Red Ryder Carbine
Most of us have seen A Christmas Story more times than we can count. It’s one of my favorite Christmas movies, though it remains a distant also-ran behind National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, the single greatest Christmas movie ever. A Christmas Story is a nostalgic piece of Americana that peaks with Ralphie Parker getting his long coveted “Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time” from his father.
You all probably have your own “Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time” gifts that you’ve received through the years. For me it was the Nintendo Entertainment System we received circa 1987 (my brother and I had to share it, but we didn’t mind). While it would be fun to muse on the times we received that one gift that we wanted more than all else, I’d like to instead take a look at those “Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time” presents that weren’t stowed away in a corner just waiting for us to find them. The “Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time” that we never received, and have pined for ever since…
- The U.S.S. Flagg
Words can’t properly convey the awe that came over a kid when gazing at the Sears Wish Book at the mother of all playsets: The G.I. Joe U.S.S. Flagg:
The size of the toy alone was staggering. 7.5 feet long, 3.5 feet tall, 2.5 feet wide. Just look at the size of that thing. Those aren’t miniature Skystrikers parked on deck or Rattlers buzzing the control tower – those are the full sized real things, and the Flagg absolutely dwarfs them. It wouldn’t have even fit in my room without removing a bed or two. But that would’ve been OK. I would have gladly slept on the couch or even outside if it meant having this plastic piece of paradise. Though the Flagg cost a hefty $130 (which is the equivalent of $230 in today’s economy), I really think it was the ginormous size that prevented my Mom from buying it for me. That and the fact that one of my cousins would no doubt destroy it within hours of it being assembled. Sorry Chris & Jeff, but I still hold those snapped TIE Interceptor wings against you – I showed you where explode button was and you still broke it! ;)
If, for some reason, I found the Flagg under our tree this Christmas, it would be my definitive Ralphie moment.
Some honorable mention:
- A synthesizer. I wanted one of these after I saw Ferris Bueler’s Day Off. I’ve always wanted to create theme songs for people and then start playing them whenever they walked into the room, something along the lines of the Beverly Hills Cop theme. If anyone gets me a synthesizer, your theme will be the first one composed.
So how about you? What was that one present you wanted above all else but never received? Leave a comment of write a post on your own blog. I’m truly interested.
