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Waxing About Christmas Wish Books: 1985 Editon.

Wow, this one took forever to put together. I know the topic of Sears Wish Books came up a few threads ago, and I had to bite my virtual tongue to avoid mentioning that they were going to be the topic of the next full-length article. So, here we are: The newest article covers six things I had and six things I always wanted from the 1985 Sears Wish Book, only that's a lie, since the photos are actually from the '85 JCPenney catalog. Same difference, really.

I'm pretty certain that this will be a recurring feature, and I'm already chomping at the bit to dive into one of my catalogs from the early '90s. Will probably do at least one more of these before the season goes kaput.

One of the featured items in the '85 catalog review is the "Million Color Drawing Set" from Clowny, the second most awesome crayon company in history. I didn't get one back in 1985, but the set is important proof that no amount of time can end our chances of finally snatching the toys that "got away." Thanks to good timing at a church fair sometime back, I now stand before you as the proud owner of what simply must be the last remaining Clowny "Million Color Drawing Set" in existence.


For those who don't recall (or who weren't alive), the basic gimmick with Clowny crayons was that most of them weren't a single color, but rather a messy soup of dozens of colors. When you used the crayons, your line might've started off red before changing into yellow and finishing green. This didn't make them practical for use with coloring books, but with crayons this wild, who wanted to paint within the lines?

The "Million Color Drawing Set" included three different types of Clowny crayons and a gigantic drawing pad. Now that I've seen the set, I can confirm that the drawing pad was only gigantic so they'd be able to justifiably use a box that made the set appear to be much larger than it actually was. Take away the pad, and they could've fit the remaining contents into even the smallest Ziploc.


The main stars of the show were the Million Color Stick and the Million Color Block. The former works like lipstick tube, while the latter is kind of neanderthalic and simple, but in a good way. I haven't held a Clowny crayon in my hand for over twenty years, and what's really hitting me most is the smell. Oh, that wonderful smell! Like stale clay mixed with construction paper, it's just behind gasoline and coconuts as my favorite smell ever.

Also included with the set were ten Color Finger Tips, which let you doodle in crayon much in the same way that you would fingerpaint. I prefer the other versions, since Clowny crayons don't feel like rightful Clowny crayons if they don't look like the remnants of a Crayola 64-count box set ablaze.

My personal triumph in finally finding Clowny again notwithstanding, the years I spent praying for that triumph seems like a good segue into a survey. I'm sure we've done this survey before, but there must be some kind of reasonable statute of limitations when it comes to online surveys. In the comments, talk about some of the toys and other childhood items you always wanted, but never got.

Posted by Matt on 11/13/2007. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 273 comments

Oh the GI Joe F14 was the greatest! I was always a little bit pissed that when the wings extended the landing gear had to come down.

I was at a bar (surprise) and I spied an original Kenner AT AT. I was trying to figure out a way to steal it but that’s not how I want to go to jail. If you squint hard enough you can see it.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t201/veggiemacabre/Image110.jpg

Chestnuts roasted by Bill @ 11/14/2007 3:31 PM

I have all of these! Even the finger tip things. I had no idea what they were called though, as I probably got them when I was 3. I still have them though, sitting in a box somewhere.

Chestnuts roasted by david @ 11/14/2007 4:34 PM

Simply put….Awesome!

I had a friend that got the G.I.JOE Carrier back in the day…That thing was huge. More recently another friend found one in great condition and got it.

Chestnuts roasted by Drexl @ 11/14/2007 5:03 PM

I never realized the fright zone set was from he-man, my brother was the fan of it. I think I used it with my crash dummies before I got the crash test center.

We used to pick up the toys r us book and our mom would have us circle things we wanted in it. The only xmas item I wanted but knew I’d never get was one of those 5 or so in 1 tables (ping-pong, pool, air hockey, basketball hoop, and umm drink table?).

Chestnuts roasted by wolfeditor @ 11/14/2007 5:38 PM

I remember wanting this weird Real Ghostbusters toy called Brain Blaster just because it was one of the last figures I didn’t have and wanted. I remember a lot of stuff like that where I wanted something but never really asked for it. I know there must be some big thing I wanted that I couldn’t get. ..But I never had these wishbooks either, which is probably for the best. It makes for nice reference now though..

Chestnuts roasted by Zharicant @ 11/14/2007 5:49 PM

Magic Toy I just had to say that I completely share your thoughts in regards to the family members really making the toys special. Looking back on it now, it amazes me how much time my parents spent playing/entertaining my brother and I. My dad spent countless hours playing restaurant with us in our little kitchen set. And Halloweens, OMG, my dad actually would have us out the door at 5pm, and not back until 10 pm from trick-or-treating. My mom would pretend to be mad every year that he kept us out so late, but she knew how much fun we had. OH! And Legos! My brother and I loved our Legos! Our parents spent hours with us on the living room floor helping us put together those big, complicated sets. My childhood wasnt perfect by any means, but there were a lot of good parts. Thanks MagicToy for stirring up all those good memories for me!

Chestnuts roasted by crazy_mainer @ 11/14/2007 6:04 PM

Wow, the McDonalds version of Easy Bake Ovens, I had those. One was the apple pie maker where you put some applesauce on a slice of bread, then used a mold to fold and cut it like an apple pie. I remember the burger maker made candy burgers of some kind. I don’t know why I loved them so. Also, Dr. Dreadful’s were the coolest thing in history. I loved making gummy’s and bubbling drinks. It was all basically citric acid with coloring, but I had like, four different sets. Tried to buy one a few years ago, but the “make your own food” craze seems over.

Chestnuts roasted by Ben @ 11/14/2007 7:59 PM

Rub a Dub Doggy I think is most likely the toy I ALWAYS wanted and NEVER got. Oh to have that little doggy with his little bone sponge and ears that you can wash…*laments Rub a dub doggy*

Chestnuts roasted by rimmie @ 11/14/2007 10:40 PM

My friend John had the USS Flagg, and if I recall correctly, he actually did use it as a table.

Chestnuts roasted by hamburger man @ 11/14/2007 11:02 PM

This is way random, but back during the Roger Rabbit craze of ,oh lets say 87, LJM had a Roger Rabbit line. Benny the cab was in the line and he looked awesome.I wanted him so bad but I couldnt have known he was in production for a mere day due to choking hazards.Never got him…until recently, thanks Ebay!!!
Oh and its nice to hear that The Blank was real I guess, thanks Madonna!!! , you ruined my childhood.

Chestnuts roasted by T.J. @ 11/14/2007 11:10 PM

One more,(I was a needy child). Now I know the love of The Real Ghost Busters around here, and I share that love, but I cheated on TRGB with that other Ghostbusters that had the gorrila and talking car.(ghost buggy rules by the way)anyway, never got the ghostbusters HQ. I had TRGB fire house, no HQ.That was one underrated toy line and cartoon in my opinion. True they had no marshmellow man but they had Ghost Buggy.

Chestnuts roasted by T.J. @ 11/14/2007 11:25 PM

Thinking back, I was a terribly spoiled child. Not only did I have the USS Flagg, but I had the G.I. Joe Space shuttle, too. Damn, that was a big thing, but I like it better than the carrier. The problem with the USS Flagg is that it was so damn big, you couldn’t move it around anywhere…

Chestnuts roasted by Cameron T. @ 11/15/2007 12:12 AM

I don’t think I remember looking through the wishbooks as a kid, but I do remember all the various other sales catalogs that would come out, like Toys R Us and whatnot. I think all the stuff I wanted came from commercials and my older cousin, who was practically my big brother growing up. He was one of these spoiled bastards though that had EVERYTHING. I don’t think he had the USS Flagg, but he had just about every other G.I Joe toy in existance, in addition to some kickass Star Wars and Transformers collections. He still has all of it, including a complete Predaking that I drool over every time I go to his house. I had him slightly beat in the He-Man department though, but the only thing I can really hold over his head is my near mint Omega Supreme, that he always wanted but never got. Otherwise, everything I wanted, he had more of and got it like 2 years earlier.

I remember getting a chemistry set and promised myself I would follow the instructions and do exactly what it told me, but instead just started mixing shit together to see what would happen. After I accidently broke all the beakers it came with I kind of lost interest in it, and it ended up back in the box and under my bed.

I remember being pretty sneaky and as much as I hate surprises being spoiled, the temptation would be too great, and every year I would go on a hunt looking for presents stashed around the house. I became an expert at also breaking into the ones that were already wrapped by being able to peel back the tape and re-tape if necessary to get a peek. It was such a terrible thing to do. However, the first present I ever stumbled upon was entirely by accident, swear to god. I was just looking for a pencil or something and was digging around in a nightstand in my mom’s room and found Super Mario Brothers 3 for the NES. I had wanted it SO bad that I just lost my shit and ran downstairs to thank my mom. She just got mad and thought I found it on purpose, but I swear it was totally an accident. This year I vow I’ll be a good boy and not spoil things for myself. We’ll see how that pans out.

I totally know what you mean by “The Spread!” I do that every year, even now.

Chestnuts roasted by DJ D @ 11/15/2007 12:35 AM

DJ D, I would have loved one of those chemistry sets when I was a kid… though it probably would have met a similar end with me!!

I remember the wonderful year when I got the Hotwheels set I had been begging for…. although the cars always fell off the tracks on the loop-the-loop. Then in my 1st-year physics lab I got to play with high quality silver cars on fancy LOW-FRICTION tracks but it was no longer fun because we had to take about fifty million measurements.

There’s probably a life lesson in there somewhere.

Chestnuts roasted by Jinsky @ 11/15/2007 2:36 AM

The funny thing is I now hate cars and travel exclusively by bicycle or public transit. MAYBE the toy cars had something to do with it.

Chestnuts roasted by Jinsky @ 11/15/2007 2:42 AM

These are great posts to read. I remember really wanting a Rainbow Brite doll, which I got and still have. The other thing I recall really wanting was a little rubber Smurf figurine, of a Smurf with a scarf, laying on his backside because he’d fallen on the ice. I was so into Smurfs, and that was my first one.

I think one of my favourite presents was a set of C-3PO and an R2-D2 figures when I was four. I took them everywhere with me. And sucked on Artopo’s head once in awhile to the point where his label sogged off a bit. And it was the same Christmas I got a dark yellow t-shirt with an iron-on of the droids on it. Those 1978 era shirts where you’d go to a store and ask which image you want ironed on, and it was sort of rubbery feeling after. It eventually flaked off after repeated washings, but I loved that shirt.

Oh, how about Speak & Spell. I don’t think it was anytihng we asked for, or even knew about beforehand, but I remember my brother and I getting that, and then later getting Speak & Math. I still have them. I used to hope to get a new language pack for Speak & Spell, because I’d kind of memorized everything on the pack it came with. Some guy where my dad worked tried to tell me that a tiny man lived inside Speak & Spell, but I wasn’t that dumb! I liked how Speak & Spell asked you to spell yolk and had to add “As in, egg” so you wouldn’t get screwed spelling yoke.

One other thing I have to add, remember Furskins? They were made by the Cabbage Patch people. I always thought Cabbage Patch dolls were kind of homely, like someone had sadly kicked them in the teeth, but the Furskins were neat hillbilly bear cousins. Speaking of Cabbage Patch dolls, my sister in law says when she was little and travelling in the States, she was taken to the “birthing” place of Cabbage Patch dolls. You see the garden where they grow, and once in awhile an birth is announced.

I think every Christmas, I have a holiday assocaition of playing video games, because of the year we received a SNES. Total surprise, because we never asked for one. We got Zelda, Bart’s Nightmare, and Mario Paint. I loved Mario Paint, and spent awhile making a cartoon about a dancing cactus. Even that fly swatter game that was part of it was good.

Enough rambling from me or I’ll just keep on going!

Chestnuts roasted by CMJ @ 11/15/2007 3:30 AM

My mom worked at a Sears distribution center when I was born in 1985 so I totally have the ’85 Wish Book in my baby box! I love looking at it. I usually can’t get past the toy section, but sometimes I like looking at the crazy expensive stereos and awesome fashion. = )

Chestnuts roasted by Leslie @ 11/15/2007 10:22 AM

Ive been reading this site for years, and i love it. I saw the SS Flag for 1 day when I was 6, and I remember it in detail. It had this tailhook you could wind up. This article takes me back. Thanks Matt.

Chestnuts roasted by Clayton @ 11/15/2007 10:54 AM

The toys that I’m still hoping to get 20 years later…
lite brite
mousetrap
easy bake over

My mom’s reason for never getting me these toys? Too many pieces.
I don’t know if she meant that she thought I would swallow them or lose them or what, but I never found that a particularly valid excuse…

Chestnuts roasted by Robyn @ 11/15/2007 10:56 AM

I too was denied the USS Flagg. Though I did get the giant space shuttle that came out the next year. The toys that are still missing from my youth.

1. Manglore Mountain (I think I spelled that right) It had a green boogery dude that you could rip apart and then put him in the slime stuff and he re-formed

2. The ThunderCat base. I had the toys, I had the thundertank but never the Cats Lair

Chestnuts roasted by Toxikfoxx @ 11/15/2007 12:08 PM

Oh, god, the Wishbooks! JCPenney’s sent their 2007 out recently and I was like, “What, is this it? This is full of shit!” Man, children of the ’80s had it made.

My Little Ponies: I was desperate to have Paradise Estate. (Actually, though, i think what I wanted was a home for my ponies.) So much so that when I didn’t get it for my birthday or Christmas I cobbled together, as only an artistic seven year old girl can, a make-shift Dream Castle out of an old diaper box. Which got thrown away the following month. :( Continuing with MLP, I really wanted a jewel-eyed pony because I thought it was the prettiest thing ever. My mom thought they were the ugliest thing ever. Guess who won. :(

A few years later I was really into the American Girls. But despite the hours I spent drooling over the dolls and their accessories I never asked for anything because even then I knew how damn expensive they were. Joke’s on me because now that I’ve started collecting, some of the stuff on Ebay is easily 5x what they originally went for. Grrrr.

I did want a Teddy Ruxpin until my friend got one and i realized how creepy they were. And I DID get a small gray Pound Puppy so that was cool. My brother got that TalkBoy recorder (as seen in “Home Alone II”) but I had chances to borrow it.

Not a toy but I always wanted jelly shoes. Again, my mom thought they were ugly. Then last year I saw jelly shoes in adult sizes at Claire’s and I was “thisclose” to buying them when I remembered 1) feet sweat 2) plastic discolors and smells funky 3) no support means bad news for plantar fascilitiis. *sigh* being an adult sucks sometimes.

Chestnuts roasted by Poseid @ 11/15/2007 12:15 PM

Poseid, I’m 28 and I adore my jelly shoes. I don’t wear them everywhere. Heck, I don’t even where them most places. They’re great for a summer afternoon outside where you really should wear shoes but you really don’t want to. They’re also great to slip on for quick trips to the mailbox or to get the paper. Personally, I like to wear them in any situation where my shoes might get really wet because I don’t have to worry about ruining them. Even though I know better than to wear them for extended periods, I feel I get enough use out of them to warrant the few bucks I spent on them.

Chestnuts roasted by Lori @ 11/15/2007 12:48 PM

When I was a small child, my Grandfather worked for Sears, and for the longest time I thought that the only reason I got the wonder that was the Sears Wishbook, was because he worked there. It was crushing day, when I discovered the truth.

Chestnuts roasted by nikki @ 11/15/2007 2:22 PM

Always wanted a Fortress Maximus, but it was priced at that mythical $100 mark that used to seem so untouchable to me as a kid. I never even asked for it. I just figured it was a dealbreaker. God, I spent years drooling at the thought of that toy.

I have one now though. Two, actually. But I bought them both for myself as an adult, so I’m going to assume for the purposes of this article my story of silent pain and broken hearted suffering is still valid.

I’ve got the very cool recolored Korean version that was released during the TransFormers: Armada run, and an el-cheapo eBay find of the original American version that is missing virtually every accessory the toy came with. But that doesn’t matter. I display him in the most stretched out, real estate gobbling configuration I can make out of his city mode, then cover him up with MicroMasters and MiniCons to make him look even more enormous by contrast than he already is. Even without a head or guns, ole Fort Max still looks mighty pretty.

Chestnuts roasted by Chris @ 11/15/2007 2:38 PM

Matt,

Thank you so very much for allowing me to reminise and walk down memory lane- This Wishbook article nearly brought a tear to my eye and the wonderment that, “Fucking A! I actually used to have that Fright Zone playset” Wow… Real Swell bro! Thanks Sincerely,

Karl

Chestnuts roasted by Unodir @ 11/15/2007 7:30 PM

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