12/28/2012: Shuffle Bone

First of all, let me stress that I am not one of those people that buys their pets Christmas gifts. The fact that I bought this on Christmas Eve day for Darwin is nothing more than a coincidence. Had I not been looking for something else in Bed Bath & Beyond when I spotted the Shuffle Bone, he never would've gotten it.

12/10/2012: Heat Miser/Snow Miser

For Gen Xers, nothing harkens us back to the holidays of yor quite like the old Rankin and Bass Christmas specials. The Heat Miser and the Snow Miser were featured in one of the better ones, The Years Without a Santa Claus. Which, thanks to ABC Family, I just finished watching. Not quite as good as it was in the 70s, but holds up better than many of the R&B specials. Just try to sit through the Leprechaun's Christmas Gold, I dare you. 

It seems the Heat Miser is the more popular of the two Miser brothers, even though they both have pretty much the same song and the same four mini-me minions. Must be Heat's hair that gives him the edge.

And get ready for a barrage of Christmas crap in the next couple weeks.

See also: Birthday Plate

11/27/2012: Game Cube

This Game Cube was the last in a long line of Nintendo console ownership. The original NES begat the Super Nigntendo, the Super Nintendo begat the N64, the N64 begat the Game Cube, and the Game Cube begat the Wii (which I loathed and sold soon after purchasing). Once upon a time, my Game Cube was the center of my entertainment world.  I'd play Mario or Zelda for hour upon hour. Now? No it sits unused in the basement, attached to an archaic 32" tube TV. Sad and abandoned.

Though I do miss Mario Kart...

4/6/2012: Dog Tire

This dog tire is one of Darwin's toys in the backyard. For the endless games of fetch he so enjoys. You would think that it would get old of the second or third toss and "Git it!"... but it doesn't. At least not for the dog.

3/2/2012: Dwight Bobble Head

2/17/2012: Diecast Metal Millennium Falcon

This diecast metal Millennium Falcon was purchased for me by my grandmother a long long time ago. I'll say in 1978. She was visiting from New Jersey and took me to the toy store to pick out a gift for myself. Being a young boy in the late 70s I of course chose something Star Wars related. Birthday, Christmas, just for being awesome, I don't recall the exact reason for the gift but I do remember where we went. We went where every 9 year old in the Des Moines area wanted to go: Toys n More.

Ahhhh... Toys n More. I can still fondly recall their TV commercials (which I unfortunately had no luck locating on YouTube.) "Toys n more! Toys n MORE!!! TOY N MUCH MUCH MORE!!!" Looking back I don't really remember what the "more" was. It was pretty much just toys.

Fun sidenote: Had I never opened my Millennium Falcon I could sell it mint-in-box on eBay for roughly $1500.

1/5/2012: Stephen Hawking Action Figure

I no longer have a lot of the collectibles I purchased in younger days (note: "collectible" is a term used by adult geeks to justify buying items such as comics or toys or Star Wars sheets that most would consider things only suitable for children to have). But one I had to hold onto was my Stephen Hawking action figure, from his appearance on The Simpsons. Why did I feel compelled to keep this particular collectible when most others have either been packed away in boxes in my basement or given away? If you have to ask that then maybe you didn't read what this is. It's a Stephen Hawking... ACTION FIGURE. How effing sweet is that?