What gifts do you remember most from childhood?

Question:
What gifts do you remember most from childhood? Was it a birthday present, a Christmas present, or for some other special event?

Answer:
For me, I would have to split them into two categories, birthdays and Christmas. The one that I remember the most from Christmas is probably the GI Joe Terror Drome I got when I was living with my mom. I was big into GI Joes when I was a kid and loved playing "army" with them. I would even make my own sound effects (which often resulted in many strange looks and a few giggles from family members). But I always wanted one of those big toys. Sure the four-wheeler and the motorcycle were cool, but I wanted something big like the aircraft carrier. Alas, no aircraft carrier for me, but I did manage to get my hands on Cobra's Terror Drome. And I loved it. It felt like it took hours to put together, but I enjoyed every minute.

For my birthday one year, my dad surprised me with a trip to Antigua. And it was because of this trip that I failed my Typing class in middle school. For some reason I never could get all the make-up work done right, but it did not matter much to me. I had gone to a wonderful hotel on the beach and had the week of my life (well, at the time it was the best week I'd had). Anyway, I had packed my suitcase and was in the shower when my dad got sneaky and switched out my clothes. I was under the impression we were going to Nebraska. And in October, Nebraska is a bit chilly. So instead of pants, he gave me shorts and swim trunks. And instead of seeing flat fields of corn and soybeans, I got to see jellyfish on the beach and Cal Ripken, Jr. on the flight home.

Photos:


References:
- Toy Archive. Alex Bickmore. Web. 14 Oct. 2009.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.