Category: Remembering

Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012

Thank you Mr. Bradbury, for taking my gaze outward and upward when I was but a wee young thing. From The Martian Chronicles to The Illustrated Man to Farenheit 451 to I Sing the Body Electric and countless others, you had a profound influence on my life and will not be forgotten.

When you were a kid, was there ever one toy that you wanted with all your heart and soul that Santa never brought you?

With me it was this:

That Christmas I implored the big fat man in the red suit to bring me this thing. Point a colored laser at your target, hold down the trigger and watch the thing disappear:

How cool is that? If only it really worked that way.  Of course it wasn’t a real laser, and just because your target didn’t actually blow up made no difference to the imagination of a nine year old.

The fact that I never got this cool gun is one of those weird little things that stayed with me for years afterward. The fact that my parents absolutely lavished gifts on my sister and I that Christmas—and for many, many subsequent ones—never quite offset the disappointment of not finding a Plazer waiting under the tree.

Until a few weeks ago, I had completely forgotten about the Plazer, but then I stumbled across this site, and it all came rushing back. (And to be honest, rediscovering a hell of a lot of other toys that I did get that I’d completely forgotten about.) Further Googling led me to this—which probably explains why I never got the gun. I’m sure my folks tried it out in the store, discovered it was a piece of crap, and refused to throw away the $8.88 (which was a decent chunk of change back then) on something that didn’t work to begin with.

Santa, you’re forgiven—and thanks again for all the other amazing stuff you did bring me over the years.

Remembering:

Kent Kelly
Ben Walzer
Ken Cohen
Steve Golden
Dennis Shelpman
Philip Ruckdeschel
Jim Hagen
Peter Whitman
Chuck Krahe
John Trapp
Marty Kamner
Michael Nelson
Jim Nye
Ken Borg
Harold Gates
Jim Girard
Kevin Ohm
Scott Woods
Bobby Farina
Brian Lea
Fred Sibinic
Steve McCollom
Rick King
Tom Farrell
Chuck Mayer
Richard Gulliver
Ron Aiazzi
Keith Roseberry
Grant Neilsen
Ric Hathaway
David Koston