100 Days until Christmas | Shop Online with AfterPay
Sadly our amazing Canberra toy shop in the wonderful Dirty Janes in Fyshwick remains closed for a little while longer as the ACT Lockdown is extended again until October 15th. Whilst we completely understand that everyone needs to stay safe, we’re really missing our space of joy, and you, our customers, and can’t wait until we can re-open again and share the happiness and spread lots of (much needed!) fun and laughter.
We also can’t ignore the fact that Christmas is fast approaching, and will be upon us in …. 100 days!!! Argh! That’s faster than a rocket hurtling towards the moon!
So, although our bricks and mortar shop remains closed, we have been super busy behind the scenes, stocking up for Christmas (it’s going to be a big one!), making up fabulous new Stocking Filler Packs, and bringing you new ways to pay to spread the cost. We’ve certainly been making the most of our lockdown time, so that when we do re-open our physical doors, we’re ready for you!!
Our elves have been squirreling away your favourites, the Christmas classics, and huge amounts of fun toys and games for the whole family to enjoy. We also have been putting our time to good use, hunting down some fabulous new ranges of beautiful heirloom soft toys, unusual and traditional games, and fantastic new puzzles!
Do not despair though, whilst our Fyshwick toy store may be physically closed, you can still shop safely with us in a variety of easy ways …
From the comfort of your own home in our online toy store. Browse toys by Category, browse toys by age, browse toys by Brand, search for toys… however you want to browse our huge range of toys, games and puzzles, we have you covered! Shop anytime, anywhere with ease and pay securely - just choose the method at checkout that suits you best:
Visa, MasterCard and American Express through our secure payment system Stripe.
Paypal Pay in 4 for all purchases over $30.
Choose the option that’s right for you and split your payment, interest free, allowing you to enjoy your purchases sooner, and spread the cost of Christmas.
Seen something you love on our Instagram feed? Click and collect from Dirty Janes Canberra. Just text Dirty Janes on 0411 827 488 quoting Shop Number 531, and let them know what you need, and where you need it, and they’ll give you a call to make it yours.
Can’t decide? We’ve done the hard work for you and put together these amazing stocking filler bundles, packed to the brim with our best selling classic toys and games. Perfect for kids, and adults alike. Unwrap and fill a stocking with these family favourites, or gift as is in our beautifully gift wrapped boxes. Ideal for stocking filers, Secret Santa gifts, or gifts for Grandma and Grandad, guaranteed to bring back lots of happy memories of yesteryear!
Still can’t find what you’re looking for? In the very rare event that this might happen, we’ve also got you covered there too, with our super-duper gift vouchers, which any recipient young or old will just love. Make someone’s day, and let them choose for themselves.
What more could you want? Let us know, and we’ll do our very best to make it happen!
Moss Vale ... it's been fun!
We have an announcement …. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but we know it’s the right one for our little family, and we’re now ready to share it with you.
Some decisions come easier than others. Some decisions fly at you like water off a duck’s back, and some need to be digested, regurgitated, revisited, prodded and pruned. Last week we made a decision that falls into the latter category, but now that we’ve made it, we’re relieved and thankful that we have.
It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but we know it’s the right one for our little family, and we’re now ready to share it with you, in the hope that in doing so, you’ll decide to come on our next journey with us, because we sure have enjoyed having you all along for the ride!
The next part of our journey begins on the 1st July 2019, exactly one year to the day since we began our last chapter, the opening of our wonderful and magical Moss Vale store. What a chapter it’s been! It’s been fun, games, laughter and friendship. We’ve met some beautiful people (big and little) from our mini wonderland, and have been welcomed into such a wonderful community with open arms. We’ve been embraced, we’ve been loved, and we’ve shared joy. So much joy. We truly can call Moss Vale home. For that we are thankful.
Whilst we have been hanging out in our magical emporium however, we had a niggling feeling, one that wouldn’t go away. We realised that whilst we were watching other children have fun in our store, we were missing out on spending precious time with our own little person. We weren’t following our own message of ‘enjoying the little things in life, before they become big things’. We realised that we’d missed out on a whole year of Saturday fun and family exploring.
So, Moss Vale, it sure has been fun, we’ve loved being part of the high street, but we’re ready to now take a back seat and enjoy the landscape from a different angle. We’re looking forward to some foraging of our own, enjoying all that the beautiful Southern Highlands has to offer, but enjoying it as a family.
It’s not’ goodbye’ however, it’s merely a ‘see you soon’, as we’ll still be completely online. To say a big thank you to Moss Vale and to the Southern Highlands we’ll be offering a free drop off or pick up service for all online orders to anyone within a 15km radius of Moss Vale town centre, after we close the front door of our bricks and mortar shop for the last time on Saturday 29th June 2019.
When one door closes … another one opens. A heartfelt thank you to all of you who have supported us on our journey this far. We look forward to sharing the next adventures with you … here’s a clue … you may see up pop up in Fyshwick in Canberra very soon!
The Vintage Toy Box family x
Check out our awesome Closing Down Sale with a whopping 30% off all our large items. Available for in-store pick up only and while stocks last.
Classic Games | Dominoes
Wherever the classic game of Dominoes originated from, we are glad it stuck around so long for many, many generations to enjoy!
The classic game of Dominoes is a strategy game played with a set of rectangular pieces with dot markings between two to four players. The aim of the game is to use all of your pieces to line up the dots on a new piece with the matching dots on the previous piece, making a line.
The word Domino has been around a lot longer than the game. Going back to the 17th century where the French word ‘Domino’ was used to describe a hood worn during winter by priests. It is thought that the French meaning for Domino most likely originated from the even older Latin word ‘Dominus’ which meant Lord or Master. The domino hood is still around today and can often be seen in its traditional form at Masquerade balls.
Fun Fact: The dots on the Domino pieces are called pips, nips or dobs.
It is believed that Dominoes originated in China, although it is also thought that they possibly may have Egyptian or Arabian origins. The oldest written mention of dominoes is recorded in a book written by Zhou Mi during the Yuan Dynasty. Zhou Mi mentions ‘pupai’ (which meant gambling plaques or dominoes) during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong between 1162 and 1189.
Fun Fact: The earliest manual for dominoes was written by Qu You (1341 – 1437) but some believe this to be forgery.
During the 18th Century dominoes began to make an appearance in Italy. It is said that Italian missionaries brought the game back from China and then it spread throughout Europe. The game then changed somewhat in the translation from Chinese to European culture. Traditionally, European dominoes where made from ivory or dark hardwood like ebony, they have also been known to be made of marble, granite, oak, cedar, redwood and metals such as brass.
Fun Fact: a Domino set is called a deck or pack.
In the Netherlands there is an annual domino toppling exhibition called Domino Day. The first Domino Day was held in 1986. Domino Day in 2005 saw an astounding four million dominoes being knocked over by a team from Weijers Domino Productions.
Many domino records have been set over the years, the most popular including:
longest domino spiral – 200m
highest domino climb – 12m
smallest domino tile - 7mm
largest domino tile – 4.8m
longest domino wall - 16m
largest domino structure – 25,000 tiles
fastest topple of 30 metres of domino tiles - 4.21 seconds, and
largest number of domino tiles resting on a single domino – 1002
Fun Fact: In Berlin on November 9, 2009 giant dominoes where toppled in a 20th anniversary commemoration of the fall of the Berlin wall.
The game of dominoes is said to be one of the oldest games in history. Dominoes is a great family game which involves tactic and strategic game play. We don’t mind where it originated from, whether it came from China, Egypt or Arabia we are just glad it stuck around so long for many, many generations to enjoy!
Classic Games | Marbles
Everybody knows of the classic game of marbles, and it is just as popular now as it has been over the decades.
Everybody knows of the classic game of marbles, and it is just as popular now as it has been over the decades. Marble crazes continuously grip schools across Australia, the UK, America and no doubt the rest of the world!
Marbles are small spherical toys most commonly now made from glass, but started their early days being made from clay. They were referred to as ‘little balls with which schoolboys played’ as early as the 15th century, and let’s face it, not much has changed!
There are many variations of the marble game, but the most classic game is where you need to knock your smaller marbles (ducks) out of the ring with your larger shooter marble by flicking it with your thumb (the knuckledown slingshot) without fudging or fouling the shot. If you manage to knock any marbles out of the ring, keep the marbles and add them to your pile. The winner at the end of the game is the one that has the most marbles. Players can either play for keeps (keepsies), or for fair (everyone gets their own marbles back). Players also have the option to call quitsies at any point during the game without consequence, effectively calling a halt to the game.
The large marble is known by many names, but some of the most common that we’ve heard of are:
Shooter | boulder | smasher | bowler | toebreaker | masher | bonker
In the North of England (where we grew up) the game and marbles were called ‘Taws’ and the larger Taws were called bottle washers. They were called this after the marble found in the codd-necked bottles that were used to hold carbonated drinks. The bottle was opened after use and the marble was collected to play with. Across the world Taw still refers to the name of the person taking the shot. We still have our taws from when we were a kid!
Marbles were often written about in Ancient Roman literature and archaeologists often find small round balls made of stone all over the world. Marbles are thought to originate from India as far back as 3300–1300 BCE , although it wasn’t until 1923 that the first set of rules were written by a ‘committee of playground and recreational experts’. (How we would love to have such an aptly named committee in our shop …. although we think the ore apt and modern day equivalent is kid toy testers!).
Fun Fact: Marbles arrived in Britain after being imported during the medieval era.
A German Glass Blower had a great idea for an invention called marble scissors which came onto the scene in 1846 that would revolutionise the making of glass marbles. The first mass-produced marbles were manufactured in Germany in the 1890s.
Fun Fact: Marbles were inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame in 1998.
Marbles is such a wonderfully classic game that there are still marble championships held across the world for those that like playing marbles - taking the game to the extreme. The British and World Marbles Championships are held in West Sussex, England every year. This event started in 1932 and has been held every year since. Britain however isn’t the only country with a Marble Championship event, Australia has the Australian Marbles Championships too which is held every year at various locations around Australia, playing their very own Brunswick Heads Rules.
Marble collecting is also a serious businesses among avid hobby enthusiasts, with people collecting low budget machine made marbles costing just a few cents, up to the rarer, more collectible antique handmade marbles worth thousands of dollars. Who would have thought that marble fraud was such a lucrative business, with unscrupulous tricksters imitating the most attractive mineral and agate or onionskin marbles and antique packaging. Thankfully marble experts have put together marble identification guides to help us get started with our marble identification and work our way through our Akro Agates or Peltier Glass collections. If all else fails however, we can always visit one of the many marble fairs to get them valued by one of the many Marble King marble experts there are in the world!
Traditional Games | Family Games Night
Looking for something to do with the kids on a wet and rainy day during the school holidays, or perhaps you’re thinking of a family game for Christmas Day or Boxing Day. Come check out our awesome classic games - we have so many blasts from the past, and we’re sure to have something to keep the kids, and the adults amused and entertained!
Looking for something to do with the kids on a wet and rainy day during the school holidays, or perhaps you’re thinking of a family game for Christmas, or like us, are bringing back family games night. Come check out our awesome classic games - we have so many blasts from the past, and we’re sure to have something to keep the kids, and the adults amused and entertained!
Snakes and Ladders
Snakes and ladders is one of our most favourite games and perfect for school holiday fun.
Can you reach the end first by climbing the ladders ... but watch out for the snakes! A timeless classic game for 2 - 6 people to enjoy!
The Magical Amazing Robot
This really is an Amazing Robot, a simple game that will have the family amazed at the robot that always gives the right answer.
All you need to do is place the robot in the tray in the centre of the questions circle. Turn the Amazing Robot to a question that you’d like him to answer, make sure his pointer is in the centre of the question that you would like to have answered then simply pull him from the circle by his head and place him on the magical mirror, and watch him spin to the correct answer. In addition to being amazing this game is also educational - encouraging children to learn as they play.
Bingo!
The aim of Family Bingo is to have the numbers on your card completely covered with white squares. The only way to achieve this is when the caller calls out all the numbers on your board. Once the number is called, search your card to see if you have it, then place a white square over the number. Don't forget to call out BINGO once all your numbers are covered up. The biggest Adrenalin rush!
Kitty Wampas
Check out our cute Kitty Wampas game! The idea of this game is to cover the white circles in your corner with your coloured pieces. To make this happen you must spin Kitty until its paw comes to a stop on one of the colours. If it is your colour that it lands on, you can move your coloured disk to cover a white circle. If it’s not your colour then it is the next persons turn. The first player to have their circles covered by the coloured playing discs is the winner. This game is great for little children as it helps with colour recognition.
Old Maid
Old Maid is an all time classic! After dealing the cards between all the players, if a player has two of the same card they need to take it out of their hand and place them aside. Make sure you hold your cards up and out of sight from the other players. A player then offers their cards to the next person who takes one card, if it is the same as another in the hand then the pair needs to be put aside. You do not want to be stuck with Old Maid by the end of the game because then you are the loser!
Barnstormer
Barnstormer is one of our games that requires more skill and practice to play and win. The aim is to propel your discs onto the board and aim for the little wooden cup in the centre of the board to get 25 points (the highest on the board!). Be careful not to land on the various hazards on the board that will have you deducting points! Once you shoot all your markers onto the board, add up all the points and the first person to 500 points is the champion.
Chess
Chess is an all time classic. The objective of this popular game is to checkmate your opponent’s King. This means putting it into a position that it cannot escape from, by moving or taking an opponents piece. When starting the game, the white pieces always go first. Players then make their way around the board attempting to put the King in check. If your piece lands in a space that is occupied by your opponent then you can remove their piece from the board. This is a fun and challenging game for 2.
Draughts
For this classic game each player has 12 draughts, all placed on black squares, 3 rows up the board. This game doesn’t have many rules, but what you will need to do is move your draughts forward and diagonal one space at a time, whilst capturing all of your opponents draughts. You capture your opponents draughts by jumping over them when they in front of you and there is a spare for you to jump to. Once you have collected all your opponents draughts, you win.
Simply, easy and fun!
Goose Race
Came of Goose is a simple but fun game that the whole family will enjoy. Before you begin to play, each player must put an equal amount of counters (round white discs) into the pool. Divide the rest of the counters between the players; you will need them during the game. Beware ... if you land on certain squares, there is a price to pay. For example, if you land on square number 6 then 5 counters are charged. 15 counters are charged if you land on square number 31. The first player to reach square number 63 wins the pool and the game!
Snap!!
Here we have a unique set of playing cards for the game Snap, each card has a picture of a famous nursery rhyme including Little bow peep, Little Miss Muffet, Old Mother Hubbard and Jack and Jill.
Snap is a great game for children of all ages. Start off by dealing all the cards out to all the players until there are none left - everybody keep your cards faced downwards. Then, without peaking flip your card upright as you put it on the stack of cards.
If your cards match the card directly underneath then race the other players to slap your hand down on the cards first and yell “SNAP” to win. Be careful not to get your hands squished by the other opponents! The winner is the player who has managed to collect all of the cards at the end of the game.
Ludo
At the start of this game you place your coloured pieces in the start area, you need to roll a six to be able to move your piece out of the start and onto the board. Once your piece is out on the board you then roll the die and move your piece forward 1 - 6 spaces as indicated by the die. You can bring other pieces onto the board if you roll another 6. You need have all your pieces in the home square to win!
Whatever takes your fancy - we’ve got something for everyone - guaranteed fun for family game night or for some Christmas cheer.
All of these games and many more are available in store and on-line in our games section.
Traditional Toys from The Vintage Toy Box
We want boys and girls to enjoy their toys,
With festive times filled with oodles of joy,
So this year give them delights in their socks,
And get your toys at The Vintage Toy Box!
We have gifts all children will love,
Inside our magnificent treasure trove,
We have so many aisles to come and explore,
With toys and games and so much more.
With so many different kinds of toys,
For little girls and little boys,
From circus to rockets and dinosaurs too,
Oh that would be a hullabaloo!
It's the spirit of Christmas we all desire,
A sense of nostalgia that takes us higher,
Traditional toys are the kind to buy;
So come on in and give them a try.
When we compare gifts of our modern day,
With simple toys that are fun to play,
You'll see they last longer than most toys now,
Developing more creativity than time will allow.
We want boys and girls to enjoy their toys,
With festive times filled with oodles of joy,
So this year give them delights in their socks,
And get your toys at The Vintage Toy Box!
Traditional Games Through Time
There are many vintage games that have disappeared throughout the years, never to be seen again, but there are many that have stood the test of time ...
There are many vintage games that have disappeared throughout the years, never to be seen again, but there are many that have stood the test of time . We take a look back through the decades and examine some of the popular games of that time that are still around today.
Pre 1920s Vintage Games
The Game of Life was originally created in 1860 by Milton Bradley and was America's first popular vintage parlour game. Originally known as The Chequered Game of Life, the game had a change of name to its more modern and better known name in 1960, 100 years later, when it was recreated by toy designer Reuben Klamer.
Tiddley Winks was first patented in 1888 and was one of the earliest traditional parlour games, distributed exclusively by John Jacques and Son. It became one of the most popular crazes of the 1890s, enjoyed equally by adults and children.
Ludo has been around in raw form since the 6th century, with its origins in India with evidence that it was played by the Mughal Emperors. The game then finally made it over to England in the late 19th century, and was finally patented under the name Ludo in 1896.
1920s Vintage Games
The "roaring twenties" brought with it a wave of fun & frivolity, which led to a boom in the game industry. Some of the most longstanding games were born during this era.
American Mahjong became a craze during the 1920s, and was commonly known as Mah Jongg or Maahj, a variation of the Chinese ancient version. The game sets were imported in huge numbers in 1923 from Shanghai to America, when a representative of the Standard Oil Company published simple rules for the game.
Chinese Checkers was actually invented in Germany in 1892 under the name of "Stern-Halma". The name then morphed in America to "Hop Ching Checkers", before finally adopting its common name of Chinese Checkers in 1928.
The classic board game Sorry was originally manufactured by British Card Manufacturers in England and was first registered as a trade mark in 1929. An English patent was then granted in 1933, before the popular parlour game was trademarked to Waddingtons, who sold it to Parker Brothers in 1934.
1930s Vintage Games
The depression era of the 1930s saw a wave of inexpensive and highly popular vintage board games.
Monopoly was the most played commercial game in the world at one point according to the Guinness Book of Word Records. The depression ironically led to the rise in massive popularity of this vintage game in 1935, as it allowed people to buy property and make millions, in a time where money in real life was sparse. The game was originally proposed to Parker Brothers in 1934 by an unemployed salesman named Charles Darrow. The idea was initially rejected. It turns out that Monopoly is actually pirated from a board game called The Landlord's Game which was patented in 1904.
Battleship was first published under the name "Salvo" in 1931, as a pad and pencil game, but despite its popularity wasn't actually turned into a board game until 1967. It was then one of the earliest games to be produced as a computer game in 1979, with a version released for the Z80 Compucolor.
1940s Vintage Games
Cluedo (also known as Clue) was probably the best known game of the 1940s. Bizarrely it was originally designed by a fire warden whilst he was walking the beat during the Nazi bombings in England. Waddington Games bought the idea in 1943 but had to hold off on production as the game included playing pieces made of metal which were being rationed during the war.
Chutes & Ladders (also known as Snakes & Ladders in the UK) is actually a re-incarnation of an Indian game Vaikuntapaali which translates as "the ladder to salvation". The snakes were meant to illustrate temptations in life, and show that the pathway was littered with numerous temptations that one must avoid in order to succeed in life. Chutes & Ladders was published in 1943 by Milton Bradley and has become one of the best loved children's games of all time.
Scrabble took a few decades to become the popular game that it is today and is now the most popular word game in history. The vintage game was first published under the name "Lexiko", then "Criss Cross Words", before being renamed Scrabble in 1948. The game was originally made by hand in an abandoned schoolhouse, before the President of Macy's discovered the game whilst he was on holiday and ordered some for the store. The rest is history.
1950s Vintage Games
Risk, one of the most popular world domination games of all time was invented by a French film Director in 1957, under the name "La Conquete du Monde", (The Conquest of the World). It was then bought by Parker Brothers and re-released in 1959 as Risk: The Game of Global Domination.