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Childhood Toys From The Year 1979

The prices shown for these Toys are the price they were sold for in 1979 not today

Included on this page of toys are Cuddly Toys, Star Wars Space Ship Millennium Falcon, Speak and Spell, Pachinko Pinball Machine, Atari 400 Home Computer System plus many more from the 70's

  • Aurora AFX Auto Racing Set From The 1970s AFX Auto Racing Set
    Manufacturer: Aurora
    Price: $29.98
    Description AFX Championship Raceway Race Set, 21ft track, 2 Magna Traction Cars with Magnatronic sound, 2 Radio car controllers, Pit Area, Track Supports, Grandstand and Guardrails.

  • Small Air Hockey Game From The 1970s Air Hockey
    Manufacturer: Aurora
    Price: $16.88
    Description Small Air Hockey set just 40 X 18 X 5 inches high, ideal for setting up in small areas, plastic goals, 2 pucks and two strikers.

  • Barbie Superstar Stage Show From The 1970s Barbie Superstar Stage Show
    Manufacturer: Mattel
    Price: $14.44
    Superstars Barbie, Christie and Ken
    Price: $6.44 Each
    Description Barbie Superstar Stage Show ideal for talent shows, fashion show or awards show (Requires 2 D Batteries for stage to turn). Dolls Not Included.

  • Casey Jones Musical Train from the late 70's Casey Jones Musical Train
    Manufacturer: TOMY
    Price: $10.95
    Description Casey Jones Musical Train plays 11 songs as it chugs along, needs 2 "D" Batteries not included.
  • Connect Four from the late 70s Connect Four
    Manufacturer: MB Games
    Price: $4.94
    Description Connect Four, build 4 rows of checkers vertically or diagonally in your chosen color before your opponent does.

  • Dolls House and Furniture From The 1970s Dolls House and Furniture
    Price: $26.99
    Description Dolls House with 8 rooms, furniture available (Additional cost). Childrens Bedroom Set ($9.99), Master Bedroom ($12.99), Kitchen ($8.99), Bathroom ($3.99), Dining Room ($8.99), Living room ($9.99).


  • 8 piece Drum Kit for boys From The 1970s Drum Set
    Price: $39.99
    Description 8 piece see through trap drum set with 18 inch base drum, foot pedal, 11 inch tom tom, 9 inch cocktail drum, 14 inch hissing symbol, percussion block and two brushes, pair of 15 inch drumsticks.


1979 shows the growth and maturity just starting in the electronic/digital toys available, including the Atari 400 costing $549 (about $3,000 in todays money). Another great example is how quickly calculators evolved during the 70's, in 1974 a student calculator which was very basic and pretty big cost $39.50, by 1979 just 5 years later a more powerful credit card sized calculator cost $14.99. One more example from this year is the Chess set that allowed you to play against a computer. I remember having one of the early versions of these and they were not that hard to beat even as a fairly low level player, but they did provide hours of fun and helped to hone my chess playing skills.

Other Years With with an additional 20 plus examples

1970

1971

1972

1973

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

  • Atari 400 Home Computer System 1979 From The 1970s Atari 400 Home Computer System
    Manufacturer: Atari
    Price: $594.95
    Description One of the earliest home computer systems available to the general public, the Atari 400 Home Computer System which included Console, basic language cartridge, TV Switch box to plug into your TV and AC Adapter, to include all the other bits to play games including joysticks etc or make your own basic games (for example listings from early home computer magazines which you could spend hours and hours typing in) and record them on cassette pushed the price by another $150.00. Cartridges including breakout for example cost $50.00 each ($250.00 in todays money). The Atari did not have its own monitor so you connected it into your TV. When I look back to this period in history it brings smiles as I remember the thrill and frustration that accompanied early home computers. Other cartridges included Music Composer $69.99, Basketball Game $59.99 and Game of Life for $49.99, Cassettes included US History for $39.99 and Learn the Principles of Accounting for $39.99.


  • Backgammon From The 1970s Backgammon
    Price: $12.99
    Description Board games including Backgammon, Chess, Checkers (Draughts) were extremely popular in the 70's many more kids learnt to play back then than today and I think we miss something by not seeing them played as often.


  • Basestation for Walkie Talkies and listening to CB Radio From The 1970s Basestation
    Price: $12.99
    Description Basestation, Transmitter could be used to transmit to walkie talkie and also used to listen to AM radio or CB'ers.
  • 1970's Bean Bag Chairs Bean Bag Chairs
    Price: From $9.99
    Description No home was complete without Bean Bag chairs in the 70s which came in every shape and color, some designed especially for kids, these examples show a basic style, one shaped and painted as a bear, one as a dog and one as a Baseball Mitt.
  • Credit Card Sized Calculator From The 1970s Credit Card Sized Calculator
    Price: From $14.49
    Description In just a few years in the 70s calculators dropped in price, improved in function and decreased in size drastically, if you compare the Credit Card Sized Calculator costing less than $15.00 to this one 1974 Calculator it offers an indication of how quickly technology changed from the beginning of the 70s to the end of the decade.


  • Chess Challenger Computer Chess From The 1970s Chess Challenger Computer Chess Game
    Price: From $199.49
    Description As somebody who learnt to play chess in my teens, I was one of the early adopters of this game and did own this exact model, I spent hours working my way up through the levels the first 4 levels were very simple to beat the chess computer, from 4 to 8 became much harder and level 9 and 10 helped me improve my own personal skills, The price surprised me as in todays money this would cost over $1,000.

  • Selection of Cuddly Toys from the 70s Selection of Cuddly Toys
    Price: From $5.99
    Description No respectable collection would be complete without cuddly toys, this shows a selection of the most popular at the end of the 70's included are the traditional teddy bear, Snoopy, Lassie, Pony, Seal plus those associated with TV shows and movies including Bug Bird, Superman, Sylvester and Tweety, Kermit plus many more.

  • The Crew from Star Trek and the Star Ship Enterprise From The 1970s Star Ship Enterprise
    Price: From $5.99
    Description The Crew from Star Trek and the U.S.S. Star Ship Enterprise, Star Trek was extremely popular in 1979 as the first of the movies Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released that year, Star Trek also had built up a following from the TV series Star Trek: The Original Series which ran from (1966-1969) and Star Trek: The Animated Series from (1973-1974).
  • Farrah Fawcett Glamour Center From The 1970s Farrah Fawcett Glamour Center
    Price: $12.88
    Description The Popular Charlie's Angels TV series which ran from 1976 to 1981 included the instantly recognizable Farrah Fawcett as one of the Angels (who played Jill Munroe) in the series, the Farrah Fawcett Glamour Center allowed girls to change the models hair color and style, add Bobbie pins, put makeup on etc.

  • Hand Held Electronic Games From The 1970s Hand Held Electronic Games
    Price: From $19.99
    Description Late in the decade new hand held electronic games using the smaller integrated circuits becoming available appeared, when we look at them today they seem pretty poor value but back then they were something of a miracle, featured in this graphic is a hand held electronic baseball game, Electronic Hockey game and an electronic soccer game all costing just under $30.00.
  • Meccano Construction Set From The 1970s Meccano Construction Set
    Price: From $18.99
    Description Although many of the toys featured have been electronic based others that allowed kids to create projects were also popular, this add features a Meccano Construction Set that included wheels allowing kids to build futuristic cars or a tank or anything else they wanted.


  • Pachinko Pinball Machine From The 1970s Pachinko Pinball Machine
    Price: From $54.99
    Description Pachinko Parlors had shot up all over the place and you could even buy a reconditioned Pachinko Pinball Machine for your own home, I must admit I do remember playing them in arcades but did not realize you could own a reconditioned one in your own home.

  • Speak and Spell From The 1970s Speak and Spell
    Price: From $58.99
    Description Yet another education type toy that used the new technology to do something that would have been impossible just a few years before, Speak and Spell was a spelling aid, the unit pronounced a word and the student tried to spell it using the keyboard if correct was praised if wrong suggested trying again, Speak and Spell had 4 levels of difficulty making it ideal for most ages, once again in todays money this would seem expensive (over $350.00) but like all electronic devices, the prices decreased each year and the functionality increased.

  • Star Wars Spaceship and Figures From The 1970s Star Wars Space Ship Millennium Falcon
    Price: From $24.77
    Description Following the first movie release of Star Wars in 1977 and the pending release of The Empire Strikes Back due the next year in 1980, toys from star wars were super popular.

  • Superhero Figures, The Hulk, Spiderman, Batman, Robin and Superman From The 1970s Super Hero Figures
    Price: $6.97
    Description During the 70's hundreds of thousands of Comics featuring superheroes were sold and read by kids of all ages, and Superhero Figures were created to fill the need for kids to play with including The Hulk, Spiderman, Batman, Robin and Superman.
  • Wooden Building Blocks From The 1970s Wooden Building Blocks
    Price: $6.99
    Description 85 piece colored wooden building blocks, few toys are as popular today as they were 50 years ago but basic building bricks have so much to offer including co-ordination, shape and color recognition, building skills and a sense of achievement which is why they were and still are a favorite for parents and children, add to this compared with so many toys they are cheap and safe for all ages.