I cannot believe how xmas has changed.

[BAD MERC]

I remember when I was a kid I played with Legos and Erector sets and Lincoln Logs that I got when I was even younger. When I got my first Atari, I was pretty sure that life was now complete. That was 25 - 30 years ago and i will remember every moment. I believed in Santa and asked for modest stuff. I got clothes and socks and accepted them but the toys were the best. Here we are in 2006 - we have spoiled teenage kids that have parents that will camp out for three days to buy a PS3, or buy one online for up to $30,000. Yes - it was verified that some clown bought a PS3 for $30 large! Now we have kids that commit felonies at the age of seven. 13 year-old moms. Kids that beat up their parents and marriages that have a 75% failure rate. I loved way back then - when toys exercised your imagination and creativity. When you had to think. You used your imagination and you appreciated everything you had. Now, I am kinda glad that I don't have kids. they WOULD NOT get a PS3 or XBOX as gifts. They might get their first $300 beater car (but not a $70,000 BMW). They might get their first first $100 dirt bike to learn on. It would take them outside and give them something to do besides sit on their fat ass and whine about what they DON'T have. Man I hate xmas. What is your favorite toy from childhood? Name a few things that will bring us ALL back. Anyone remember the "Merlin"? How about the "Spirograph"?

[Donny Carlson]

I bought a Merlin for my girlfriend back in '78 when it came out. Cool toy. Primative by today's standards, but it was fun at the time...

http://www.handhelden.com/others/Merlin-45.jpg

I also had a Sprigraph as a kid. Never really got into it like some of my friends did.

My favorite toys as a kid? I got a cool Lionel train layout my dad set up on a big sheet of plywood in the basement. This was the O Gauge trains, too, the big honkers. A few years later I got a slot car track, also set up on a big sheet of plywood, that my brothers and I spend countless hours playing with. As I got older, I got a chemistry set that was great, had a big book of experiments so you could make cool stinky things.

But, hands down, the all time best Chritmas present? Christmas of 1968, the year of the first moon orbit on Christmas eve, I got a Honda K50 Mini trial bike.... just like this one...

http://www.atocha1622.com/hondatrail70com/z50abk.jpg

Even though it was freezing cold, it hadn't snowed and the ground was frozen rock hard. I drove it all Christmas day and almost froze my nuts off.
God, I loved that bike. Drove the wheels off of it.

[Black_Noise]

best christmas present i ever got to play with was a 1975? 6? 7? ford fiesta 4cyl. 4 sp. i was like 10 and it was at my grandmas farm, i was doing burnouts and powershiftin before i was old enough to fully look over the dash.

as you can tell that present has stuck with me

[AstroVic]

Unfortunately, you bring up my viewpoint exactly, and it is often the source of some nasty fights between me and my wife. Our three daughters are so incredibly spoiled it's embarassing. It pisses me off and I rally against it at every opportunity, but anyone who's married knows how that winds up!

[sailsmen]

In most cases children are a direct reflection of their parents.

Both my girls grew up fast and became unspoiled as a result of Katrina/Rita.

Living in a trailer park and only seeing daddy for a few minutes each nite changed their view.

We were the fortunate ones, so many of those we knew lost their homes and jobs. On more than one occasion I asked them to compare our situation to those we saw on tv.

[99SVT]

I bought a Merlin for my girlfriend back in '78 when it came out. Cool toy. Primative by today's standards, but it was fun at the time...

http://www.handhelden.com/others/Merlin-45.jpg


Wow! That brings back memories, I had one of those as a kid.

[Leadfoot281]

My biggest pet peave with Christmas is what my ex-girlfriend always did. She'd take her kid to the store, let her kid pick out what she wanted, and then put it on lay away. No surprises, no anticipation, nothing.

I had to wait for Christmas, lose a little sleep, and deal with what I got (not too bad, almost always got a Lego set). How are kids supposed to learn patience if they know what they are getting? How are they going to learn to deal with disapointment if they always get what they want? People are wasting an opportunity to teach kids this stuff.

And yes, a box of Legos was more than enough to keep me happy for a year. I built a "sport dump truck" once by combining an F1 race car and dump truck that was cooler than anything anyone else ever got for Christmas.:D

[Bootlegger]

Hey Kenny, I guess my favorite toy back then was a girl named Jennifer, just before the Senior prom...Maybe this should be another thread uh?, or maybe not.. Happy Holidays anyway..

[BAD MERC]

Well, you're a bad-boy! You had to go there. I guess that would be my favorite toy too. Especially when you get to unwrap it!! Tee hee.
Hey Kenny, I guess my favorite toy back then was a girl named Jennifer, just before the Senior prom...Maybe this should be another thread uh?, or maybe not.. Happy Holidays anyway..

[Bluerauder]

I remember when I was a kid I played with Legos and Erector sets and Lincoln Logs that I got when I was even younger.
I grew up in the 1950's so I don't even remember Lego's. But I did get an erector set on one Christmas and Lincoln Logs on another.

Christmases were fairly modest when I was growing up. My father was a fireman and I had three sisters. So, spreading around the gifts was a little difficult. But, Christmas was always a time of wonderment for me. As most kids do, I always made a "list" knowing that I would never get everything on the list; but hoping that I would at least get a couple things on the list.

The biggest gifts were usually bicycles. I remember well when I was about 9 years old the big red 26" Murray bike with the battery operated headlights & taillights. Later when I was about 12, I got a 3-speed English racer.

I seem to recall lots of board games that we would play with on the dinner table all through the holidays. Games like Monopoly, Life, Mouse Trap, and a Pirate game with little ships, jewels, bars of gold and rum barrels. :D

Anyone remember:

The Bulldog Tank
Fighting Lady Battleship
Chemistry Sets
Daisy Air Rifles
HO Train Set

I was also very interested in trucks and cars:

AMT models of cars in the late 50's and early '60s
A big all metal yellow dump truck with operating hydraulic ram to lift the bed
A 30" firetruck model from American LaFrance from my grandfather (turns out that it was a promotional item from the company that sells them)
A bucket loader
And a center dump construction scraper

The last 4 items were from 1955 (I was 5 years old) and remember it like yesterday.

Yes, I do think that kids today lack imagination. Heck, kids in my neighborhood could play "Army" all day with just a stick and a couple blocks of wood for hand grenades.

Thanks for bringing this up and letting my mind wander back to those days so long ago when things were much simpler..... :D

[MERCMAN]

I think the movie "A Christmas Story" pretty much says it all for a certain generation :)



http://www.mercurymarauder.net/showcase/files/9/7/6/ohfudge.bmp

[DeadVic]

we're either the worst parents or better than average. My kids are getting around ~$250 in gifts this year, each. If we had to, we could afford to spend 10 times that but what is the point of it? All their friends will be getting $2500 worth of gifts, but not our little nosepickers.

Adjusted for inflation, I think we're spending less on our kids than my parents did when I was a kid. I can remember getting the one thing I really wanted each christmas and then, socks and underwear.

This brings another point up. Work. You know, physical labor, not fast food cashier.

We just moved from Houston to Phoenix. We live out in ChandIler, way south out with all the dairy farmers. My daughter will be 11 in Feb. I'm hoping to find a new friend or two that farms for a living. I want my kids to experience some real work before they get into jr high school.

I used to do real work when in Jr and Sr high. You know, bale hay, walk beans, detassle corn, move chickens by hand (lil bastards - I have scars to prove it), run the conveyor belt when shelling corn (rats everywhere), etc. It was hard dirty work. And everytime we finished a days work I'd get that reminder from my boss for the day - you better go home and hit the books or you'll be doing this the rest of your life.

These are the important lessons in life

[2003_MM_FYRE49]

I remember when I was a kid I played with Legos and Erector sets and Lincoln Logs that I got when I was even younger. When I got my first Atari, I was pretty sure that life was now complete. That was 25 - 30 years ago and i will remember every moment. I believed in Santa and asked for modest stuff. I got clothes and socks and accepted them but the toys were the best. Here we are in 2006 - we have spoiled teenage kids that have parents that will camp out for three days to buy a PS3, or buy one online for up to $30,000. Yes - it was verified that some clown bought a PS3 for $30 large! Now we have kids that commit felonies at the age of seven. 13 year-old moms. Kids that beat up their parents and marriages that have a 75% failure rate. I loved way back then - when toys exercised your imagination and creativity. When you had to think. You used your imagination and you appreciated everything you had. Now, I am kinda glad that I don't have kids. they WOULD NOT get a PS3 or XBOX as gifts. They might get their first $300 beater car (but not a $70,000 BMW). They might get their first first $100 dirt bike to learn on. It would take them outside and give them something to do besides sit on their fat ass and whine about what they DON'T have. Man I hate xmas. What is your favorite toy from childhood? Name a few things that will bring us ALL back. Anyone remember the "Merlin"? How about the "Spirograph"?

I am at my in-laws right now. The whole family spent Thanksgiving together. My wifes God Father was over with his whole family. He was telling us how his son sits around the house all day playing those worthless video games and is SO lazy that he actually pays his father to clean his room. He is also SO damn lazy that his parents have to remind him to take a shower and change his underwear, and he is on anti-depression medicine. Now I'm sure at this point you may be wondering how old this individual is...get this, he is 18 y.o. He refuses to get his drivers license because he doesn't want to pay the fees that Wisconsin charges to obtain the priviledge to drive. So his parents happily let his buddy drive thier car around when he wants to go out for the day or evening. Well that came to a head last spring when the P's got a phone call from the police department asking them to bail out thier son from jail and retrive the car from impound. It seems the two lads tried to pass a phoney $20 bill at the McDonalds drive through. The employees detained them until the police showed up and low and behold they had pot on thier possesion. All his mother said was "I couldn't say anything because I smoked dope when I was his age. At that point I just stood up out of my chair looked at her and point blank told her she is an idiot. I was reading an article not too long ago that these video games that the kids are playing are causing the depression. It makes sence they sit in front of the TV and all they do is kill. I know after a while that would push me over the edge. Well that's mt rant.

[UAW 588]

Hands down, the best Christmas present I got was when I was 7. I woke up early that morning to find what I has been bugging my parents all year for. And that gift was a toy, The Evil Knivel Stunt Cycle Set. That toy inspired many kid in the neighberhood to get out their bike and want to jump something. Only problem was too many broken bikes occured and sometimes broken bones to go along with. I still have that toy, kind of rough shape, but still works. A while back, I noticed in a magazine they have reproduced the stunt cycle again. I guess Evil Knivel needed money for a attorney again. Boy that guy took a licking and kept on ticking. What a interesting and twisted life that man has had.

[rayjay]

I love Christmas, but I remember when the season started a couple weeks after Thanksgiving, not two weeks before Halloween. Its all kinda of rolled into one big holiday that I now refer to as HalloThanksMas... At least now I can listen to Christmas music and not feel weird about it because its early November. Merry HalloThanksMas all!

[BAD MERC]

I remember the Stunt Cycle. You cranked it up and when you quit cranking - it took off. Anyone remember the 'crash-up derby' cars with the zip-line you pilled to get the flywheel going? When they hit something, all the panels flew off.


Hands down, the best Christmas present I got was when I was 7. I woke up early that morning to find what I has been bugging my parents all year for. And that gift was a toy, The Evil Knivel Stunt Cycle Set. That toy inspired many kid in the neighberhood to get out their bike and want to jump something. Only problem was too many broken bikes occured and sometimes broken bones to go along with. I still have that toy, kind of rough shape, but still works. A while back, I noticed in a magazine they have reproduced the stunt cycle again. I guess Evil Knivel needed money for a attorney again. Boy that guy took a licking and kept on ticking. What a interesting and twisted life that man has had.

[UAW 588]

Anyone remember the 'crash-up derby' cars with the zip-line you pilled to get the flywheel going? When they hit something, all the panels flew off.


I remember that set very well. It was the SST racer line. I got that set one Christmas from my older brother. All that summer was spent on my parents driveway with my friends crashing those cars. I also had alot of the regular cars that didn't crash. My favortie was the drag cars.

[jimlam56]

My favorite present was a (used) Lionel train set...I can still remember the smells of the old transformer and the stuff you put in it to make the smokestack, well, smoke...

[FastMerc]

Yes those toys mentioned so far I had some of them The kids today have no imaginations,unless its a video game.Loss of imagination uses less of the brain!But some of my favorites were the Aurora electric AFX slotcar racing tracks,along with the HotWheels sets,remember the drag car sets with the parachutes Snake and Mongoose.My dad always put a train around the tree,How many people still do that! MY DAD STILL DOES its great.:)

[MERCMAN]

This was one of my favorite X-mas toys as a kid


http://www.mercurymarauder.net/showcase/files/9/7/6/vacuform_advert.jpg


Ahh, the wonder of PLASTICS!!

[DEFYANT]

I remember when I was a kid I played with Legos and Erector sets and Lincoln Logs that I got when I was even younger. When I got my first Atari, I was pretty sure that life was now complete. That was 25 - 30 years ago and i will remember every moment. I believed in Santa and asked for modest stuff. I got clothes and socks and accepted them but the toys were the best. Here we are in 2006 - we have spoiled teenage kids that have parents that will camp out for three days to buy a PS3, or buy one online for up to $30,000. Yes - it was verified that some clown bought a PS3 for $30 large! Now we have kids that commit felonies at the age of seven. 13 year-old moms. Kids that beat up their parents and marriages that have a 75% failure rate. I loved way back then - when toys exercised your imagination and creativity. When you had to think. You used your imagination and you appreciated everything you had. Now, I am kinda glad that I don't have kids. they WOULD NOT get a PS3 or XBOX as gifts. They might get their first $300 beater car (but not a $70,000 BMW). They might get their first first $100 dirt bike to learn on. It would take them outside and give them something to do besides sit on their fat ass and whine about what they DON'T have. Man I hate xmas. What is your favorite toy from childhood? Name a few things that will bring us ALL back. Anyone remember the "Merlin"? How about the "Spirograph"?

I totally agree. But don't limit yourself on starting a family because of the darker side of soceities family disasters.

It is what you make it.

Funny thing is, Lisa and I realized we were getting nuts with x-mas last year. It is so easy to get caught up when they are babies. Each year it gets worse. This year, the kids are getting less in quantity, more in quality.

[Bluerauder]

My favorite present was a (used) Lionel train set...I can still remember the smells of the old transformer and the stuff you put in it to make the smokestack, well, smoke...
Yes, I can still remember that smell too. Someone once told me that smell is one of the best memory triggers.

Growing up in Baltimore, my family and many others had a tradition of a Christmas Garden. Basically, it was a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood suitable for an oval train track. We had a Lionel set as well with the "smoke pills" that went in the stack. When I was about 9 or 10, I got an HO train set for Christmas and that track went on the inside of the Lionel O-gauge track. I used to race the trains; but the Lionel would frequently jump the track and mess up the scenes.

The garden was equipped with handmade houses, train station and church with steeple that were made by the firemen at my father's fire house. There was an 8" white picket fence all around the garden that was made by my grandfather back in the 1940's. Each 24" fence section and the corners had fence posts topped with a 1" red ball that was turned on a lathe at the Fire Repair shop.

I still have the garden and the fence out in the garage; but I haven't put it up in over 10 years. Maybe for the grandkids ..... :D Silly me gave all the houses away to a friend .... :o Guess I really didn't understand that "art" that went into making each of those little buildings out of cardboard, paper, and wooden matchsticks. I bet they are all big time collector's items now. I probably gave away $10K without knowing it. :(

[dwasson]

Hands down, the best Christmas present I got was when I was 7. I woke up early that morning to find what I has been bugging my parents all year for. And that gift was a toy, The Evil Knivel Stunt Cycle Set. That toy inspired many kid in the neighberhood to get out their bike and want to jump something. Only problem was too many broken bikes occured and sometimes broken bones to go along with. I still have that toy, kind of rough shape, but still works. A while back, I noticed in a magazine they have reproduced the stunt cycle again. I guess Evil Knivel needed money for a attorney again. Boy that guy took a licking and kept on ticking. What a interesting and twisted life that man has had.


Whoever came up with that idea must have really hated kids.

[dwasson]

I remember my chemistry set. I mixed something that stank so bad we had to air out the house in mid January. Then there was the BB Gun. I broke a few windows with that. My dad began to think that I should get cotton balls and foan rubber for gifts after that.

[jabird56]

We had HO and American Flyer trains in our household,...I still have both sets but I haven't had them out for years. Here I am in Union Pacific land, maybe I should start up again.

[Black_Noise]

i saw those train set u guys are all talking about for sale at menards this year

check the menards.com site, u might be able to bring some memories to your kids this year!

[BAD MERC]

You all have generated a lot of GREAT memories. How about cap guns, Nerf cars, radio-controlled cars, Tyco Turbo train, velcro dart boards, Lite-Brite, Etch-A-Sketch, bean-bag Toss-A-Cross, Fun'l- Tun'l, Sit-N-Spin, marbles, pick up sticks. I could go on and on but I will let you all do that!! Thanks for making this fun.

[Bluerauder]

... pick up sticks.

I remember me and my sisters playing Pick-Up-Sticks constantly during the holidays. I got pretty good at it too. :D They were normally a stocking stuffer along with the "booklet" of several rolls of LifeSavers candies.

My mother also had a habit/tradition of putting an orange in the toe of each stocking. I remember one year when my stocking got packed away with the orange still in it. The next year it was more fuzzy green than orange. :puke:

[jerrym3]

A few gifts that I can remember from the 50's.

Schwinn Hornet 26" bike

Board game called "Assembly Line" where you had little chassis, engines, bodies etc moving down an assembly line based on the roll of the dice.

Toy gas station with a lift, bays, and pumps

At age 16, a reel to reel tape player with that sensational new sound called "stereo". (Still have it up in the attic.) Used to make my own recordings by holding the mike up against the TV speaker during the Dick Clark/American Bandstand show.

As much as we talk about overspending, its been consumer spending that keeps much of our economy chugging along.

Unfortunately, it's now helping the workers from other countries.

[KillJoy]

For me....it was GI Joes, GI Joes, GI Joes :D

KillJoy

PS - Not those sissy Barbie Doll ones either!!! ;)

[96DiamondVIII]

Hot Wheels/Matchbox and Legos were the big things in my childhood. I remember building countless lego cars and houses; then when I was older (10-13 years old) I got into space lego sets. Hot wheels/matchbox also, I had the town, the dealership, two car washes... still have most of the stuff up in my parents' attic or in the back of the closet of my old room at home. Maybe one day I'll have kids who will play with it. One of my friends had his dad's old 60's hot wheels collection along with his own toys, and I was always envious of that.

I certainly don't think video games are evil; I got an original Nintendo for Christmas 1988 or '89 (not sure which), and I think I've turned out OK. But the key is moderation. I wasn't allowed to sit up in my room and play video games mindlessly for half the day; usually an hour or two was the limit before I was told to either go outside, or come out of my room and do something else. And if it was a schoolnight my homework had to be done too. But today, with so many different game systems plus computer games and the internet...parenting seems like a much harder job than it used to be...

Probably my favorite Christmas gift was the one I got when I was 16, in 1997. I had been learning guitar and had a cheap electric, and wanted to trade up to something nicer. I decided on a G & L Legacy in a local guitar shop, which was $700. The parents told me that that they'd pay for $200 of it as my main Christmas gift if I could cover the rest, so I put it on layaway in late November, and a few days before Christmas they put down the final $200 and I took it home. It may sound cliched, but having to work for it made me appreciate it that much more.