(Images via Nerdgasms and Marvel Comics of the 1980s)
Archive for the 'Christmas Morning' Category
Christmas Morning, 1983: The Saga of Crystar – Crystal Castle (Remco, 1983)
Published November 30, 2015 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , Christmas , Christmas Morning , Fantasy Toys/Playsets , Remco Toys 4 CommentsChristmas Morning, Circa 1981: Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set
Published December 24, 2014 Christmas , Christmas Morning , D&D 2 Comments
Dr. Glaze wins Christmas!
Christmas Morning, 1978: S.T.A.R. Team’s Knight of Darkness
Published December 23, 2014 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , Christmas , Christmas Morning , Ideal Toys , Micronauts , S.T.A.R. Team 4 Comments
Rick Shithouse sent in this shot of him in Torquay, Victoria, Australia on what he believes is Christmas, 1978.
I remember being highly excited as this was my first Star Wars Christmas, and I’m pretty sure I got some action figures and the remote control R2D2. Kind of hard to pick out what else I got that year however, because my birthday’s in early December, so those early years kind of blur between both gift receiving days.
I’m holding an Ideal Knight Of Darkness, which my parents thought was Darth Vader. My disappointment about this when I corrected them is still clearly in my expression…
The Micronauts Aquatron is on the table next to him, and I see Bert and Ernie dolls as well. Pictures of the major prizes, via the Star Wars Collectors Archive and all-things-Micronauts collector Chuck, are below.
Christmas Morning, 1979: Micronauts and Starcruiser 1
Published December 22, 2014 Christmas , Christmas Morning , Make Mine Marvel , Micronauts , Model Kits 3 Comments
Joseph Dickerson has good taste. Everyone knows by now how much I love the Micronauts line (Ken Kelly box art on the Hornetroid), and that’s The Hulk Rage Cage (Fun Stuff, 1978) in the background of the first shot.
Starcruiser was a series proposed in the late 1970s by Gerry Anderson about “an ultra-modern house where a mother, father, and two kids lived. At the touch of a button the house would literally fold into a spaceship. The family would travel around the universe from planet to planet… ” (See here for source and more background.) The series never made it to the air, obviously, but a comic strip of the same name appeared in UK’s Look-In magazine from 1977 to 1979. The writer and author of the strip was David Jefferis, who was working on Usborne’s World of the Unknown and World of the Future series at the same time. (My interview with Mr. Jefferis will run next month.) Airfix’s gorgeous model (1979) was based on the strip.
Christmas Morning, 1962: Marx’s Operation Moon Base
Published December 19, 2014 '60s Decor/Design/Fashion , Christmas , Christmas Morning , Marx Toys/Playsets , Space Race , Space Toys/Playsets Leave a Comment
Found photos of a very influential Marx set I talked about in a different Christmas morning shot. There were space exploration-themed playsets before Operation Moon Base, but this is the one that stuck. Molds from Moon Base would be re-used in different Marx sets (including 1979’s Galaxy Command) for nearly 20 years.
The playset format perfected by Marx dominated until Kenner met Star Wars.
Christmas Morning, 1982: G.I. Joe and Tron
Published December 18, 2014 Christmas , Christmas Morning , G.I. Joe , Pac-Man , Raiders of the Lost Ark , Tomy Toys , Tron 1 Comment
Compulsive Collector (see lots more Christmas toy cheer at the link) patrols the living room on his G.I. Joe Laser Defense Patrol Power Cycle. Coleco released a number of Joe trikes and ride-on vehicles starting in 1982, some of which you can see here.
There’s an empty Tron Light Cycle box on the ground to his right. The Light Cycle (orange) is on his left. In the second photo, he’s holding the Tron action figure and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Read-Along record. You can also see The Pac-Man Album (1980), a two-sided picture disc, playing on a Smurfs record player.
As toy and game vintages go, 1982 was extraordinary.
Christmas Morning, 1983: Cabbage Patch Kids, Return of the Jedi, and Inter-Changeables
Published December 17, 2014 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , Board Games/Tabletop Games , Christmas , Christmas Morning , Garfield , Micronauts , Star Wars (Original Trilogy) 2 Comments
The happy kid has diverse tastes, and a sleeping bag (Cabbage Patch Kids for summer, Return of the Jedi for winter?) for every occasion. I think she’s wearing a Care Bears sweater.
Between ROTJ and the Garfield trash can is the Centipede (1983) board game. In a fascinating, sometimes clever, yet ultimately desperate attempt to compete with the new gaming paradigm, Milton Bradley released a number of board games based on popular (and not so popular) video games well into the ’90s, including Berserk and Zaxxon.
I don’t know what the C.A.R.P. box is. There’s a bird feeder kit in the trash can.
UPDATE: Thank you, Bradley Conrad, who figured out that C.A.R.P. is a Biotron clone (Cosmic Android Robot Probe) from the Inter-Changeables line. The Inter-Changeables were post-Mego and not technically Micronauts, although many of the molds are identical. Innerspace Online has the line being released around 1985, but I’m almost positive the photo above is from 1983. (Box images below are via Hake’s.) The title of this post has been updated to reflect Bradley’s great find.
(First image via eBay)
Christmas Morning, 1977: Batman’s Wayne Foundation, Star Hawk, and Super Joe Rocket Command Center
Published December 15, 2014 Batman , Christmas , Christmas Morning , Mego , Spider-Man , Super Joe Leave a Comment
Dusty Abell—holy shirtless wonder, Batman!—sent in this beauty last week. He says:
Best guess would be December 25, 1977. Star Wars [toys] had yet to hit, otherwise I’m sure we’d be seeing the Falcon and Star Wars figures in the shot! Ideal’s Star Team came out immediately following the release of Star Wars and filled the gap until those toys hit the following year.
Toys seen include Mego’s Batman’s Wayne Foundation, The Amazing Spider-Car, Batcopter, and Batman and Spidey figures; Ideal’s Star Hawk and Zem 21 (from the S.T.A.R. Team line); Hasbro’s Super Joe Commander and the Super Joe Rocket Command Center (see both here); and the Tomland Star Raiders figure Yog (between Batman and Spidey).
Try not to be too envious of Dusty’s righteous haul, people. He grew up to be a talented artist who focuses on geek pop culture of the ’70s and ’80s—so he’s giving back to the community! See a couple of my favorite works below (click to enlarge), and then check out lots more at his DeviantArt gallery.
Christmas Morning, 1980: Star Wars, Star Snoopy, and Mr. Mouth
Published December 12, 2014 Board Games/Tabletop Games , Christmas , Christmas Morning , Colorforms , Fisher-Price , Kenner Toys , Star Wars (Original Trilogy) 1 Comment
That’s Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer Playset under the Land of the Jawas Playset. Among the figures you can see the Hoth Stormtrooper, my third favorite ESB figure after the AT-AT Driver and Hoth Han. Hoth Luke is also there.
Two items I’d forgotten about are Star Snoopy Colorforms (1979) and Tomy’s Mr. Mouth (1976).
There were a couple of different versions of Mr. Mouth, one featuring a green frog as the centerpiece, the other featuring a dopey yellow guy. The dopey yellow guy is the one I remember, but I could only find a commercial for the frog version. The yellow figure was later repurposed as a Pac-Man bank, seen below via the 1982 Tomy catalog. I got Pocket Pac-Man as a stocking stuffer in ’81 or ’82, but I never did get Mr. Mouth.
I also had the Fisher-Price Play Family Fun Jet, seen at the far left of the original photo.
(Christmas morning photo via the Rebel Scum forums)
Christmas Morning Home Video, 1980: Hot Wheels Wipeout and Star Wars Toys
Published December 10, 2014 Christmas , Christmas Morning , Home Video , Hot Wheels , Kenner Toys , Star Wars (Original Trilogy) 3 Commentshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emh6OR8fBPU
The Kenner Star Wars/The Empire Strikes Back stuff starts at 2:43. Brother and sister demo the Wipeout set at 4:04.
The mother of all Christmas morning Star Wars videos is here.
2 Warps to Neptune 