Editor’s note: Trevor grew up in Le Mars, Iowa. Take that into account.

Toys these days are nothing like toys I had when growing up. That’s right. I’m a mid-twentysomething talking like a Baby Boomer, although I did not have to walk to school barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways.

When I was a kid the toys we had, although weird, were kickass creations that served as vehicles for imagination. Let’s take a walk down Trevor’s memory lane and look at some of the toys I had as a child.

Blowup Godzilla
This toy was a present to me from my uncle Kyle. I loved it even though it didn’t breathe fire like the picture shows. This toy served as a catcher while I pretended to be a Nolan Ryan throwing his 5,000th strikeout against Ricky Henderson and as Michael Spinks while I was Mike Tyson taking the heavyweight title from him. It was great.

Pound Puppy
The Pound Puppy brought out the softer side in me. I received my Pound Puppy as a Christmas gift, which 20 years later I found out was from my parents, not Santa Claus. Scooter, my Pound Puppy, was a true friend. He watched cartoons with me, rooted me on as I knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds and served as an excellent conversationalist during breakfast.

My Buddy
My Buddy was given to me as a gift, from my mother. Luckily I didn’t see “Child’s Play” until several years later, or My Buddy would have led to years of therapy.

Toy Farm Equipment
Playing with toy farm machinery occupied hundreds of my childhood hours. I learned a lot about excavation by building roads, bridges and waterways. I also learned how to make the perfect tractor noise.

Micro Machines
I don’t know if it was the fast-talking spokesperson or the idea that I could easily swallow a car, but Micro Machines were far superior to Hot Wheels because they came with Play Sets and Super Carriers.

A couple of other toys worth mentioning are G.I. Joe and Transformers. I spent countless hours staging wars between autobots and the armed forces that the autobots always won. I was glad to see the reintroduction of G.I. Joe and Tranformers with blockbuster movies. Kids will never again have such toys they can play with and use their imaginations – instead of increasing hand-eye coordination on a screen while downing potato chips. But maybe they’ll go on to get prestigious journalism degrees like me.