Best-Selling Retro Toys Trivia Quiz

Answer: Battleship

In 1967 Milton Bradley introduced "Battleship", which was played with pegs and boards. Later, they released a talking version as well as a computerized version. The original had such an impact on Americana that it inspired a science fiction movie of the same name ("Battleship", 2012).

Answer: Fisher-Price

Fisher-Price was founded in 1930 by four individuals working together: Herman Fisher, who had worked at a game company; Irving Price, a career executive from Woolworth company; Margaret Price, Irving's wife, who designed the toys; and Helen Scheme, a toy store owner.

They established their company creed early on: "Fisher-Price toys should have intrinsic play value, ingenuity, strong construction, good value and action."

Answer: Radio Flyer

Italian immigrant Antonio Pasin was a self-employed cabinetmaker in Chicago in 1917 when he built a wagon to carry his own tools around. His cabinet customers admired them so much, he began making more of them, dubbing them "Liberty Coasters" after the Statue of Liberty.

He changed to making steel versions and also changed the name to "Radio Flyer" to reflect the rising interest in pilots during the 1930s. The company continued to grow and expand its product line, offering a red tricycle almost as iconic as the wagon.

In 2015, the company had sales of $100M.

Answer: Sit 'n Spin

The Sit 'n Spin was released by Kenner Toys in the 1970s and included two discs connected by a stem that served as an axis: a preschooler would sit on the larger disk that was low to the ground, and hold on to the smaller disc while spinning back and forth or around and around.

It was designed by toy engineers for safe, physical, indoor fun but more recently occupational therapists have praised it for the vestibular input it provides children, input that can help them regulate their nervous systems.

Answer: Colored flies

Players used spring-loaded levers to catapult colored plastic flies into the open-shut jaws of Mr. Mouth, a friendly frog that circled by way of a motor. It has been found in toy stores since 1976, first owned by Tomy, then Milton Bradley, and then Hasbro.

Answer: Big Wheel

The Big Wheel started as an alternative to the less stable tricycle, which, having a higher center of gravity, would often pitch riders forward on impact. A Big Wheel offered greater control and thus offered thrills to older kids. Its plastic wheels were easier to keep clean than a trike's; for that reason, some generous parents let their kids ride around in the house on them. The character of little Danny Torrance in the movie "The Shining" (1980) rode his Big Wheel around the spooky, unoccupied Hotel Overlook during the off-season.

Answer: Speak & Spell

The Speak & Spell was more than a toy -- it was an early successful example of what an electronic speech synthesizer could do. Texas Instruments engineers were exploring the field when they created the early notebook-sized device in 1976. Many musicians have used the distinctive Speak & Spell voice in their compositions, including such artists as Coldplay, Limp Bizkit, and OMD.

Answer: Slinky

"It's Slinky, it's Slinky, It's fun, it's a wonderful toy.
It's Slinky, it's Slinky, it's fun, It's a wonderful toy.
It's fun for a girl or a boy."

Slinky has an interesting origin. In 1943, Richard James was a mechanical engineer in the U.S. Navy in Philadelphia working on internal supports for ships; he knocked one of his test cases off a shelf and was surprised to see it "walk" its way down. Betty James, his wife, dubbed it "slinky," they took it to a toy fair, and an icon toy was born. I can attest that getting it to walk downstairs in real life was not as easy as it seemed on television.

Answer: Lite-Brite

Hasbro released Lite-Brite in 1967, originally with simple designs on black paper. It was such a big hit with children that Hasbro later partnered with other companies so that they could offer designs of Scooby-Doo, Darth Vader, and My Little Pony.

Answer: Etch-A-Sketch

The Etch-A-Sketch may seem like prototypical Americana, but it was actually invented by a French electrician, André Cassagnes. The American toy company Ohio Art bought it, renamed it, and released it in 1960. It was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2008.