Essay
Toys I Never Had: Fireball Island
Fireball Island was the legendary board game I never owned, a plastic mountain of danger and adventure that lived only in catalogs and my imagination. [Continue Reading]
Toys
Retro Ramblings
Toys I Never Had: Lazer Tag
Lazer Tag was the toy that felt just out of reach, close enough to touch but never fully mine. Even holding Bobby’s set couldn’t match the adventure I imagined every time I saw it on the shelf. [Continue Reading]
Retro Ramblings
The Dreadnoks Could Have Been My Uncles
The Dreadnoks were more than Cobra figures to me. They were wild, familiar faces that looked like my uncles, and they turned my bedroom floor into the rowdiest battlefield of my childhood. [Continue Reading]
Retro Ramblings
In Defense of American Defense Action Figures
Back in the early 1980s, when the world was still lit by the glow of Saturday morning cartoons and the [Continue Reading]
Retro Ramblings
Those Alf Hand Puppets From Burger King
Back in the late 1980s, when fast food promotions were practically a second currency for kids, Burger King rolled out [Continue Reading]
Special Feature
Highlights From the 1990 JC Penny Christmas Catalog
In my neck of the woods, the Christmas season always officially kicked off with the arrival of the yearly Sears [Continue Reading]
Retro Ramblings
When I Got Prince Adam For Christmas
Christmas morning, 1984. I was six years old, still in footie pajamas, hair sticking up in every direction, eyes wide [Continue Reading]
Retro Ramblings
The Masters of the Universe
I still remember the first time I laid eyes on He-Man. It wasn’t on TV. It wasn’t in a comic [Continue Reading]
Retro Ramblings
I Thought Hit Stix Would Make Me Popular
In my elementary school years in the late-’80s, I wasn’t one of the “popular” kids. While I had friends, and [Continue Reading]
Retro Ramblings
King of the Castle
The photo above is of the classic LEGO set King’s Castle. It plays a pivotal role in this tale as [Continue Reading]