I can't think of a single toy that I enjoyed most as a child, but as a class, I'd say constructive toys. I had a 200 in 1 electronics experimenter toy (or something like that), essentially a set of various caps, resistors, transistors, diodes, 7-segment LEDs speaker and mic, a collection of wires and a cookbook with lots of electronics projects in it, from Radio Shack. I really liked that.
Then there was the Legos, the sets that had gears, pistons, rods cams and such that one could use to model machinery with. I played with them for a very long time.
But mostly, my personal computers, especially my C64, because it was the first microcomputer I owned that had enough memory to do anything.
Thinking back on it, the "toy" I probably got the most joy from as a child was simply a piece of paper and a pencil. I remember drawing for hours on end, lost in the drama of creating imaginary worlds.
Later, the same thirst for creative toys showed itself in the kind of books a I've always preferred books that left me a universe that I could continue to toy with in my mind long after the last page in the novel. That's probably why I like science fiction so much. And why I prefer stories that don't quite tie all the threads in a neat little knot at the end of the book. If the characters are interesting, I want to follow them around a bit in my head after I close the back cover and place the book back on the shelf.
Same for games, I like to be able to explore the game world, find out how to effect it, and make something unique with it. I get bummed out if I run into invisible walls, find out that an environment doesn't allow you to move around freely, or that nothing you do changes the environment or final outcome of the game. Oh, I enjoy shmups and FPSs just as much as the next boy, but I'll tire of them after a while, and games that push you in one direction are likely to find themselves unfinished on my shelf. While open-ended games like Sim-City, Civilization, Flight Sim and the Sims will keep me coming back night after night for years on end.
Then there was the Legos, the sets that had gears, pistons, rods cams and such that one could use to model machinery with. I played with them for a very long time.
But mostly, my personal computers, especially my C64, because it was the first microcomputer I owned that had enough memory to do anything.Thinking back on it, the "toy" I probably got the most joy from as a child was simply a piece of paper and a pencil. I remember drawing for hours on end, lost in the drama of creating imaginary worlds.
Later, the same thirst for creative toys showed itself in the kind of books a I've always preferred books that left me a universe that I could continue to toy with in my mind long after the last page in the novel. That's probably why I like science fiction so much. And why I prefer stories that don't quite tie all the threads in a neat little knot at the end of the book. If the characters are interesting, I want to follow them around a bit in my head after I close the back cover and place the book back on the shelf.
Same for games, I like to be able to explore the game world, find out how to effect it, and make something unique with it. I get bummed out if I run into invisible walls, find out that an environment doesn't allow you to move around freely, or that nothing you do changes the environment or final outcome of the game. Oh, I enjoy shmups and FPSs just as much as the next boy, but I'll tire of them after a while, and games that push you in one direction are likely to find themselves unfinished on my shelf. While open-ended games like Sim-City, Civilization, Flight Sim and the Sims will keep me coming back night after night for years on end.
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