/hobby/ - Hobby

Soviet toys may were good enough in the 50s-60s but they absolutely sucked by the 80s standards. I had many of them in my childhood in the early 90s and was borderline drooling when my sailor relative brought a catalogue from Denmark. Was going through it for days, imagining how I could play with all that magical Western stuff.

The keyword to search is "советские игрушки":
https://www.google.com/search?q=%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B5+%D0%B8%D0%B3%D1%80%D1%83%D1%88%D0%BA%D0%B8&source=lnms&tbm=isch

>>5388
>all that magical Western stuff.
The irony of it is that more often than not, the magic was fake and broke apart like nothing.

>>5394
>I had many of them in my childhood in the early 90s and was borderline drooling when my sailor relative brought a catalogue from Denmark. Was going through it for days, imagining how I could play with all that magical Western stuff.

TBF though most of us can't afford the really sweet toys anyway though

>>5388
cute crocdile :3

>>5406
that toy is mine, back off sister

>>5395
Uhm, no, I've got a bit of German Wader stuff and those Italian 1:43 model cars, and Matchbox later. It was of great quality.

USSR had good sides but consumer goods were not one of them.

>>5394
grew up in 90s romania, and while i can safely say that the "greener grass on the other side" effect was a thing, i cannot stress enough how educational communist-era games were; the national toy and game-producing company was still in business then, and was making tabletops and card games that taught children anything from biogeography, botany, marine biology, military and maritime history, national dress around the world to math, logic, association and so on and so forth. by the end of early childhood you came out a very well-rounded individual. the whole business was completely trashed in the late 90s and early 00s, some of the games are now making a comeback as nostalgia pieces made by private companies and sold at astronomical prices, no royalties owed to the original makers because of course "stupid" commies don't know about IP and copyrights.

>>5409
some more

There is a lame book about that topic, "Made in Russia: Unsung Icons of Soviet Design". I wish it covered more products and had more technical and on-point descriptions. Instead it got essays by annoying anti-communist hipsters who for the most part don't seem to have the historical-technical understanding to properly assess the quality of things.

Couple things from the book:
Erudit – Similar to Scrabble, but designed around the Russian alphabet.
Elektronika - Imitation of Nintendo's Game & Watch.
Za Rulem (Behind the Wheel) - A mechanical racing game introduced in the 70s. The race track is simulated by a rotating disc with obstacles. According to the book, new versions are still made (the book is from 2011).
Krugozor - A legendary monthly magazine that came with thin vinyl disks with music from all around the world.

>>5408
>German Wader
>Matchbox
>Italian
You're comparing the better quality toys. And I remember my Soviet toys, made of metal and last forever. Most plastic toys from the West are largely non-functional (ad deceit) or were easily breakable (transformers was notorious for this, see Gold Plastic Syndrome).
Soviet goods were not as varied as Western ones, but they were bloody fun, and the limitations of how much you could acquire meant you had to be creative in your play. I remember the intricate games I would create with my soldiers.

>>5409
>>5410
these are cool, did you have any wargames or maybe even roleplaying game?

>>5432
"Dacii si Romanii" (the dacians and the romans) was the most popular wargame, it actually combines a tabletop format with some pen-and-paper rpg elements, and despite being designed for children it was more popular with teens and adults due to its complex mechanics; even if you don't understand the language, it's enough just to glance the paragraphs on taking prisoners from the instruction manual:).
The late Soviet "Mafia" role-playing game was and still is pretty popular (known as "Werewolf" in the west); it requires the standard 52-deck.
A lot of tabletop dice games were popular, and we even had a socialist-style Monopoly game, called "Bunul Gospodar" (The Good/Wise Administrator), which was supposed to teach some basic economics, as well as leading a balanced lifestyle (I never played this one, but heard good things about it; it's become a bit of a meme and vintage copies cost quite a bit).
There were several other military-themed card games I had, one that I remember had Romanian soldier wear and weaponry from late antiquity till contemporary times, and you were supposed to blindly trade with other players to form period sets before the others did; I cannot remember the name, nor find pictures of it online (i may still have it at my folks' place if they haven't thrown it out at some point).

>roleplaying game
&ltsoviet union

thats a nice one, achmed

Reposting toys

>>5433
>>5410
>>5409
This is really cool stuff. Would you be interested in writing a summary of this for our magazine?

>>5388
We used to have multiple brands of soft drinks that is usually based off of the local herbs and spices. They were pretty damn good too.

Until the 2000s when Coke bought them all (competing with willing losses and constant tax evasion), liquidized all old recipes that is.

>>10401
tarhun and baikal?

>>9591
>>9592
>>9593
>>9594
The only cool toy here is the owl. The rest are fucking garbage, yuck!

>>10403
May also be GDR. They too had their own flavor of soft drinks (Vita Cola), and is currently the most popular domestic cola in Germany after the original producer went under due to unification. Pretty good too, not nearly as sugary as regular ones.

>>10442
I still remember fruit kefir that my mom bought me when i was a kid. The taste was just the best, nothing that sells now can beat it.

USSR couldn't build instruments worth shit. Look at this unholy abomination. Thinking about adjusting intonation on that bridge makes me wince.

>>10462
Looks normal to me.

>>9594
That wolf looks fashionable as fuck

>>10462
Explain

>>5409
Really awesome.