I think I was 13 or 14 when my dad gave me a Russian Vostok wrist watch. It was all metal, bombproof, no, it was nuclear bomb proof and looked super cool.

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

Another favorite on Christmas was I got a huge PT-109 kit that included a motor for the propellers. You can float this Navy boat in your pool. I’m not sure the scale or kit brand but I do know it was at least 3 feet long. Incliuded were figures, one of them manning the machine guns in the rear.

It took me quite awhile to get it together.

 

Was it the Lindberg 109?

Another favorite on Christmas was I got a huge PT-109 kit that included a motor for the propellers. You can float this Navy boat in your pool. I’m not sure the scale or kit brand but I do know it was at least 3 feet long. Incliuded were figures, one of them manning the machine guns in the rear.

It took me quite awhile to get it together.

Well favorite was probably either my ColecoVision or Commodore 64.

Modeling wise I found this at a nearby IPMS show a few years ago- the same kit as I found under the tree back in the day! It's copyrighted 1979 so I'm guessing I got the original back around '79 or '80. One of the few things I hadn't asked for (we used to circle what we wanted in the Sears catalog) but was a very pleasant surprise!

Gotta love the 'electronic', it's electrical but there are no electronic parts.

You got a small cheap electric motor for the prop, a few grain of wheat light bulbs to light the cockpit, the top navigational light, and the wing guns (press a button to get a red light-up tracer effect)! And the weird circuit diagram thingee printed on flexible plastic instead of wires.

Gee friggin' whiz the thing flew all over our house and lawn, seemed there were Japanese everywhere that had to be shot up!!! I even built a spinning platform out of my Erector set with the P-40 on one arm and a counterbalance weight on the other, the prop created enough thrust to spin the whole thing around and around.

I want to go back and built this, just haven't gotten around to it yet. Figure I'll replace the light bulbs with LEDs, they're more reliable and burn cooler. And chuck the circuit thingee and just wire everything up. Debating on replacing the stickers with real decals - it's in a wierd 1/40th scale but I think 1/32nd should work. Just wondering if I should leave the seams and stuff like I would have as an eight year old or try to paint and finish her like I'd do today.

 I remember I was pretty excited with my first mountain bike.

I stand corrected. After some surfing on ebay, I owned the "You Only Live Twice" Toyota James Bond car. Very few and no originals on ebay that i saw.

It was in 1969 back when I getting ready for college when I was given an electric typewriter.  Boy, did it get used!  I can't remember how much ribbon I used up that that Smith-corona,  I still have it.  I can't give it away now. I'll start a museum. I did get lot of models and other neat things then and sleds and bikes.  But one thing that really came in handy was that typwriter.

Sure did. I stumbled upon this article about the Corgi James Bond Aston Martin by James May (one of the Top Gear guys).

It's a fun read for Corgi fans, and he mentions that everyone he ever talked to has long ago lost the little ejection man. I lost mine, one of the reasons I bought the anniversary edition.

Don Stauffer

I think I was in eighth grade, and mostly into flying models, when I got a big U-control model, a Carl Goldberg Nifty, and an OK 29 to go with it!

 

 

Wow haven’t heard about Goldberg kits for a long time. I had the Tiger .20 that I crashed many moons ago. I still have my .40 Goldberg Cub that I recovered for a 3rd time with Monokote and is powered  by a Saito .40 4 cycle. It’s a sweet flying Cub.

I think I was in eighth grade, and mostly into flying models, when I got a big U-control model, a Carl Goldberg Nifty, and an OK 29 to go with it!

Never had that one but it's cool. Came with two little guys to eject, I think.

I remember one year (mid to late 70s) I was excited to get a model kit for Christmas - Monogram 1/72 B-52 Stratofortress. That kit was massive once assembled.

tigerman

I also had a corgi Astin (james Bond in Goldfinger I think), A few other Corgis.

The Corgi James Bond Aston Martin was an all time favorite. I still have mine, and a couple years back when I saw Hornby (yep, the Airfix folk) released a 50th anniversary special edition, I couldn't resist.

Thanks for the memories of all these neat Christmas gifts, fellas. Fun thread, this.

I remember those Eric, I had the Chitty Chitty bang bang and two vehicles from the UFO TV series that were favourites. My enduring memory from a bit earlier in the sixties was a large yellow clock work quary dumper truck with big rubber wheels.

Joe

modelmaker66

When I was no more that 4-5 in 1970 I got a metal corgi Batmobile maybe 8 inches and had plastic fire that went in and out of the exaust when you rolled it. So great!

 

I had that, but think it was much smaller. I also had a corgi Astin (james Bond in Goldfinger I think), A few other Corgis.

I too was a huge matchbox car fan as well as Hotwheels. One of my favorite gifts was a matchbox city fold-out playsets. It was a mini-city with a hospital, fire-station and other buildingsfor my cars. I had quite a few of them.

Greg

Stevie, I still use it on turkey. White meat only. One Thanksgiving, my older sister refused to let me put the

On turkey? You definitely beat me out there.

In 1985 I got Megatron and Jetfire for Christmas. That was the pinnacle for me. Boy oh boy, wish I’d kept them in the box so I could sell them today! I could buy a decent used car for my kids. 

gregbale

And nowdays, people order the same thing from Amazon, and think it's a great deal! Wink

Good point, Greg!

Bill, man oh man does that Flexible Flyer insignia bring back forgotten memories. I think it's funny, ingenious, and wacky all at the same time that they sold those with wheels in warm climates.

Goldhammer, guess our dad's had similar senses of humor.

Stevie, I still use it on turkey. White meat only. One Thanksgiving, my older sister refused to let me put the ketchup bottle on the holiday table at her house.

Bakster

 

 

Nino

Dangerous toys. Absolutely. The best!

 

 

Remember water rockets where you added water and compressed it with air using a air pump? That was a cool toy. One day I had the bright idea to aim the rocket like I was aiming a gun. Lol. Needless to say... a blast of water in the face.

 

Oh yeah I do!! Loads of fun those were. My other favorite Christmas present was the old stand-by GI Joe ACTION FIGURES (They're not dolls, mind you!!) I had the regular grip, Kung Fu grip and the one with the glass eye and arm that twirls let's not forget the Six Million Dollar Man action figure and the BigFoot that also was part of that series.

Nino

Dangerous toys. Absolutely. The best!

Remember water rockets where you added water and compressed it with air using a air pump? That was a cool toy. One day I had the bright idea to aim the rocket like I was aiming a gun. Lol. Needless to say... a blast of water in the face.

Greg

As a kid I loved ketchup and put in on darned near everything. I still do, sort of.

Greg, yet another thing we have in common. As a kid I loved ketchup. Some of the first words out of my mouth was ketch a, ketch a. Or so they say. I still like it, just not as much.

That is a funny story about the box of ketch a.

I remember teh Man From U.N.C.L.E. set.  I wantd one but never got it.  A friend down the street had one with the walkie tiakie and it was set on a frequ. that happenmed to be the local police.

GMorrison

...Funny what death machines parents were comfortable giving their kids back when.  

 

Dangerous toys. Absolutely. The best!

   My favorite was Ideals "Count Down".  It could shoot a rocket a good 30 feet in the air. What a cool bang in made when I shot it off in the living room and slammed the ceiling.  It did not chip any plaster but did mark the paint.  Wish I still had it to show the Grandkids. It was as much fun as the water pressure rockets and way less messy.

   Nino

hogfanfs

 

 

DasBeav

I had the Head to Head B-ball game. When I look back on it, it was just a gateway drug to video games. Atari 2600, Nintendo's, and now Xbox. 

 

 

 

I agree, my path was simliar except exchange the Xbox for a PS3/PS4.

 

 

 

Greg

One year there was a really big, heavy box I saved for last. I was so excited. It ended up being a case of ketchup my dad bought me as a joke. That actually might have been the worst Christmas gift ever, not the best. 

 

 

 

 

I don't mean to laugh, Greg, but my Dad pulled the same thing on me with a package of AA batteries for something else receivced. LOL

 

 

 

 

GMorrison

 

Funny what death machines parents were comfortable giving their kids back when. 

 

 

 

 

I agree, it was a different time back then. I could go out in the morning, and not come home until dark, and never had any issues. 

 

And when you did something stupid and got hurt it was...."well, now you know not to do that again".

Of course that was after all the "chores" were done on the place.  Feed and water what stock we had, keep 3 wood stoves in fuel (we were at 4500 ft in NorCal, so that was both summer and winter job), plus shoveling about 900 ft. of driveway.

DasBeav

I had the Head to Head B-ball game. When I look back on it, it was just a gateway drug to video games. Atari 2600, Nintendo's, and now Xbox. 

 

I agree, my path was simliar except exchange the Xbox for a PS3/PS4.

Greg

One year there was a really big, heavy box I saved for last. I was so excited. It ended up being a case of ketchup my dad bought me as a joke. That actually might have been the worst Christmas gift ever, not the best. 

 

Mine was a Flexible Flyer sled on wheels (I live in California).

I literally wore it out on the hill behind our place. Turned it into a biplane with wings and rigging. 

I even rebuilt it, took it all apart and painted it, clear stained the deck, wrote to Flexible Flyer and they sent me a new decal.

Funny what death machines parents were comfortable giving their kids back when. Look at the handle bars. There are little steel tabs just inboard of the grips. Tilt the bar forward and those rubbed on the tire (brakes). 

The hot set up on the Flexy was that there were springs on the underside that kept the front wheels centered. Pop those off and you could turn the front end 90 degrees at 25 mph.

Greg

One year there was a really big, heavy box I saved for last. I was so excited. It ended up being a case of ketchup my dad bought me as a joke. That actually might have been the worst Christmas gift ever, not the best. Crying

And nowdays, people order the same thing from Amazon, and think it's a great deal!

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

I’ve always saved the biggest gifts to open for last.

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

I’ve always saved the biggest gifts to open for last.

Me too. Reminds me....

As a kid I loved ketchup and put in on darned near everything. I still do, sort of.

One year there was a really big, heavy box I saved for last. I was so excited. It ended up being a case of ketchup my dad bought me as a joke. That actually might have been the worst Christmas gift ever, not the best.