The Etch-A-Sketch is a mechanical drawing toy invented by André Cassagnes in France. It first became available in 1960.
An Etch-A-Sketch has a thick, flat gray screen in a red plastic casing. There are two white knobs in the lower corners. The left knob moves the stylus from left to right, and the right knob moves it up and down. As the stylus moves across the screen, it scrapes the aluminum powder off the screen so you can create your image. To erase the image, turn the toy upside down and shake it.
2. Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots
Answer: 1960s
Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots is a two-player action toy and game invented by Marvin Glass and Associates in the United States. It became available in 1964.
The game features two robot boxers, one red, and one blue, which the players mechanically operate. Victory is achieved when one of the players knocks the opposing robot's head up and off the shoulders.
3. Operation
Answer: 1960s
Operation is a game powered by batteries that challenges participants' hand-eye coordination. It was designed by John Spinello in the United States. It became available in 1965.
The game consists of an operating table with a patient printed on it and a red light bulb as a nose. Plastic pieces go into the openings in the patient's body. The player has to remove these pieces, with a pair of tweezers that are connected to the operating table by a wire, without touching the edges of the openings, which sets off the red light bulb on the patient's nose.
4. Easy-Bake Oven
Answer: 1960s
The Easy-Bake Oven is a working toy oven. It was introduced in 1963 and manufactured by Kenner and later by Hasbro.
The Easy-Bake Oven cooks cake with an incandescent light bulb. Later versions use an actual heating element. The oven includes sachets of cake mix along with tiny round baking pans. You can buy additional mixes separately. Following the addition of water to the cake mixture in the pan, it is pushed into the oven via a designated slot. After cooking, the cake is ejected through a designated outlet at the opposing end of the oven.
5. Stretch Armstrong
Answer: 1970s
Stretch Armstrong is a large, gel-filled action figure. It was invented by Jesse D. Horowitz and was first sold by the Kenner Toy Company in the United States in 1976.
Stretch Armstrong looks like a short, athletic man with blond hair wearing black shorts. He can be stretched from his standard size of 38 cm (15 in) to 120 to 150 cm (47 to 59 in). He is made of plastic, rubber, and gel.
6. Connect Four
Answer: 1970s
Connect Four is a game where players select a color and then alternately drop colored pieces into a vertical grid. The game was invented by Howard Wexler and became available in 1974.
The goal of the game is to be the first player to create a line of four of your tokens in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal arrangement. While trying to connect your tokens, you have to block the other player from connecting four of their tokens by placing one of your tokens in front of their token.
7. Hungry Hungry Hippos
Answer: 1970s
Hungry Hungry Hippos is a tabletop game built by Hasbro for 2-4 players. Toy inventor Fred Kroll pitched the idea for the game in 1967, but it wasn't available until 1978.
The game has four plastic mechanical hippopotamuses of the colors orange, yellow, green, and pink that are operated by levers on their backs. The hippo opens its mouth and extends its head forward when the lever is pressed. Upon releasing the lever, the head descends and retracts so that the hippo can consume the plastic marbles. When all the marbles have been collected, the player with the highest total is declared the winner.
8. Rubik's Cube
Answer: 1970s
The Rubik's Cube is a 3D puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian Ernő Rubik. The Rubik's Cube became available in Hungary in 1977 and was introduced to the world in 1980.
The original Rubik's Cube consists of six colors: white, red, blue, orange, green, and yellow. Each color is on a different side of the cube, with nine squares per side. A central pivot system allows every side to rotate separately, mixing up the colors. To solve the puzzle, each face must be restored to display a single color.
9. Teddy Ruxpin
Answer: 1980s
Teddy Ruxpin is a toy designed for kids that looks like a talking bear. It was invented by Ken Forsse and initially marketed by the Worlds of Wonder toy company. It first became available in 1985 in the United States.
The toy features a moving mouth and eyes that animate during storytelling sessions. These narratives are delivered through an integrated audio cassette deck located in the rear section of the device, improving the interactive experience with synchronized movement and sound.
10. Game Boy
Answer: 1980s
The Game Boy is a portable gaming device created by Nintendo, which was introduced in Japan and North America in 1989.
The Game Boy featured a dot-matrix screen, a directional control pad, four buttons labeled A, B, start, and select, along with a single speaker. You could buy game cartridges, which are inserted into the back of the device. Over 1,000 games were released for it.
11. Pound Puppies
Answer: 1980s
Pound Puppies is a stuffed toy line that was created by Tonka. The toy was invented by Michael Bowling in the United States, and it became available in 1984.
The puppies were soft toy dogs with long ears and droopy eyes. They came in various colors, and some had spots. The packaging was shaped like a doghouse. They also came with an adoption certificate.
12. Jenga
Answer: 1980s
Jenga is a physical skill game invented by British board game designer Leslie Scott. The game was marketed by Hasbro and became available in 1983.
Participants alternate in taking one block at a time from the tower made up of 54 blocks. Every block that is taken away is subsequently positioned at the top of the tower, resulting in a structure that gradually becomes more unstable. The game ends when the tower topples over.
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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