Top 10 Favorite Childhood Christmas Gifts

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 10

and Brian B's What My Dad Saw Top 10

and hopefully soon Charles will post his Eclectorama Top 10 :)

SCORE!

Went out of my way to hit up Target tonight, just to see if I could find some of the Imaginext single packs a few folks have been whispering about in toy forum circles.

Well, Booyah boys and goils:



I snagged Mr. Freeze (who I have been eying ever since he popped up in his original pack with some sort of refrigeration unit,) Batman in black and grey, and Two-Face!

The only other single pack figures that were there was the Penguin, whom I left for another day and the Joker, whom I already own.

They are $3.99 each. I think a better value would be $2.99, but not a bad deal for a figure and an accessory. You get more plastic from these than with DCIH, so there's a better value already!

So now I'm officially collecting Batman themed Imaginext toys. Tune in soon when I have these bad boys opened up and set up with my old school Fisher-Price circus train!

Oh yeah, and then there's this coming soon which I just heard about today (picture stolen from eBay:)



I'm screwed.

By the way, I'm pretty sure that "3-8" means "38," which gives me a few more years to enjoy these before I'm too old ;)

Get on your bad motorscooter and ride

ActionFigurePics.com just posted some...well...action figure pics (surprise surprise) and one little set really caught my eye:


Bucky Barnes as Captain America, with a gun and a cutesy motorcycle. What's not to love? I can't wait to find this set, which will probably be hitting stores early next year. When I do find it, it'll look keen next to my Super Hero Squad Ghost Rider!

Campbell's: Mmm, mmm, vengance.

Back in 2005, Spaghettios offered a free Batman action figure with a few proofs-of-purchase and a shipping and handling fee or something (okay, I don't remember all the details - but I have the Batman to prove it!)

The figure offered was an exclusive camo Batman from the then running The Batman cartoon show. I'm a sucker for free toys and Spaghettios, so I jumped!

The figure arrived in a plain cardboard box...

But inside was contained in a really nifty Campbell's soup looking box. Andy Warhol would be proud.

I don't remember if the offer was exclusive to Spaghettios, or if they accepted soup labels as well, but it's funny and cool how they up-play the Campbell's angle. The back does mention Spaghettios though.

The figure is the same as any Batman figure available at the time...including the much maligned "non-removable batarang" feature. Note to those bitching about the hex-holes on Batman: The Brave and the Bold toys, Mattel will soon release them without. They did it with The Batman; first releasing Batman with this action feature only, and then later releasing him without it. Mark my words: If anyone follows decades old patterns in toy manufacturing, it's Mattel.

What made this figure different and exclusive to this offer is his camo detailing. Now I am all for variant Batman figures, as long as said variants make sense to the character. This camo detailing does so in my book. It's not your atypical army type camo either, it's more of a blues and greys urban/night camo, and I can imagine Batman using it on a mission into Gotham City's version of Central Park to defeat a nefarious plan set forth by Poison Ivy.

So when I heard about this mail-away offer, I went out and bought the pre-requisite cans of Spaghettios, ate them, and sent away for my toy. I assume there must have been a shipping and handling fee, or else I would probably own more than one. Because then Spaghettios = free toy. But since I had to buy Spaghettios AND pay for the figure, I stopped at one; because Spaghettios + money = I ate some Spaghettios and bought a toy. Not nearly as satisfying as scenario #1, but still satisfying.

I remember the fanboy chatter back then about The Batman toyline and how all Batman figures had this non-removable batarang. "Collectors" frothed at the mouth because it didn't come off and therefore was more "toy" than "collectible" and probably pushed too far into the realm of manhood questioning for their comfort. I for one didn't mind it (nor do I mind the hex-holes on Brave and the Bold figures) because they ARE TOYS and I can appreciate the attempt on the toy manufacturers to produce something exciting and new for kids to enjoy.

In fact, not only does the batarang extend, but it retracts too, making for a fun little climbing feature for Batman to enjoy.

I liked a lot of the toys from The Batman, and this one is no exception. I don't know how HTF, limited or rare these are, but I love mine and am glad he's part of my collection.

Oh yeah: cloth capes = WIN!

Turtles Forever

I had heard about this Turtles Forever movie a while ago, but not having cable, I was unable to catch it on first airing. I have been meaning to track it down on the internet ever since, and finally sat down tonight to throw my eyes at it.

Cowabunga dudes, this has got to be one of the most entertaining Turtle adventures ever!

Maybe I am biased, having been a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for decades. Black and White Eastman and Laird comics? Check. Watched the original cartoon when it first aired? Check. Read the Archie comics based on the cartoon turtles? Check. Saw the first movie in the theatre? Check. Saw the second movie in the theatre? Check. Saw the third movie in the theatre...sorry, no. Playmates toys from every era? Check. Watched many episodes of the most recent Turtles cartoons? Check. Saw the most recent CGI animated movie in the theatre? Check.

So based on that checklist I think I can say Turtles Forever is an absolute BLAST! It had me grinning from ear to ear throughout...and if you don't absolutely fall out of your chair with giddy excitement at 4:12 of Part 7, then you have no soul.

Okay, enough talk. If you haven't seen it already do yourself a HUGE favor and watch it now:

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4:


Part 5:


Part 6:


Part 7:


Part 8:


Part 9:

You Gotta' Have Friends...

Another of my birthday presents came from my little sister in the form of three JLU Super Friends!

First up is Black Vulcan.

Pretty much a rip off of Black Lightning, I must say that I really do like Black Vulcan's costume more than Black Lightning's. I think it's the "ears." Yellow on black is a nice color scheme too.

Next up is Apache Chief. Apache Chief is cool, and probably my favorite of the made for TV Super Friends.

I loved his power to grow humongous. That's a keen power. "Apache Chieeeef!"

And finally comes the weather powered Samurai.

Samurai is really cool too, but a nice custom tornado shaped bottom-half would really liven this guy up.

Each of these figures are well sculpted and nicely detailed, but still as simple as one has grown accustomed to with the Justice League animated line of action figures. Yesterday's diatribe was sparked in part by this set. I picked it up with my little sister when she took me birthday shopping on Black Friday. It was on sale at Target for $11.99. A good deal. Three brand new never-before-seen characters for a fair price.

The Batman, Amanda Waller, General Eiling set was there too, and not worth my (or my sister's) $11.99 for two new figures and another Batman. The Superman, Wonder Woman and Blackhawk set was also there and it was not worth the price for one new figure and two repeats. Mattel and Target got me to buy one set at $11.99. I (and by "I" I mean my sister) spent more than that on a Hasbro product that day.

So:
1) Mattel is on the ball when they sell us a three pack with all new figures and:
2) Target is on the ball at an $11.99 price point. Let's not forget:
3) I was able to find this set. Only once so far, that being the time I bought it. The other two sets were in quantities of 1 each as well.

Those three instances serendipitously collided with this set, titled, ironically, the "Fan Collection 3 Pack."

Doc Brown goes car shopping...

...and settles on this:

This is the '81 DeLorean DMC-12, a 2010 new model from Hotwheels.

Nearly as cool as the Johnny Lightning DeLorean time machine from a few years back, this is your basic DeLorean pre Flux Capacitor.

This little bad boy is just screaming for all sorts of Back to the Future customizations. I will be picking up more and doing at least a 1950s version with white walls and radio tubes on the hood someday. Oh, and some train wheels to slip this puppy onto some HO scale track for damn sure. Then I'll get a train to push it around the track. Heavy!

Where's the Mr. Fusion? This little Hotwheel even has an opening rear hatch.

Hello! McFly!!! The DeLorean D-12 is a seriously cool Hotwheel, even without the time machine components.

Silly Geeks, Toys are for Kids!

Fellow blogger Tim Brannan of The Other Side Blog just posted about his Thanksgiving, and how his brother busted out a bunch of their old toys and gave them to Tim's kids to play with.

Yes, to play with.

He didn't hit up eBay, or put them under a glass shelf, or toss them out on the lawn with other garage sale fodder, or (much to my chagrin) ask me what my address was so he could send them to me...

(...sigh...)

...no, he gave them to his little boys to play with, so that the magic could start anew.

Somewhere in Chicago there are a couple of very lucky young boys playing with these:

G1 Transformers Ultra Magnus, Blaster, Sideswipe, Perceptor, Sludge, Grapple, and some parts to Megatron and Galvatron.

And a ton of original Dungeons and Dragons figures and beasts. I don't know these guys names, although I did have the frog dudes as a kid. UPDATE: Thanks to Tim, I can now name all these guys: "The D&D toys are from left to right:Skeleton Warrior, Hook Horror, Tiamat, Umber Hulk, Chimera, Roper (behind the Chimera), Ogre, another Skeleton Warrior, Troll, an Orc (in front), a goblin, a Bullywug (the frog dude) and a neo-otyguh."

And the collective collector universe let out a gasp, yet somehow everything seems a little more "right" in the Universe today.

The thought of Tim's kids playing with such groovy stuff from my generation's childhood made me think about my own kids, and how I have influenced their choices in playthings - although it's a little different for me since I have daughters, the influence is still there:



Of course, should your kids tire of any of that stuff any time soon you know who to call, right Tim? ;)