The Big Toy Box At Sears(1951-1969)

Childhood wish book, great product worth every penny

In the brief introduction to this book the editor states, "If there ever was a "Golden Age" of Western Civilization this was surely it. In the following pages one can see both the reflection of yesterday and the seeds of the future, for few things in our culture are able to capture the sense of the times as are the trivial artifacts we give to our children to play with." Well, these were the playthings that the richest nation in human history gave to its children in the Golden Age between 1951 and 1969. The entire world offered their finest toys to America- but none were finer than those made by our own manufacturers (Marx, Ideal, Mattel, Remco, Kenner, Lionel, Gilbert...)This edited sellection is mostly of boy's toys from the "wishbooks." You will find Marx playsets and electric trains especially well covered. But there is so much more: Mr. Machine, Robot Commando, Big Caesar Galley, Barracuda Sub, Lost in Space Switch-N-Go, Barracuda Sub, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea playsets, Batman playsets, Hamilton's Invaders, Mattel Shootin' Shell, G.I. Joe, etc., etc., etc. Your only complaint will be that 583 pages aren't enough.Not all the pages are in color, but I don't remember that all the original catalog pages were in color either. Covers are also reproduced in color for all 19 years.

you get this book and you will never leave the outhouse. and, you can use the pages just like great grand pa did. haven't had this much fun with a book in ages. you see your childhood up close and those prices... fun, fun, fun....

I was very much looking forward to this compilation of the great toys of the 1950's and 1960's that SEARS catalogs were famous for. However this publication is extremely expensive and quite incomplete. It does hit an many of the highlights but even on many of the most popular products it skips entire years and others are missing altogether. I think this was a bit too ambitious. It may have been better to split this into 2 volumes. One for the 1950's and another for the 1960's. Also there are many toys considered to be of crossover interest (boys and girls) which are not represented. Until this book is revised or until the price drops I can't really endorse it whole-heartedly.

Lots of information.

I was so excited to received this book, I don't usually leave reviews this book is a waste of money- I thought it would be more interesting. It is not. Thank you

I recently had a fantasy of seeking out the old Sears catalogs of my youth. Lo and behold, here they are in one great book!!! A dream come true!!!So many pages of the wonderful toys I imagined (AND received!) for those fabulous Christmases of long ago! What a find!

Big Disappointment. Bmostly race tracks and farm and cowboy sets.....repetitively. no Viewmasters or reels, no monopoly sets, no Milton Bradley, maybe one page of Mattel thingmakers, .....poor quality of images. Certainly not worth 50.00. Junky editing.