For ages, board games have inspired friends and families to put their lives on hold for a short bit of time, loosen up, have some fun, and maybe even do some bonding and get closer. Board games have developed over the years from basic designs and simple, easy to follow rules into more intricate boards, detailed rules and complex strategies. Some games have even incorporated technology into their format using automated voices, robotic opponents and more. The development of board games over the years is fascinating and very reflective of computers' influence on everyday life. Despite the high tech options, certain vintage board games will always hold a spot in American culture and tradition. Though they have gone through changes to keep them current and in demand, some of the best vintage board games that are still played today remain largely unchanged. The old adage "if it's not broke, don't fix it" applies perfectly and these classic favorites still inspire a healthy competitive spirit.

The single most commercially successful board game in the history of America is Monopoly. You would be hard pressed to try and find someone who hasn't at least attempted to play the game at some point in their life. According to Hasbro's fun fact page on their website, over four hundred and eighty five million people play Monopoly regularly. The 1999 Guinness Book of Records lists Monopoly as having five hundred million people that have played at least once while the seventieth anniversary booklet that was sold with the game cites seven hundred and fifty million people playing at least once. That's a lot of people fighting over who gets to be the thimble! The game's logo and mascot are recognized worldwide, a short man wearing a monocle and top hat and sporting a white moustache and cane. The concept of Monopoly is fairly simple. Try to have the most money by dominating the market by buying all the properties and charging other players when the roll of the die lands them on anything you own. Originally patented in 1935, Parker Brothers and Hasbro have released collectors' editions, themed versions, tributes to movies and classic characters, and anniversary editions. While names, characters, and properties have varied slightly over the decades, the basic concept of Monopoly is identical to the day when the first game was sold. Monopoly is a vintage game that has remained current and truly holds dominance over all other board games.

Another classic vintage board game that has remained a current favorite is Scrabble. In this game, up to four players rack up their scores by combining the lettered tiles they have been dealt with letters already on the board to form words. The bigger the word, along with the location on the board determines the score and more points are dished out when the player runs out of tiles first. History.com states that Scrabble comes in nearly thirty languages in over one hundred and twenty countries. Hasbro and Mattel, the two companies with a trademark to Scrabble claims to have sold one hundred and fifty million boxes of Scrabble, ranking it highly on the list of most popular board games. Scrabble was invented in 1938 and manufacturing began in 1948. Much like Monopoly, deluxe, anniversary, and even large print editions of the game have been sold since its creation, but very little has ever been done to change the game's structure.

These are just two examples of the dozens of vintage board games that have become a part of American culture. What separates these two from the pack is their longevity. A long cry from a game that lost popularity as quickly as it burst on to the scene, both Scrabble and Monopoly are vintage board games that most likely aren't going anywhere for a long time and will be sitting on closet shelves and coffee tables across the world for years to come.

Fisher Price was originally founded in 1930. The toys they sold were known for durability, strength of construction, and creativity. Similar to vintage Tonka Toys, the original products were made mostly from steel parts. While encountering some financial success in the early decades of the company, Fisher Price, the company exploded in the late 1950s and 1960s as they released some of their most well known toys that today are vintage gems and highly sought after by collectors.

The Play Family, which would later be known as Little People, was introduced in 1950 but did not gain its mass popularity until the early 1960s. The "Looky Fire Truck" was the first to be released. It was a fire truck with three attached round headed fire men. In 1952 and 1953, the "Super-Jet" and "Racing Rowboat" were released, again with stationary characters inside of each vehicle. In 1959, the Safety School Bus was released. For the first time, it was possible to remove the characters from the bus. These characters had an entirely wooden body and head with a basic painted face. The boys had round eyes while the girls had slanted eyes and eyelashes. Plastic hats and movable plastic arms completed the look. The male Little People had a wider shape while the female Little People had more of a cone shape. A narrow peg on the base of the character allowed it to be placed inside of the school bus, remain stationary, and be easily removed. In 1968, the first Little People Playset was released. The Play Family Barn "moo"ed when the doors were opened. For the first time, the figurines were made of plastic rather than wood. Eventually the five Little People characters were given names and personalities. Eddie, Sarah, Maggie, Michael, and Sonya Lee would even grow to have their own books, movies, and accessories.

A "Friend of Fisher Price" toy that is quickly becoming a vintage favorite is Tickle Me Elmo Extreme. The doll was released in 2006. When "tickled", Elmo rolls around, pounds his fist, giggles, and pleads with the owner to stop. The hype leading to the release of the doll led to immediate emptying of the shelves the morning of September 19, the first day of sales of Tickle Me Elmo Extreme (TMX). The most rare and valuable of the TMX dolls is the doll packaged in the "Top Secret" box and a movable flap to tickle Elmo from inside of the box. While not as old as some of the classic vintage Fisher Price toys, TMX is already a collector’s item and most likely will only increase in value as time progresses.

Other classic vintage Fisher Price toys are the Bubble Mower and the Corn Popper. The Corn Popper is a plastic dome on top of four wheels and a long plastic handle. When pushed or pulled, the brightly colored balls inside of the dome bounce around and make a loud popping noise. The Bubble Mower looks similar to a miniature lawn mower. When it is pushed or pulled across any surface, bubbles come streaming out. These toys were designed for young children and are still manufactured and found in the homes of many children even today.

Mattel is the largest toy company in the world when ranked by revenue. Since its birth in 1945, they have been cranking out toy after toys that have become favorites of children throughout the past seven decades. As Hot Wheels, See 'N Say, Cabbage Patch Kids, and of course Barbie and Ken have survived through generations, the Mattel company has grown into a titan of children's toys that bring excitement to young boys and girls as they tear open their newest toy. That same kind of excitement is stirred in older fans of Mattel toys, along with a nostalgia and longing for younger days as they shop for vintage Mattel toys. The same toys that they may have once bought for a few nickels are now worth up to hundreds of dollars and are eagerly sought after.

Hot Wheels were rolled onto the scene in 1968. Sixteen different cars were released featuring roofs painted black to look like vinyl, redline tires, and a metal collector button. For the time, these model cars were the most accurate replicas available. The collection included muscle cars like the Firebird, Mustang, Camaro, Chevrolet Corvette, historic cars like the Hot Heap which was based on the Model T, to surfer cars such as the Custom Volkswagen and the Deora which was a replica of a Dodge surf truck. The Hot Wheels "Custom Corvette" was actually released as a model car before the car itself was released. The next year another twenty-four varieties of cars were released into toy stores. One of the more popular models was the Volkswagen Beach Bomb. The original release of this car was nearly identical to a life sized VW bus and had two surfboards sticking out the back window. This first model became known as the Rear-Loader Beach Bomb, because the surfboards were placed in the bus from the back. Going back to the drawing board, the Beach Bomb was modified greatly. Side fenders were expanded, the plastic surfboards were moved to the side of the van, and a sunroof was cut in to make the model less top-heavy. Today, the Rear-Loader Beach Bomb is one of the most sought after and highly valued of the Vintage Hot Wheels cars. While a side-loader Beach Bomb is worth up to six hundred dollars, a rear-loader in mint condition sells easily for tens of thousands of dollars. Several years ago, one of only two of the hot pink rear-loaders known to exist sold more a reported figure above seventy thousand dollars, the most expensive known transaction of a single Hot Wheel Car. Hot Wheels continued their production method until 1981. Cars were heavier, more expensive to create, thick axles that kept the car from moving quickly, and minimum suspension. Finally in 1981, several of the problems were corrected, allowing the cars to move more quickly and swiftly on any Hot Wheels track. Mint condition vintage Hot Wheels released before 1981 are considered the most valuable.

Barbie is one of the most well known Mattel toys and vintage Barbie dolls go for high price tags. Originally released on March 9, 1959, the Barbie doll has gone through dozens of changes to body shape, wardrobe, hair styles and more. The original Barbie doll was available as a blonde or brunette, wore a black and white striped bathing suit, a sideways glance, and an adult body, although the legs were shorter than today's Barbie dolls. The same Barbie doll that sold for $3.00 in 1959 sold for $3552.50 on an EBay auction in 2004. In September of 2006, a world record for “Most Expensive Barbie Doll” was set when Barbie in Midnight Red, a 1965 release was sold by two Dutch women for $17,000 in London.

Vintage Mattel toys seem to carry power with their nostalgia. Perhaps because of the longing for youth, the passion for collecting, or maybe just being a fan of the packaging, classic Mattel toys come with massive price tags and obsessive searches.

Tonka Toys was founded in 1946 in Michigan. Originally named Mound Metalcraft, the primary products were metal garden tools with a small toy line of two metal trucks released. After doing poorly in business for nine years, the company changed their name to Tonka in 1955 and began marketing toys exclusively. The name "Tonka" means "great" or "big" in the Sioux language and Tonka has prided themselves on producing stronger and larger toys than the matchbox cars that were popular at the time of Tonka's beginning.

Tonka Trucks are the most recognizable of the Tonka line. The "Mighty Dump Truck" was introduced in 1964. The dump truck was advertised as "Tonka Tough" and "Guaranteed for Life". These marketing slogans have become hooks recognizable with Tonka and still used today. This truck was made entirely of metal and was advertised as indestructible. Over the years, the steel trucks have been phased out and replaced by plastic, but the vintage metal Tonka trucks are synonymous with the memories of many of playing in the garden or sandbox as a young child. The Mighty Dump Truck has a style that has remained mostly unchanged since its release. A yellow truck with thick black tires and a movable bed sitting on hinges is nearly identical to the truck of forty years ago. Because of its durability, the vintage Tonka dump truck can be found on numerous lists of top desirable toys. Until 1991, Tonka continued to release other trucks and tools to accompany the dump truck in the "Mighty Tonka" line. Some of the most common are the Mighty Mobile Crane, the Mighty Bulldozer, the Mighty Construction Set, the Mighty Loader, and the Mighty Dozer. All of these featured the bright Tonka yellow color, durability, strength and features that moved, lifted, dragged, and did the job they claimed to do.

Tonka is also responsible for the Pound Puppies craze that boomed in the mid 1980s. The puppies all featured the classic floppy ears and droopy eyes and a heart stamped "PP" near the tail. One body style, three different types of ears, blue, green, and brown eyes, and six fur colors and patterns were combined to create dozens of different Pound Puppies. Each was sold with a carrying case and an adoption certificate. Following the adoption theme, the dogs were packaged with their heads just sticking out of the doghouse, as if they were actually in a pound waiting to be adopted into a loving home. To help market the sad looking pooches, Tonka launched an animated television show with Hanna-Barbera featuring six of the puppies and giving them personalities. Pound Puppy mania took hold and shelves were quickly emptied as both children and collectors tried to grab each dog as it was released. The line became so popular that it eventually expanded to different animals. Pound Pur-r-ies was a line of kittens that was released with the same trademark heart and PP. Pound Ocean came next, with dolphins, octopus, and crabs available, and then came Pound Ponies. Pound Puppy overload led the line to be discontinued in the late eighties, only to be brought back again in 1996. Because of the high volume of puppies sold, most collector items do not hold a high monetary value. Although a far stretch from the indestructible trucks that Tonka once exclusively marketed, Pound Puppies are a vintage Tonka toy that brings back fond memories.