"Here are some classic favorites that will make perfect gifts for creative kids or even for their nostalgic parents"

I think there is a problem if you're getting a gift for a child that is more for yourself or for another parent. Some of these toys ARE classic and timeless that children will of course love, but some? No so much. Why get your child a play rotary phone for example?

I was thinking the same thing Buckspt. Your kid will look at a rotary phone and wonder "what on earth is THAT?"

I love old school toys, but I favorite to give is a Tonka dump truck.

I think, bucksept, that although you make a good point, on this list you can only make that criticism about the phone....everything else IS timeless. However, I have to say I have that phone, bought eons ago for my oldest daughter when she was two. Her now seven year old daughter still loves it. Why? Not because of the dial, she loves the moving googly eyes and the quacky noise it makes when she pulls it! She also loves to talk to an imaginary caller using the handset. So, while I wouldn't pay full price for the now plastic version (mine is wood, except for the plastic dial and handset) I'd buy it again, cheap and used, for a toddler who, trust me, will love it too! The toys that turn out to be favorites can often surprise you, children do have their own ideas, which I think you were saying. But some toys do seem to have very broad appeal, wooden building blocks, for instance, don't ever seem to go out of style. One of the best free toys is any huge box, say from an appliance, they can be colored, windows and doors cut, painted, decorated and used until they get used up. My children surprised me by playing broadly and creatively with things that I thought (with my less creative mind) were sure to have limited appeal.

I got the Chatter Phone for my son when he was 1 (he's now 3). He loved it and understood that it was a phone. He would talk on the phone. He also used blocks, toy cell phones, and remotes as phones. The Chatter Phone can also be pulled along as a pull toy. And the rotary dial makes a ringing sound. Kid's will surprise you.

My 9 months old son is playing with my old Fisher price phone. Originally it was my sister's, she was born July 20th 1969, the day the man landed on the moon...

Are you kidding me? Toddlers love that Fisher Price rotary phone. My three year old still drags it around and we pretend to make phone calls to the president and the grandparents. My older girls are getting Lincoln Logs this year also.

Lincoln log sets are the best. As a child I'd make "pioneer villages" out of them.

I have a pic of me with the phone in 1965.....some toys never go out of style. Lincoln logs are great and I personally still like colorforms.

I just got some vintage fisher price for my daughter (1year) and she is crazy about them : http://homeofbambou.blogspot.be/2012/12/little-vintage-lovers.html

This teaching clock was one of my faves growing up and I can see other kids enjoying it as well
http://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/schylling/retro_fisher_price_teaching_clock.cfm

I wonder why all of you are discussing the phone. For me, the No-Go-Toys are the armymen. War isn't good for a game, it was not fifty years ago and definitely is not now. That's my opinion on this selection of classical toys.

Agreed. Phone is fine! Army men, not so much. Little animals made about the same size would be a good substitute. http://blog.tinafreydesigns.com/2010_11_01_archive.html

I agree--war toys are definitely out of style as far as I am concerned.

As for the rotary phone, my son loves it--but then, he's also into watching episodes of "The Muppet Show" and Mr. Hooper-era "Sesame Street," so maybe he's not the best litmus test of anachronism...

My in-laws got that phone for my son when he was about two. I donated it soon after, also saying that nobody uses a rotary phone anymore. Then we moved in with my parents for a year, they hauled out their boxes of thirty year old toys, and he started playing with the Fisher-Price phone that was once my brother's and mine. It's mostly the pull toy appeal, I think, how it makes noise and rolls its eyes; but he has also pretended to call people on it.

The wooden railway set is a favorite that's not a hand-me-down. Target has some cheap pieces -- $3 a pop for train cars and locomotives. Ikea has a figure-8 rail set for $10, I think, but we have no Ikea in our city.

YES to the Chatter Phone! As a speech pathologist who works with infants and toddlers, I can tell you that the vast majority of little ones today have no trouble going from watching videos on mom/dad's iPhone to chattering away with me in pretend play on the Chatter Phone. (Bonus: pretend phones are a GREAT way to elicit language in little ones!)

Nice selection! Lincoln Logs are great but made in China. Go for Roy Toy instead. They're made in Maine, less expensive AND cooler looking in my humble opinion.