LOL = particularly appropriate reaction to Sean Collier, who wrote that propaganda piece for Pittsburgh Mag -- his other job is doing stand-up comedy.

reasonable guess writing for Pittsburgh Mag + stand up comedy desert in Wolfe-lockdown PA pushes one to write whatever the check signer tells you to write.

So not only are you outdoorsy, but gracious as well. My oh my.

It was a golden age of boy toys.

Replies: @Jefferson, @Ganderson, @PatriotGal2257

Your list of Christmas gifts illustrate something that I tell my husband all the time: boys had much more interesting toys than did girls in the 60s and 70s.
 

Replies: @PatriotGal2257

"I enjoyed being athletic and being outdoors and even though I had lots of male playmates, I was never confused about the fact that I was a girl."

Um, do you have any plans for this coming Saturday afternoon?

(Just kidding, just kidding. But you are/were the kind of gal I would have said that to forty years ago.)

Replies: @PatriotGal2257

a Creeple Peeple set, where I poured liquid plastic into molds, which I could then assemble into dragon-like characters
 

Thingmaker, also called Creepy Crawlers, is an activity toy made by Mattel, beginning in 1964. The toy consists of a series of die-cast metal moulds resembling various bug-like creatures, into which is poured a liquid chemical substance called "Plastigoop", which comes in assorted colours. The mould is then heated to about 390 °F (199 °C) in an open-face electric hot plate oven. The Plastigoop is cured by the heat, and when cooled forms semi-solid, rubbery replicas which can be removed from the mould.

The concept of the Thingmaker was introduced in 1963, as part of Mattel's Vac-U-Maker set. This omnibus toy combined the new moulds and Plastigoop technology with the existing Vac-U-Form machine, which molded simple sculptures by heating thin sheets of plastic, then using a vacuum pump to form the softened plastic over hard plastic forms. Following this introduction period, the Thingmaker portion was spun off as a separate set, and launched as the "Creepy Crawlers" line.

Mattel packaged moulds from various sets to be sold separately, and also combined moulds into larger omnibus editions, encompassing several themes into one set, under names such as "Triple Thingmaker", "Super Thingmaker" and "Every Thingmaker". Mattel produced many Thingmaker sets as follow-ups to the original "Creepy Crawlers" throughout the 1960s, utilising a variety of themes, aimed at both boys and girls. There were also several exclusive single mould sets, such as Superman and Tarzan, and original Mattel concepts including Squirtles and Gangly Danglies.
 

Varieties of Thingmaker mould sets
• Giant Creepy Crawlers (1965) — This set featured nine moulds (as did the original "Creepy Crawlers"), but these new moulds featured just one giant creature apiece.
• Fighting Men (1965) — This set of six moulds could be used to create mini soldier figures, using an innovative two-part mould to give the Fighting Men a front and a back. The set also included pieces of wire to place in the figure, making it bendable with the bottom wire protrusions being able to stand on a styrofoam base. Other moulds in the set created weaponry and equipment for the Fighting Men to carry into battle.
• Creeple Peeple (1965) — This five-mould set formed strange heads, arms and feet. When assembled onto a pencil, they formed weird, Troll-like creatures.
• Fun Flowers (1966) — Seven moulds full of different styles and shapes of flowers and leaves, for use in decorating and design.
• Fright Factory (1966) — Five of this set's seven moulds were dedicated to creepy disguises, making pieces such as fake scars, snaggled teeth, or a third eye for one's forehead. Another mould (with a special insert) made a shrunken head, and the last made a dangly skeleton that one built from parts.
• Incredible Edibles (1967) - A Thingmaker that made edible pieces. It used a special goop called Gobble De-goop which was placed in molds and cooked like regular Plasti-goop.
• Picadoos (1967) — A Thingmaker for artists. This one featured moulds with 10x10-space numbered grids. By carefully placing coloured Plastigoop in the grid, one could create decorative artwork in either beads, mosaic tile, or cross-stitch varieties.
• Mini-Dragons (1967) — The eight moulds in this set formed wings, horns, claws, tails, and other body parts, which could be combined into various fantasy creatures.
• Eeeeks! (1968) — In the same vein as Mini-Dragons, this set of eight moulds formed several varieties of mix-and-match legs, bodies, heads, wings, antennae, etc., to create large, bizarre insects.
• Zoofie-Goofies (1968) — Seven moulds form heads, bodies and feet of various animals, from cats and dogs to elephants and lions.
• Hot Wheels Factory (1969) Moulds made two piece bodies that fit together with wheels embedded into the bottom mould so you could make your own Hot Wheels cars.
• DollyMaker (1969) — Five two-sided moulds are used to create two styles of little dolls, and a wardrobe of late '60s fashions and accessories for them.
• Super Cartoon Maker (1969) — A licensed Thingmaker, the eight moulds in this set form replicas of Charles Schulz's Peanuts characters, such as Snoopy, Charlie Brown and Lucy.
• Jillions of Jewels (1970) — The last of the classic Mattel Thingmakers. The set had five moulds, but instead of the liquid Plastigoop, these formed solid plastic "gemstones" and jewelry frames from two kinds of powdered "Jewel Dust" compounds.