Do they still make cool toys for KIDS?

[Gorn Captain]

You know, when we were kids we had all sorts of cool adventure toys to choose from. Soldiers, astronauts, pirates.
But these days, when I walk through a toy store, there's nothing much that grabs me as being cool, in the way that Matt Mason or Lone Ranger were.
Sure, you get the classics like Playmobil and Lego (which feel oddly lifeless to me), and some superhero figures, but it no longer feels the same.
I know, I'm not a kid anymore, but if I walked into a toy aisle, I'd still like to discover something like spaceships and such. The ones from Playmobil and all just don't cut it for me.
Are there still any cool boy's toys out there, or is it all smartphones and videogames these days?

[Hedji]

For me THE coolest non-licensed kids toy line was Fisher Price Adventure People. They were kid friendly, durable, and fueled the imagination like no other. They were fun indoors and outdoors. Collectible. Attractive looking.

Now they dumb it down for the preschoolers with those chunky Rescue Heroes and chubby Superheroes who have deformed dimensions and in a squatting pose with gigantic feet.

[Figuremod73]

I would say Bionicle. They are real cool looking and theres tons of different versions of them. They are also a part of Lego and get distributed well.

Chap Mei currently has a great pirate set and fantasy sets. They are one of the few companies that put out great public domain toys at a low cost.

I guess modern day C.O.R.P.S. as well. Low cost and will blend in with that occasional Joe.

These are the only things that really catch my interest as far as modern outside of the more popular items.

[4NDR01D]

I really really wish they'd do a Monster High type of toyline for boys. Monsters,aliens, spacemen, all in 12" scale (or 8",9",10" whatever) that had cool packaging and use of colour that MH has.

[PNGwynne]

^ That's a great idea IMO. MH has all the angles covered with toons and an online presence, too.

[Gorn Captain]

I'm really missing a generic line of space monsters, aliens and astronauts. Space age stuff, but without a connection to any movie. Just let the designers go wild and think up stuff.

[Werewolf]

For me THE coolest non-licensed kids toy line was Fisher Price Adventure People. They were kid friendly, durable, and fueled the imagination like no other. They were fun indoors and outdoors. Collectible. Attractive looking.

Toys r us still sells Adventure People type sets under their exclusive Animal Planet line. The sea lab set is especially cool.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=33828526&cp=&parentPage=search

[Starroid Raiders Dagon]

Yeah, the Animal Planet, True Legends, and some others were Chap Mei until recently (the newer Knights figures dont look to be Chap Mei), and they usually do up a line to coincide with the release of a blockbuster (The Hobbit came out and they did the Elves vs Orcs figures). Europe gets some great figures that we dont see in store.
There are lots of great toys out there. I would be through the roof as a kid with all the Power Ranger toys, and Superhero toys we have today.

[Iron Mego]

I kind of equate modern Playmobil with vintage Adventure People. The figures are quite different, but there are tons of different sets and themes.

[michael crawford]

Yep, there's an entire aisle devoted to True Legend stuff at every TRU.

[ODBJBG]

Of course they do. They're called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

[MIB41]

Collectors hog all the cool toys because those are geared towards the imagination for play value. Today's generation has everything done for them on a tiny computer board.

[palitoy]

My son's room is full of Bionicles, he spends whole weekends customizing them. They are pretty damned neat.