First off, I don’t want to imply that the children of today are all spoiled shitheads.  We’d simply like to point out that if today’s youth were given the recreational tools we had while growing up, they’d be pretty bored.

Big Wheel – If you could list off the best moments in your life, getting a Big Wheel would be somewhere at the top.  It wouldn’t rank as high as getting a car or losing your virginity, but it would still easily make the top 10.

Today’s Replacement – The Wii Racing Wheel.

Rolling around outside really can’t compete with the excitement a five year old can get via any Wii racing game whilst gobbling down a bag of these.

Sling Shot – The wrist rocket used metal, plastic, and rubber to combine destruction with fun.  Having a wrist rocket put you leaps and bounds in front of your buddies who had just the regular sling shot.  You could spend an entire afternoon shooting shit with this bad boy and not get bored.

Today’s Replacement – The paint ball gun eliminates the labor it takes to make an object projectile through the air.  The down side is that it’s pretty messy.  However, even though taking a paintball to the dome isn’t fun, it’s a lot safer than being blasted by a rock.

a paintball shot to the ear. – Watch more

In a made up statistic, 9 out of 10 teenagers preferred the blast of a paintball to that of a rock from a sling shot.

Nintendo – For many of us, the NES is where it all started when it comes to gaming.  Hours upon hours of hour lives got flushed down the 8 bit toilet while playing this masterpiece.

Today’s Replacement – Putting a Nintendo in front of a kid today would almost be a mean joke.  In fact, if I wanted to be a real prick I’d put a kid in time out by making him save the princess.  The Xbox 360 is to Nintendo like Katie Couric is to Barbara Walters.  Newer, nicer looking, more expensive, and gets far more attention.

Rubik’s Cube – This  awesome toy was invented in 1974 and remained a smash hit all through out the 80′s.  Simple design, but not easy to conquer.

Today’s Replacement – A teenager can’t be seen with bulky entertainment accessories.  However the pure genius of the Rubik’s cube goes unmatched – Thus, we bring you the Rubik’s iPhone app.

Journal/Diary – Guys don’t write in diaries because that would be a serious loss of man points.  We do however remember how important this garbage was to our sisters and female class mates.  Ever steel a diary?  I have, and I will tell you right now that the beat down I received from my sister was one that I will never forget.  A diary was a book of blank pages where girls left the most private of private thoughts.  In 1992, a 15 year old might write the following in her journal:

Dear Diary, Mark is really cute and tonight we kissed for the first time.  I hope he asks me to the dance!

Today’s Replacement – Facebook/Myspace/Twitter etc

Food for thought: We can look back now and say “damn I was easily entertained.”  But were we?  Not really, those items and activities were the norm for society – In 20 years from now the Xbox 360 will be a sad joke, and a 15 year old girl with bra/panty pics on her Myspace would be considered prude for not showing nipple + snapper.

Link of the day – If Gladiators played beer pong (photoshop contest)