I was tagged by Brian A. of
Yesterville Toyroom to do a Top 10 Favorite Childhood Christmas Gifts post. No easy task!
Here's what I came up with after many revisions and a few edits too:
10) 90cc Kawasaki:
One Christmas, I think I was 11 or 12, my Dad got it in his head that it's be cool for me to have a Motorcycle - even though he was notoriously accident prone on motorcycles, we lived where it snowed so I couldn't ride it until Spring, we lived in a residential area where I could not legally ride it at all, and my dad is notoriously anti-outdoorsy so the likelihood of us going somewhere so I could ride it were zero. But he had a friend paint flames on the tank and a helmet so it looked cool and that was cool enough for him.
That Spring he tried to teach me how to ride it and on the first ride up the road he pulled the front brake as I went into a turn. I remember his head (un-helmeted) smacking against my helmet as we slid (slowly) into the turn. We came out of it fine, but Mom was now even less thrilled than when he concocted the whole motorcycle idea in the first place.
Sufficed to say we didn't ride it much after that. The neighbor teenager helped me ride it a few more times, but the novelty of it soon lost it's luster since there were so many rules and schedules to coordinate before I could even ride it. But I have great quirky memories, and that's what Christmas is all about!
9) Slot Cars:
Being a hot-rod family meant there were always slot cars and track in our house. Christmas often meant new track or new vehicles. Often we would replace the iconic "train around the Christmas tree" with a slot-car race around the Christmas tree. The only thing funner than zipping those little cars around their electric track is hauling ass towards a turn at full speed and watching those little cars fly off at a hundred miles an hour!
8) Sectaurs Prince Dargon and the Dragonflyer:
I really enjoyed the Sectaurs when they came out, and the piece-de-resistance was Prince Dargon and his Dragonflyer! I loved the "puppet" angle of the ride-on beasts. Dragonflyer's wings also flapped and you could manipulate his jaws with your fingers as you emulated his legs with the rest of your hand. Cool!
7) AT-AT:
When it comes to original Star Wars playsets or vehicles, none were cooler than the All Terrain Armored Transport, or AT-AT! I remember getting to open an early Christmas present the year I got my AT-AT. I chose my sister's present - it was the AT-AT Commander. Later, when Santa delivered the AT-AT I couldn't believe I was so lucky my older sister picked the perfect companion figure - and neither could anyone else in my family! Christmas is magical like that ;)
6) Tyco Train Sets:
Like slot cars, there were always Tyco train sets at my house. I loved setting the trains up in my basement and leaving them up all year long - so many toys had adventures on my trains, from Tonto to MUSCLE to Tron - they all took a ride on the Bubba express!
5) Tron action figures/Light Cycles:
Speaking of Tron - the year the movie came out I got the entire action figure set and both light cycles! The figures were an awesome transluscent plastic and their disks (or staff) all glowed in the dark. The light Cycles were amazingly cool - they held a Tron figure and hauled ass with help from a zip-cord. The shape of the Light Cycle allowed them to fly off the curb, go into a front roll, land on their wheels, and speed away at light speed! I had so much fun with those Light Cycles!
4) Transformers Trypticon:
I couldn't decide if this slot should hold Trypticon or Metroplex. Both were equally awesome, but Tyrpticon's motorized walking ability tipped him over Metroplex. I remember every Christmas I would stealthily peel back the tape of my Christmas presents to see what they were before Christmas. My Mom caught on and started placing my presents into dark Hefty bags beofre wrapping so I couldn't see what was in them.
Trypticon was so large he was placed against the wall, and knowing he wouldn't be moved until I opened him Christmas day, I decided to just rip a huge "window" out of the paper in back and see what was inside, replacing the box against the wall, window side in. It worked, and when I got up Christmas morning Trypticon was the first present I opened - being sure to begin tearing him open from where he sat ;)
No one was the wiser.
3) World's Greatest Monsters Rodan:
I had this giant Rodan terrorizing every toy I owned for years. You held him by finger holes in his back and by shaking him up and down his wings would "flap." His jaw cranked open by way of a lever behind his head, and his claws clamped shut with help of a couple rubber bands. This guy was huge and awesome.
2) Castle Greyskull:
The coolest playset of my generation, Castle Greyskull had it all. A trap door, an elevator, a weapons rack chock full of extra weapony goodies, a lockable "jaw-bridge" and it was A CASTLE THAT LOOKED LIKE A SKULL! What more could a kid want?
I remember one year my Mom and I flew to California to visit Grandma and Grandpa. I wanted to take Castle Greyskull and all my figures, so I wrapped it in tape and off we went. It was too big to be a carry-on, so I reluctantly handed it over as luggage. You should have seen the airport patrons at the other end when in the midst of Samsonite and Sears luggage a Castle Greyskull popped onto the rotating conveyor belt - no worse for wear I might add.
1) '77 Schwinn Competition Scrambler:
I got this bike on Christmas 1980 - my first bicycle. I still have it and I still ride it. I've ridden this thing to school in the snow, on dirt tracks, in fields and in cities. I've crashed into my Dad's work truck with it, ridden it with mismatched pedals after Dad backed into it (entirely his fault,) used the kick stand EVERY TIME even though all my friends threw their bikes down and leaped off them thanks to Dad's insistence that I always use the kick stand and I keep it nice (Thanks Dad!) I've polished it and re-packed the bearings and changed the tires and the chain and the tubes and the seat and lost the original pads and maintained the original grips and I love my Scrambler more than any toy I have ever owned.
Merry Christmas everyone - I hope 2009 brings you and yours as many wonderful memories as Christmases past!
Be sure to check out Brian A's
Yesterville Top 10and Brian B's
What My Dad Saw Top 10and hopefully soon Charles will post his
Eclectorama Top 10 :)
If anyone already has these let me know what you think - I will only pick up SS if he detaches from that base he's shown on (which is why Captain America is an easy pass - he appears stuck on that lame disk launcher!)
...and a hungry lion?
Which will it be, heads...or tails?
Tune in next time for the daring conclusion...
Cyborg is another DC Infinite Heroes figure from the Mallah's Revenge Walmart exclusive set. A great figure, Cyborg uses the bulkier Hawkman/Bizarro body and has a uniquely sculpted collar, head, belt and forearms.
Cyborg is a great addition to the DCIH line and, as with most exclusives, it's a shame he's not more readily available.
The Mallah's Revenge set came with Cyborg, Monsieur Mallah, The Brain, Raven, Robin and Arsenal. Don't worry, I'll get around to blogging about Arsenal soon.
SOG: FT is a 3-D racing game and it's pretty fun and challenging. You can choose from one of five character themed vehicles, each of which performs a little differently. Because I loves me some Wildcat, I selected Wildcat's motorcycle.
The cool thing is, this motorcycle performs like you would expect - nice in a straight line but forget about handling in a turn! I also enjoy the fact that there is some "real" physics in the game - for instance, you cannot turn in mid air. If you hit a bump, you won't be able to steer until you hit the ground. And you will catch air!
There are six tracks of various terrain. I'm sure there is some strategy to choosing a certain vehicle/character for a certain track, but so far I'm just running through and coming in last, trying to get the hang of it all.
But I'm having fun! Here's the Batmobile wrecking out next to me. Hahah, just get yer learner's permit, ya' durned whipper-snapper?
Kanjar Ro is currently the predominant peg warmer for The Brave and The Bold figure line. If your local toy or big-box store sells these figures, chances are they have at least three of this guy hanging about.
Not because of the quality of the figure. He's as good as any in the line. He looks just like his cartoon counterpart and has a spiffy laser gun to boot. I just think he's a little out-there as far as a character kids would recognize or want, especially in a "Batman" toy line.
Kanjar Ro is very space alien/monsterish, and that isn't the general vibe the show puts off. I know he's made an appearance or two, but kids are probably much more excited to get colorful familiar villains and heroes and not pale would-be alien conquerors.
I think these Batman The Brave and The Bold action figures retail for about $7.99. Not the best deal in town, but not the worst. They are a good size, not too small and fragile, not too large and...fragile (DCUC I'm looking at you!) Sturdy enough for play, and the hex-hole play feature, while not the best for a character like Aquaman for instance, works pretty well with Kanjar Ro and his laser blaster accessory. The more of these figures I get (I have three now,) the more I like them, and I know I'll be getting more as the line progresses.
Aw man! I've been dodging this Imaginext line since it came out. I love them, and I can't tell you how many times I've held the Mr. Freeze in my hands only to say "not ANOTHER toyline to obsess about! Put it back this instant!" I do have the Joker, but I found him at the swap meet so he doesn't count. ;)
Next up is Gentleman Ghost. This figure appears to be made of clear plastic and actually has GG's ghostly visage instead of his typical headless appearance.
Finally we have B'Wana Beast. I have this guy in JLU form, and would just LOVE to have him in his Brave and the Bold version too.
Black and red always looks good together, and this Cobra Para-Viper looks set for some night time stealth HALO jumps! The color scheme is also extremely subtle, and although the Cobra insignia are there, this figure could be played with in any number of toylines without standing out at all. Don't get me wrong, I liked the original's purples and blues, but this figure just comes across as so much more menacing!
Para-Viper is packed to the gills with details that I hadn't realized were there when I first saw him in the anniversary figure line-up. One addition that surprised me to discover and is particularly keen is a set of flippers:
The flippers stow away behind his calves and can be attached to his feet for water jumps!
Man, how cool is that?! I particularly like this detail because one of the few original G.I. Joes I had as a kid was Torpedo. So I can kind of reminisce with this guy...not in the bathtub though. I'm a grown man. That'd be weird. Ahem.
The red lens goggles are removable from his helmet, and the helmet is removable from the Para-Viper's head.
In fact, everything is removable. There is so much playability in this one figure it's uncanny! In addition to his built in coolness, I can't stop thinking about how Bruce Wayne got to Hong Kong in The Dark Knight, and if I was still a kid this figure would substitute for a HALO jumping Bruce as well as a pre-cowl Bruce. But only if I was still a kid, because saying your Cobra Para-Viper is really Bruce Wayne would be weird. Because I'm a grown man. Ahem.
In addition to all the stuff that comes strapped to 
This is of course Tim Drake as Robin in his later costume, right before Damian Wayne took over as Robin and Tim adopted the guise of Red Robin.
I don't know if, after the return of Bruce Wayne, this costume will come back or if it will never be seen again, but it is one of my favorite looks for Robin. It's simple and streamlined, and reminiscent of the Batman Animated Tim Drake.
The best part about this Robin is that he is scaled to appear young. He looks real good next to the DCIH Batman, youthful without looking like a shrunken adult.
Maybe too youthful, as this costume appeared in Drake's later years as Robin, but I will take a Robin looking too youthful than a Robin looking like a man in his twenties any day.
In fact, Robin looks great next to any DCIH figure -- including his predecessor Jason Todd.
