20 replies to this topic

[mimoman]

Any of you guys have or collect math counters? They were often little plastic blocks and cubes that schools used to teach counting, but sometimes they'd be small animals or other cool little dudes.

 

When I was somewhere between 7 or 9 I remember fishing this little hippo professor out of the garbage at my school's library. Still have him, too.

 

Edited by mimoman, 04 March 2016 - 06:13 AM.

[BladeRunner]

We just used beans and bottlecaps...

[fkro6784]

I recently got some pretty sweet little dino counters in a trade.

 

 

 dinocounters.jpg   117.8K   2 downloads

[redspook]

I recently got some pretty sweet little dino counters in a trade.

 

 

dinocounters.jpg

i had those in elementary in the early 90's! i remember playing with a dino checkers set too with similar dinos:

https://boardgamegee...0/dino-checkers

[mimoman]

i had those in elementary in the early 90's! i remember playing with a dino checkers set too with similar dinos:

https://boardgamegee...0/dino-checkers

Haha, that's so cool. I love the volcano pieces so that your fallen dinos and t-rexes can watch from afar.

 

Adding dinosaurs really does make everything better.

 

I (used to?) have a purple stegosaurus with that some mold, had no idea where he was from.

Edited by mimoman, 04 March 2016 - 07:12 AM.

[bigazzhead]

I think there is a company that has some dinos and they look like they used the Diener molds. I still haven't ordered a set I'll need to see if I could find it again.

[steverotters]

Man, we used cereal pieces.  My younger sister's class got to use Skittles and M&Ms.  Actual toys must be a 90s thing.  Because, ohmagerd, we can't give kids candy or cereal or any food at school.

[mimoman]

I guess math counters are more of a generational thing than I assumed. I figured everyone would remember this kinda stuff:

 

[bronchuseven]

I had one of those green bears!

[BaltanII]

I guess math counters are more of a generational thing than I assumed. I figured everyone would remember this kinda stuff:

 

Mom's pre-K class has a bunch of counting pieces, including those exact bears in one size, so it's not something that's gone away. They definitely existed in the late 80s or early 90s, as I remember them vividly from elementary school (including your hippo guy), but not sure if they were any earlier than that.

[Draznar]

Canadian schools must be poor as shit because my kid cuts out shapes and I don't remember using any kind of counters at all.

[steverotters]

My favorite counters are my fingers.  But sometimes I run out of fingers and I have to use my toes. 

[EpicusFuror]

Edited by EpicusFuror, 04 March 2016 - 11:51 PM.

[phantomeye]

Wow, those cool little animal dudes probably would have gotten me in trouble.  I would have been pocketing them! 

Hippo Prof would go well with some animal themed Minikins or Cheap Toys...

[bachamn]

I've linked to these before, but initially didn't know they were counters. Most appear to be based on Diener dino sculpts from the 80's. I have a set that I cobbled together from eBay lots before realizing they were sold complete on Amazon

 

 

http://www.amazon.co...inosaur counter

[bronchuseven]

Those look amazing - are they hard plastic or PVC?

[bachamn]

the ones I have are rubber, very MIMP-like. I can't speak for the ones sold currently on Amazon (I imagine these have been sold for a while, based on some of the lots I found some of mine in) but they look to be the same colors so I'd imagine it's likely they are the same consistency.

[mimoman]

That's interesting, bachamn. All the math counters I've ever seen are hard plastic. When I was a kid, any toy soft at that size would likely get mistaken for an eraser.

[steverotters]

Learning Resources make a bunch of different sets.  With these bugs, for example, you get 72 for $16. 

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[bachamn]

When I was a kid, any toy soft at that size would likely get mistaken for an eraser.

As it should be

[ironmask]

That purple tarantula is tee-eye-tee-ess.