Pink or blue?

When I was in college, I had to do a senior thesis in my subject area. As a psych major, I was really interested in children's play and the toys that they chose to play with. I did a few studies on it and found that things hadn't changed all that much between the 70s and early 90s...there were definite boy toys and girl toys...and the way the toys were portrayed in tv commercials was very stereotypical (boy toy = loud staccato music, primary colours, kids attacking, girl toy = soft friendly music, soft colours, kids playing on own or together).

And the little kids I studies also tended to play in that way. Boys tended to take just about anything and make it into a weapon. They would either be on their own (though side by side) or aggressively with each other. The girls on the other hand tended to be playing much more quietly and with each other. There seemed to be cooperation. But not all of them...and girls seemed to have more leeway in how they could play. I think this is true in so many areas - women can be very girlie but also have more masculine traits/interests...but guys struggle if they head toward the more fem areas (less so now with our metrosexuals than ever before).

I had been such a tom-boy in my day (still am a bit). I loved to play with balls, in the mud, running around...I only played with my dolls so that I could make things for the doll house (loved tools). I was the antithesis of 'girlie'. I didn't find my more feminine side until much later in life. I still don't have that need to always have the perfect makeup or hair and there are days I forget to put on my jewelry, but I'm still much more interested in clothing and shoes than even a decade ago.

So - what were your toy choices like when you were little? Were you more the girlie girl or a tom-boy or something in-between?