You Are 8 Years Old...

2 Minute Toy Break came out of nowhere today with a Round Robin Challenge which when typing a reply in his comment section got so long I figured I would just go ahead and post it here. He posed the question of what five toys would you bring with you if you were eight years old and headed for a road trip with your parents. Like I said, my comment on his page was getting rather lengthy, so I decided to go ahead and create my own response here.

As a child of parents who were always traveling for work and / or vacation (overseas and abroad in the USA), we seemed to always be on the road. Yet oddly, I never tended to bring toys with me as they were either in boxes traveling across the ocean or I just never really thought to bring any. Instead, music cassettes and Mad Libs (which usually got us in trouble) often accompanied us on trips.

However, that's not to say there were no toys involved. One of the great things about my mom was she never left us really wanting for anything. We were very privileged to own a lot of toys and with the exception of very few often got pretty much what we asked for. Yes, we were spoiled.

It was because of this spoiling that often times when on road trips we would pull into a not so local Toys R Us or tape store and be told we could pick something out for the road. Mom often used these trips to gauge our interest in things and also do preemptive Christmas / birthday shopping.

On these many trips I recall three specific items I picked up to occupy myself on the road.

Number 1: Remco Karate Kid Figures

By 1986 I was a massive fan of The Karate Kid, so when I saw Remco's line of toys hanging from pegs at a Toys R Us I knew these were the figures I wanted for the remainder of our trip to California for a round of Disney Land, Sea World and Universal Studios.

I believe I actually got quite a few of them on this particular trip and I want to say it was essentially the full run of purple carded (first wave) figures. At a minimum I know it was Daniel, Mister Miyagi, Johnny and Kreese.

Number 2: G.I. Joe Night Force Sneak Peak and Lt. Falcon

It was 1988 and though my interest in toys was dwindling fast in favor of the Nintendo Entertainment System I still enjoyed grabbing a G.I. Joe figure here and there. However, when you're on the road and your GameBoy has run its course, it's time to get back to some good old fashioned plastic action figures.

Okay, so Sneak Peek and Lt. Falcon aren't the greatest of Joes available. However, the fact remains the two kept me mildly entertained while traveling to visit my sister in college.

Number 3: Prince's Graffiti Bridge

You'll notice you have a lot of free time when riding in eight hour shifts for a week straight in a passenger seat as you travel from the West Coast to the East Coast. You'll also find yourself relatively bored out of your mind.

When we stopped at a retail store mid-way across the country in 1990 I had long since stopped playing with toys (sad, I know). As such, I needed to find other avenues of interest to keep me entertained for the next leg of the trip. After making my way to the tape section I found Prince's Graffiti Bridge and decided then and there I had to have it.

Mom wasn't big on albums with "Parental Advisory" stickers on them, so truth be told I don't know how I got away with getting this one. She may have been so tired herself that she just said, "If that's what you want."

It's amazing how many times you can run the same tape through a Walkman when you have nothing but time on your hands - Something I desperately wish I had these days.

Well, that about wraps it up for this post. No, this is not me taking the helm on any form of Round Robin Challenges, so don't look to me next week for the topic. Rather just a dump of thoughts which would have been a massive comment on Tony's site. However, I will say if the mood strikes me I may partake in others if someone posts them.

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