Old Toys

While spending time with family in my childhood home, I saw my little nephew taking out of the toy box a metal tank and cannon. I instantly recognized them, as these were toys my brother and I played with as kids. My dad brought them from a trip to the Soviet Union before I was even born, and my brother was still small. A quick calculation based on my father’s memories led me to the realization that these toys are over 35 years old. 35 years! You can see the pristine condition they are in. And I can assure you they were not toys that were put on a shelve to be admired from afar. Oh no. My brother and I played war with them at home, outside, in the sandpit, in the mud, with other kids. You name it, we did it. And they are as good as knew. The metal work, the enamel paint, the wheels, the rotating parts of the canon.
I need to say that I am against toy guns, swords, and any items that teach kids violence, but this story is not about this subject. It’s about the way that the market has shifted from durable, generational toys, to a mass market of toys that are made not to last, but to be replaced once they break, that are never fixable and that become obsolete once the new cartoon comes out.
In the meantime, my heart is filled with happiness and nostalgia that my nephew, and one day my kids will share the toys that I grew up with. Do you still have toys from your childhood?