The Binatone TV Master was the first computer game experience witnessed by many Cream era households, nestling as it did in the Argos catalogue alongside the portable b/w TVs (with which it shared a parasitic relationship). Aeons before kids sat hypnotised in front of the latest Grand Theft Auto clone, sacrificing great chunks of their lives to completing the next level, this slab of circuit-based entertainment dragged us in off the streets to watch a box-shaped pixel zig-zag its way across the screen. What a choking irony, therefore, that this gatekeeper of the soon-to-be-ushered-in console era attempted to mimic a selection of sports games. ... more>>>

Some of the toys that didn’t make it onto our Christmas Day stockings were ruled out (by parents, naturally) on the basis that, like designer sunglasses, their excessive cost always seemed inversely proportional to their possible uses. Of course, a toy would always score highly on both a parent’s and a kid’s appreciation index if it was adaptable enough to be played with in different ways and in different circumstances. ... more>>>

Only one word for this Palitoy production - inspired. The original Ricochet Racer set took the two things closest to the heart of every ten year old boy - cars and guns - and combined them with an effortless genius West Coast Gangsta Rappers. can only dream of. The high-tech white-and-red rifle, resembling a failed auditionee for the part of Starbuck’s fighter in Battlestar Galactica, was breech-loaded with “cartridges” containing a miniature car, which could be fired at great (theoretical) speed along the floor. ... more>>>

If we’re brutally honest here, it was less about the guns (although anything gun-shaped was better than your fingers or a stick) and more about the bang you got for your buck. The standard, cheapest spud gun, the Lone Star “Spudmatic”, in die-cast black metal and card-mounted in the local newsagents, would undoubtedly be an early pocket-money purchase rather a Christmas present request, but it wasn’t to be the last gunpowder-powered firearm in a youngster’s arsenal. ... more>>>

Ideal’s Tin Can Alley reeked of the trans-Atlantically exotic. Everything about it was 100% American and alien to these shores. Rifles were still largely the preserve of farmers and the SAS, and rugged, homesteading types like the game’s TV patron, Chuck Connors, were similarly absent from your average Kettering cul-de-sac. ... more>>>

No prizes for guessing Transformers’ gimmick. They were, the ads reminded us, robots “in disguise” – i.e. figures which could transform; into a car, truck, aeroplane, or (at the less sane end of the spectrum) cassette tape. Stupidly collectable, these die-cast anthropomorphs had an in-built “double the value” argument for kids eager to pressure a parent into parting with their hard-earned. It’s a model VW Beetle! And it’s a robot reconnaissance soldier! It is not a rip-off. ... more>>>