02/06/2004 Entry: "The Birthday Poll. Hi I'm Old."

I'm 25. I think that's about ten years too old for me to be me. Still, if I get proofed for alcohol tonight, at least the cashier will throw me well-wishes instead of letting out the usual grunts and cobra-spits. So, with the birthday and all, today's poll topic seemed like an obvious choice. What's the best birthday gifts you've ever received?

It's too early for me to put any thought into this, but here's a to-the-point list. From the Transformers side, I got Metroplex, Trypticon, Rodimus and the Sharkticon all on the same birthday, and I absolutely loved all of them as I would my children. Actually, my older sister got me a second Metroplex, and since I didn't need two (looking back, I wish I kept both), we exchanged the pricey bot at Toys 'R' Us and I got to go on a little shopping spree. I can't remember everything I got, but SS-Slithe and Panthro from The Thundercats was definitely in the wagon. Oh yeah -- I think that's when I got the Max Rebo Band set from ROTJ, too. On clearance, woo hoo.

Another top gift came much later, from one of my brothers. It was a homemade video set containing every last episode of Chris Elliot's "Get A Life," my absolute favorite show ever that was sadly canceled and completely out of sight. "Special person, entering the world, egg yolks."

Finally, my fifth grade birthday party was held as "Razzmatazz," some arcade/pizza joint in Jersey that was sort of like a really huge Chuck E. Cheese place that still managed to feel like a bad bootleg version. To make things simpler, we just invited all of the boys in my class. Considering the year, nearly everything I got had to do with Ninja Turtles. One of them handed me a "Metalhead" figure, which was virtually impossible to find at the time. Someone else gave me that pizza-throwing vehicle, which spit plastic pizza pies halfway across the room. Awesome. Okay, your turn.

Chestnuts roasted by chad @ 02/06/2004 10:01 AM EST

Zartan and a Water Moccasin boat thing... Very cool...

Chestnuts roasted by Guido @ 02/06/2004 10:02 AM EST

Happy Bday, Matt. I, too, am twenty-five. To celebrate my big 2-5, I drove five hours to be with my family instead of my friends. Why? Since I'm pretty much the oldest in my group of friends, I didn't want to deal with the crappy "quarter century" crap. Crappy crap. But hey, cheaper car insurance, eh? That is, if you have a car... or insurance. Enjoy it, and get as many sympathy gifts as possible.

As far as the best present I've gotten for my bday, probably the most special gift was when my father went all out and got me my first decent rod and reel, tacklebox, lures and baits, and took me fishing. This, as a farmer, was quite a sacrifice, and it still means a lot to me. I'm just happy I also appreciated it at the time.

Chestnuts roasted by Nachokhaki @ 02/06/2004 10:05 AM EST

Happy Birthday, Matt.

The best gift I ever got was for my 13th birthday, about 20 years ago. It was a tiny black thing that said "Spoiler" across the top and bore no resemblance to the huge multicolored boards I bought for my sons recently. Anyway, I wiped out on a pebble going 20 mph down a hill, and never rode it again. End of story.

Chestnuts roasted by Kookie @ 02/06/2004 10:08 AM EST

Oh, yeah, I'm a dork. I forgot to mention in my above post that the "Spoiler" is a skateboard from the 80's

Chestnuts roasted by Kookie @ 02/06/2004 10:10 AM EST

Happy Birthday, Matt! I just turned 25 about 2 weeks ago and being a little older and wiser than you I'll pass on this lil' nugget: It fucking sucks!!! Nah, not really. I got like 5 bottles of Bacardi and $100. Not a total bust. Just wanna say thanks again for the site, man. This is the only thing I look forward when I get to my own personal Purgatory everyday at 8 a.m. And I've just finished going through the archives and I have got as much to do during the day as a blind kid playing "I spy with my little eye". Oh well, tuff titty said the kitty, I guess.

Oh, and I almost forgot, my best b'day present. One year, about 7 or 8 I guess, I got the life size Voltron. I didn't even like Volton, but anything that big brought tears to my eyes anyway.

Oh, and one year my parents bought me what was bascially Pee Wee Herman's bike, minus all the cool shit on it. They tried to tell me my friends were laughing because they were jealous. I knew better. I hated that fucking bike. Just thought I'd throw that in.

Adios

Chestnuts roasted by Blake @ 02/06/2004 10:15 AM EST

happy bday matt! i turn 25 this year also. its all down from here my man. anyway its tough to remember all the cool shit ive gotten. in recent years i got a ps2 which was nice, i got a complete skateboard from my brother when i was like 16, and i got a castle greyskull (which i still have)in my younger years.

Chestnuts roasted by mikey @ 02/06/2004 10:21 AM EST

Happy Birthday, Matt! I'll be 20 myself come this August. You're in good company being too old to be you. As far as my birthdays are concerned, I get some good stuff, but I've only ever had like 2 parties where it wasn't just me and my family. Yeah, didn't have too many good friends in elementary, middle, or high school. At least, if I did I never hung out with them outside of school. Right, back to birthdays. Never really got anything I can remember too well for my birthday-- I got some cool stuff, but Christmas overshadows my B-day by far. I think this year I'll ask for old NES games... I'd probably get 5-10 of those instead of one GAMECUBE game.

On another note, somewhere around 2 years ago I actually found the first two episodes of Ninja Turtles on tape, still new in the wrapper, at a Burlington Coat Factory, of all places. That was a great find. What's more, I just found out about this cheap little grocery outlet called Sav-a-Lot, and they have a whole section of things for a buck. There are a bunch of computer games (mostly copies of Mechwarrior 2 and Redneck Rampage). They have videotapes. One day last week, I found.... Earthworm Jim(The Book Of Doom/The Egg Beater) and The Best Of Wake, Rattle, and Roll. I couldn't believe it.

Chestnuts roasted by SaikyoJohnny @ 02/06/2004 10:31 AM EST

Happy Birthday Matt!

I remember one time when I was about ten or so, I was at a random birthday party at some local skate dive. I don't even remember who's birthday it was. I do however remember the birthday boy getting seven (7!) pizza launchers, it funny and almost sad. The launcher must have been the right price for all those thrifty suburban housewives to splurge on one. I felt bad for the kid. I mean if he waited long enough he could have gotten enough credit for a sewer lair and a technodrome.

Oh and by the way, I am turning 26 this year and have begun to panic about what direction my life is headed in.

Chestnuts roasted by Gerald James @ 02/06/2004 10:32 AM EST

Without a doubt, the year I got both Superman and Green Lantern figures from the original Kenners Super Powers line...happiest day of my life!

Chestnuts roasted by Dorothy Zbornak @ 02/06/2004 10:47 AM EST

Holy crap, Razzmatazz. I don't know if the Razzmatazz joint was a "chain" or "corporation" on the Chuck E. Cheese level, but the one I knew was by the bridge over the Raritan River, near Amboy Cinemas...fun fact! A creepy guy there left needles with the AIDS virus in them on the seats of that theatre! Cool, huh? I went to a whole slew of birthday parties there (my family's from Sayreville), and I remember, even though I was probably no more than 4 or so, realizing it was complete rundown crap.

Best birthday present ever? A Pianosaurus. I need to get me one again.

Chestnuts roasted by Rebecca @ 02/06/2004 11:05 AM EST

The best gifts I ever got was 32 yards of red yarn, a case of silicone caulk, and a bag of freshly collected pine needles. The fun I had with that birthday.

Chestnuts roasted by M French @ 02/06/2004 11:05 AM EST

Rebecca -- that's the one! :)

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 02/06/2004 11:08 AM EST

Happy Birthday!
Best birthday present, eh? Hmmm...that would be the Ghostbusters Firehouse. That thing had 4 levels and slime could ooze through all of it. I had to take that thing apart a couple of times just so I could clean it without damaging the stickers. Best birthday party? That would be my 11th birthday. We went to the UNH observatory at night but the guy didn't show up, so we played flashlight tag, night football and then we went to the local arcade as a capper.

Chestnuts roasted by MadMax1001 @ 02/06/2004 11:24 AM EST

Happy Birthday Matt.
Once I got half a carton of cigarettes, some kind of sour ribbon licorice, and sea monkeys, wrapped in toilet paper. It was the best present... ever.

Chestnuts roasted by Ken @ 02/06/2004 11:25 AM EST

Happy B-Day Matt! I will be 25 in May, 3 weeks before I get MARRIED, so I am feeling pretty old myself!

Best birthday gifts...hmm. Birthday gifts don't stick out to me as much as Xmas gifts for some reason. I think I always got the bigger stuff at Christmas.

I guess the best birthday was my 7th or 8th...I had my first ever (and only) birthday party. My mom said I could rent some movies and pick out whatever food I wanted. I rented a bunch of Monkees episodes and picked out Pretzels and M&M's as my food. My mom made little goodie bags for all my friends and I got a new bike that year.

The only downside was this one girl I had to invite. You know how you have to invite, like ALL the girls in your neighborhood, that are your age, whether you like them or not? Well this one girl, Shannon, had to be invited, and I HATED her because she was such a whiner. Her skin was like, see through, so you could see all the blue veins under her skin, which was just creepy. And she'd always through a TANTRUM about ANYTHING that bothered her. She had a chronically runny nose. She was awful. So anyway, when my mom was giving out the goodie bags filled with candy and toys, one of the girls ended up with a toy that Shannon wanted, and that girl wouldn't trade, so Shannon started BAWLING and demanded to be taken home, thus breaking up the whole party. What a little douche.

Chestnuts roasted by B-Dawg @ 02/06/2004 11:31 AM EST

feliz cumpleanos! (hahaha...spanish is cool) -- anywho, best gift was a lego western fort (it was super cool, it took me three hours on the night of my tenth/eleventh birthday to complete, but it was still worth it) another cool gift, my first bike in fourth grade -- i still have it (although i don't use it as much)...stupid gift: a caculator that when you opened it, it sang "fur elise" by beethoven and it would NEVER END(it wasn't really a b-day gift, but it was one of those "equal sibling birthday gifts" to compensate gifts when it would be my sister's birthday so that way i wouldn't whine about not getting gifts...)

Chestnuts roasted by happybunnydemon @ 02/06/2004 11:36 AM EST

I got nothin' to add -- birthdays were never really a big deal around here. I think there were a couple of years when a schoolmate chum was able to procure some really hard-to-find TMNT figures -- Leatherhead and Rat King were pretty scarce, but he came through; they weren't in the plastic and on the cards, but they did have their weapons and cut-out profiles. That's all that comes to mind.

I just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY from SC, boyo. :)

Chestnuts roasted by Wes @ 02/06/2004 11:43 AM EST

Happy Birthday Matt! Enjoy yourself and watch out for this crappy weather, at least in upstate NY it's crappy.

Best Bday presetn I git was a He-Man Big Wheel. That thing was awesome and got run into the ground that spring. I think there is still an ass print on from me never getting off it for like a month. Only birthday party and it sucked so it's not worth going into.

Chestnuts roasted by Ronald McTurdburgler @ 02/06/2004 11:45 AM EST

The best birthday present I ever recieved was the TMNT sewer playset, that thing was awesome, I also got a TMNT spaceship puzzle, a Raphie figure which was mysteriously wearing a trenchcoat, the TMNT super-paddle boat, and the strange TMNT game, which involved dropping little turtle/ shredder metal deals into the top of a sky scraper and guessing which compartment it would come out, I love turtles.

Plus Spewey still lives on in DVD form

Chestnuts roasted by Brrent @ 02/06/2004 12:01 PM EST

Happy Birthday and all that.

Best birthday gift I ever got was the stealth fighter from G.I.Joe, mostly since it was just a cool looking vehicle, ut also because it had that Grateful Deadesque logo on it and the figure was named Ghost Rider. Yay for dead things. Of course af ew years ago I sold it at a garage sale, and started kicking myself for doing that a week later. Oh well, some day it'll be mine again, someday...

I still remember that Razzmatazz though. I don't know if I ever went there for my birthday, but I do know my dad would jsut take me and my brother up there whenever he felt like it. Only thing I really remember is from the first time I went there, and Razzmatazz came out of the dressing room, and I jumped under the table.

That place has been boarded up for years, and everytime I go by there on that bridge I keep looking to see if anything's taken it, but nothing has yet.

Chestnuts roasted by Lim @ 02/06/2004 12:06 PM EST

I was about to ask how you found a picture of me from 1987. Was there some rule that said you had to wear sweaters and have your hair stick up?

I turned 25 back at the beginning of January and I'll have to use those presents as the best because I just don't remember my other birthdays. A Gameboy player, "Know your roots" and SMB 1-up T-shirts and, maybe best of all if you could top that, Final Fantasy: Unlimited Phase 1.

Twenty-five ain't so bad.

Chestnuts roasted by XviviX @ 02/06/2004 12:18 PM EST

Happy X-Eirthday! <- Sure, it sounds like Earth Day, but, like X-Emas, you can probably trademark these, Matt.

I would get you something from Amazon, but my cash is going toward multiple wish lists of barely legal model sites. Sorry, you will have to wait until I get Tina and Tanya that Mazda they need to get that special lingerie in the next state over from theirs.

Wait, what?

Chestnuts roasted by She-Man @ 02/06/2004 12:30 PM EST

I just checked, so Killer Duck and ME already used X-Emas. Fine, but X-Eirthday is my gift to you, Matt.

Chestnuts roasted by She-Man @ 02/06/2004 12:33 PM EST

Best all-time present was when in my early teens, Ma said we didn't have to have a big deal on my birthday and invite a whole passel of relatives. To better explain, being Native American and raised with a goodly amount of traditional upbringing, most family milestones are celebrated with at least an evening of native singing, all with close family and friends. It only works up to a point, mine being that I don't particularly like crowds in general, and a crowd of my family in specific. (just my hang-up) So I got to say just pizza with immediate family and a couple of cousins. 25 is nothing, cat and kittens, in dog years, not only would I be dead, but reincarnated at least once. My dad's side of the family routinely reaches the late 90's with no loss in mental function, so my present 34 is a breeze.

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 02/06/2004 12:34 PM EST

Yep, heres too 25. I turn it on March 14th! Even though I consider my real birthday the 17th. Go guinness! Anyhoo. Best gift ever for a birthday would be grappel. Yep. That stupid orange truck. Ahh, to be that easily satisfied again.

Chestnuts roasted by graeme @ 02/06/2004 01:04 PM EST

Happy Birthday!!

Now that that's out of the way... best birthday present ever... hmmm... I don't want to be too sappy, but the best present was my surprise birthday party when I turned 15. All my friends were at the rival high school, so my best friend got EVERYBODY to show up at her house for my birthday, even people I hadn't seen since fifth grade. It was the best day of my life.

Real gift-wise, I can't remember squat, which is a shame. I have no idea what I got for my birthday when I was little. I know I had an awesome Little Mermaid cake one year, and my cousin left crying because she couldn't take home Ariel's head... I gave her Flounder, couldn't she live with that?

Gifts, though... last year I got Time Life's 60's Gold collection- that was pretty awesome. Too bad I can't come up with anything better.

Chestnuts roasted by Rainbowfeet @ 02/06/2004 01:12 PM EST

That's a little tough to say. In my preteen years, I got a Skull Mountain, sort of the Castle Greyskull for the Mighty Max toyline.

I also remember getting Vac-Man, Stretch Armstronge's arch-nemisisisisiss, or however you spell it. I broke him on the first day.

Chestnuts roasted by Mr. Mr. Mr. @ 02/06/2004 01:17 PM EST

Happy birthday Matt!

Now that I think of it the best present I ever got was my bass guitar a few years back. That sounds really sad.
Now I'm sad.
Well, not really. Sad, I mean.

Chestnuts roasted by iivuli @ 02/06/2004 01:18 PM EST

I got an Angel Hello Kitty for my 18th birthday (or 19th, I can't remember). My friends had to cheat to find out my birthday 'cause I wouldn't tell 'em. Right now the thing is staring at me and I realised I can see up its dress. Now I feel dirty. Thanks a lot. >_<

Chestnuts roasted by "Booty Boot Crystal" @ 02/06/2004 01:20 PM EST

I don't know, but I got a little sister for Christmas one year. It was almost what I'd asked for, except I'd wanted one named Jesus, so not quite. My parents never listened to me. I don't know why they got her for Christmas, we're supposed to be Jewish.

Chestnuts roasted by Goz @ 02/06/2004 01:28 PM EST

Just stay immature, that's my advice! You're only as young as those you feel. I don't partake of alcohol, so I give you permission to get extra drunk to pick up the slack. I asked the donkey's corpse to give you a birthday wish and he said, "Drop the hot potato, my false teeth will be home any minute!" I think he's broken, or Homsar in disguise.

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 02/06/2004 01:42 PM EST

You wanna know what I got for my birthday this year? It was a banner fuckin' year at the old Lucky household- I got a carton of cigarettes. Old man grabbed me and said "Hey, smoke up, Lucky!" Bastard.

Chestnuts roasted by The Lucky One @ 02/06/2004 01:43 PM EST

I almost forgot. I got a new house for my brithday in '87. Ok, so we just moved in on my birthday, but I still pretend it was my birthday present.

Chestnuts roasted by Stilewalker @ 02/06/2004 01:47 PM EST

Matt, it's like that Mastercard commercial:

Matt keeping his fans entertained: priceless!!!

It's true, bro. You da man!!!

Happy Birthday Matt!!! Enjoy your day!

Chestnuts roasted by J-Dog @ 02/06/2004 01:51 PM EST

Best birthday present ever was the Ecto-1 that I got for my fourth birthday. Still have the picture to prove it!!

Chestnuts roasted by Ryan @ 02/06/2004 02:43 PM EST

Well, my birthday is on the 15th, and it is my 15th. Go figure.

Well, the best present I got was my name on the scoreboard at Madison Square Garden during a Knicks game.

Oh, I also got a Super Nintendo from my grandparents when I was either 5 or 6.

::Sobs because I miss my childhood::

Chestnuts roasted by Nick F @ 02/06/2004 03:14 PM EST

As a kid my favorite gifts were cash and legos. but i remember one year I got a ton of ninja turtles toys, the four turtles, shredder, splinter, two foot soldiers, bebop, rocksteady, april, i think a few other villains(alligator guy?) and the van! Oh and one year i got one of those kid size pool tables.

Unfortunately i have nothing left of what i mentioned above except for the legos. Lots of legos. Still working on inventorying? them. Building a train today =D

Chestnuts roasted by heeloyd @ 02/06/2004 03:26 PM EST

Oh I almost forgot!

The K'nex Roller Coaster! Took months to build and then i used it for like 5 minutes..heh

Chestnuts roasted by heeloyd @ 02/06/2004 03:27 PM EST

I think that there are enough Giblers on here to make you feel like an Unlce Jesse. You know, when you hit 25, you're halfway to 50, which is halfway to 100...and then you'll die.

I almost had a stroke when my mom let me pick out Super Mario Bros. 3 when I was 10 or so.

And Happy Birthday, too.

Chestnuts roasted by D-d-dave-some @ 02/06/2004 03:32 PM EST

I remember back on my 8th birthday, I received my most wanted G.I.Joe figure, Serpentor. Granted that day I got more figures, but Serpentor was "end all, be all"!

Chestnuts roasted by Jeremiah @ 02/06/2004 03:36 PM EST

teeheehee. Without the mark over the 'n' in "feliz cumpleanos" it in fact translates to "happy it fulfills anuses" or "happy cumple anuses".

Chestnuts roasted by AltaVista Babel Fish @ 02/06/2004 03:57 PM EST

The best gift I ever recieved was my Super Nintendo (I was 5 at the time. I'm 17 now and I still have it) and I don't think my parents would have bought it for me if they knew I'd grow up to want to become a video game developer... ah, well.

Chestnuts roasted by 9volt @ 02/06/2004 04:17 PM EST

Not sure what the best gift I ever got is...but one year I got Get A Life Vol. 1 on DVD! YAY! GO ME!

Chestnuts roasted by Nemesis @ 02/06/2004 04:47 PM EST

I don't know what the best birthday present I ever got was, but I have a feeling it was the Real Ghostbusters Proton Pack. That thing was awesome. It came with so much cool crap.

But yeah, if you're feeling old, I have a trick that may help. When you go out to buy booze, and they card you, act really nervous and pretend you're using a fake ID. That way you'll feel like you're 20, or possibly even younger.

Chestnuts roasted by Ian @ 02/06/2004 05:00 PM EST

Y'know what always pissed me off on my birthday? I'd open my presents, and I'd sit there going through them and thanking everyone for them and whathaveyou, and in the meantime my little brother would grab whatever Nintendo game I got and run and play it. It didn't bother me that he was playing it when I wanted to play it, because I was already occupied; it bothered me because HE WAS PLAYING IT BEFORE ME GOD DAMNIT.

Chestnuts roasted by i was a lion @ 02/06/2004 05:05 PM EST

Happy Birthday, Matt! Welcome to the solid mid-twenties. It's all downhill from here, but you'll be glad to know that the toy love only gets stronger. Remember when you were a kid and said that you'd never get so old that you'd stop loving toys, and the grown-ups would smile indulgently and nod knowingly? We showed them.

Xmas was a bigger toy-getting holiday for me than my birthday, so I can't remember what the best I got was. I believe I did get a Miss Piggy birthday cake once. That rocked. Miss Piggy was still wearing guccis and feather boas and karate chopping everyone back then. My hero. *sigh*

Chestnuts roasted by Molten @ 02/06/2004 05:08 PM EST

Last year I got one of the best gifts you can get, a free moon over my hammy at Denny's. Man that was some good eats and it was free. Birthdays are ment for free food and getting drunk.

Chestnuts roasted by Mangus Dangus @ 02/06/2004 05:20 PM EST

Hmm.. best birthday present ever... I don't really remember. I think I got my first "electric guitar" for one birthday from my dad (bastard... if he ever shows up back here again I'm going to knock his ass out). But then that thing broke. Anyways Matt, Happy Birthday, 25 sounds like soooo far away, I'm only 22, although judging from the above posts, I'm about the median age of the visitors here at X-E. I'm still waiting for my DNS settings to kick back in so I can e-mail you that idea I had. Well, off to wait a little bit longer. See ya!

Chestnuts roasted by Skitzo from stupid5pin.com @ 02/06/2004 05:24 PM EST

Happy B-day buddy!

You've given us all something to laugh about for a while now, and we all hope your enjoying your birthday! Take a break from the computer and drink a few for me!

One of my fondest memories of a b-day is when I was probably 7 or 8, and got some sort of Buck Rogers playset that had all kinds of small ships and little plastic figures. Once I got the plastic goodness out of the box I left for some reason or another just to come back and have my little brother destroy the coolest ship in the whole freakin set. To this day I won't let him touch my stuff, and I'm 30! Little bastard anyway!

Chestnuts roasted by Bizzar @ 02/06/2004 05:27 PM EST

At the end of December, I turned... wait for it... 25. It seems like roughly 80% of your reading public is 25. (Source: Reuters) You should use this info to sell advertising space for products targeted to 25 year olds. You know, like shirts that say "I'm 25". And so on.

Chestnuts roasted by Welsh Rabbit @ 02/06/2004 05:28 PM EST

My best birthday gift (at least I think it was a birthday gift) was "Bruno, my pet monster truck". He was a monster truck with a chain on his back and sharp teeth. When you would pull the chain he'd bark and growl and bite. He was reeeeeeeeeeally slow, so I got rid of him at a garage sale. I miss 'em. They sell a crappy re-make, but I want the real deal. Maybe I'll get him 6 years from now, when I'm 25. Lord that's scarey.

Chestnuts roasted by Kennef-f-f it all! @ 02/06/2004 07:04 PM EST

Not all of us. I still got 10 years to go to reach that mark, meself.

I haven't got a gift for you, Matt, but I do have a picture I hope makes you feel nostalgic for the simple days of your youth. Happy Birthday.

http://img15.photobucket.com/albums/v46/Freezair/digdog_beholder.jpg

Chestnuts roasted by Freezair @ 02/06/2004 07:10 PM EST

Happy Birthday Matt!! whoo.. I dont think I could name a favourite birthday present.. hmm.. actually I'm not sure I could even name a birthday present.. damn this failing memory of mine..

Chestnuts roasted by Toxicity- @ 02/06/2004 07:35 PM EST

I don't remember most of my birthday presents from when I was a kid. I remember what my best friend gave me last year though. Scary red ears. What are scary red ears you ask? Well, they are these red lights that attach behind your ears. There is a cord that you hide by running it down your shirt and through your sleeve into your hand and you push the button and the lights light up and make your ears glow red. Those things are so freakish, I love them. Oh, and one year she gave me a pen with a doll's head on top. I loved that pen, but it ran out of ink and I lost it :( Oh, and happy birthday (again) Matt! ;)

Chestnuts roasted by Gabbylicious @ 02/06/2004 07:49 PM EST

First and foremost happy 25th.
The best brithday present was my Grand Prix I got for my 16th. Well, it's been my most useful gift ever.

Chestnuts roasted by two_peep_army @ 02/06/2004 07:50 PM EST

I can't remember any spectacular birthdays, but the year I got my NES for Christmas was pretty fucking rad.

Chestnuts roasted by Evin @ 02/06/2004 07:54 PM EST

Well, I honestly don't remember many of my Birthday presents. Mine is on Feb. 25th, so Its still close to Christmas. Usually I get something that I didn't get at Christmas that was on my list. That being said:

As a Kid: Definately my Red Stratocaster. Yes, it is a Squier Stratocaster, but I don't care. I didn't actually learn how to play anything--and still don't consider myself a "Guitar Player"--over 12 years later, though.

As an Adult: this year, for my 21st Birthday, my parents are having a ring custom made for me, using stones from my Grandparents, etc. Pretty cool, especially since I got to design it. Much better than an "official University Ring"

Chestnuts roasted by Cameron @ 02/06/2004 08:11 PM EST

Happy birthday man. I'm at the ripe age of 27, and I haven't really grown up all that much (atleast that's what my girlfriend says.) For birthday's and Christmas I usually end up still getting Star Wars junk, or some other toy that will either end up in one of many boxes of unopened toys, or end up on display on my bookshelf in my apartment. Sometimes I'll buy myself a present on my birthday, just an excuse to spend money really. It's kind of weird seeing all the stuff that alot of us have grown up with being considered retro now. It does seem that alot of the stuff has longevity however, G.I. Joe, Transformers, and Star Wars still litter the aisles of toy stores. My most spectacular Christmas was probably when I got a 286 computer, after that I started calling up BBS' and my life was changed forever.

Chestnuts roasted by Justus Cade @ 02/06/2004 08:11 PM EST

My favorite gift? I can't vouch for my birthday but I once got one heck of a Christmas present. I even made an article about it:

http://www.geocities.com/otherstuff531/videopainter.html

Check it out!

Chestnuts roasted by www.geocities.com/platypuscomix @ 02/06/2004 09:10 PM EST

......Um.....

Please tell me I'm not the only one who put his name in "Homepage" and his web address in "Name." I'm not, right? If I am, lie to me.

Chestnuts roasted by Mars @ 02/06/2004 09:14 PM EST

As I recalled, Metalhead was a major metal pegwarmer in my town and neighoboring cities.

Chestnuts roasted by Thomas @ 02/06/2004 09:23 PM EST

I'm going to be 25 in two months, as I mentioned in the last entry. Small world, ain't it? ; 0 )

Like Molten and Gabby, I don't really remember getting much in the way of toys for my birthday. My best present probably would have been the little black-and-white TV my folks got me when I was about 8 to keep me from arguing with Dad the Couch Potato over the remote. It was really the last of it's kind - big metal dials with big numbers, no remote, little volume/on-off control. My folks still have it, but it probably doesn't work anymore, having been in their garage for the past two years. Geez, we played our first computer keyboard on that TV. We played our first homevideogame ("Pitfall II") on it, too.

My most memorable birthday party occured two years after I got the TV. My sister's birthday is exactly a week before mine (though I'm a year older than she is), so we've always shared our parties. Mom pulled strings and got us a room at the Lobster House, one of the fanciest restaurants in Cape May, NJ, large enough for Mom, Dad, my sisters, me, and a whole passel of our friends. After our drinks came, Dad started a food fight. He flicked the lemon slice from someone's iced tea at one of my sisters' buddies. She flicked it back. Someone blew straw papers. Lemon slices, burger buns, straws, and napkins flew everywhere.

Mom wasn't thrilled when we were all (including Dad) a mess by the time we opened presents. The Lobster House wasn't thrilled with the disaster area the room was after the party, either. It was several years before any of my siblings had another birthday party outside of the house. The room in the Lobster House is still there (I checked when we took my brother there for his birthday dinner - he and Dad were much better behaved and didn't so much as blow a straw paper), but I think they've since banned birthday parties there.

Chestnuts roasted by starwenn @ 02/06/2004 10:24 PM EST

happy birthday! hope you get what you want! :o) doesnt matt look so adorable in 1987 ^_^ nothing really springs to mind but i know i was upset when i got a play tea/picnic set for my 8th birthday- i was too old for that!

Chestnuts roasted by Rachel Cakes @ 02/06/2004 10:25 PM EST

Best birthday present ever? That's easy.

http://ivorytower.emuviews.com/Site/Nintendo/NES/SMB2_Cart.jpg

Chestnuts roasted by Mike Fireball @ 02/06/2004 10:33 PM EST

I still have Panthro but one of his arms are broken off. :(

Happy Birthday! God bless X-E.

Question for those who remember this show: Did anybody else know that the 'American Gladiators' show had action figures? They must have, because I just found two of them the other day. Also, does anybody remember the Nintendo game of the show? Funny stuff. Track and Field kicks it's ass though.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt (#2?) @ 02/06/2004 10:35 PM EST

ANOTHER (soon to be) 25-year-old? No offense, star, but cripes, that's like 75% of the regulars. What kind of sorry-ass "Children of the 80's" are you people?!? You were born in '79! Something is drastically, dreadfully wrong here... my whole world has just come crashing down around me. Good thing I got that kick-ass bomb shelter all stocked now.

-D, a spritely 23, and not even 24 till August, ya geezers...

Chestnuts roasted by The Lucky One @ 02/06/2004 10:42 PM EST

A plushie long-neck dinosaur that came with a plush egg it could hatch out of.

What made this important was THE battle. The day before my birthday I stole all of my brother's dinosaur toys. I carfeully lined them up into two armies on my couch (plant eaters vs meat eaters) and I would scream bloody murder at anyone who tried to move them. Why were these dinosaurs fighting? For the egg. That egg contained the chosen dinosaur. Whoever hatched it would rule the living room. Many dinosaurs died that day. And just before the final blow was struck...Mom made me clean it up. Bah.

Also: Matt, I know you don't do girl toys, but there was this line of stuff animals that gave birth from 2-7 puppies (or kittens) at once. You must look into it!

Chestnuts roasted by Lucky Cat @ 02/06/2004 10:43 PM EST

One Bday I got the Turtle Blimp and the Pizza Shooter. The other one was when I got Optimus Prime. I am 20 but Some times I feel like I am 10.

The worst bday present was the dress shirt i got. And II got nothing else.

Chestnuts roasted by Fk27 @ 02/06/2004 10:44 PM EST

I'm such a youngin at 23.
My birthdays are generally tramatic and crappy. Twice I have had parties were noone came. Its in the middle of June and everyone is on vacation. Plus I never got to have the big celebration at school. We were at Disney World one year on my birthday, that was pretty cool.

Chestnuts roasted by allicat @ 02/06/2004 10:48 PM EST

The best gift I ever got was from my semi wealthy aunt. She poloped own $100 to get me the lego Monoprail set. It was about ten feet long fully asembled and had a shivit load of parts. I still pull it out every christmass and wrpain it around the tree with a little robitic lego Santa riding shot gun.

Chestnuts roasted by Mr Mango @ 02/06/2004 10:52 PM EST

What do you mean he doesn't do "girl" toys? He had at least one My Little Pony and Pound Puppy (maybe a carebear?), just like the rest of us. Not that we have to defend them to anybody here though. What with your neon leg warmers and everything.

We're all man, baby. Well.. most of us.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt (#2?) @ 02/06/2004 10:56 PM EST

As if you haven't heard it a million times already today, Happy Birthday.

Long-time reader, first-time participant. I'll hang up and listen now.

Chestnuts roasted by De Baisch @ 02/06/2004 10:56 PM EST

When I was a little kid my mom used to babysit a crapload of kids so whenever one of us had a birthday party we all celebrated.

Anyway my most memorable birthday is my WWF birthday when all I recieved was a ton of the big ass WWF wrestlers made out of rubber that was more like concrete.

I believe I ended up with a bunch of wrestlers and the WWF ring.

I also remember two kids being knocked out cold by a flying Mean Gene Okerlund figure.

Damn those toys rocked.

Chestnuts roasted by Damien @ 02/06/2004 11:44 PM EST

I used to have one of those cats... weirdness, they were. I think there were other animals; in fact, I'm sure of it...

Chestnuts roasted by Freezair @ 02/07/2004 12:07 AM EST

Happy late birthday!

I'll be 23 in May. I don't really remember most of my birthday parties, as except for a couple they were all family parties. I still have some of the makeup laying around that I got for my thirteenth, though. I skipped kindergarten, so I was always a year younger than everyone else, and by the time I caught up school was over and it didn't matter!

That reminds me now, though, that I turned ten in fifth grade on the day that our grade threw a party for our teacher who was going to get married. Everyone said that meant I was going to get married next. ::laughs hysterically:: Hah, yeah, anyway... oh yeah, and in first grade I shared my birthday with the gym teacher (she wouldn't say aloud how old she was but wrote it for me on a piece of paper to keep secret - she was thirty years older than me!), and that day I got to go out into the hall and have a piece of her cake with this Huge Tall Thin Purple Candle in it. That was speshul.

Chestnuts roasted by Amanda @ 02/07/2004 12:49 AM EST

I think my best birthday presents always come from my much older sister. When I was 11 she got me the best-- the My Little Pony Paradise Estates set. This was the crown jewel of the My Little Pony world-- it had a freaking POOL, that's how posh it was.

I still have it, and most of the pieces, I do believe. :)

Chestnuts roasted by LemonWitch @ 02/07/2004 01:10 AM EST

First off, Happy Birthday Matt!

Now add my name to the list amongst the site's stereotypical readers, "a 25 year old toy collecting guy who lives in NJ (originally NY) and can't leave the 80's behind." We should start a club. I also noticed a few of you mentioned May birthdays. That leaves me to wonder how many Geminis do we have here?

As for memorable birthdays, I've had a few, but between the holidays and the many birthdays its hard to distinguish which gifts I got when. I had a very memorable birthday party at "Chuck E. Cheese" in Brooklyn, NY (the one near Nellie Bly and Toys R Us, which no longer stands) during the early 80's, I'd say around 1985.

You want to talk about run down, that place was covered in a rug of gum, soda and vomit stains. For me to note that as a kid, it must have been BAD. Unfortunately I never got the pleasure of experiencing "Razzmatazz" it was closed by the time we moved to NJ. I've heard for years that it was a real dive, but it had a certain charm to it.
- GREG

Chestnuts roasted by GregInNJ @ 02/07/2004 01:28 AM EST

Heh for my fifth birthday I went to bullwinkles and met a guy in a costume of Michaelangelo. It was a pretty okay time, I miss bullwinkles, didn't like their pizza though, but I did like their ribs.

Chestnuts roasted by Ash Crimson @ 02/07/2004 01:33 AM EST

Aww I am a baby, I'm only 21. And I remembered my best birthday party ever, even if I don't remember my presents. For my 17th birthday, all my friends brought gross food (I had some disgusting chili and creamed corn concoction that I made myself, it smelled kind of like puke) and we all put on garbage bags and went up to the park by my house and flung nasty food at each other. It was great, I love my friends.

Chestnuts roasted by Gabbylicious @ 02/07/2004 02:01 AM EST

Ok, I'm not reading all of these, I'm already buzzing with things to say, so here it goes.

It's your birthday, the 6th of Febuary? My birthday is on the 8th. No shit. AND I just got my first present today and man oh man is is a doosey.

I just got the Complete Freddy Nightmare on Elm Street Dvd Box set which I have been wanting for what seems like 30 years. And what do I see on one of my favorite websites, that I happen to check almost dayly for new articles? Fucking Freddy's Gum. Preordained? Cosmically ment-to Be? I dunno. But this creeps me out/ excites the hell out of me in a way I can't explain.

Oh, and I'm turning 26, so enjoy 25. Thanks for taking off my hands. Bullshit we're old. I got a year on you and have to be more kid like than I was when I was a kid. (course having money for toys, comics and the like would facilitate that.)

Anyway Happy birthday to you, and if I may say so, To Me.

This DVD collection was the greatest I can remember for a birthday in a long time. Our family was always big christmas gifters.

Chestnuts roasted by spooky @ 02/07/2004 03:04 AM EST

Happy Birthday.It's almost too late for me to say that,but hopefully you'll overlook me being an hour or two late.

My best birthday present was the Flash Animation program I got last year.I should start making cartoons sometime soon.Haven't really gotten to it yet.

Chestnuts roasted by Fhydra @ 02/07/2004 03:55 AM EST

Mr Mango, I always wanted the monorail sets for lego. I never got them though :( If I had it it would be set up year round.

I finished a few more sets of my collection today. Hopefully I'll finish the pictures by my birthday, then i'll put em online for people to...enjoy...heh.

Chestnuts roasted by heeloyd @ 02/07/2004 04:28 AM EST

OK, Coolest X-mas presents were a DVD/VCR combo and to go with the ENTIRE FREAKIN COLLECTION OF THE MUPPET SHOW!!!! HOw kick ass is that. As for my B-day I would like to say it was the Talking Ozzy doll from last year but my finacee did one better by making me a bobble head doll of myself in my football uniform in high school, that is the coolest damn B-Day present ever. Oh yeah and from one Matt to another Happy Birthday! It's time to eat a lot of Brocolli and drink a lotta beer! (If you get that you are the hardcore "AL" fan) Later.

Chestnuts roasted by Lumberjack Matt @ 02/07/2004 05:20 AM EST

allicat, I know what that's like. I was born june 23rd and just so happens that probably the biggest excuse of the year to get drunk as f*ck (midsummer here in Finland) falls on pretty much around the same day. So as a kid I never really had big birthday parties but atleast as an adult I now get to drink as much as I can and pretend that everyone's celebrating my birthday. That doesn't get me anymore gifts though..

and by the way.. I'll be 25 come june.

Chestnuts roasted by iivuli @ 02/07/2004 07:08 AM EST

Dah!
My NES with Gyromite and Duckhunt!
Yeah, I got the Deluxe set but I was pissed cuz It didn't come with SMB.

S'aight tho cuz I ended up getting Castlevania, which IMHO beat the piss out of Mario anyway :P

Also, since I had the lightgun I used my birthday money to buy Hogans Alley which was probably the coolest game going at the time.
Not to mention I had DuckHunt! (stupid dog!)

btw, I somewhere on here that the light gun was orange, originally it was grey like all the other nes stuff..

Too bad they didn't do more with Rob tho, he was such a cool looking guy.. maybe give him a lightgun or something?

Chestnuts roasted by Cyanyde @ 02/07/2004 09:14 AM EST

ps
I'm the same age as you Matt,
But I'll be 26 in May..

Hope you had a kick-ass time.
My 25th was something to remember,
It involved strippers and something about pretzles but ironicly I can't remember much more than that.

Anyway, I'm gonna go get started on *my* wishlist now ;)

Chestnuts roasted by Cyanyde @ 02/07/2004 09:19 AM EST

Mine's the 22nd! Midsummer isn't such a big round these parts (bible belt and all). I wish it was, so I could throw a big party.

Chestnuts roasted by iivuli @ 02/07/2004 10:07 AM EST

Happy Birthday! I love your site! My favorite birthday presents were the Huckleberry Pie and Apricot Strawberry Shortcake dolls I got for my 4th birthday. It was a Muppet themed birthday and my mom even made a Kermit cake! Oh yeah, it was really cool when a got a Rainbow Brite bike for my 5th or 6th birthday. It sucked though cause my mom made me return it because it was too small. Oh yeah, I'll be 25 in June.

Chestnuts roasted by Meghan @ 02/07/2004 11:33 AM EST

Yeah, I already wished you Happy B-Day on the last blog, and it's already the 7th here, so I'll say happy belated b-day, too. Fave gift? Most likely sumpin' video game-related. I would say the Super Nintendo I got in 1991, along with Zelda: LttP. We went to Florida that year, and my dad pointed to a picture of the SNES and said "Well, how about we get that?" ...Being stupid and 9, I thought he meant the picture. Next thing I know, he's holding the Holy Grail that is the SNES. I nearly jizzed myself at 9 years old. Sad post-script to the story: Because we owned the SNES, my parents sold my NES a few years later. Grr....happy friggin' birthday, Matt.

Chestnuts roasted by Armagideon Time @ 02/07/2004 12:33 PM EST

Hey Matt, happy birthday! Finally we know how old you are, besides "too damn old to write about cartoons on a regular basis." But shit, I'm happy about that.

Here's my B-day present: Tiny Toon Adventures is on at 6 am Saturday mornings on Nick. Set your bee see arr.

Chestnuts roasted by Deathfrogurt @ 02/07/2004 12:56 PM EST

matt, i got you mighty beans from your amazon list. only thing i could afford, you ritz-y fucker. let me know when they come, if they don't, i'll exact my revenge on amazon. always wanted to donate to your site for the nads and kool-aid stuff, but i thought a dollar every couple months was kind of insulting. take care. -nick p.s., i have episodes of hulk hogan's rock and roll wrestling and the full length chuck norris and the karate commandos videos if you're interested. if you have any episodes of the inhumanoids other than the original 5 part mini series i will gladly trade you for a dubbed copy. -nick (again).

Chestnuts roasted by nick @ 02/07/2004 01:13 PM EST

*HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU CRAZY ITALIAN!*

I hope you got nice and pissed, and then ate some cake. Dammn...now I want cake. Thanks a lot. Thanks for NOTHING! :(

Chestnuts roasted by Kristal @ 02/07/2004 01:21 PM EST

Christmases were always much better than birthdays for me. Best Christmas presents were : She-Ra's Crystal Castle, Carebears oven and sink playset, Carebears record player, Double Dare game.

Those were the days.

Chestnuts roasted by JessieSpano @ 02/07/2004 01:26 PM EST

I can't resist the mentioning of a stuffed toy that had my favorite commercial jingle of all time! The stuffed animals that gave birth to lots of lil' stuffed animals were called "Puppy Surprise" and there were others like cats and horses. Those are cooh.

Here's the jingle :"Surprise surprise, puppy surprise, how many puppies will you find inside? One, two, or three, or maybe even five!"

I remember in day care some girl brought one to daycare and we were all so excited to see how many she got. I think she only got two or three. I think you could actually get up to 7, I dunno. But you could buy the puppies seperate anyway.

Ok, I'm done.

Chestnuts roasted by Kennef-f-f it all! @ 02/07/2004 02:21 PM EST

In my usual fashion for everything... late again.

Best gift I ever recieved on my birthday would probably be any number of he-man items. Though the one I think I am the most fond of [still, even though I'm pushing 23] is my He-Man blanket, which I _still_ have, and still occassionally sleep with. That blanket has been to hell and back... and is a definate veteran of a thousand psychic wars.

Of course, there's the year I got both the castle greyskull and snake mountain playsets. Or the year I got the full set of original figures... [man orko still cracks me up with his little zipcord dance].

Anyway... I usually just buy myself shit anymore, so it's all stuff I want...

Chestnuts roasted by gesis @ 02/07/2004 02:22 PM EST

day care twice is just redundent...redundant? Sorry :(

Chestnuts roasted by kennef @ 02/07/2004 02:25 PM EST

Even though I'm a day late, Happy Birthday Matt. I hope you had a blast.

As for the best birthday gifts I've received, I can't really remember. My birthday's close to Christmas so they blur together. One year I had the best party ever. It was a pool party, at one of the local pools, with my entire class and all my friends. We had the pool to ourselves since my Dad rented it out for my party. After the pool we all went to my Dad's place and that's where we had cake and I opened my gifts. The cake was brontosaurus shaped with smarties all over it. It was the best cake I've ever had. That was one of the most memorable parties I've had.

Chestnuts roasted by Aubrey @ 02/07/2004 03:33 PM EST

Happy belated! I'll be 24 on the 20th of Feb, so I'm not that far behind you. I am an avid Rainbow Brite collector and love toys and cartoons. Best birthday present... looking back, I would have to say Patty-O-Green, but I don't think I truly appreciated her until much later in life (after having cut off all of her hair to use her as a Ken stand-in). *Squishes Aubrey* We have been friends since like the 2nd grade!

Chestnuts roasted by Julie @ 02/07/2004 03:46 PM EST

Best B-Day party I ever attended: any where the kid-of-honor is being a real spudmothering jackanape bastaroid and on some subliminal signal, we all made the shmuck cry. "You be nice, it's their birthday." Yeah, right.

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 02/07/2004 04:29 PM EST

First: my site is back up and running (YAY!)

Second: Matt (#2?), I had an american gladiators contestant action figure, and I had the "Atlasphere" playset. Oh the fun of rolling around an action figure dressed in the blue garb of an american gladiators contestant in a little clear hampster ball. Oh Joy!

Chestnuts roasted by Skitzo from stupid5pin.com @ 02/07/2004 04:47 PM EST

Happy belated birthday Matt, and a "hi" to you regular folks here...

Let's see... I'll be 26 this June, so I' m a bit older than majority, but still, I'm a Gemini so I should fit :).

The best birthday present I ever got? In 1988, there were two things that were big here (I live in a small country in Europe): Masters of the Universe toys and "Kinder Surprise" eggs (there's an old article about them at the site here)... Now, the catch with those eggs is that they are chocolate eggs with toys inside that you have to put together... To make things even better, you can get either a "regular" toy (i.e. a car, a plane or some other plain thing like that) or a "special" toy (that is, a toy from a movie or a cartoon). Hope this stuff is clear this far.

Anyway, back that year, there were 3 special sets - "Duck Tales", "Pink Panther" and "Smurfs"... Now, the egss containing those figs were 3 grams lighter than the ones with "common" toys... Long story short, my Mom got me 24 Kinder eggs that she previously scaled (?), making sure I'd get those Toon - themed toys... And she also got me a Skeletor, Man At Arms and Hordak that year... Those were the days....

And, Matt, big thanks for putting the link to "Save MOTU" petition on your main page.

Chestnuts roasted by Papa Taz @ 02/07/2004 05:36 PM EST

Happy 25th Birthday, Matt. Many blessings and lots o' cake n' beer to you.

I was given mostly books for my prior birthdays... the best of all of the books given was the Chronicles of Narnia. Yes, there was birthdays in which I was given a toy or something else. One year I was given my first organizer-- aqua blue and how beautiful! I was eight years old. I felt grown up. But no gift can hold a light like the Chronicles did.

Until my recent birthday. I just turned 25, too. My husband gave me a cross necklace with small diamonds on it. I was hoping for a XBox, but that outdid everything.

Chestnuts roasted by Carol the Theologian @ 02/07/2004 06:50 PM EST

Hmm i think it was on my 10th birthday I received an Atari Lynx and a ton of games.... I don't remember why i wanted one but i remember lusting after one in the ToysRus electronics department (you know like behind that glass shelving that displayed expensive rc cars and other high end electronic toys)....Even though for the most part the system wasn't the greatest, my portable system had a back light and played a strange version of Gauntlet where you could be a cowboy, robot, or nerd.....

My most hated birthday memory, though it was not my own birthday, took place one year later. I was supposed to go to a friends party that was being held at a Photon arena...but for somme reason he had to invite this guy that everyone hated instead of me. Gah! I still wish i coulda seen that damn Photon arena!

Chestnuts roasted by NeWaVe @ 02/07/2004 07:01 PM EST

I don't remember which birthday, but I got one of those pound puppies that have a surprise number of little puppies in it once ... I loved that thing!

And for my 8th birthday (or thereabouts) I got one of those Barbie ice cream maker kits. We made some rock hard ice cream but I remember it being so good!

happy 25th, matt!

Chestnuts roasted by jjaynah @ 02/07/2004 07:30 PM EST

for my 3rd b-day aslo in 1987 I had a Ducktales themed party along with a Webby pinata it was the only b-day pinata I ever had. I got cool gifts my aunt gave me a ducktales bath set.

Chestnuts roasted by pikachulover @ 02/07/2004 07:53 PM EST

I was a bit older, but one of my favorite gifts that I got was Street Fighter 2 Turbo for the SNES. In fact, I got it at Toysrus the day it came out. Which happened to be my birthday and oh so pricey at $69.99.

Chestnuts roasted by Heathtown @ 02/07/2004 07:56 PM EST

Who hear is actually older than 25/26, besides me, kingklash and Duck? We're definitely the minority here. Of course, for many of us, once we hit the age of marriage and kids, we don't all have time to ponder the past that was the 80's. Of course, I'm one of the lucky ones - although I am married, w/ kids, I'm a stay at home mom and nap/bedtime is my vacation.

Chestnuts roasted by trajeal @ 02/07/2004 07:58 PM EST

I had a few good birthday gifts as a kid- I was really into Legos. One year I got the airport, and another year I got the monorail. I had also gotten tons of little sets over the years. When I was 10 my dad moved into a new house, which had a furnished attic. He told me the whole attic was mine. I made a whole Lego city on the floor up there, it was probably about 5x8 feet. Since it was in the attic, it stayed intact for years until I decided that I was too old for Legos and took it apart.

I'm almost 23 now and 2 years ago I decided that I'm still a kid at heart and got all the Legos back out again. I never put the city back together, but I made lots of custom projects, and still do work on them- my average Lego project takes about a week to build. I have them all over my apartment- mostly cars, trucks, and fighter planes. Every one totally custom and highly detailed, like the Model Team sets.

Those Puppy Surprise toys always struck me as being kind of weird... I mean... it's a pregnant bitch, and you get to rip (unzip) her belly open and find out how many puppies are in there. What a great way to introduce kids to the miracle of childbirth.

As for the NES guns- they were gray for the first few years of production, then for some odd reason Nintendo switched them to orange.

Chestnuts roasted by Xtacy @ 02/07/2004 08:34 PM EST

I just remembered a couple other cool presents that I got when I was 10 or so. Anyone remember Super Van City for Micro Machines? It was this big minivan that unfolded flat to reveal a totally awesome looking Micro Machines city. I swear the thing was 2 feet square when laid flat. And another cool thing was, when it was folded up it was hollow on the inside and had a handle on the top, so you could dump all your Micro Machines inside it and carry it to a friend's house.

I also had both of the Hot Wheels railroad sets. There was a big one that unfolded and a smaller one on a piece of molded plastic. I got the smaller one for my birthday, I think it retailed for about $20. After I got it I really really wanted the big one, but Christmas was months and months away, so I saved my allowance for about 2 months and bought it for $50. The two connected together and had room for tons of Hot Wheels and what seemed like miles of roads.

Chestnuts roasted by Xtacy @ 02/07/2004 08:39 PM EST

Here's some of the stuff I mentioned for sale on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3586198215&category=16483
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3584726117&category=1042
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3174129568&category=19150
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3174158134&category=19011
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3171364362

Chestnuts roasted by Xtacy @ 02/07/2004 08:58 PM EST

The lego airport shuttle!! Oh how badly I have wanted that all my life! Maybe someday...

I had one of those micro machine fold out cities too. mine was the one that looked like a red and grey toolbox when closed.

Chestnuts roasted by heeloyd @ 02/07/2004 10:11 PM EST

oh yeah and for the record i'll turn 20 on march 31st

Chestnuts roasted by heeloyd @ 02/07/2004 10:12 PM EST

xtacy: that's so FREAKIN COOL! >O i converted some of the basement into legoland fun (although i never got the cool monorail and airport)...like you, i destroyed my beautiful city and it now sits in a depressing tub where it waits to be opened once again -- they don't make lego sets like they used to -- they have the stupid "bionicle" series and some other random sports theme sets that are not deemed to be worthy of lego quality...SAD NOTE: i subscribed to the official lego magazine at one point -- i don't get the magazines anymore (i'm too old i guess, guess being ALMOST 19 is too old...grr...)very nice overall, and i could always oogle over the really pretty catalogs they sent every six months (aaah...pretty sets)

Chestnuts roasted by happybunnydemon @ 02/08/2004 12:34 AM EST

happy belated birthday. i'm a huge fan of your work.

Chestnuts roasted by ChaosTheory @ 02/08/2004 01:12 AM EST

Xtacy and others: I agree that Lego isn't exactly the same anymore, but there are good things out there. Oh, and I still get the magazine...Just use the form included in many Lego sets; you have to renew every few years. And you can still request catalogs online.

And heeloyd, if you REALLY want that Airport shuttle (I prefer the first monorail, the space one http://guide.lugnet.com/set/6990), try http://www.bricklink.com. Its like ebay, but with bricks. Also, LOTS AND LOTS of plain old online stores..You're bound to find a decently priced one there.

Chestnuts roasted by Cameron @ 02/08/2004 01:58 AM EST

Merry Birthday. The best present I ever got was probably some Ninja Turtle set, I can't remember what the damn thing was, but on a wierd note, later on I found Mickey's head in the Freezer. I don't know why...

Chestnuts roasted by Well @ 02/08/2004 03:13 AM EST

yeah bricklink is awesome. I still get the lego magazine and the catalogs too! ^_^
I like looking at the things other people built. Even though half of them are strange looking things built by kids, it is good to know that one day they will be like me...HAHAHA...maybe thats not such a good thing after all. *evil chuckle*

I wouldnt mind having all the monorails actually. I could link them together and it could be like a interdimensional monorail to certain doom for the townspeople. >:O

I've got a train set though. Set # 7722. And 7835 the train crossing gate.

Me Like Lego. Hulk Not Like Lego. Not Enough Green For Hulk Like.

Chestnuts roasted by heeloyd @ 02/08/2004 04:18 AM EST

For my tenth birthday, fortune smiled, and one of my likes happened to coincide with the clearance aisle at Target. That night I unwrapped every first-wave Beetlejuice action figure-- Shish Kebab, Spinhead, and Showtime Beetlejuice, Otho The Obnoxious, Adam Maitland (why no Barbara figure?), Harry the Haunted Hunter, and the Vanishing Vault! Man, Beetlejuice was kicking Transformer and MOTU ass in my playtime fantasies all week!

This year (my birthday was Jan. 22), my mom pre-ordered 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime for me. She's so awesome.

Happy birthday, Matt, and here's to another year of goofy pop culture for you to make fun of in the future.

Chestnuts roasted by G'Tron @ 02/08/2004 07:37 AM EST

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Celebrate it listening to some IF NOTHING...

Chestnuts roasted by Pete @ 02/08/2004 10:52 AM EST

I know this sounds lame, but one of my favorite Birthday presents was when I was 4, and I got this inflatable Playskool umbrella. It was red, and when you pumped the handle, the umbrella would blow up. It got a hole in though after the second time. I wish I still had one that worked. I can still remember the smell of the plastic.

My worst birthday would have to be last year, my 20th. I was having some tough times (unemployed, no friends) so I remember just sitting in the living room with my mom looking through coupons that night.

Chestnuts roasted by Anita @ 02/08/2004 12:40 PM EST

A note on the Puppy/Kitty Surprise:
My cousin got a Kitty Surprise for Christmas one year, and she wanted to show everybody. Now, just about everybody in my family (except me) grew up with a speech problem (sounded like a baby for longer than they should have, but it didn't last) and when she was walking around saying "Does anybody want to pet my kitty?", it was coming out "Does anybody want to pet my titty?" Classic.

A note on pinatas:
Apparently the first birthday party I was ever at that had one I was screaming and crying because they were hurting it (it was a unicorn). Okay.

Chestnuts roasted by Rainbowfeet @ 02/08/2004 02:45 PM EST

sega master system baby!

Chestnuts roasted by naturekid @ 02/08/2004 02:59 PM EST

when i turned 17, my girlfriend laid me for the first time. wet pussy, is there really a better gift?

Chestnuts roasted by sweepthelegjohnny @ 02/08/2004 03:02 PM EST

honestly... I'd rather have a proton pack... or maybe a rocket car... but that's just me.

Chestnuts roasted by gesis @ 02/08/2004 03:40 PM EST

Definetly the rocket car.. ;)
I have girlfriends all across Canada I'd like to see!

Chestnuts roasted by Cyanyde @ 02/08/2004 03:45 PM EST

Off subject but not really. Now that I've already bought everything I'm gonna buy I feel ok to say this, Wal-mart is having a huuuge toy sale. Transformers for 5 bucks (use to be $10) aaaand the Bratz FM Limo for $20 (use to be $70). Beyblades double packs for $1 (use to be $9), and GI JOE B.T.R stuff for $3 (Use to be $7). Lot's of other stuff, you'll just have to see. Unfortunately, Unicron is not on sale...yet. So screw KB and head down to Wal-mart.

Chestnuts roasted by Kennef @ 02/08/2004 04:23 PM EST

Happy Belated Birthday, Matt! :)

Just finished reading your "Birthday circa 1987" article. My birthdays were the exact same way! I invited kids from my class and neighborhood, and yes even some kids I never even talked to. Being female, of course I recieved many of the "girl toys" of the 80s (Cabbage Patch Kids, My Little Pony, to name a few). No presents stuck out for me since I don't remember much. But what I do remember was this girl next door to me who was a HUGE MOTU fan. She had EVERY He-Man toy imaginable. (Sorry if I made you jealous, Matt! ;)) For my birthday one year she got me a She-Ra doll and several She-Ra related toys so we could play He-Man and She-Ra.

I was never into the "girl toys" of the 80s though (However, I did like the plush toys of the era. Namely Pound Puppies, Wuzzles, and if I recall I had a couple of Popples). I'd play with my little brother's toys, much to his dismay. He had Ghostbusters toys, TMNT, WWF, and a few of those Tyco trucks. I was fanatical about dinosaurs back then (and still am to some degree), so he and I would have battles with his TMNT and my dinosaurs.

Oh, someone in a thread WAYYY down (I think it was the KB one) mentioned Child World. I remember Child World! The abandoned building and plaza it was in had been a virtual ghost town until a year or so ago, when they finally tore it down and built the Christmas Tree Shop and Home Depot.

Chestnuts roasted by The Dragon @ 02/08/2004 05:33 PM EST

Forgot to mention that I, too am 25, and remembered the "B-day" article from WAYYY back, but got side tracked and forgot to read it. It was an old article that I searched, just so no one gets confused. :)

Chestnuts roasted by The Dragon @ 02/08/2004 05:36 PM EST

Happy B-Day Matt!! I tried to send you some pics of a Sponge Bob Color-A-Cookie I got to go with the other day's article, but for some reason it kept getting sent back to me.

Just to join the party, I turned 25 this year too. And Starwenn, I loved the Lobster House, I used to go there every summer with my family when we went on vacation. We always used to eat lunch and then sit on the boat outside and drink. So many memories...

Chestnuts roasted by Y2JB78 @ 02/08/2004 05:45 PM EST

Wow.. it musta been some party.. we haven't heard from him since 02/06/2004 at 11:08(am at that!)

Either he's working on one hell of an article or he's gonna be as soon as he can see straight again ;)

Anyway,
I wish I was there Matt.. cya tomorrow!

Chestnuts roasted by Cyanyde @ 02/08/2004 05:50 PM EST

Happy Birthday, Matt. I can't believe you made it this far.

I mean... no, that is what I meant. But we all appreciate you, so I guess you're "safe". Around us, anyway.

Chestnuts roasted by Orin @ 02/08/2004 06:25 PM EST

Happy belated birthday, Matt!
Speaking of cheap plugs, fancy going here, saying Feral referred you, and then clicking "Home" at the top or bottom of the page? I'll give you hugs if you do...please?
Anyway, the best present I ever got was a SNES. I got Super Mario Kart with it, and couldn't put it down...I wish I still had all the leads for it :(.

Chestnuts roasted by Feral @ 02/08/2004 06:27 PM EST

I don't remember presents too much, but I remember the parties.
-Ninja Turtles
-Karate. Don't remember what we did.
-Potato. That's right. Potato. We had a potato sack race and ate baked potatoes.
And then there were birthday parties in other places:
-Chi-chi's
-Miniature golf
-Chuck E Cheese's
Nowadays, I celebrate alone since I'm in college and after three years I still don't know anybody. It's depressing, really.

Chestnuts roasted by JG! @ 02/08/2004 09:08 PM EST

An ex girlfriend bought me a car for my 19th birthday - a car that I had sold a year earlier and had regretted doing so. And then we had wild monkey sex afterwards. Sometimes when I am bored I miss her. Then I think of her voice and I no longer do. Anyway, I liked getting the car back.

Chestnuts roasted by planet garp @ 02/08/2004 11:03 PM EST

My best birthday gift ever had to be in 1987 when I acquired the almighty NES. The two games I got with it were kinda odd: Baseball and Ikari Warriors. I must've been the only person in history to have never own Super Mario Bros. because my dad bought the crappy Control Set that came with no pack-in game. I was happy though when soon after I save my money with my two older brothers to acquire the original Mega Man. By far the hardest Mega Man game they ever made for the NES. Long live Mega Man, Happy Birthday Matt, and long live X-Entertainment!!!!

Chestnuts roasted by phunqsauce @ 02/09/2004 12:12 AM EST

Happy birthday, Matty.

Best shit I ever got: the TMNT blimp, van, pizza shooting vehicle thing, and sewer playset, along with like, six figures. I think my cake was even TMNT themed.

Chestnuts roasted by SHOH @ 02/09/2004 12:42 AM EST

This is something that should be reiviewed on this site if you can get a hold of it. Its the Famicom version of Star Wars. Its pure weirdness is defnitely worth it. Check it out at http://gilgalad.panicus.org/sw.html

Chestnuts roasted by phunqsauce @ 02/09/2004 12:56 AM EST

Happy birfday playa, and many happy returns. My favorite gifts as a kid were Zelda 2 (I liked the side-scrolling battles) and my pellet rifle.

Chestnuts roasted by Usagi Yojimbo @ 02/09/2004 04:08 AM EST

Here's a cool link for ya Matt,
It's a retro videogame music video..

http://www.newvenue.com/archives/feature44/

Chestnuts roasted by Cyanyde @ 02/09/2004 05:38 AM EST

Wow....I can't remember what I got for my birthday before 1999. Damn.

Chestnuts roasted by Icymatt @ 02/09/2004 09:28 AM EST

Lucky Cat -I had one of those! Oh shit, I was a messed up child.

Chestnuts roasted by icymatt @ 02/09/2004 09:32 AM EST

Lucky Cat -I had one of those! Oh shit, I was a messed up child.

Chestnuts roasted by icymatt @ 02/09/2004 09:32 AM EST

I am violently opposed to the idea of 25 being old. I think it's the old man in me that sympathizes with real old men who are probably honesty offended at the idea of kids in their 20's saying "i'm old"

If you're in your 20's, you can still be a successful porn star. You can still invest safely and have over 1 million to retire on. You can still win most of the olympic events. And you can still be into toys. That's young man.

Anyway, my parents always got me really cool stuff. Maybe it was to compensate for the mental anguish of their divorce... but i think it's more that they're just really cool parents.

Best things I can remember:
1. Boulder Mountain. As a kid, you can only get playsets for your birthday. You can usually weasel a single figure out of your parents just for going to Target with them, but a play set was big news. At that time, all things M.A.S.K. were like manna from god.

2. Nintendo. This may have actually been Christmas... I'm sure Matt knows the release date of the NES, but whatever, it was mine, and not my older Sister's. Gyromite and Duck Hunt all day every day.

I've actually gotten far more valuable presents (a car, a computer), but somehow the simpler things brought me more joy. Not that i'm complaining about my computer... Damn, I'm pretty spoiled.

Chestnuts roasted by Chopstick Sensei @ 02/09/2004 10:55 AM EST

Simpsons reference from Wall E. Weasel's:

"Hey there, how old are you?"

"Uh..."

"Hey, that's great! Would you like us to sing you a special birthday song?"

"Hell no."

"Okay. Hit it, Senor Beav-arotti!"

"You're the birthday, you're the birthday, you're the birthday boy or girl!"

The sad thing is that I'm 20 and I still get toys for my birthday, except nowadays I keep them all in the package.

When I was 8 I got the G.I.Joe Mobile Command Center. It was about four years old by that time, so my parents probably bought it on sale, but I couldn't have cared less. That thing was FREAKING HUGE!!!

This past year, my parents got me a vintage Mr. T Cereal cereal box for my Mr. T collection.

Chestnuts roasted by Darth Monkey @ 02/09/2004 11:27 AM EST

In 1983, my aunt bought me a Strawberry Shortcake tricycle for my birthday. This wouldn't be so unusual, except that it was my FIRST birthday! I had it until I was about 6. I never did learn how to ride the damn thing (didn't learn to ride a bike 'til I was 9, even) but I was really good at popping wheelies on the running board on the back of it.

Chestnuts roasted by MRNonCCN @ 02/09/2004 11:49 AM EST

Not about a burpday, but pinata related. Once, when we lived in the Bay Area, we went to a protest about some proposition about to be voted on. There was the usual speeches and such for the grown-ups, and some games and junk for the kids. The highlight for me was a big shark pinata built by someone who had no idea how to build one. Either that, or he wanted kids to beat the chum out of prop whatever. It was mostly corrugated cardboard. Now, add a flock of amped up kids who want candy, and the result was just what you'd think. Almost all of us had a turn, all of us getting frustrated (candy was what we had before we discovered sex when we became teenagers), when one kid ripped off the blindfold, and tipped the shark nose down. about ten pounds of jawbreakers spilled out into the dirt, and the riot was on! The shark was torn down, stomped on, ripped up, and none of us gave a damn. Jawbreakers, baby.

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 02/09/2004 12:15 PM EST

Happy somewhat-big 25, Matt!

Best birthday gift ever has got to be Zelda 2. I wanted that game like nothing else. About a month before, I lost a tooth and was fully expecting the Tooth Fairy to bring me this game. Boy was I pissed when I found not Zelda under my pillow, but $2 and TMNT pajama's.

To this day I still don't know who bought me the game, since I had six friends, parents, two sets of grandparents and an uncle at the party, but I really didn't give a crap. I loved the game then and still do now.

I also got the TMNT Party Waggon at the same party... that was pretty major too.

Chestnuts roasted by Rein @ 02/09/2004 12:52 PM EST

trajeal - You can add me to the list of over 25/26, marrieds with mortgages. No kids yet.

Chestnuts roasted by Alison @ 02/09/2004 04:23 PM EST

Only one person picked up on Spewey besides myself? *sigh* Oh, well.

Chestnuts roasted by Yer pal, Al @ 02/09/2004 08:14 PM EST

#1 Post, yes!

Chestnuts roasted by Terd @ 02/09/2004 08:23 PM EST

I thought I had it for sure! Happy birthday.

Chestnuts roasted by Terd @ 02/09/2004 08:24 PM EST

i think my best present I have recieved was the General HQ for GI Joe. That was a beast! And it had this huge cannon that could blast through the toughest defenses my friends could mae for their puny Joe's. Ha Ha Ha Ha! I sill love to rub it in their faces to this day! Hey Matt, that sounds like a great idea fer an article - or something.

Chestnuts roasted by Graves @ 02/09/2004 10:49 PM EST

Man, (whoever mentioned it) I have beautiful memories of the Video Painter...That thing was awesome! It's still festering away in my basement somewhere (we kinda gave up on it after we lost that little red pen...)

Anywho, happy brithday, Matt. May death come slowly to your enimies.

Chestnuts roasted by Eurythmer @ 02/10/2004 01:01 AM EST

happy bday matt!!

Chestnuts roasted by tport89 @ 02/10/2004 02:51 AM EST

I mentioned the Painter and I'm the only one who still has the plastic pen. But that's because Mom tied it to the handle with string, and it's remained on that string ever since.

Chestnuts roasted by Mars @ 02/10/2004 03:08 AM EST

Happy Birthday!

I really enjoy your site! Its great!

Lep81

Chestnuts roasted by Leppard81 @ 02/10/2004 04:58 AM EST

I got all the Ninja Turtle crap I could possibly want for about three or four years running, maybe ten years or so ago. But in all reality, Christmases have always been bigger than birthdays in my family, so its kind of hard to recall what all I got.

Chestnuts roasted by Voodoo Ben @ 02/10/2004 05:20 PM EST

Hmmm, tough call, but I'd have to say the Birthday I got my SNES was one of the better ones. That motherfucker was still new and sought after, and I was hooked for years. Began my downward spiral into video game induced madness, it did!

Shit, I've wasted my life. Cheer me up, Matt, by reviewing "Mac and Me". And when your done, review the "Archie 3000" comic book and the "Monopoly" game show. DO IT! >8^D

Chestnuts roasted by A-wel Cruiz @ 02/11/2004 02:22 AM EST

Happy Birthday man! Don't go getting 'quarter-life crisis'!! (can you BELIEVE they've actually got a book for that?!)
Anyhoo, love the site (etc etc)
Hope you had a good one!

'GIR! Your waffles have sickened me...fetch me the BUCKET!'

Chestnuts roasted by Invader Mer @ 02/11/2004 03:24 AM EST

Happy birthday bro. Mine's on the 8th but I'm two years ahead of you. Keep up the great work!

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 02/11/2004 05:25 PM EST

I'd say my best b-day present was this huge Barbie mansion house thing. It was actually pretty cheap, made outta cardboard backgrounds, and plastic to connect the stories. I think it was like 4 or 5 barbie stories tall. I know it stood taller than me when I got it (6-yr-old). ...then I got home from school one day and it was all in a pile on my floor...what a sad, sad day that was...

Chestnuts roasted by Cassie @ 02/11/2004 06:45 PM EST

you're supposed to get presents on your birthday?!?

Chestnuts roasted by babydick @ 02/14/2004 01:51 AM EST

hehe..sorry i'm late happy birthday!

Chestnuts roasted by nelson @ 02/17/2004 10:07 AM EST

Happy Birthday!and your not old at least you have 5 more years until your 30 I'll be 30 in a year and a half.I don't know what the best birthday gift I ever received was.I usually just get money.

Chestnuts roasted by Liz @ 02/21/2004 09:47 AM EST