Toys of the 1970s: Nerfoop

Fig. 1 – Modern-day Nerf Hoop

I have a Nerf Hoop home basketball game (Fig. 1) in my home office. I must say that the Nerf Corporation made a mistake when they went to a denser, heavier foam ball with latex coating. This new ball, which is constructed similarly to the Nerf football, is too heavy for the relatively flimsy hoop and bouncing it around can get pretty loud.

As a fifth-grader I had a Nerfoop™ basketball game (Fig. 2) which came with a less-dense foam ball. It was more like a facial sponge, and had no latex coating. This Nerf™ ball was perfectly calibrated to the strength of the hoop and allowed hours of by-myself playtime in my bedroom. (Another inexplicable corporate decision: Retiring the Nerfoop™ name.)

Fig. 2 – Nerfoop™ listing in 1977 Parker Brothers wholesale catalog
Image © Jason Liebig

My solitaire game was to stand at the opposite end of my room and try to make a long distance shot. After releasing the ball, I ran forward to grab the rebound. If my long shot missed, I had to jump in the air, catch the ball and try to put it back in the hoop, dunking if possible, before landing on the floor again.

This was in Amarillo, Texas, where our ranch-style basement-less house sat on a concrete slab, so there was minimal house-rattling from all of this jumping around. For my Nerfoop™ soundtrack I would usually play my Abba greatest hits 8-track or my K-Tel disco compilation LPs. Or my various 45s, including “Head Games” by Foreigner, “Last Train to London” by ELO, and “Rock with You” by Michael Jackson:

     

     

Cars of the 1970s: 1972 Ford Pinto

My parents bought this car new in 1972, I think.  Three-door hatchback, yellow, with a black interior, just like the one in the photo. List price $2,303.

This was my mom's car for getting around town. I remember noticing as a kid that the automatic transmission gear selector was on the "floor" (actually it was on the transmission hump) instead of on the steering column. Same with the parking brake, a hand-operated lever between the two front seats instead of a foot pedal.

According to How Stuff Works, our 1972 Pinto would have come with a 2.0-liter single-overhead-cam four-cylinder engine and a three-speed Cruise-o-Matic transmission.

The alternator failed once, just after we had left town on the way to Grandma's house. Other than that I think my parents were pretty happy with this car.

Fortunately, we never got rear-ended.

Toys of the 1970s: Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle

Received this for Christmas, 1974 or 1975. Place Evel on the cycle, and the cycle in the red launching apparatus. Turn a crank (hidden from view in this picture) to get the rear wheel on the cycle spinning, then release the bike, which zooms across the floor. Note that Evel comes complete with his regal cane.

Some Super-8 footage of the toy in action, shot by the Vasquez family:



This toy, in mint condition, now sells for $350.

Foiled Assassins of the 1970s

Lynnette "Squeaky" Fromme. Pointed a pistol at President Gerald Ford while dressed in a red robe. Apprehended by Secret Service before the gun went off.

Janet "Tweety" McGuire. Poisoned National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski's lunch. Running late, Brzezinski skipped lunch that day.

Dolores "Mouse" Garrett. Attempted to run Secretary of State Cyrus Vance off the road. Her car, a 1975 AMC Gremlin, was not up to the task.

Marge "Tootie" Phillips. Struck Vice President Walter Mondale in the head with a lead pipe. Mondale was wearing a hard hat while touring a solar panel factory and was uninjured.

Karen "Birdie" LaChance. Schemed to kill OMB Director Bert Lance with a well-tossed lawn dart. Two days before her planned attempt, lawn darts were banned by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Beverly "Buzzy" Lee. Planned to stab Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz with a dagger. On her way to intercept Butz at a Cleveland hotel, she dropped the dagger down a storm drain while attempting to hail a cab.

Denise "Chirpy" Butler. Rented a motel room across the street from the office of HEW Secretary Joseph Califano, planning to take him out with a sniper rifle as he left the building. Butler failed to notice Califano's departure when she became engrossed in an episode of Barnaby Jones.

Rhonda "Perky" Schmidt. Plotted to strangle Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker during a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. Due to Volcker's height (six feet seven inches), Schmidt was only able to wrap the ligature around the Fed Chairman's mid-section.

Toys of the 1970s: Fisher Price Garage

The top floor of the garage featured a turntable mechanism that was fun to crank but which I have never seen in an actual parking garage; perhaps such contraptions were before my time. In addition, elevatoring cars to the various levels was made obsolete starting in the 1940s with the arrival of the reinforced-concrete ramp-up-to-the-next level system. On the other hand, outdoor glass elevators were just entering their heyday in the early 1970s and grease racks were still going strong in those days before the arrival of sealed joints. Also, a gasoline pump in a parking garage does seem like a good idea. All in all, hours of fun for the low low price of $10.85.