You might be a child in the 70s if:

[kuririn]

I was thinking the same thing about the rolled up measuring tape. Don't tailors and seamstresses still use those?

I still have one.
Maybe they should have put a picture of a coffee percolator in there instead.
Or a Betamax tape.

 

[Art Upton]

I was thinking the same thing about the rolled up measuring tape. Don't tailors and seamstresses still use those?

I have a yellow one I got at Wally World about 5 years ago. Now where I put it to use again, that is a different matter.

 

[tsmmiller]

I was thinking the same thing about the rolled up measuring tape. Don't tailors and seamstresses still use those?

I believe those rolled up items are not a measuring tape but paper roll caps

 

[CalebJ]

I believe those rolled up items are not a measuring tap but paper roll caps View attachment 644377

This?

 

[jsdemar]

I believe those rolled up items are not a measuring tap but paper roll caps View attachment 644377

Did anyone take a whole roll and hit it with a hammer? (Asking for a friend.) ;-)

 

[kuririn]

Did anyone take a whole roll and hit it with a hammer? (Asking for a friend.) ;-)

I remember as a kid I was curious and pushed hard on a cap with my thumbnail.
Never did that again.
There were also the circular self adhesive caps..
You would stick it on the end of toy bullets and fire them in the cap gun.
Dick Tracy snub nose 38 I believe,
Anybody remember those?

 

[Rob Campbell]

Did anyone take a whole roll and hit it with a hammer? (Asking for a friend.) ;-)

Many times. Now speak up, I can barely hear you.

 

[tsmmiller]

Did anyone take a whole roll and hit it with a hammer? (Asking for a friend.) ;-)

How about an entire box? Steel plate on the ground and a large concrete block. Yes, that block flew. How we managed to not get hit I'll never know.
One of those instances where "It's a miracle we even reached adulthood." I was going to say grow up, but I don't think I've done that yet!

 

[kuririn]

Speaking of which, anybody remember Cracker Balls?
Like percussion caps but round colorful paper balls you would throw down onto a hard surface and make them pop..
We would throw them down onto the driveway on New Years' Eve.
Our arms would be sore the next day.

 

[kuririn]

Clackers.

 

[kuririn]

One of those instances where "It's a miracle we even reached adulthood."

My cousins and I would search the lawn on New Years Day looking for firecrackers that didn't go off.
We would light the short fuses with a punk and toss them in the air and watch them go off before hitting the ground.
I still have all my fingers.

 

[Antares JS]

View attachment 644375

I'm thinking that the nutcracker set must still be around.
People still have to crack nuts.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind the return of hand-cranked car windows. They probably break down less.

Clackers.
View attachment 644383

I thought that was called a "ding-a-ling..."

 

[Joekeyo]

Many times. Now speak up, I can barely hear you.

Yes, that's right.

 

[tsmith1315]

I thought it was "25 or 6:4".

(25 or 6):4

 

[Art Upton]

Did anyone take a whole roll and hit it with a hammer? (Asking for a friend.) ;-)

Does Hammer or Anvil Hitting of BP count as an Ignition source?
I would think not, but asking for a friend.

 

[Azamiryou]

My cousins and I would search the lawn on New Years Day looking for firecrackers that didn't go off.
We would light the short fuses with a punk and toss them in the air and watch them go off before hitting the ground.
I still have all my fingers.

We would build miniature cities out of paper. Punch a few holes to stick unexploded firecrackers in, and set the city on fire. As the fire reached buildings with crackers, they'd explode.

 

[Art Upton]

I remember as a kid I was curious and pushed hard on a cap with my thumbnail.
Never did that again.
There were also the circular self adhesive caps..
You would stick it on the end of toy bullets and fire them in the cap gun.
Dick Tracy snub nose 38 I believe,
Anybody remember those?

My 38 Snub Nose cap gun took yellow circular "clips" that loaded all chambers at once. Then you closed the cylinder back in just like the real one.

 

[cls]

(I wonder if there was ever a particular day that Chicago was playing in Boston, and Boston was playing in Chicago.)

I remember it! Same day Kansas was in Europe, or Asia?

 

[darrenf]

Monopoly is a terrible game,* but board games in general have made a huge comeback over the past decade or so, and are not the province of the 70's. Board games are my other big hobby, I have a pretty decent collection of them, most of them made in the last 10-15 years, and play them on a weekly basis. There's even a company called "Restoration Games" that acquires licenses to old, classic games and releases updated versions of them, like "Return to Dark Tower" and "Thunder Road: Vendetta."



Heh, I have an automatic record player (most arm movements are automatic) and that's still hard.


*The biggest problem with Monopoly is that there's little hope for other players to catch up when one player is way ahead, combined with the fact that it usually takes a long time to actually bankrupt a player, meaning that the winner is typically decided long before it's official. I'm pretty sure that's deliberate, as the game was supposed to send a social message about the danger of monopolies, but it's not very good game design.

Spent this past Sunday Playing Return to Dark Tower with my sister and wife. My sister and I used to play Dark Tower in the very early eighties so I had to get it. It was a great time (My wife had never played the original, she was born the last week of 81), but she loved it. We are going to do it again before this month is out. The old game was much more casual and you could be done in an hour. The new one is a commitment, both in time and in learning it, but it was worth it to me.

 

[Docdrew]

View attachment 644375

I'm thinking that the nutcracker set must still be around.
People still have to crack nuts.

"I blew out my flip-flop; stepped on a pop top;
Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home..."

 

[BEC]

"I blew out my flip-flop; stepped on a pop top;
Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home..."

I often wonder, when hearing that song, if anyone younger than about 30 even knows what he was talking about. RIP Jimmy.

 

[Docdrew]

I think what you are thinking of is more in terms of design choices...

Here are some things that people try to incorporate nowadays that improves games:

-People still being involved in play when it isn't their turn.
-Shorter turns with less downtime for everyone.
-No player elimination, or only player elimination towards the end of the game.
-Important choices to make on every turn.
-Less luck-based mechanics
-More interesting themes

What you're referring to is cooperative rather than competitive games. They have become more PC recently, especially for children, because no losers are singled out. They have their place, but I prefer more luck-based games with a little strategy. They can be unpredictable such that a player who looks like they're going to win can end up losing, and I think this adds some excitement to the game.

 

[jqavins]

I believe those rolled up items are not a measuring tape but paper roll caps View attachment 644377

Yeah, I believe you're right. (I saw it wrong at first too.)

Did anyone take a whole roll and hit it with a hammer? (Asking for a friend.) ;-)

Sure, but I wasn't satisfactory. I put a box of five roles on a rock and hit then with a big hammer. It actually left the cardboard box on fire.

I remember as a kid I was curious and pushed hard on a cap with my thumbnail.
Never did that again.

Yup, did that. 2nd degree burn over a very small area. Healed up easy., no harm no foul, but lesson learned.

Speaking of which, anybody remember Cracker Balls?
Like percussion caps but round colorful paper balls you would throw down onto a hard surface and make them pop.

I thought that was called a "ding-a-ling..."

I had little paper packages that exploded like that. They were all white and called Party Snappers. They came is a small box packed with saw dust to keep them from banging together. I squeezed those in my fingers too, and it was surprisingly painless. So I kept doing it.

My 38 Snub Nose cap gun took yellow circular "clips" that loaded all chambers at once. Then you closed the cylinder back in just like the real one.

 

[CalebJ]

Yeah, I believe you're right. (I saw it wrong at first too.)

That would certainly make more sense in the meme.

 

[Antares JS]

What you're referring to is cooperative rather than competitive games. They have become more PC recently, especially for children, because no losers are singled out. They have their place, but I prefer more luck-based games with a little strategy. They can be unpredictable such that a player who looks like they're going to win can end up losing, and I think this adds some excitement to the game.

No, I am not entirely referring to cooperative games. Competitive games have these same advantages nowadays. It is true that cooperative games are on the rise as well though, and they are popular among people who prefer to work together to accomplish a goal rather than compete. I have a bunch of cooperative games myself.

How much luck you want is ultimately a matter of subjective taste, but in general, I would argue that having less luck-based elements makes the game more interesting because it gives players more agency. I find it hard to get invested in a game when I know that the outcome depends more on what the dice do than what I do.

There is nothing wrong with luck elements per se, but the luck elements should be used in some way such that the game isn't decided by a single dice roll or card draw, rendering everything that happened beforehand meaningless. Make the luck elements something that can be incorporated into a player's strategy, rather than something that nullifies their strategy.

 

[darrenf]

I had little paper packages that exploded like that. They were all white and called Party Snappers. They came is a small box packed with saw dust to keep them from banging together. I squeezed those in my fingers too, and it was surprisingly painless. So I kept doing it.
View attachment 644409

You should see what these have evolved into....

 

[mtnmanak]

Calling collect.

Calling collect to a pay phone.

Collect calls in the 1970's?

Amateurs.



(and, yes, I do have a lifetime subscription to 2600)

 

[darrenf]

Collect calls in the 1970's?

Amateurs.

View attachment 644425

(and, yes, I do have a lifetime subscription to 2600)

Oh man. Reminds me of the good old days of selling Phreak boxes.

 

[cls]

...Sure, but I wasn't satisfactory. I put a box of five roles on a rock and hit then with a big hammer. It actually left the cardboard box on fire.
...
Yup, did that. 2nd degree burn over a very small area. Healed up easy., no harm no foul,

Please tell us before you come to the launch, we'll set up your own private away cell!

 

[Huxter]

Spent this past Sunday Playing Return to Dark Tower with my sister and wife. My sister and I used to play Dark Tower in the very early eighties so I had to get it. It was a great time (My wife had never played the original, she was born the last week of 81), but she loved it. We are going to do it again before this month is out. The old game was much more casual and you could be done in an hour. The new one is a commitment, both in time and in learning it, but it was worth it to me.

I still have a working tower! (you may have to twist it a bit at first to get the tower to spin)



My boy crowd funded a new one. Is this the one you play? I have not played it yet.