I was a neglected child
Old Trooper sent a link to The American Thinker post written by our buddy Scott Swett and Selwyn Duke which included this video;
I don’t know how I didn’t know this cool set existed, unless it was because my parents made me go play out in the woods with the few Army toys I did have instead of laying around watching television. But, I watched every episode of Combat! and Rat Patrol (now that I’m almost grown up, I own all of CDs of all of the seasons of both of those shows).
The scary part is that, neither my brothers nor I ever went on a bloody rampage as a result of our boyhood play. To the best of my knowledge, I was the only one from our pack of friends who joined the military, though most of our fathers had come home from the Korean War.
Scott Swett makes the point that liberals would probably shit themselves if this commercial made it to the Cartoon Network today, or if the really cool set was available today. In fact, I suspect that my daughter would have conniptions if I bought it for my grandson, but she’d probably forget that her brother and I used to play laser tag in the house, shooting each other with realistic guns and now he’s an Air Force surgical technician – not a crazed mass murderer.
Category: I hate hippies
My 11 year old son discovered my cache of packed away war toys a couple of years ago and to be honest, those are still the most “played with” things he has. Buckets of “green army men” (which was the subject of a post here a few years ago), a few cowboy cap guns, an old toy muzzleloader and my all-time favorite, a Thompson sub-machine gun made by Marx (which still had the rat-a-tat simulated rapid fire sound). He and the neighbor kids put on a bunch of surplus uniforms I bought, get out in the back yard and pretend to be on patrol, much like the kids in that video. I can only guess what some of the neighbors really think. Screw em.
If liberals would go apeshit over that, I wonder what they’d do if we did like when I was a “yute” and had bottle rocket fights with my friends.
Who DIDN’T play like this?
I wanted the machine gun soooo bad. I thought it was totally badass to have that thing stringing the belt through as you mowed down the enemy charging at you! Alas, I had to settle for my dad’s US Army issue belt with real .45 holster and ammo pouches (heh heh heh) with US stenciled or embossed on everything. My friend had the Thompson and I was seriously envious.
Funny thing, though, none of us turned into mass murderers or serial killers.
We used to turn the picnic table on its side, put a broom stick through the table’s umbrella hole and boom…boom…boom, kill Germans. And no, we did not call them nazis. We called them Germans. The dads of the kids across the street had been Marines. When we played war with them, we had to fight Japs. No, we didn’t fight the Japanese. We fought Japs.
I’m a littel young to remember these commercials, but there are a bunch of them on You Tube, like this one…
http://youtu.be/53mADuA5aM8
My prized Army toy was a wooden Springifeld bolt action replica. I also had a toy M-16 for a while. The best one was an M-1911 cap gun and the slide even worked.
Check out this website for a trip down memory lane…
http://www.timewarptoys.com/toptoys.htm
Outlaw; I had the Johnny Reb Cannon, but I don’t remember if firing 35 feet. I really wanted the James Bond 007 Shooting Attaché Case. The neighbor had one.
I remember the jingle for the Six Finger;
“Six Finger, Six Finger, man alive! How did I ever get along with five?”
(And now I can’t get it out of my head)
I had the Secret Sam case. I remember pulling out all the weapons and stuff, packing it with clothes one time when I was mad at my parents, coming out of my room and announcing that I was running away. My parents response, “OK, see ya.”
Not the responce I was looking for. Heh.
I used to play Photon back in the day (yes, at a Photon Beta Center). I was a pretty high scoring kid, too. I played Laser Tag with friends, Star Wars with sticks (thank you Martial Arts for teaching me how to block), and used to run around with my Boy Scout Troop on the Sacramento Army Depot playing paint ball (with permission of Security).
Now, I am a well adjusted member of society with a good career, some interesting stories (what happens in Panama, stays in Panama), and a few scars. However, last time I checked, I wasn’t a psycho (unless you consider signing a try-one to help prep a unit for deployment–yes, I was supply).
I don’t know anyone who had that when I was growing up! I suspect it was a much circled item in many a Sears Wish Book, but doubt many really got one! I remember playing Army with my neighbors, and after about 5 minutes, someone would go inside to get a Popsicle or decide we could have more fun if we went for swim –and it was over.
Yep. It was the most natural thing in the world to have “gunfire” in the woods, in the back yard, swooping around the corners of the houses. Even some of us girls.
My crowd recoiled at the introduction of GI Joe – never did buy the boys playing with dolls thing. It just wasn’t acceptable no matter what Joe was wearing or carrying!
The neighhorhood kids when I was little played Lone Ranger or sometimes Batman. I also seem to recall my brother and I had one of those cap pistols (Old West style). Do they even make those anymore?
Yes, Miss Ladybug, they still make cap pistols but they’re illegal in most states. In those states in which they are legal, the buyer has to be at least 18. There is, of course, a waiting period of up two weeks while the local, state, and federal record checks are completed. If successful, you cannot buy the cap pistol and caps at the same time and a manager has to walk with you to the exit when you pick up the pistol. (Just like the old days!)