Blast from the Past: All I Want for Christmas (in the 70s!)

This week's Blast from the Past features all those things kids wanted in the 1970s. The oh-so-cool things we saw in the J C Penney catalog, or on TV on Saturday mornings. The things that--if we were lucky enough to get them--we played with a few times then forgot about, then sold at a yard sale later! But they were so enticing. Kids today probably would look at most of this stuff and go, really? But we were easier to please. . .

The Snoopy Snow Cone Machine is the only one I never had, though I believe the Gnip Gnop, Operation, Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots and the Easy Bake Oven were all trash picked or second hand. The rest had a legit place in our rec room. The Lite Brite infuriated my mother, who kept finding the pegs in the shag carpeting (usually with her feet or the vacuum cleaner). Spirograph fascination was very short-lived, as was our Slinky love. SSP Smash Up Derby was fun on Christmas day, forgotten thereafter. Operation and Connect Four aren't half as much fun as they looked, and Skittle Pool was just a variation on all of the other Skittles (there were several). Of all of these, the Atari VCS (2600) was the one with the most hours of obsessiveness. I think we played ours for four or five years.

And that will do it for this week's installment. I hope Santa brings you all the toys you really want (even if they end up stuffed in a closet by New Year's). Meanwhile, have a great last week before Christmas, everybody!