Kids these days...

[Burninator]

I'm only in my mid twenties, but my elementary playground wasn't very forgiving. Giant playground made of pressure treated wood and steel. Had the shiny metal slides that heated up like crazy and probably got peed on by teenagers drinking there on the weekend. Gravel base so your falls were "cushioned". There were a couple parts that didn't seem to have a playing purpose. Like lone wooden posts barely close enough together to jump between. Long steel pole on an incline a couple feet off the ground attached to a lone wooden post. Guess you were suppose to run up it, but you would fall off 99% of the time. My favourite was in the middle of the playground. A pit about six feet high with slack crisscrossing chains running at different heights. Not sure how anybody wouldn't think that last one is dangerous.

Even though these new playgrounds are much safer, kids are still stupid. They are still doing the same dumb stuff that everyone else did when they were young they just don't get hurt as often or as bad. The first thing I thought when I saw a playground with rubber bits as the base was, "wish I had this as a kid, I could have done so many more stunts without scraping the hell out of myself."

[sixpacked]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

The GT Snow Racer was the pinnacle winter toy a kid could have 20 years ago. You were hot #### if you had one.

Yeah all I had were Super Slider Snow Skates. But we also had this sled that was in the shape of a traditional sled, but was made out of Crazy Carpet plastic. Man did that thing fly!!!

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

^^^^^^
I remember something like that called Jackpot..One person would throw a football in the air and yell out points or 'jackpot' and everyone else would try to catch it...Basically it was full hitting crazyness.

I recall this circa 1982 - some excellent skull on skull collisions...

[BurningYears]

I loved this thing, I think mine was all grey though.

[wpgflamesfan]

I had the legendary Brett Hull Sniper GT. Good times making jumps and seeing how many of your friends you could clear.

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by Burninator

I'm only in my mid twenties, but my elementary playground wasn't very forgiving. Giant playground made of pressure treated wood and steel. Had the shiny metal slides that heated up like crazy and probably got peed on by teenagers drinking there on the weekend. Gravel base so your falls were "cushioned". There were a couple parts that didn't seem to have a playing purpose. Like lone wooden posts barely close enough together to jump between. Long steel pole on an incline a couple feet off the ground attached to a lone wooden post. Guess you were suppose to run up it, but you would fall off 99% of the time. My favourite was in the middle of the playground. A pit about six feet high with slack crisscrossing chains running at different heights. Not sure how anybody wouldn't think that last one is dangerous.

Even though these new playgrounds are much safer, kids are still stupid. They are still doing the same dumb stuff that everyone else did when they were young they just don't get hurt as often or as bad. The first thing I thought when I saw a playground with rubber bits as the base was, "wish I had this as a kid, I could have done so many more stunts without scraping the hell out of myself."

My brother's friend Greg once tried to run/jump down one of those big metal slides. Whatever happened, he didn't do it properly, because he ended up face planting right into the gravel. One entire half of his face had gravel embedded in it, and for the next several weeks he earned himself the nickname "Terminator". That was a badge of honor if I've ever seen one.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

The GT Snow Racer was the pinnacle winter toy a kid could have 20 years ago. You were hot #### if you had one.

I disagree, the pinnacle winter toy was when your old man flooded the back yard, and you had your own rink.

However, I never had a GT racer. I was more a crazy carpet guy. In the right conditions of sun, wet heavy snow, and temperature, nothing was as fast as a crazy carpet.

[dissentowner]

Question for you 80's kids. Big Wheel or Green Machine? Big Wheel for me.

[Hockeyguy15]

Green Machine was a wanna be Big Wheel.

[burn_this_city]

Big wheel all the way. I felt like a boss cruising down the paved alleys in midnapore with mine.

[Hockeyguy15]

The best was if you did it right you could spin the wheel a few times and do a "burn-out"

[burn_this_city]

I wore all the treads off mine, I think those burnouts killed my big wheel. The front wheel was all cracked by the end.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Question for you 80's kids. Big Wheel or Green Machine? Big Wheel for me.

Big wheel, I went through about 4 of them. Who didn't you blasting down their driveway at mach 5 and do the handbrake skid on those things ad naseum?

It sucked when the front wheel got the inevitable flat spot on it, and it was like tring to pedal a square tire...lol.

Green machine were neat, but they just didn't have the versatility or stunting capability of the Bigwheel.

[Hockeyguy15]

Check out my first 'real' skates...Don't get excited, I know I was a pretty big deal.

[fundmark19]

Speaking of unsafe school parks. Those semi circle green monkey bars that were more like steps then monkey bars to reach the platform above. Well I was trying to impress everyone with how quickly I could run up them and it happened to be late in the fall so there was a little bit of frost as well I slipped going up and face planted causing a huge gash in my forehead. Blood everywhere teacher called my dad and he took me to the hospital for 50 stitches (25 inside 25 on surface of cut) Got one scar that is still there and since my dad was on duty at the time got to spend the day in the firehall hanging out!

[Nufy]

When I was a boy there was nothing better than Guns & Indians with home made Bows & Arrows...

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Speaking of unsafe school parks. Those semi circle green monkey bars that were more like steps then monkey bars to reach the platform above. Well I was trying to impress everyone with how quickly I could run up them and it happened to be late in the fall so there was a little bit of frost as well I slipped going up and face planted causing a huge gash in my forehead. Blood everywhere teacher called my dad and he took me to the hospital for 50 stitches (25 inside 25 on surface of cut) Got one scar that is still there and since my dad was on duty at the time got to spend the day in the firehall hanging out!

So was that your first concussion then?

[fundmark19]

Don't know if it was my first since I had a problem with getting hurt but it certainly was not my last

[CaptainCrunch]

Some of the stories make me snicker.

We didn't have fancy super soakers, we had those waterguns that you'd buy at 7-11 for half a dollar, and they shot a non existent stream of water 6 feet, and one jacka$$ would always get the water hose with the spray gun and totally ambush someone else by shooting them in the face at full pressure.

I remember my sister dared me to pick up a red hot coal from the BBQ and because I didn't want to be chicken, I did, and then grossed her out by popping the water blisters on my fingers and slapping her.

Rock em Sock em robots were for the rich kids, we played a live version of it.

the best toy I ever got was a gun that shot toy cars, you would shoot people in the face with it.

in the summer, you'd pack a peanut butter sandwich at 7:00 in the morning, grab your bike and your buddies and you wouldn't come home until dark.

In the winter, you'd play hockey outside when it was 30 below, at least they had the fire on Lake Bonavista so you could warm your feet up, but we didn't wear any equipment we just wore clothes and a touque, and the goalie was the guy who skated like bambi.

[Yasa]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Rock em Sock em robots were for the rich kids, we played a live version of it.

You had real robots?