With Christmas getting ever so closer, let’s take a break from everyday life to remember some of our favorite old Christmas gifts. I’m listing five of mine here for you to check out, but please, drop some of your favorites in the comments at the bottom!
Castle Grayskull
I’ve got a feeling I got this in 1984 since it probably wouldn’t have been like my old man to buy it in 1983 when my fandom was just blossoming for all things He-Man. He generally liked to wait until he was sure I was really into something before dropping a lot of dough on it. But what kid out there who was lucky enough to get this for Christmas wouldn’t enjoy it? I know I flipped for it. I’ve got an old polaroid of me just after opening it, and I’m crying. They had to be tears of joy. But this was the highlight of my Christmas that year, and countless battles were fought around, in, and for Castle Grayskull in the following months and years.
Cobra Terrordrome
You’ll remember that I rambled on in-depth on the Terror Drome back when I described my mega haul of Christmas toys from 1986, so I won’t add much here, except to say that this was the largest piece I had in my assortment of G.I. Joe toys. With G.I. Joe being both my favorite toy and cartoon at the time, it was a huge deal for me to get such an important piece of the toy puzzle with this thing. I absolutely loved this thing and used it for so much of my G.I. Joe play. It was also very handy when it came to having wrestling matches with my figures too. Forget War Games, I was having Terror Drome matches. The REAL most dangerous match in the world.
G.I. Joe Tomahawk
Also from Christmas morning of 1986, the Tomahawk would also go on to see a ton of playtime in all of my G.I. Joe battles. The Joe side of the battle had plenty of vehicles, and with the exception of the Whale Hovercraft, this was my favorite one. I never owned the hovercraft myself, so this was the best thing I owned on that side of the fence.
Super NES Super Set
I was a Nintendo guy. I had friends who were Sega guys, but this old boy was firmly in the Nintendo camp. I played Nintendo daily, so when this thing came out, it was all I could think about asking for in the 1991 Christmas season. It was touch and go on whether I would actually get one or not. My brother kept telling me that I wasn’t getting one because my Dad’s line of thinking was that I already had a Nintendo, so why would I need a new one? But it turned out that was just a ruse, because on Christmas morning, there it was under the tree. Of course, it went on to see hundreds or thousands of hours of playtime, and it still ranks as my favorite video game system of all time.
DC Comics Silver Age Classics Box Set
I got this set in 1992…right at the beginning of my comic fandom zenith. I was soaking up whatever comics I could find like a sponge, so my Mom thought I would like this set. It featured old stories, so it would have to be worth something she thought. Well, in monetary value, she was wrong. But in pure enjoyment, she couldn’t have been more right. I was over the top with excitement at the fact that I could now read some of the most important stories in the history of the DC Universe. It was a twelve-issue set and featured reprints of the issues that featured the first appearances of the JLA, Flash, Green Lantern, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and Swamp Thing. It also featured the first team-up of Green Lantern and Green Arrow, as well as the first appearance of the “new look” Batman. Who knew you could put such a price on happiness?
Well, there’s some of my favorites Christmas presents from through the years. Be sure to share some of yours in the comments.
Nice gets!