In my elementary school years in the late-’80s, I wasn’t one of the “popular” kids. While I had friends, and was in several small cliques based on interests like trading cards, pro wrestling fans, and Nintendo gamers, I wasn’t “in” with the cool kids. You know, those kids who got to have, and got invited to, birthday parties at Showbiz Pizza, or trips to the mall to hang out on Saturdays.
Even after stealing the show at the Basketball Shootout in 1988, I wasn’t able to break through the glass ceiling to the upper echelon of the social ranks of fourth grade. I tried a lot of tactics with no success, but in late 1988 I saw a commercial for the one thing that was sure to change my social fortunes…Hit Stix!
Hit Stix were the product of Nasta and Radio Shack that debuted in the late-’80s. They were comprised of two drum stix with wires running from them to a little “amplifier” that you could clip onto your belt. The unique feature and draw of the toy was that you didn’t have to hit the sticks on anything to make a sound. You simply had to strike the air with them to produce a snare drum sound. You’ve heard of playing “air guitar”? Hit Stix would allow you to play “air drums”!
Hit Stix were a technical marvel for the time and came in a sweet orange and yellow color scheme. How could they not change a young man’s fortunes?
I wanted these things so much. I would lay around and daydream about being the coolest kid in school if I had them. I envisioned myself walking through the halls, playing a radical solo, with lots of girls following me and talking about how cool I was. I even joined the school band and chose to play percussion, just in the hope that the band director would let me play Hit Stix instead of an actual snare drum.
Can you imagine the reaction you would get if you could rip off a rad Wipeout solo in the hallway between classes? you would be the first one invited to those cool parties and trips to the mall.
The flaw in all of this is that back in 1988 they cost $20, and my old man was not the type to spend that kind of money on this kind of toy. I had to continue to be cool only in my dreams and not in real life as I never did get my hands on Hit Stix. Without Hit Stix, I had to rely on my geeky comic book and pro wrestling knowledge to impress people. And in case you’re wondering, not many people were impressed by that stuff.
But who knows? Maybe if I had gotten them, life would have taken me in a different direction and I wouldn’t be here sharing this story with all of you today.
Ha. I remember these. I wonder if the masses of Neil Pert ‘Air Drummers’ had an intimate knowledge of these things too?
My brother got Hit Stix for Christmas one year. As you can imagine, they were fun to play with for about ten minutes and then it got old. You had to sort of swing the stick down, and then back up a bit, to register the hit so it didn’t come across so much like drumming as it did maracas.
Many years later, my brother did get into drumming and was very successful at it. I don’t think Hit Stix played a part however. 🙂
Fun story.