FARK.com: (6801352) Memory Lane: Remember everything you ever wanted for Christmas as a kid? Take a look at this catalog from 1976 for a glimpse of how we used to live

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		Memory Lane: Remember everything you ever wanted for Christmas as a kid? Take a look at this catalog from 1976 for a glimpse of how we used to live (dailymail.co.uk)		536
		More: Cool, Argos, Six Million Dollar Man, astronomical catalog, Argos catalogue

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MilesTeg		2011-12-09 11:50:34 AM

EdVenture: I still have my Ricochet Racers gun. (1st toy page #4) It's a little worse for wear but it still works. I was 8 in '76 and I duct taped the safeties so I could fire in in mid air.

Hah, I did the same thing. Tormented my little sister and brother for a good month with that weapon.

Sadly mine is long gone.

Farkin'round		2011-12-09 11:50:59 AM

ObscureNameHere: Farkin'round: I guess we 70's kids can also remember getting one of these Christmas:

[pianopod.com image 500x470]

An that kids, is what we used to record songs of the radio. Legally too!

And for recording our teachers cussing us out and then getting fired over it. A classmate put it under inside the desk and the teacher let it rip.

Mama's Boy		2011-12-09 11:51:29 AM

"Remember everything you ever wanted for Christmas as a kid? " (shows a bunch of shiatty british toys)

Aw hell naw...THIS is more like it...

www.x-entertainment.com

Gleeman		2011-12-09 11:51:36 AM

Looks at thread.

i.imgur.com

glassgnost		2011-12-09 11:51:51 AM

Looking at the desk organizer with a slot for cigarettes, I'm reminded of the "executive" Russian Roulette kit that Sears used to sell -- a pistol, one bullet, and a scorepad with one of those little golf pencils, all in a handsome felt-lined hardwood case with brass fittings. Good times.

Scurvy Dog		2011-12-09 11:53:00 AM

IronMyno: fruitloop: This was some kind of wizard:

[i171.photobucket.com image 252x221]

My friend had one of those. Batteries were always dead or something when it was brought out..
what the hell is that thing called again?? I haven't see one in nearly 25 years. I can't remember what it did since it didn't do what it was supposed to.

It was called Merlin, and played about a dozen different games.

Link (new window)

texdent		2011-12-09 11:53:05 AM

bugontherug: A little off topic, but still connected:

My five year old says Santa is going to bring him a "Ben Ten Lord of the Rings" toy this year. It's really sad when he talks about it, because he talks like it's just inevitable that Santa will bring it. Needless to say, neither his mother nor I have the first idea what he's talking about.

We know what Ben Ten is. We know what Lord of the Rings is. To the best of our knowledge and research, there was never any crossover between the two products.

We're not sure if he saw an ad for something on TV and got confused, or whether he dreamed it, or what. When asked if it's something from his imagination, he indignantly says "no, it's from my I want it," where "I want it" is all one word.

I don't want to see him disappointed. I really want to find out what he wants, and get it for him. Does anyone have any idea what he could be talking about? Are there any Ben Ten figures that look like Lord of the Rings characters, or vice versa? What about Ben Ten or Lord of the Rings toys that come in two packages? Any other ideas?

Any insight would be appreciated.

Get both separately and then set it up so Ben 10 is fighting along side Frodo?

devilynn		2011-12-09 11:53:13 AM

I had so many of the toys everyone is posting. My husband and I are cracking up reading about Stretch Armstrong dolls leaking and the general destruction that most boys inflicted on their toys. I also had the Sunshine Family Dolls (my friend referred to them as my hippie barbies) and my friend had the tape recorder. We used to listen to Elvira by the Statler Brothers and I Love a Rainy Night by Eddie Rabbit. Hehe we thought we were the shiat!

I hope my 8 month old baby can look back on his childhood as fondly as I do mine.......

bugontherug		2011-12-09 11:53:50 AM

bugontherug: A little off topic, but still connected:

My five year old says Santa is going to bring him a "Ben Ten Lord of the Rings" toy this year. It's really sad when he talks about it, because he talks like it's just inevitable that Santa will bring it. Needless to say, neither his mother nor I have the first idea what he's talking about.

We know what Ben Ten is. We know what Lord of the Rings is. To the best of our knowledge and research, there was never any crossover between the two products.

We're not sure if he saw an ad for something on TV and got confused, or whether he dreamed it, or what. When asked if it's something from his imagination, he indignantly says "no, it's from my I want it," where "I want it" is all one word.

I don't want to see him disappointed. I really want to find out what he wants, and get it for him. Does anyone have any idea what he could be talking about? Are there any Ben Ten figures that look like Lord of the Rings characters, or vice versa? What about Ben Ten or Lord of the Rings toys that come in two packages? Any other ideas?

Any insight would be appreciated.

I forgot to mention, he says the toy comes in two packages.

texdent		2011-12-09 11:54:38 AM

Mama's Boy: "Remember everything you ever wanted for Christmas as a kid? " (shows a bunch of shiatty british toys)

Aw hell naw...THIS is more like it...

[www.x-entertainment.com image 546x625]
[www.x-entertainment.com image 622x454]
[www.x-entertainment.com image 554x852]
[www.x-entertainment.com image 640x523]
[www.x-entertainment.com image 635x547]

I don't think I had any G.I Joe toys and if I did, I think that carrier would be my only gift that year.

fatkidinabeenie		2011-12-09 11:54:39 AM

improvius: Can anybody help me with this?

I can't find the cool airplane toys I used to have!

This would have been in the late 70s, about the same time as the toys shown in the article. The "Super Flight Deck" reminded me of these foam rubber toy planes I had. They would actually fly when launched from a small slingshot-like device (basically a handle with a rubber band). They had their own "flight deck" contraption that would also launch them using rubber bands. I remember them flying pretty well, but I was probably around 7 at the time and easily impressed. I remember most if not all of them being jet fighters. I had no luck on a GIS.

Does anyone else remember these and what they were called?

Foam Rubber in the 70's? Balsa Wood maybe....
www.hobbymasters.com

damn things broke while trying to put them together more often than not.

wantyou2wantme		2011-12-09 11:54:52 AM

karmaceutical: Best damn Christmas ever!

[bluebuddies.com image 400x300]

Yes. Yes it was. (When my parents would actually stop playing and let me play a few games!)

craig328		2011-12-09 11:54:52 AM

However, while all those are nice toys...they don't hold a candle to all the evil crap you could do with a well appointed Hot Wheel set:

www.johnomusic.com

I imagine my parents never considered how far the little spinning rubber wheels in the Supercharger could hurl a die cast metal car...particularly when you angled it somewhat and swapped out the heavier Hot Wheels cars with the lighter Matchbox projectiles. Suffice to say, I wasn't waiting around on stupid ole science to deliver on the promise of MY flying Jetsons car. Fark that noise. This was the 60's. We put frickin' men on the goddamned MOON! Damned straight I could put a Matchbox on the neighbor's roof.

...and the Hot Wheels track lengths...I miss the many hours I spent at daycare chasing yellow jackets around on the sand playground trying to smack them with lengths of track (when I wasn't smacking and getting smacked by my "friends"). I can tell you, the urge to misuse those 30" track pieces was damned near undeniable.

yo-de-yo-yo		2011-12-09 11:55:08 AM

I got tears looking at all this stuff. Had the Vert-bird too, for about 7 minutes. My dad and uncle broke it almost immediately, never fixed it. I survived however. Now I buy my son remote control helicopters by the gross. Freudian?

Perlin Noise		2011-12-09 11:55:28 AM

fruitloop: [i171.photobucket.com image 400x354]

/had the city one, too
//was this 70s or 80s?

I spent untold hours with that thing

Nina_Hartley's_Ass		2011-12-09 11:56:04 AM

CASEY KASEM'S AMERICAN TOP 40 - 12/18/76

40: BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND
39: KEEP ME CRYIN' - AL GREEN
38: WALK THIS WAY - AEROSMITH
37: MADEMOISELLE - STYX
36: WHISPERING/CHERCHEZ LA FEMME/SE SI BON - DR. BUZZARD
35: I LIKE DREAMIN' - KENNY NOLAN
34: DON'T TAKE AWAY THE MUSIC - TAVARES
33: THIS SONG - GEORGE HARRISON
EXTRA: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED RAINDEER - JACKSON FIVE
32: JUST TO BE CLOSE TO YOU - COMMODORES
31: ENJOY YOURSELF - JACKSON FIVE
30: SATURDAY NIGHT - EARTH, WIND & FIRE
29: SHAKE YOUR RUMP TO THE FUNK - BAR KAYS
28: JEANS ON - DAVID GEDDES
27: DISCO DUCK - RICK DEES
26: LOST WITHOUT YOUR LOVE - BREAD
25: THE WRECK OF THE EDMOND FITZGERALD - GORDON LIGHTFOOT
24: HELLO OLD FRIEND - ERIC CLAPTON
23: BETH - KISS
22: SOMEBODY TO LOVE - QUEEN
21: LOVE SO RIGHT - BEE GEES
20: LOVE BALLAD - L.T.D.
19: LIVIN' THING - ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
18: I WISH - STEVIE WONDER
17: CAR WASH - ROSE ROYCE
16: LOVE ME - YVONNE ELLIMAN
15: STAND TALL - BURTON CUMMINGS
14: HOT LINE - SYLVERS
13: I NEVER CRY - ALICE COOPER
12: DAZZ - BRICK
11: AFTER THE LOVIN' - ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINCK
10: NIGHTS ARE FOREVER WITHOUT YOU - ENGLAND DAN & JOHN FORD COLEY
9: YOU ARE THE WOMAN - FIREFALL
8: NADIA'S THEME - BARRY DE VORZON & PERRY BOTKIN
7: SORRY SEEMS TO BE THE HARDEST WORD - ELTON JOHN
6: MORE THAN A FEELING - BOSTON
5: YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE DANCING - LEO SAYER
4: MUSKRAT LOVE - THE CAPTAIN & TENNILLE
3: YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A STAR - MARILYN McCOO & BILLY DAVIS JR.
2: THE RUBBERBAND MAN - THE SPINNERS
1: TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT - ROD STEWART

phamwaa		2011-12-09 11:56:10 AM

Many happy hours playing this:
www.spookyshobbyshop.com

threedingers		2011-12-09 11:56:53 AM

one0nine: OMFG, it's like a time warp up in here. The Six Million Dollar Man, with that stretchy "skin" you could roll back and pull out the "circuit board", the Evel Knievel cycle, the Vertibird, the TYCO race set, Tonka trucks, Atari 2600... had'em all. One thing I wish I could still find was a plane (a Piper Cherokee, if I recall) that you hooked to a string and tried to guide it to a landing on the "runway".
...
And major props to the Farker who talked about digging through the LEGO box. Those were my absolute favorites for most of my childhood- I built several renditions of the Saturn V rocket with those old-school blocks. My mom still kids me about them.

/shhhk shhhhk shhhhhk

About 40% of my son's LEGO box consists of my old sets from the mid-70's. The old and new LEGO are perfectly (and I mean perfectly) compatible with one another. The manufacturing tolerances are absolutely amazing.

His current obsession is stop-motion LEGO animation. He makes some pretty cool stuff, actually.

/see you on HS...

bugontherug		2011-12-09 11:57:23 AM

texdent: Get both separately and then set it up so Ben 10 is fighting along side Frodo?

We're down to thinking of solutions like that. But if he has an actual toy in mind, obviously, we'd prefer to get it for him.

improvius		2011-12-09 11:58:19 AM

One of my earliest toy memories:

2.bp.blogspot.com

elev8meL8r		2011-12-09 11:58:22 AM

Ed Grubermann: I had more modest goals in 1976. But, I was only 12 and didn't have access to Playboy magazine.

Ah yes. Very nice. I was a couple years younger. We were all about that Mary Lou Rectum chick.

www.americanmemorabilia.com

ocendot		2011-12-09 11:58:39 AM

Farkin'round: I guess we 70's kids can also remember getting one of these Christmas:

[pianopod.com image 500x470]

You kids with your cassette players...
vintage-technics.ru

penguinfark		2011-12-09 11:58:40 AM

Best Christmas ever.

This one is from 1958, but the one I got in the early 80s was very similar.

I did about two of the experiments. The rest of the time I just mixed randoms chemicals to watch shiat bubble up and spill over the top of the beaker.

Eagles409		2011-12-09 11:58:53 AM

fatkidinabeenie: r than today's "SmartTV" it was intelligent

Came for this, thought I might be the only one who even remember the Intellivision. I still have mine and every game they ever made and I still play it.

Tom_Slick		2011-12-09 11:59:03 AM

jmadisonbiii: [www.ipass.net image 400x337]

I still have scars on my hand from starting those damn things.

ongbok		2011-12-09 11:59:08 AM

How about this
api.ning.com

JusticeandIndependence		2011-12-09 12:01:06 PM

Nina_Hartley's_Ass: CASEY KASEM'S AMERICAN TOP 40 - 12/18/76

40: BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND
39: KEEP ME CRYIN' - AL GREEN
38: WALK THIS WAY - AEROSMITH
37: MADEMOISELLE - STYX
36: WHISPERING/CHERCHEZ LA FEMME/SE SI BON - DR. BUZZARD
35: I LIKE DREAMIN' - KENNY NOLAN
34: DON'T TAKE AWAY THE MUSIC - TAVARES
33: THIS SONG - GEORGE HARRISON
EXTRA: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED RAINDEER - JACKSON FIVE
32: JUST TO BE CLOSE TO YOU - COMMODORES
31: ENJOY YOURSELF - JACKSON FIVE
30: SATURDAY NIGHT - EARTH, WIND & FIRE
29: SHAKE YOUR RUMP TO THE FUNK - BAR KAYS
28: JEANS ON - DAVID GEDDES
27: DISCO DUCK - RICK DEES
26: LOST WITHOUT YOUR LOVE - BREAD
25: THE WRECK OF THE EDMOND FITZGERALD - GORDON LIGHTFOOT24: HELLO OLD FRIEND - ERIC CLAPTON
23: BETH - KISS
22: SOMEBODY TO LOVE - QUEEN
21: LOVE SO RIGHT - BEE GEES
20: LOVE BALLAD - L.T.D.
19: LIVIN' THING - ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
18: I WISH - STEVIE WONDER
17: CAR WASH - ROSE ROYCE
16: LOVE ME - YVONNE ELLIMAN
15: STAND TALL - BURTON CUMMINGS
14: HOT LINE - SYLVERS
13: I NEVER CRY - ALICE COOPER
12: DAZZ - BRICK
11: AFTER THE LOVIN' - ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINCK
10: NIGHTS ARE FOREVER WITHOUT YOU - ENGLAND DAN & JOHN FORD COLEY
9: YOU ARE THE WOMAN - FIREFALL
8: NADIA'S THEME - BARRY DE VORZON & PERRY BOTKIN
7: SORRY SEEMS TO BE THE HARDEST WORD - ELTON JOHN
6: MORE THAN A FEELING - BOSTON
5: YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE DANCING - LEO SAYER
4: MUSKRAT LOVE - THE CAPTAIN & TENNILLE
3: YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A STAR - MARILYN McCOO & BILLY DAVIS JR.
2: THE RUBBERBAND MAN - THE SPINNERS
1: TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT - ROD STEWART

Still have that on LP somewhere!

ocendot		2011-12-09 12:01:26 PM

ongbok: How about this
[api.ning.com image 405x636]

Most excellent! I'm really flashing back now...

improvius		2011-12-09 12:02:16 PM

fatkidinabeenie: Foam Rubber in the 70's? Balsa Wood maybe....
www.hobbymasters.com
damn things broke while trying to put them together more often than not.

Nope, they were definitely foam rubber. Like a coated nerf toy or something. They had printed/painted-on details for the different planes. The undercarriages were hard plastic so the launchers would have something to work with.

JusticeandIndependence		2011-12-09 12:03:35 PM

ongbok: How about this
[api.ning.com image 405x636]

Hells yeah!

My brother and I swore those things went a thousand feet in the air.

PumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpP u mpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPump
Whoooshhhh

"MY TURN!"
"NO MY TURN"

Wrestle, punch, kick, cry

PumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpP u mpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPump
Whoooshhhh

fugeeface		2011-12-09 12:04:12 PM

Fomby_Belcher: I wanted this for Christmas 1976.

[i43.tinypic.com image 240x340]

Jimmy Connors is a lucky bastard.

Mhmmm...would've traded all my Legos, Hot Wheels, and SSP's for Patti. Still might.
+1 to you Formby for bringing her to the thread.

DjangoStonereaver		2011-12-09 12:04:15 PM

Melvin Lovecraft: Got one of these one year; probably late '60's. Good times, minor burns.

[www.snowcrest.net image 521x343]

THANK YOU!

I had one of those sets, but couldn't remember what it was called!

vodka		2011-12-09 12:04:39 PM

That time period in the mid and late 70's was the highlight of my Christmas childhood. From about age 4 to 8. I always knew Santa wasn't real but I loved pretending. Being so excited that I couldn't sleep on Christmas eve... Sneaking out in the middle of the night to look at all the cool stuff. Trying to be super quiet while looking over everything. Fun times.

Melvin Lovecraft		2011-12-09 12:06:32 PM

Was 14 in '76. Had one of these. Taped a friend's older brother's Black Sabbath album and things were never the same after that.

braadspitt.nl

zappaisfrank		2011-12-09 12:06:57 PM

hogans: Because People in power are Stupid: zappaisfrank: [i5.photobucket.com image 604x453]

Still have my Six Million Dollar Man toys but the only Evel Knievel toy I have left is the figure. I had the stunt cycle and the scramble van but never the dragster! I had the gum card set, too!

Nice Collection with one glaring omission

Did either of you have the inflatable mission control center for the $6M Man?

Yes, I had the Mission Control Center, in fact it's in the picture I posted above, it's just deflated.

eCurmudgeon		2011-12-09 12:07:11 PM

JusticeandIndependence: PumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpP u mpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPumpPump
Whoooshhhh

/You mind doing that in private?

Jerkwater		2011-12-09 12:07:23 PM

ongbok: How about this
[api.ning.com image 405x636]

Good stuff. Even as a kid I was amazed that I never took a fully-charged one in the face. You'd be straining, pumping it up as much as you can, with your hands in tight around your stomach and your face down and eyes closed. All depending on a piece of thin plastic to hold that rocket on and not let it knock out your front teeth.

Salem Witch		2011-12-09 12:08:44 PM

I was a teen in the 70's.

In the 60's, I got Crissy and Velvet.

img845.imageshack.us

And Julia.

img10.imageshack.us

Gleeman		2011-12-09 12:08:57 PM

Have one of the remade ones, my original one went kaput.

SueDisco		2011-12-09 12:09:04 PM

Nina_Hartley's_Ass: CASEY KASEM'S AMERICAN TOP 40 - 12/18/76

I'm saying this not just because I love disco...but that's a pretty kick-ass playlist. What a wide-ranging array of musical styles.

fruitloop		2011-12-09 12:09:26 PM

I know these weren't the 70s, but motherfarking STOMPERS!

i171.photobucket.com

Mateorocks		2011-12-09 12:09:50 PM

SueDisco		2011-12-09 12:10:14 PM

Melvin Lovecraft: Was 14 in '76. Had one of these. Taped a friend's older brother's Black Sabbath album and things were never the same after that.

You and I were cut from the same cloth (though I was born in '77). Copied a friend's older brother's Appetite for Destruction album.

Ed Grubermann		2011-12-09 12:10:24 PM

elev8meL8r: Ed Grubermann: I had more modest goals in 1976. But, I was only 12 and didn't have access to Playboy magazine.

Ah yes. Very nice. I was a couple years younger. We were all about that Mary Lou Rectum chick.

[www.americanmemorabilia.com image 640x831]

I would like to invoke my 5th Amendment rights at this time.

craig328		2011-12-09 12:10:29 PM

And on a semi-related note, I was in a Michaels craft store sort of moping along behind the wife when I encountered plastic models.

I recall building the Space: 1999 Eagle model (amongst prolly around 100 or so others when I was a kid) and thought I had the best toy ever.

That was right around the same time I got this for Xmas:

i819.photobucket.com

Flying Aces...with TWO foam Corsair planes. And they did actually, no shiat, fly too. The little launchers worked and those planes would fly prolly a good 20-30 feet. On the first day anyway. Later modifications and cobbling together with other toys would see those two (shortly one) planes shatter both their initial long and short distance records.

ThisNameSux		2011-12-09 12:11:02 PM

From the 1976 JC Penny's Christmas catalog. Being a kid was so much more fun back then.

Scurvy Dog		2011-12-09 12:11:06 PM

Mateorocks: [www.brand-cigarettes.net image 640x322]

Was it a tough year, Johnny?

Melvin Lovecraft		2011-12-09 12:11:22 PM

DjangoStonereaver: Melvin Lovecraft: Got one of these one year; probably late '60's. Good times, minor burns.

[www.snowcrest.net image 521x343]

THANK YOU!

I had one of those sets, but couldn't remember what it was called!

Ha! Used to love to say "strange change machine" when I asked my parents for it. I think they bought it just to stop me from saying it.