RE: Sometimes childhood memories sneak up on you out of the blue. Other times they come hurling at you like an unstoppable giant robot! What was your favorite toy as a child?

Oh my god!!!! You had the Shogun! I was so envious of my friend who had one of those, we spent hours coming up with amazing adventures for that thing, where it waded through endless waves of He-Man and Skeltor and little green plastic army men....

Nevertheless, my first favorite toy when I was a very small kid was the original Big Wheel:
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I even rode it on my very first (and last) attempt at running away when I was like 5 or 6 years old. I made it like 5 blocks before the police gave me a ride back home. My friend with the Shogun also had The Big Green Machine, which had the ability to do really cool skids and we would hold street races on the hill next to my house, so much fun!

Thanks for the blast from the past. Nice post!