Our Favorite Toys

Everybody sing, in the key of Julie Andrews: "Barbies and Slinkys and G. I. Joes for boys; these are a few of our favorite toys...." As Christmas nears, and parents madly dash from mall to mall in that Great American Search for just-sold-the-last-one toys, it's nice to sit back and reflect on a few of the playthings that brought us such joy when we were children. Although I'm fairly pacifist today, I can recall entering Boy Toy Heaven when I found a G. I. Joe One Man Army gun (with a grenade launcher!) under the tree and immediately embarked on--admittedly unprovoked--raids on the neighbor's cat. Our Favorite Toys combines popular ads and jingles (including the absurdly redundant "remember, only G. I. Joe is G. I. Joe"), interviews with inventors (including Reyn Guyer, who scored an impressive double with Twister and Nerf), nostalgic home movie footage, and the warm narration of Daniel Stern to spark fond Baby Boomer memories of Radio Flyer wagons, Matchbox cars, Lego creations and Uncle Milton's ant farm (antz not included). Ironically, many of these "favorite" toys born in the ‘50s and ‘60s are still very popular today. Recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)