Hang On Harvey! And other recollections...

[armchair_scouse]

HANG ON HARVEY!
Got this game for Xmas back in 1973 or 1974 I think. It was a two player game. Each player had a 'Harvey', a flat plastic figure with hooks/cutouts at the hands and feet. You also had some pegs, and a plastic 'wall' with holes in it on a stand. You put your Harvey on the top of the wall, with a peg under each arm, then you would take it in turns to remove one peg and move it elsewhere, the idea being Harvey would swing down onto the peg below as you removed one each time. The first player to get Harvey to the bottom without falling down won, I think.

UP PERISCOPE!
Kind of like a vertical Battleships game, except you had a periscope to view the other side of the board, and you had to move the periscope to a row, have a look, and if there was a ship there, estimate how far it was away, and push your plastic torpedo through the board, hopefully dislodging the ship from the other side. This was a very popular game at Xmas time at school (when we could bring in a game), and my classmates used to queue up to play it.

CAPSELA
Not really a game, but a modular construction toy, like Meccano, but made of plastic. You had these interlocking globes that were either empty, or contained gears, or a motor, and you could build a variety of devices with it.

FLIGHT DECK/SUPER FLIGHT DECK
These have been mentioned elsewhere but I remember them fondly. Super Flight Deck differed in that you used a catapult launcher to launch your 'Phantom' (or 'Sea Harrier' if you're American) from the flight deck. The plane was suspended on what can best be described as fishing line, and was meant to go to the top of the line, turn around, and then you landed it. In my case, it would go to the top of line, and then come in backwards. That made it more of a challenge...

TCR: TOTAL CONTROL RACING
An American version of Scalextric perhaps? You were able to change lanes, they had corners where you could do 'skid turns', and there were 'drone cars' on the track that were designed to get in the way when you were racing.

POCKETEERS
Remember those? Mini handheld games, before the days of computerised handhelds. I never owned one myself, but plenty of the kids at school had them, and I loved going into Woolworths on a Saturday and playing with the Pocketeers in the toy section whilst my parents were shopping elsewhere in the store (back in the days when it was safe to leave kids alone in a store).

CASIO CALCULATOR 'NUMBER GAME'
When I was at secondary school, there was a friend who had a Casio calculator. It used to have this number game where you kept pressing a key to cycle thru the numbers from 0-9 plus 'n', in order to match the number(s) that were appearing on the right hand side of the display.

HAUNTED HOUSE
My sister had this game. I remember setting up the traps: the wobbly floor, the stairs, the chute/broomstick (if the ball bearing came out of the chimney and landed in the chute, it would lever the broomstick upwards in the other room and knock anyone nearby flying).. can't remember the fourth trap tho.

ONE TOY THAT PROBABLY WOULDN'T BE ALLOWED NOW...
I had a toy rifle that looked exactly like one of the rifles used by British soldiers in the seventies (well, it did to an 8-year old). It had a removable clip, plus bullets that you put into the clip and fired. I absolutely loved this toy, until I made the mistake on Boxing Day of playing outside with it, and thereby losing half of the plastic bullets in the process. God only knows what would happen to a kid holding a magazine loaded rifle firing bullets these days... imagine the horror headlines...

AND ONES THAT I CAN'T REMEMBER THE NAMES OF...
1. I had a game which involved plastic characters with spoons sticking out, and you put a plastic egg in the spoon and went around the board and over the obstacles trying not to drop your egg...
2. My sister had a game which consisted of two mazes, one red and one blue, both connected to a buzzer or light. At some point, you said 'go', and raced to complete the maze. The first person to complete the maze got their ball bearing in the finish point, which completed the circuit and the light came on or the buzzer sounded.
3. I remember playing with a toy where you controlled a helicopter, which was on an arm and had a central base. You had controls to make the helicopter go up and down and forward/backward (elevate the arm up and down and forward/backward, of course). The helicopter had a little hook on it as I recall, and you had things you could pick up with the helicopter.

Cheers

Armchair

[OrangeCremolaFoam]

Hi Armchair mate..

The Rifle I remember..Airfix made them, an F.N. Rifle (think it was the belgian version of an S.L.R. which Brit soldiers did use in the 1970's..(i fired one a few times in the Air Cadets!) and also a plastic Tommy Gun (i never had one but my mate did!).. they both fired plastic bullets that well hurt if you got shot in the face with one!!! and had removable magazines, slings and wee plastic bayonets too..the F.N. Rifle also had a carry handle..I had several and you got them from Woolworths in our town, around 1975 to 1978 I think...;0)

I also remember the Helicopter game but for the life of me cant remember its name, my pal doug had one and it flew in circles on one end of a 'boom' arm and it was yellow and twin bladed, like a Chinook.. it had a wee black hook and used to pick up toy packing Crates I remember.. think this was made by either matchbox or Airfix..cant remember now..have to investigate further and phone my pal!!!! late 70's early 80's im sure..

all the best...

Rab ;0)

[Aidan]

I once had Action Racer, battery operated, you steered the car through the obstacles that came your way on the screen. The 'road' was a belt with the obstacles on it and the car in front of it. As good as it got, early 80s.

[armchair_scouse]

Orange, great memory!! Yes, the rifle I had came from Woolworths, had a plastic bayonet and a carry handle!!

Of course, I didn't fire it at anyone's face - if I had, my dad would have tanned my hide good and proper!!

[OrangeCremolaFoam]

Hi mate!!!

Cool!! lol..I remember Pocketeers too, had a racing car one, it was ace..I SO wanted 'Up Periscope' but never got it, same with 'Flight Deck', being into all things War Like!!!!..lol..'Haunted House' I mentioned too in another thread..'Evil Witch Glenda Puts it down the Chimney'!!!! remember those cards with it? lol.. broke all the figures though that looked like they were walking..lol..we were all probably too hashy as kids, I never remember the 'Super Striker' players not having any heads due to pushing too hard and..they all had the same haircut!!! lol...

Now if only I can find a Horror series 'Shaker Maker'..lol..and perhaps a' Play Doh Barbers Shop'.for my wee Girls (and Me!).probably pick them up on ebay!!!

all the best...

Rab ;0)

[armchair_scouse]

Rab,

Good call on Super Striker! Instead of an ordinary press on the striker's head to get the ball to go goalbound, I can remember belting the striker's head with the flat of my hand, thereby launching the little football into the upper stratosphere!! Or at least the other side of the living room (how did it manage to always run underneath the big, heavy sideboard??)

I remember that Shredded Wheat were giving the strikers away with their cereals at one time (you put the kit together). Ah, happy days...

[Oggy]

Pocketeers were kool weren't they, I wanted Flight deck, and Up Periscope but alas Santa never brought them for me at christmas, and Striker too, but maybe one year he'll remember them and bring them like thirty years late!

I had a football game that was like tiddley winks and you had platic players and used a counter for the ball{?} and flicked to move the ball....... strange but true.

And how about those tiny Airfix figures/soldiers and the tanks etc, I played, huge battles for ages with soldiers of all sorts, cowboys, romand storming gun enplacements and castles, with the aid of Robin Hood's men, still got some today left.

Poppoint Pencils? Little leads that you could slide back into your pencil/pen like a retractable pencil, different colours too.

[armchair_scouse]

Pop-A-Point Pencils!! Wow, blast from the past again! That is what makes this site so valuable, I had completely forgotten about them until you mentioned them.

Well done Oggy

[Oggy]

I know this jogs memories and unblocks them more than unlocks them, its kool and someone else will know somethings that we'd forgotten, kool, and an eye opener of a site.

[Aidan]

Armchair scouse : good news. I had Pop-a-points, one pen, different colour leads. Bad news . I wrote MUFC all over my desk with them ( let's not fall out !).
Time of the year that's in it folks, what Xmas or birthday present did ye like best as kids ?