Things you wanted the most for Christmas as a kid

[Doctor Tull-eus S. Venture]

I really wanted Fortress Maximus and Super Mario Bros. 3. I lucked out with SMB3, but never got Fort Max. And I don't think I ever will, unless I have about an extra $1200 lying around.

[Pervy Stone Cold]

A Playstation and Tekken 3.

[jamofpearls]

Dec 7, 2009 23:19:40 GMT -5 Bob Schlapowitz said:

Never did get it.

my answer as well...and neither did i.

[Jobes]

Dec 7, 2009 22:49:42 GMT -5 Threadkiller [Classic] said:

A Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and a thing which tells time

You'll shoot your eye out.

[Branimal]

I beat it within 2 or 3 days and my parents were outraged - I guess they expected I'd get more use out of it for the $60+ price tag.

[Vanilla Gorilla]

Considering how poor we were, my mom always came through at Christmas: a Game Boy when they first debuted, a N64 with LOZ: Ocarina of Time, a stereo unit for my room, a telescope, pretty much what I asked for I got. Looking back I really appreciate how hard she worked to provide those things for me.

[Bobeddy]

Found this on SomethingAwful.

Nice little story....

I remember my brother used to love the video game Mortal Kombat. When it first came out, all summer long he used to spend all his money at the pizza place up the street trying to get good at it. But older kids always seemed to come along just as he was doing well and beat him down. Back then we knew that the only good way to get something you really wanted that was expensive was to ask for it for Christmas. That year (I guess he was about 10) he begged and begged that all he wanted was Mortal Kombat. It would be another year before it would come out for the Super Nintendo, so he knew he was asking for a full sized arcade video game. But I think he honestly believed that if he was really really good and if he mentioned it enough times, that it would somehow happen.

For months it was all he talked about. When school started again he didn't complain one bit. He was being extra good, and plus it meant Christmas was a little closer, he'd say. As Christmas got closer and closer I tried talking down his expectations dozens of times, telling him that Mom and Dad could never afford it and Santa couldn't fit it down the chimney. But to him Mom and Dad could afford anything that REALLY mattered and Santa had fit an entire ping pong table down the chimney one year with very little evident trouble.

Well, the years went by as they have a habit of doing. We got Mortal Kombat for the Super Nintendo (gray blood and all) and eventually Mortal Kombat 2. It wasn't quite the same of course. He never went back to the pizza place to play any of the games after that year. It may sound silly, but I remember thinking he just may have been a little afraid to hope ever again after that Christmas morning.

So last Christmas (he's 21 now) I got him an arcade cabinet version of Mortal Kombat 3 Ultimate Edition (that's the one with dozens of secrets). I bought it on E-bay and got a real steal at about $500. The shipping was a real killer however at $250 in crating, handling and trucking. It's a good thing I took a day off from work to go get this thing. Because, while I knew I would need to rent a U-haul to pick it up from the hub, I didn't realize there would be customs paperwork and duties.

I managed to get it all worked out and the great colossus hidden in the garage of the people living next door to our parents house. When I unwrapped the thing of it's cardboard and plastic it looked like a dream come true. A beaten scratched sticky dream come true with the Wu-Tang clan symbol scratched into the side. Over the next two weeks it was given a complete wash down, a fresh coat of paint, new side art and a shiny new sheet of plastic for the marquee. The plastic and paint came from Home Depot, but the side art arrived just in the nick of time for Christmas.

Christmas Eve, we all sat up talking until the late hours of the morning about things we'd done in the neighborhood, trouble we had gotten into. Without my steering the conversation there at all he brought up that year that all he had done was obsess about Mortal Kombat and how stupid he was. The last thing he said before he went off to his old bedroom and I went off to mine was, "It sure was a great game, though."

I have never liked getting up early but at 4:00 Christmas morning, I felt like a superhero. I leapt out of bed and dressed silently, crept out of the house just the way I used to sneak out to kiss in the park with my first real girlfriend. The air was cold, smoky and perfect. Even if I was back there running to the park to see her, I couldn't have been more excited as I tilted the garage door open and hand-carted the beast back up the sidewalk towards my parents house.

Getting it into the house quietly was a real task but I managed. Getting the entire thing wrapped around and around with gold foil paper was a real task but I managed. A giant silver bow and card completed the picture.

The card read: Looks like the chimney is bigger than I thought.

I have never received any gift that made me feel as good as I felt when I saw his face as he realized what I had done. All the paper seemed to disappear from it in a flash. I have to admit even I was surprised at how impressive it looked standing there like a gleaming obelisk of pubescent fantasy surrounded by golden foil in my parents living room. He laid his hands on it almost reverently and was muttering, "I can't believe it. I can't believe you did this."

Things were getting a bit dramatic for me at that point, so I switched the surge protector on with the toe of my slipper causing the screen to blink on and the familiar thrumming cadence of the theme music to drown out any sense of solemnity in the room. It took us until after lunch time to get around to opening any of the other presents. We played that game together until our eyes felt ready to fall out of their sockets. A year later, I don't think anyone who has been into the room he keeps it in has been able to say they have anything as cool.

Anyway, you want to know what I got from him that year? A leather checkbook cover. f***er.

[Deleted]

Dec 8, 2009 12:26:39 GMT -5 Branimal said:

I beat it within 2 or 3 days and my parents were outraged - I guess they expected I'd get more use out of it for the $60+ price tag.

Holy s***! How much did you play that in those 2 or 3 days?! My first time through took me ages!!!

I was a little pissed myself when my younger bro beat Twilight Princess in 3 days (provided he got 40+ hours of gameplay in), but here we are damn near two years later and he still picks it up and plays it from time to time.

EDIT: Just to note, I totally wrote this without reading Bobbedy's post above this. Pure coincidence, I swear.

I always asked for an arcade machine for some reason...in particular a 4 player NBA Jam/Hangtime. When I move into my own place I might try to find an empty cabinet and an NBA Maximum Hangtime or Showtime; NBA on NBC ROM chip. I got a soft spot for the arcade basketball games, LOVE em all.

A four wheeler too. We used to have one but it started failing on us, and we would always ask for a new one and would never get it. Our Grandpa (who actually lives right next door to us) now has a gigantic one he uses around the farm but we joyride on when we can get his permission to.

[Beets by Schrute]

Turbo Man Doll

[Branimal]

Dec 8, 2009 16:29:20 GMT -5 @geneyussrevolution said:

Dec 8, 2009 12:26:39 GMT -5 Branimal said:

I beat it within 2 or 3 days and my parents were outraged - I guess they expected I'd get more use out of it for the $60+ price tag.

Holy s***! How much did you play that in those 2 or 3 days?! My first time through took me ages!!!

I was a little pissed myself when my younger bro beat Twilight Princess in 3 days (provided he got 40+ hours of gameplay in), but here we are damn near two years later and he still picks it up and plays it from time to time.

EDIT: Just to note, I totally wrote this without reading Bobbedy's post above this. Pure coincidence, I swear.

I always asked for an arcade machine for some reason...in particular a 4 player NBA Jam/Hangtime. When I move into my own place I might try to find an empty cabinet and an NBA Maximum Hangtime or Showtime; NBA on NBC ROM chip. I got a soft spot for the arcade basketball games, LOVE em all.

A four wheeler too. We used to have one but it started failing on us, and we would always ask for a new one and would never get it. Our Grandpa (who actually lives right next door to us) now has a gigantic one he uses around the farm but we joyride on when we can get his permission to.

I literally sat down and just played for those 2-3 days non stop. Now, I only just finished the basic game..it took me a lot longer to go back through and get 101% complete.

[Dave at the Movies]

Power Ranger action figures. The original ones from 1993. In a few years that is going to start making me feel really old. lol

[Long A, Short A]

The California Dream Barbie with the red hair and roller skates. One year I asked everyone for Barbie's and Barbie stuff. One days while my mom was out doing something, my brother sneak checked our presents. I found out that I got the main CDB and my heart kinda sank. Regular CDB became the antagonist of all my play sessions because she wasn't the exact doll I wanted.

I asked my dad for Six Shot when I was ten or eleven. I was scarred to ask him for Six Shot because I was a girl and this was a boy's toy. Christmas came and went and I didn't get Six Shot from Dad. I wasn't mad or disappointed even thought this happened during the time I took my dad at his word. My brother ended up giving me his Six Shot when he paired down his toy collection.