Childhood Christmas presents that you asked for..

Umaro

.. but never got?

I always wanted a Stretch Armstrong. Not only was he a vision of Aryan beauty and good breeding:



But according to the advertisements his arms were capable of time travel, "I hear his arms stretch all the way to next week!!". For about 3 Christmases in a row I asked for Stretch, there was nothing I wanted more than to rub and caress my 9 year old hands over his toned limbs and pull him this way and that. I'd dream about the fun that Stretch and I would have at night, I'd tie him to stuff and then I'd pull him off. Oh the fun we would have.

It was the love that dare not speak its name. The love between a boy and his stretchable man toy. But, alas, it was not meant to be. I figured Santa just thought I hadn't been good enough each year (despite my efforts to be a model child in the last 2 months of the year) and that is why my desire for a Stretch would always remain just out of reach (the irony).

The other day, over 10 years later, I finally asked my mother why she'd never got me a Stretch Armstrong and she just laughed at me. The cruelest jibe of all.

Wind-up motorcycle

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y6...op/DSCF0864.jpg

This isn't the exact one but I'm guessing the one that was advertised to my generation was just a rip-off of the Evel Kneivel one from way back when. The ad built it up as the coolest thing on the planet, it could jump over conveniently located streams, through shoddily built cardboard forts and your bedroom would finally become the stunt arena that you'd aspired to for so long. He could wheely, flip and probably teach me more about life than actions, words, thoughts and feelings ever could. Dammit I wanted one.

Focus: Nostalgia time. What was your Stretch Armstrong? What Christmas gift did you always put first on the list and never receive? Have you ever confronted your parents about these vicious childhood neglects?

Ruu_Old

Bumped over to All Theengs Retro.

I wanted an Atari Lynx, first handheld games console. I don't think they lasted too long so its better off I didn't get it. The soize of it!

trout

in our house, santa had a 'policy' of bringing surprises ... so you could request a small gift, and be fairly sure it would arrive, but for the 'big' present you had to accept santa's superior wisdom ... at the time it seemed a little odd, but i can see the sense now that i have kids of my own :cool:

while i didn't always get what i wanted ... santa made sure i got what i needed!

Ruu wrote:

I wanted an Atari Lynx, first handheld games console. I don't think they lasted too long so its better off I didn't get it. The soize of it!

ooh! flashback!

i have a working atari lynx, and only one game ... who has all the lynx games?

Catari Jaguar

A Ware Bear, they were cute, but at midnight went evil! Basically you could turn them inside out to the evil side. And a Colour Blaster, a stencil and paint sprayer thing with a foot pump. The ad had a pic with a pink flamingo in sunglasses that you could make. "Colour Blaster, arts the master, spray your art- Real smart!" Was well cool I got a radio and paint set that year instead...

Generally got what I asked for. Unless they weren't available over here. Before the days of Argos... My parents got me a more expensive version of a play kitchen I wanted. but I didn't like it and my Mam was all offended. I was like "What do u care? Santa got it. sheesh!"

My little cousin had a Stretch Armstrong, couple of years ago all us big cousins decided to test Stretch's strength, by tying him round banister and stretching him, his arm came off and all the yellowey see through thick gel started seeing out from his shoulder where his arm used to be... ha ha! poor traumatised kid.

She-Ra

I always wanted a Mr Frosty.. not a big thing funnily enough, whenever this comes up everyone has told me they never got one either... maybe there was something parents knew that we didnt

Catari Jaguar

I got one. Then next year it came with those lil ice mould things and I was pissed off... It was bad cos you got hardly any flavour packs to put in the ice. Cute lil ad for it though. "Mr. Frosty is such fun, he makes drinks for everyone..."

Ruu_Old

What about the Sodastream? Another thing "all my friends had" (or at least I thought so and said so my parents would get one) at the time.

CrowdedHouse

I think I would have sold my soul for a Raleigh Chopper

No way my parents could afford one.

I'm open to correction but IIRC they were £46 in the early 70's,which was probably most of a weeks wages for my Dad.

Still it was good to dream and hope...

aidan_dunne

She-Ra wrote:

I always wanted a Mr Frosty..

Trust me, you didn't miss out on much! My sister got one for Christmas one year and I seem to recall the Mr. Frosty "drinks" turning out a lot like if you had just scraped off the ice that builds up in your freezer into a plastic cup and then pouring some ice cream syrup or something similar onto it! :eek: Certainly didn't live up to the ads anyway, that's for sure.

Hell, if you really want to relive your youth and see what you thought you were missing out on growing up, you could probably give it a go yourself next time you're defrosting the freezer. Just scrape the built-up ice from the sides of your freezer into a glass and pour some syrup on it and, ahem, enjoy! As I said, it's pretty much the same thing, to be honest!

irishgeo

Wanted a Mr Frosty as well but never got it either.

Got a racing car set instead and me and brother would spent ages wondering how we could get all the extra track bits ordered from england.

always wanted one of them big train sets that poeple would have up in the attic. a proper model railway.

Stench Blossoms

Wanted a set of headset walkie talkie and scalextrics but my parents couldn't find the walkie talkies and thought scalextrics were too boyish.

00112984

For about 5 years in a row, I asked for Mr. Frosty for every Chritmas and birthday (my birthday is Christmas week so I'm used to those disappointments) and never got it! The reason, I found out later, was that my sister's friend's little sister had one and it was a piece of crap that broke on the first use. Still- I longed for my own.

About a year ago, the boyfriend and I were in a toy shop and I spotted a Mr. Frosty on the shelf. I told BF the awful strory of my ruined Christmasses and he offered to buy me one. You know what? I decided not to get it. It really does look like a piece of cheap crap.

Siogfinsceal

haha good ol Mr Frosty I was never allowed one either - I think it was because of all the 'colurings and E numbers' that my mams friend had said were in it (both me and my brother were banned from E numbers and coca cola due to getting so hyper) and also that we would inevitably spill all over the floor.
We had a stretch armstrong but we pulled him and he bled yellow thick stuff so we had to put a bandaid on him (seriously when my mam brought him back to the shop they said to put a bandaid on him and he would be good as new!!...and she believed him).
I wanted a wear bear and a keeper (the pink one but got the ornage one) and a my little pony and a toy that was a bird with long hair that you could clip onto things (remember them anyone?)

wexhun

Yeah, I wanted a Mr. Frosty for years too but it never materialised some aul biddy told my Ma about the E numbers. For years I was petrified of these mysterious E numbers...still wanted Mr. Frosty though.
It must have been marketed really well, I think it was because the two kids on the add looked really happy.:rolleyes: In saying that I would try to disuade my kids from getting a piece of crap. My daughter got a real oven one year, cost a fortune, cooked two tiny buns in about an hour, used once and has been in the attic since so maybe Mr Frosty wasn't such a lost after all. SEE KIDS PARENTS REALLY DO KNOW BEST!!:D

MW

I really wanted a scamp dog one year, you know the one you push along and it bobs it's head and barks, think I got Guess Who that year. I always got really crap, or really educational board games like Monopoly and The Game of Life. You'd get other little pressies too like but then you have to bring your pressies into school on the first Friday afternoon after Xmas and all the little rich kids would have their scamps and their gameboys and stuff, I'd feel like a dope. I do understand it now, my parents weren't poor but they didn't want to spoil us either, I kind of appreciate it now I suppose. You always get your Xmas outfit as well so you could dress up going to Mass on Xmas day. I remember one year a few weeks before Xmas, I was in mass on a Sunday, I saw one of my friends from school wearing a deadly jacket, I stupidly turned around and whispered to my mother in mass that I wanted a new coat for Xmas, she was disgusted with me that I thought Mass was the right place to be a selfish little madam.

r3nu4l

Always wanted the Star Wars "At-At" or Millenium Falcon but never got them. I always got something way smaller but maybe star-Wars related...with a letter from Santa explaining that he gave my Millenium Falcon etc. to a child from a poor family who had no toys

Funnily enough one Christmas about five years later I got a Millenium Falcon...about the same year that Dunnes were selling them at half-price because they were out of fashion

Now of course I know that my folks could never have afforded a full-price one back then. Oh well

I would have loved a Scalextricks but knew not to even try asking for that so never did

tk123

r3nu4l wrote:

Funnily enough one Christmas about five years later I got a Millenium Falcon...about the same year that Dunnes were selling them at half-price because they were out of fashion

I remember when that happened - we got loads of speeder bikes with our pocket money.:cool:
I wanted a Teddy Ruxpin when I was little but got this stupid bear that just repeated what you said. Little did I know that Teddy Ruxpin was just a glorified tape recorder. When I saw the teddy in AI I realised thats what I thought TRux. was all those years ago! Come to think of it I always used to get the lamer Fisher Price version of what I wanted - eg one year I wanted a microscope and got a plasticy fisher price one instead. My mum still can't understand what the problem was "see they still work after 20 odd years - Fisher Price toys were made to last etc etc" :rolleyes:

Mawg

Crocodile dentist, giggle wiggle, big red fun bus, littlest pet shop, hungry hungry hippos were all things i asked for.

I think the present I got the most use out of was definately my plastic wheeled rollerblades!

Used to ask for a nintendo every year, and a scooter, but santa never brought them. I showed him though, on the day of my communion I spent my money on a super nintendo, and a few years later spent all my confirmation money on a Nintendo64 (though by then I think I may have been a wee bit old for santa)

yellowellie

Dial-a-design. Two of my friends got it without asking for it. I was convinced I was a bold child.

billy the squid

I asked for, and eventually received, an atari 2600 back in the 80s, Actually it was 1989 I got it

Crumble Froo

stretch - arm- strong
gooey louie
cars in general.

WindSock

Glad to see I'm not alone in the lack of Mr Frosty from Santa. I bought one a few years ago to satisfy my curiosity. Curiosity unsatisfied. Those Ads certainly did it more justice than it deserved. Ah well, it's true what they say...never meet your (toy Ice pop making) heroes, you'll only be disappointed.

As for the Lynx... I really wanted a Gameboy or Sega for Aaaaaages, then we went into Peates with my Dad (Santa)and the A-hole "Salesman'' sold us the lynx instead, claiming it was much better, blah blah blah. the games were so crap. I only got my Gameboy wish last year Seems all this money I am earning is going on my lost childhood.

Oh, and Teddy Ruxpin (or something?) He told you stories and sang songs. I really wanted a teddy that would talk to me and be my friend Instead I got one that records your voice for 3 seconds. Wierd having a Teddy that sounded almost, but not exactly like me!

Pigman II

r3nu4l wrote:

Funnily enough one Christmas about five years later I got a Millenium Falcon...about the same year that Dunnes were selling them at half-price because they were out of fashion

The falcon was never and will never be out of fashion! I still have mine. The nice twist is it's so battered and old and dirty now that it actually looks more like the thing from the movies now than it did when I got it

Kojak

I remember asking for a Commodore 64 back in the early 1990's. God those were the days

A lad I knew got one of those Mr. Frosty things. He used it once, it broke and he never touched it again.

stovelid

Hoped loudly for a Snowspeeder at start of the 80s and thought I hadn't got it until I was given a additional 'surprise' pressie (usually something small) and there it was. Don't think there was a happier kid that Christmas.

little miss

Cabbage Patch Kid, Keepers, Lego, Subbuteo, Game Boy... Not all in the same year!

Mrs. MacGyver

She-Ra wrote:

I always wanted a Mr Frosty.. not a big thing funnily enough, whenever this comes up everyone has told me they never got one either... maybe there was something parents knew that we didnt

I really wanted one too and a mini kitchen (but never got one). Although i did ask for a fortycoats book and 'draw with Don' (and got them!).

little miss

I forgot about Mr Frostry. I actually bought one for myself when I was seventeen. It was still fun! But still a bit sad as I'd wanted on for years!

Baby4

This post has been deleted.

I asked for Voltron, never got it. My cousins did and always went on about it, gits.

Andrewf20

An Amiga 500. But i did get what i want the following year, the best technic lego ever!

http://www.chem.sunysb.edu/msl/LEGO/8865.jpg

steveone

Raleigh boxer, never got one.. my dad bought me a Rancho.....a mad green bike with suspension from the early 80's...it looked like a scrambler... it was just as heavy too....:)