worth £10. Table football is also popular but that uses different players which slide but don't swerve like traditional subbuteo players.

I had leagues, cups and matches against friends......definitely played it more than any other game as a kid.
 
arnieboy said:
Unfortunately I did not inherit his skills!
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Me neither - though I have most of his tools and can remember a lot of the little tricks and techniques he used for small things! Surrounded as I am by his furniture - missed always and especially this Christmas with my mum so very poorly. But so very grateful for what he gave us when he and mum had really not a lot to give at Christmas but the fruits of his skills and their love
 
Amiga 500, without a doubt!

I then got the 512k RAM upgrade (to make it a whopping 1MB in total) for my birthday in July.

Those were the days!!!!
 
SwingsitlikeHogan said:
My cousin had a Bayko buildiit I was nog set (he was a baby of the early 1950s so a bit older than me) - and I used to enjoy building houses using the little metal rods and bricks - very clever system. But I have to disagree about Meccano being simpler. The year after my brother and I got the train set we got Meccano Set 6 - and I built some pretty mega bridges, cranes and splendid steam locomotives and ships. Used to build big long bridges for my train set. Brilliant.
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I misled you in my post .
I meant Bayko was the easier one to use.
My elder brother was the Meccano whiz, would not let me near his set, I was not tidy enough and not to be trusted!
Dewsweeper
 
There have been loads but the one that always stands out is Katy Copycat which was a doll - things I usually scorned. BUT she sat at a desk opposite and as you drew and wrote so did she - seemed magic at the time. I remember asking for her but being sure I wouldn't be so lucky as she was expensive - 5 of us with just my Dad caring for us. Woke Christmas morning and there she was in the corner of my bedroom - not wrapped but sitting there all set up to play with. Never ever forgot that moment. My Dad was simply awesome.
 
SwingsitlikeHogan said:
Me neither - though I have most of his tools and can remember a lot of the little tricks and techniques he used for small things! Surrounded as I am by his furniture - missed always and especially this Christmas with my mum so very poorly. But so very grateful for what he gave us when he and mum had really not a lot to give at Christmas but the fruits of his skills and their love
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Me too, my dad, an upholsterer (who also made all sorts of our furniture) made me a fort, with turrets, a drawbridge, a moat. Used for cowboys and normal soldiers. That's still in the loft at "home"


My daughter and my brother's first son both have fabulous rocking horses that he made for them, all hand carved, hand painted, all the leather work hand tooled. Beatiful. He took a load of photos at various stages while he was making them and they are hidden under the saddles. My daughter is 12 now so a bit big for it, but it still has pride of place in her playroom/homework room.
 
arnieboy said:
My late dad was a cabinet maker by trade and when I was about five he told me to go upstairs to my parents bedroom to find my present. He had painstakingly made by hand a fort with all the lookout posts and kitted it out with dozens of cowboys and indians. Over fifty years later I still remember that Christmas Day with great fondness
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I used to love playing soldiers, although I had mixed sets.

Crusaders, Indians and Allies vs Jerries, Cowboys and Les grand armee.:thup:

I used to love going to Woolworths where they would have the leaded soldiers - expensive stuff though.
 
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dewsweeper said:
I misled you in my post .
I meant Bayko was the easier one to use.
My elder brother was the Meccano whiz, would not let me near his set, I was not tidy enough and not to be trusted!
Dewsweeper
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Ah yes - Meccano a different level of complexity from Bayko - but bayko still a neat little concept and fun. Well I enjoyed my elder cousin's set. I was fastidious about putting all the Meccano parts back in their exact correct positions in the box.
 
Liverbirdie said:
I used to love playing soldiers, although I had mixed sets.

Crusaders, Indians and Allies vs Jerries, Cowboys and Les grand armee.:thup:

I used to love going to Woolworths where they would have the leaded soldiers - expensive stuff though.
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Sounds more like you were getting yourself ready to audition for The Village People:ears:
 
pauldj42 said:
Sounds more like you were getting yourself ready to audition for The Village People:ears:
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As the lads in the NW will attest to, I already have the bikers hat.:thup:

I think I looked something like this:-

images
 
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