1216 – Toys R Us Kids 80s Holiday Flyers

Seasonal / Catalog

 

Gift Wrapping

https://food52.com/blog/23472-best-way-to-wrap-gifts-according-to-professional-gift-wrapper

https://kudosgiftwrap.co.uk/blogs/news/the-importance-of-gift-wrapping

https://www.sapiens.org/culture/gift-wrapping-reason/

 

Toys R Us

https://www.history.com/news/toys-r-us-closing-legacy

https://www.everything80spodcast.com/toys-r-us-the-downfall-of-the-toy-giant/

https://money.cnn.com/2018/03/17/news/companies/toys-r-us-history/index.html

 

NES vs SEGA

https://www.cbr.com/nintendo-sega-rivalry-history/

https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/sega-vs-nintendo-a-history-of-the-epic-video-game-/2900-165/

https://www.denofgeek.com/games/sega-vs-nintendo-revisiting-the-deadliest-console-war/

 

Teddy Ruxpin

https://www.cnet.com/culture/entertainment/features/teddy-ruxpin-history-disney-atari-2017-return/

https://www.everything80spodcast.com/teddy-ruxpin/

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/81691/bear-necessity-story-teddy-ruxpin

 

DOWN TO BUSINESS

I have a catalog of imperfections

My sense is about as fuzzy as Teddy Ruxpin

 

Deep Dark Night United

Melanie (Zocdoc)

 

PLUGS

Friends of Hand in Hand; Pete Davidson SNL Cold Open; Trevor Project; Midnight Mission; Patreon; SleepPhones; Emily Tat Artwork; NAPAWF; Anti-Racism Resources; Ukraine Relief; Crisis Textline; Referral Program

 

SPONSORS

Hello Fresh; Polysleep; Odoo; Helix Sleep; Air Doctor Pro; Zocdoc; Progressive

 

INTRO

There’s a lot of other people listening, too

Early Wakeups, I don’t even know why

My inner coach telling me, “We’re good”

I shouldn’t be going on a tangent this soon

My waking up too early mini-drama

I’ve got to get to that room of water, Coach!

It’s like if a toddler, baby boomer, and teen combined

My inner coach just wanted to do some mindless scrolling

You probably had an expectation that someone reasonable would host this show

Just Barely Not Moving

I just want to be a mild distraction for you

You could be listening while you’re wrapping gifts

Rapping to gifts

My Rapping / Wrapping Gifts Experience 

Wrapping Gifts / Rapping Gifs / The Rapping Jifs

I’ll be here rap rap rapping about nonsense

I don’t want you to miss out on the intro

Wrap Rap Wrapping

I’m probably the worst gift wrapper in the world

I’ve never seen that technique before

 

STORY

This will cover some conspicuous consumption

Oops, some images didn’t download

A sense of regionality in a region where you didn’t live

I didn’t have Toys R Us, but WPIX gave me a window into NYC life

We only had Lionel Kitty City and KB Toy Story

We rarely went to Lionel Kitty City

I think most of our toy shopping happened at … Ames?

Babies R Us, I had a little more experience with

“I’m a Toys R Us Kid”

I couldn’t find any Lionel Kitty City flyers alas

First flyer from 1987

This Toys R Us was open until midnight

The cover features a boy in an Oxford shirt

It came with a copy of Bird Watch

This was the first NES package, I believe

There were multiple Goonies video games??

Oh, man, a R.O.B the Robot playmate

My friend had “Rygar”

Rygar’s background sunset was so beautiful

Fun Time Barbie comes with her own watch, only $9.99

A digital watch in the style of a Swatch Watch

Barbie is in some sort of denim

If it looks good on Gosling … well, everything looks good on Gosling

This slogan is actually surprisingly neutral

Transformers Technobot Gift Set

5 Transformers that become 1 Giant Robot

Teddy Ruxpin impressed my dad so much that he bought stock in the company

There’s little muppet dolls

Teddy Ruxpin was our first exposure to animatronics

Seasonal outdoor animatronics really leaped forward in 2018

Teddy Ruxpin still kicks rear today

Explaining Teddy Ruxpin and Tickle Me Elmo

The 80s were a time for keyboards, man

All different price points for Keyboards

I have to google this Muppet Babies keyboard

I had a keyboard one step below the cheapest one listed here

Different Stereo Systems

What do you do with a triple cassette player?

I remember these less expensive audio equipment companies

Expressive Answering Machine for your school locker??

Fisher Price Tape Recorder – a classic

Oh boy Tiger Electronics – these were the worst

There was no joy in these – pure style over substance

Don’t play any VCR or DVD based video games!

INTV System 3

Atari 2600 – that was $50!

Just send this episode to the past, man!

Wiz Kid to teach math, spelling, and reading

CONNOR for teaching

Alfie 2

Microphone Animal Sounds

Playskool Little Entertainer

A synth station for a child

P-Roll’s Rockin’ USA Singing Guitar

Board Games

Dizzy Dizzy Dinosaur

Super Jock Football

Outburst

Jeopardy board game

Therapy the Game??

Deluxe Uno

Hi Ho Alphabet

Boggle Bowl

Deluxe Wheel of Fortune

Parker Brother’s ‘Instant Replay”

Foam Dart Game

The New Newlywed Game

Solarquest??

That looks like a game within Starfield

You’re better off playing these games at an arcade

Plastic Ball – cute electric buddy that scurries on command

The Deal of the Century, Teddy Ruxpin

Baby Teddy Ruxpin was 39.99

Storytelling Animatronic Alf

Sport Popples – a plus that you could roll into a ball

Barbie and Soft Rocking Friends

Benji from Fun Farm

Fantosaurs from Mighty Star

Puppies from Tonka

Puffalumps – cow / pig / bear / bunny with removable clothes

Kenner was selling Fluffy Puppies

Time for the legit stuff

Teddy Ruxpin is dressed in some sort of smock

It’s good that I’m not allowed to time travel, according to Time Law

This home animatronic actually works

You could buy additional story books and cassettes

Teddy’s sidekick Grubby

Grubby is wild

Grubby looks kind of cute

The Heart Family toysets

Ooh, generic Barbie playsets!

I think my sister had Barbie’s townhouse

Nothing better than a play kitchen

We might have had this very play kitchen growing up

Ooh, here’s some Big Wheels

I loved the Muppet Babies

Oh yeah, Rubber Wrestlers!

Silver Hawks?

Mad Balls?

Gosh, that’s a lot of slot car racing

Science labs with slime

Back when I was a kid, every child had to have a telescope and microscope

Mets uniform – $19.99

Zelda 2 came out this year

My friend had the SEGA

I remember playing Afterburner with him

There used to be a toy company called Galoob

I would have loved this GI Joe mobile command playset

This kid’s outfit is great

This bouncing ball that looks like Saturn

Oh wow, Jenga was already around

I found 1988 – does this one have the store hours?

Oh, we went through both 1987 and 1988. Whoops!

Open until midnight Monday – Saturday and 10pm on Sundays

Play Doh Fun Factory – I remember this

Play Doh Dust Busters Kit?? Cool!

LEGO Battery Run Train Set

Get a mobile for the newborn in your life

Don’t buy your bike from Toys R Us

 

PATREON / FOLLOWING THANKS

Pete, Lana, Tyler, Samuel, Eric Norr, Dawson, Sasha, Andy, Vanessa, Lisa, Martin

 

SUMMARY:

Episode: 1,216

Title: Toys R Us 80s Holiday Flyers

Deep Dark Night United: Melanie (Zocdoc)

Plugs: Friends of Hand in Hand; Pete Davidson SNL Cold Open; Trevor Project; Midnight Mission; Patreon; SleepPhones; Emily Tat Artwork; NAPAWF; Anti-Racism Resources; Ukraine Relief; Crisis Textline; Referral Program

Sponsors: Hello Fresh; Polysleep; Odoo; Helix Sleep; Air Doctor Pro; Zocdoc; Progressive

Patreon / Following Thanks: Pete, Lana, Tyler, Samuel, Eric Norr, Dawson, Sasha, Andy, Vanessa, Lisa, Martin

Notable Language:

• Catalog of Imperfections
• Mini-Drama
• My Inner Coach
• Just Barely Not Moving
• Gratuitous Pregnant Pauses
• Wrapping Gifts / Rapping Gifs / The Rapping Jifs
• Imaginary Business Plan
• Child-Sized Animatronic (CSA)
• Microphone Animal Sounds
• Galoob

 

Notable Culture:

• • Teddy Ruxpin
  • “Waterfalls” – TLC
  • Rapping Gifts
  • Edgar Allan Poe – “The Raven”
  • Ecto-Cooler
  • Toys R Us
  • Carvel Ice Cream
  • NES
  • Sega
  • Alex P Keaton

• Duck Hunt video game

• Goonies

• • Barbie
  • Ryan Gosling
  • Transformers
  • Tickle Me Elmo
  • Muppet Babies

• Starfield

• GI Joe
• Star Wars
• Jenga

 

Notable Talking Points:

• There’s a lot of other people listening, too
• Early Wakeups, I don’t even know why
• My inner coach telling me, “We’re good”
• I shouldn’t be going on a tangent this soon
• My waking up too early mini-drama
• I’ve got to get to that room of water, Coach!
• It’s like if a toddler, baby boomer, and teen combined
• My inner coach just wanted to do some mindless scrolling
• You probably had an expectation that someone reasonable would host this show
• Just Barely Not Moving
• I just want to be a mild distraction for you
• You could be listening while you’re wrapping gifts
• Rapping to gifts
• My Rapping / Wrapping Gifts Experience 
• Wrapping Gifts / Rapping Gifs / The Rapping Jifs
• I’ll be here rap rap rapping about nonsense
• I don’t want you to miss out on the intro
• Wrap Rap Wrapping
• I’m probably the worst gift wrapper in the world
• I’ve never seen that technique before
• This will cover some conspicuous consumption
• Oops, some images didn’t download
• A sense of regionality in a region where you didn’t live
• I didn’t have Toys R Us, but WPIX gave me a window into NYC life
• We only had Lionel Kitty City and KB Toy Story
• We rarely went to Lionel Kitty City
• I think most of our toy shopping happened at … Ames?
• Babies R Us, I had a little more experience with
• “I’m a Toys R Us Kid”
• I couldn’t find any Lionel Kitty City flyers alas
• First flyer from 1987
• This Toys R Us was open until midnight
• The cover features a boy in an Oxford shirt
• It came with a copy of Bird Watch
• This was the first NES package, I believe
• There were multiple Goonies video games??
• Oh, man, a R.O.B the Robot playmate
• My friend had “Rygar”
• Rygar’s background sunset was so beautiful
• Fun Time Barbie comes with her own watch, only $9.99
• A digital watch in the style of a Swatch Watch
• Barbie is in some sort of denim
• If it looks good on Gosling … well, everything looks good on Gosling
• This slogan is actually surprisingly neutral
• Transformers Technobot Gift Set
• 5 Transformers that become 1 Giant Robot
• Teddy Ruxpin impressed my dad so much that he bought stock in the company
• There’s little muppet dolls
• Teddy Ruxpin was our first exposure to animatronics
• Seasonal outdoor animatronics really leaped forward in 2018
• Teddy Ruxpin still kicks rear today
• Explaining Teddy Ruxpin and Tickle Me Elmo
• The 80s were a time for keyboards, man
• All different price points for Keyboards
• I have to google this Muppet Babies keyboard
• I had a keyboard one step below the cheapest one listed here
• Different Stereo Systems
• What do you do with a triple cassette player?
• I remember these less expensive audio equipment companies
• Expressive Answering Machine for your school locker??
• Fisher Price Tape Recorder – a classic
• Oh boy Tiger Electronics – these were the worst
• There was no joy in these – pure style over substance
• Don’t play any VCR or DVD based video games!
• INTV System 3
• Atari 2600 – that was $50!
• Just send this episode to the past, man!
• Wiz Kid to teach math, spelling, and reading
• CONNOR for teaching
• Alfie 2
• Microphone Animal Sounds
• Playskool Little Entertainer
• A synth station for a child
• P-Roll’s Rockin’ USA Singing Guitar
• Board Games
• Dizzy Dizzy Dinosaur
• Super Jock Football
• Outburst
• Jeopardy board game
• Therapy the Game??
• Deluxe Uno
• Hi Ho Alphabet
• Boggle Bowl
• Deluxe Wheel of Fortune
• Parker Brother’s ‘Instant Replay”
• Foam Dart Game
• The New Newlywed Game
• Solarquest??
• That looks like a game within Starfield
• You’re better off playing these games at an arcade
• Plastic Ball – cute electric buddy that scurries on command
• The Deal of the Century, Teddy Ruxpin
• Baby Teddy Ruxpin was 39.99
• Storytelling Animatronic Alf
• Sport Popples – a plus that you could roll into a ball
• Barbie and Soft Rocking Friends
• Benji from Fun Farm
• Fantosaurs from Mighty Star
• Puppies from Tonka
• Puffalumps – cow / pig / bear / bunny with removable clothes
• Kenner was selling Fluffy Puppies
• Time for the legit stuff
• Teddy Ruxpin is dressed in some sort of smock
• It’s good that I’m not allowed to time travel, according to Time Law
• This home animatronic actually works
• You could buy additional story books and cassettes
• Teddy’s sidekick Grubby
• Grubby is wild
• Grubby looks kind of cute
• The Heart Family toysets
• Ooh, generic Barbie playsets!
• I think my sister had Barbie’s townhouse
• Nothing better than a play kitchen
• We might have had this very play kitchen growing up
• Ooh, here’s some Big Wheels
• I loved the Muppet Babies
• Oh yeah, Rubber Wrestlers!
• Silver Hawks?
• Mad Balls?
• Gosh, that’s a lot of slot car racing
• Science labs with slime
• Back when I was a kid, every child had to have a telescope and microscope
• Mets uniform – $19.99
• Zelda 2 came out this year
• My friend had the SEGA
• I remember playing Afterburner with him
• There used to be a toy company called Galoob
• I would have loved this GI Joe mobile command playset
• This kid’s outfit is great
• This bouncing ball that looks like Saturn
• Oh wow, Jenga was already around
• I found 1988 – does this one have the store hours?
• Oh, we went through both 1987 and 1988. Whoops!
• Open until midnight Monday – Saturday and 10pm on Sundays
• Play Doh Fun Factory – I remember this
• Play Doh Dust Busters Kit?? Cool!
• LEGO Battery Run Train Set
• Get a mobile for the newborn in your life
• Don’t buy your bike from Toys R Us

Episode 1216 – Toys R Us Kids 80s Holiday Flyers

 

[START OF RECORDING]

 

SCOOTER: Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s time for the podcaster who’s gonna go off topic, who’s gonna get mixed up. I have a catalog of imperfections that take me…and I get…yeah. Nobody’s…I’m here, really, to list a bunch of stuff, read through a…actually, we’re gonna be reading through some flyers tonight, some toy flyers, and taking a look, checking it twice. Believe me, we’re gonna find out if…who Teddy…if you’ve ever wondered who Teddy Ruxpin is or you say, I never needed to know, you’re in the right spot. You say, I’d prefer to just listen to someone ramble about that stuff. Well, my sense is about as fuzzy as Tuddy Ruckspin, 'cause Teddy Ruxpin’s a plush. Yeah, so…yeah.

 

Actually, I’m here…this is Sleep With Me. It’s a podcast that’s here to keep you company while you fall asleep. So glad you’re. If you’re a regular listener, so glad you’re back. This is really a podcast…it does take some patience getting used to it. So, if this is your first time here, give it a few tries, 'cause I’m just here to keep you company so that you could fall asleep, to make the deep, dark night a little bit less lonely. I’m strange. I’m silly. I’m here to be your bore-friend. What we got coming up is support; that’s how the show the comes out free twice a week. You don’t gotta worry about paying for it. Then there’s a long, meandering intro.

 

That is meant to ease you into bedtime, not so much to put you to sleep, and then later on we’ll read through some Toys “R” Us flyers from the eighties, and yeah, carry you off into bedtime. So, I’m so glad you’re here. If you’re new…if you already strongly dislike the show, go to sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou. But there’s so many people that this podcast helps. I hope you could be one of them, but it does take…yeah, I say it takes a couple tries to get used to the show 'cause it’s never going anywhere. But I’m glad you’re here and I really hope we can help you fall asleep. Thanks for making it possible, my patron peeps.

 

INTRO: [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing? Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press Play. I’m gonna do the rest. What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake. It could be thoughts, things on your mind that you’re thinking about, thoughts, thoughts about the past, the present, the future, feelings, it could be thing…anything coming up emotionally for you like feelings related to those thoughts, or it could be physical sensations, it could be changes in time, temperature, routine, you could have something coming up, you could be going through something.

 

Whatever it is, I’m here to keep you company and take your mind off of stuff so that you could fall asleep. I’m here to be your friend in the deep, dark night, to be your bore-bud and, I don't know, keep you company. The reason I make the show is…there’s two reasons; one, and the reason you say, why do you go through all that stuff that could be keeping me awake…and I say, well, because there’s a lot of other people listening, and the thing I’ve learned over the years is we can relate to how you feel. Whatever’s keeping you awake…I might not have been through the exact same thing, but I can probably relate to some of the feelings, either the feelings leading up to bedtime, the feelings at bedtime, or the feelings in the middle of the night or the feelings in the morning. That’s what lately I’ve been having.

 

I always list what’s going on with my sleep, and lately it’s just been early wake-ups. I don't even know why. Some part of me is like, yup, you got enough…I know you don’t think you got enough sleep, but I’m…we’re good. Some part of me is like that, like, we’re good. I say, no, no, we’re not good. I’d like to…I could use another hour or two. Nah, I think we’re good. Like someone…it’s a very…a figure like some sort of coach that you don’t have a fond memory of. They say, rub some dirt on it. I say, no, no, I’m…I would like to sleep for…no, no, I don't know what you’re talking…I’m gonna sleep for another…nah, we’re good. We don’t need it. No, no, no. Yeah, we’ll pass on that. No, we’re good. I say, no, no, I’d like to…this is literally what happened this morning. I’m not even kidding. Some part of me said that.

 

Then I said, just ignore that voice. It said, no, we’re good. Let’s get moving. I’ll just go through it so you could relate. Usually I don’t go on a tangent this long about this stuff. But I said, no, no, I’m gonna sleep. I still had my eyes shut, right? I do practice a lot of this bedroom hygiene stuff, so it’s pretty dark, so I had no idea what time it was. Eventually different versions of that voice…I said, okay, I’m just gonna back to…no, no, I don't think we’re…I think we’re good. I think it’s probably time to get up. Then I said, okay, I’ll just see what time it is to confirm that it’s not time to get up. Then I have my watch on, but it’s on bedtime mode, so…and for some reason, even though it’s extremely simple to operate and very intuitive, it doesn’t work well for me. It’s like it know…it’s like it’s playing a part in this whole mini-drama.

 

So, then I press a little button on the side which is supposed to just show the time briefly, but it’s so brief that it already had shut down by the time I got the watch up in front of my face. Then if you try again too soon, it confuses the watch. So, that was about…that was a old silent movie routine for about four or five minutes where I’m trying to get my watch…and I’m sighing, I’m tossing over. So, then I finally realize what time it is, and it was just early…just…it was too early for me to get up, in my opinion, but in the opinion in this other side of me, it was a totally reasonable time. It said, no, we’re good. See? I say, no, no, no, at least forty-five more minutes. It kinda does that thing…you know what coaches do where they do that thing with their hands? It’s kind of like a card dealer where they’re…and I say, no, no, no.

 

No, we’re good; let’s get up. Then it was even trickier. I said, no…and then it said…'cause I had already determined that I could stay in bed for another hour or two without needing to visit the upstairs room of water. But then it said, no, no, we gotta get to that room of water, man. The water’s got…you know. It said…started…it was talking about water…you know, everything. I’m not gonna put any of the ideas in your head. But it did do a couple bars from Don’t Go Chasing the Falling of Water. Then I said, okay, I give up. Then, believe it or not, then…so, this is the irony; I said, okay, I guess I’ll get up. Then it said, well, let’s check some stuff on our phone first. That is so…I said, what are you, some sort of baby boomer that…? Yeah, let’s go on the internet. I said, I thought we had to get out of bed. Oh, no, no, no.

 

No, we’re good now, that you’re up. It’s like if a toddler and a baby boomer combined, along with a tween. I say, weren’t you just telling me to get out of bed? Also, I think you subtextually were saying we need to do something productive. Now as soon as I’ve given in, you say, huh, let’s do a little looking around on our phone. Something productive? Nah, nah, not productive. Let’s just do some mindless scrolling, man. We earned it. We got up early. So, yeah, that’s what’s going on with me, by the way. So, I can relate. It might not be that. That was a long-winded meander of me saying whatever’s keeping you awake, even if I can’t relate to how it feels, there’s someone listening right now who can, even if they haven’t been through the exact same thing that’s keeping you up.

 

Just like I want you to know, they want you to know they’re glad you’re here. They really hope this podcast can help, 'cause they say, yeah, I know what that’s like. I’ve been through it. I’m going through it and I hope this odd person…clearly, if you just listened to the last five minutes…I hope you could give it a few tries and see how it goes. I hope it helps you as much as it helps me. So, that’s one of the reasons I make the show, 'cause I know how it feels and it doesn’t feel good. Even this morning, even if I can make light of it…and part of me was like, you know, it would have been ideal for me to sleep for another forty-five minutes to an hour-and-a-half, 'cause it is a Saturday when I’m recording this. So, I didn’t have to do anything except do some mindless scrolling, clearly. Some part of me had an imperative to get to that.

 

So, the other reason I make the show is because you deserve a good night’s sleep. You deserve a bedtime where you can get some rest, the rest you need so your life is more manageable, the rest you need so you can be flourishing, and that means your life is gonna be a little bit better, right, if you’re getting that rest you need on a regular basis, the rest you deserve. You deserve a bedtime you can look forward to or feel neutral about, not a bedtime you dread. So, those are the reasons I make the show. What I do is I send my voice across the deep, dark night. I use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, and superfluous tangents, which means I go off-topic, as we’ve…just…I went off topic already, got mixed up, couldn’t remember what I was talking about, then said, oh, wait a second, I forgot about this thing.

 

So, all that is a part of the show, and at first it can be very frustrating for people because, one, you’re new to the show and you probably had some expectation of someone reasonable hosting the show, maybe someone that would get to the point and start telling some sort of bedtime story to put you to sleep instead of a show that’s always going nowhere, as we say around here. Sleep With Me; never getting…always never getting started. Just barely not moving. These are the kinda things…Sleep With Me…wha…? Sleep With Me is the only podcast that I know of that comes with gratuitous pregnant pauses and filler words, too. So, okay, so, what was my…? Where I get mixed up…that’s all part of the process to ease you into bedtime and take your mind off of stuff. But, yeah, at first it can be very frustrating.

 

Or, you’re already here; you’re probably already frustrated before you got here, and skeptical and doubtful. Maybe you tried a lot of different stuff to help you fall asleep like we all have here, and maybe somebody that likes the podcast or has never listened to it recommended it and they say, wait a second, this isn’t what I expected. Alls I can say is that it’s been my experience over ten years hearing from a lot of people…is to just see how it goes and give it a couple tries. If it definitely doesn’t work for you, we have a website set up; sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou, with other sleep podcasts and sleepy stuff on there. So, those are two things to know. The other thing you need to…other couple things to fill you in on is this is a podcast you kinda just barely listen to. For some people, I’m just background noise.

 

I’m barely at a mumble. But for most listeners, the way they listen is they listen to this ad-supported version of the show linearly, and they listen to the intro as they’re getting ready for bed, but they’re just kind of barely listening. Maybe they’re doing some sort of other chill activity as they wind down or whatever it is. But it’s like, it’s a kind of…a podcast you kind of passively listen to. You’re just barely listening. You’re like, okay, you’re kind of barely making sense, man. So, I’m not really here to totally be listened to, but you can listen to me, and I’m not really here to put you to sleep; I’m here to keep you company while you fall asleep. There’s no pressure to fall asleep with this show.

 

I’m here to keep you company and take your mind off of stuff, to be your friend rambling on and on and on, and to kinda take you outside of whatever’s keeping you awake, just to be a mild distraction, especially in this holiday season. It can be…there’s changes in time, temperature, routine, travel, guests, all that kinda stuff. So, it’s not easy. But there’s no pressure to fall asleep. That’s why the shows are over an hour. I’m here to barely entertain you whether you’re awake or asleep, whether you’re listening or not, because there are people who listen…you could listen while you’re wrapping gifts if you’re not listening to some…one of those holiday…if you’re wrapping gifts solo. Or what if you were rapping to your gifts? You say, okay, do you have imaginary friends? No, but I rap to my gifts. But you rap?

 

So, you’re say R-A-P-P-I-N-G, right? Yeah, rapping with my…are you rapping with your gifts or to your gifts? Or this could be another…here’s another thing; I always pitch these ideas for birthday parties, businesses I would have. Rapping Gifts, we could call it, but it would be different rooms. Like, there’s a room where you wrap gifts. That could be for littler kids…or unwrap gifts. You could rap gifts and later wrap them. But then you could do the old Poe, rap, rap, rapping on…different gifts you knock or rap on or tap on. You say, well, technically you’re…they say, we’re gonna put you out of business, man. You’re not rapping on the gifts; you’re tapping on them. I say, it’s a birthday party. We got…we’re the only place that has a ecto-cooler as a part of…so, yeah, you’re rapping on the gifts.

 

It’s the same…you could tap or you could rap. Then you go into another room. It would be a little bit of a tea party setup where you’re rapping or conversing with gifts. They could be animatronic gifts or something at some point, and then, yeah, later rapping. Maybe the gifts are rapping to you. Maybe there’s performances, animatronic performances, rapping gifts…that could be the name of the group, The Rapping Gifts. You say, gifts or gifs? I say, all three, then. Yeah, 'cause…yeah, the way I speak…rapping gifts, wrapping gifts, and wrapping gifs. Or it could be gif, gif, and gift, I guess. What was that…was what that point, though? I think…I don't know how I went on that tangent. Rapping…oh, just the holiday season, yeah, can keep you up.

 

So…oh yeah, so this podcast…I’m here to be your bore-friend, your bore-bae, your bore-sib, your bore-bud, your bore-bestie, your neigh-bore, your bore-bor, your Borbie, your bores, your bore-friend, your companion in the deep, dark night to keep you company whether you’re listening or not, whether you’re awake or not, to just be here rambling for you, rap, rap, rapping about nonsense. Or in this case, a couple of flyers that you could use to wrap gifts…you could have used to wrap gifts, like if you were doing an initial gift-wrapping layer and then you were putting gift wrap on it. So, yeah, wrapping gifts…oh, what was my…? Structure, you don’t listen to the show, I’m here to be your bore-friend…oh, structure of the show; that’s what’s next. This is…also throws people off. There are ways to adjust the show, right?

 

So, the show starts off with a greeting; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, then I ramble a little bit so you feel seen and welcomed in and you say, hey, I might check that show out. It sounds a bit silly. Then there’s sponsor support so the show can be free, 'cause that’s how most people listen to the show. They listen to the ad-supported show linearly, so that’s kinda how we do it. Now, if you prefer a ad-free version, you could get it at Sleep With Me+, you could build up referrals and get it via our referral program, or I guess you could take the time and download the shows and cut the ads out or stuff like that, but that’s a bit of work. It’s actually less work to refer people to the show.

 

But so…but most people, they just prefer…hey, I like listening to Scoots ramble on and on and on, and it eases me into bedtime. So, there’s the support. Then there’s the intro, which we’re fifteen minutes into, which is separate from the support. I guess people that don’t…I just repeat this every episode 'cause I don't want you to miss out on the intro. One, because we took a journey here to…I mean, we never…that we’ve never been on before, and I invented a new business that already…we didn’t…you say, that won't work. I say, great, imaginary business, imaginary business plan. So, it worked out, the old wrap, wrap, wrapping. That’s what we could call it; Wrap, Wrap, Wrapping. You say, do you actually wrap gifts here?

 

No; our founder is the worst gift-wrapper in the history of the world, so…and that’s probably true. I mean, I don't want to have a claim…I don't necessarily want to make a claim to fame, but I would say if you gathered the planet, I’d at least be in the…I’d definitely be in the top one hundred, for sure. If they said, okay please do your best…I’m not kidding; they said the rules are…it can’t be performative, so you have to wrap a gift how you normally would wrap it, but you also have to do your best. Anyway, at that point they say, we have AI observing you, so we’ll know if you’re not wrapping. They’d say, I know I’d be in the top one hundred. I’m guessing I probably could be in the top ten. They say, we’ve never seen that technique before. I say, well, it’s not my own…I’m trying to follow how normal people wrap gifts.

 

I’ve seen it done before. This is, I guess, my interpretation of it. They say, it’s one of the worst interpretations we’ve ever seen. Congratulations, you’re in the top ten. Okay, what was that about? Oh, so, the intro…yeah, we get to have some fun together. The intro comes after the support. The intro is meant, for a lot of people, to ease them into bedtime. So, if you don’t like the intro for some reason, you could either…at Sleep With Me+ you get two story-only episodes every single week, or you could just start the show at twenty or thirty minutes. But for most people it’s what eases them into bedtime.

 

There are a small group of people that are falling asleep and we’re so happy for them, but for most of us, we need some kind of wind-down and getting-ready-for-bed-time, and that’s what the intro does. Then after the intro again is support. The show gets to be free, and that’s what works for most people, and then there will be our story. Tonight we’ll be talking about a couple of Toys “R” Us flyers. Then there’s some thank-yous at the end. So, that’s the structure of the show. That’s why I make the show. I’m really glad you’re here. I work really hard. I really yearn and I strive. I really hope I can help you fall asleep. Thanks again for coming by, and here’s a couple ways I get to do it for you for free twice a week.

 

Alright everybody, it’s Scoots here. This is a holiday episode where we go through some toy flyers and catalogs. So, it kinda does talk about conspicuous consumption in the holiday season, so if that’s not your thing, you could…there’s over 600 episodes ready to go in the archives you could check out as well. But for a lot of people this is a trip down memory road, and this year…I don't think we’ve ever done this, either. Huh…oh, one of the things did not download. Well, that’s strange. Well, we’ll figure that out. Don't worry, everybody. Huh, that’s unfortunate. I bet you it overrode it. But that’s okay; I have it on my…sorry, a little behind-the-scenes.

 

So, we’re gonna be talking about Toys “R” Us, which we did not have a Toys “R” Us where I grew up, but we did have WPIX, which is a huge part of my childhood and…growing up, and really offered something, I think, that is hard to get nowadays, which is this sense of regionality in a region you don’t live on a regular slow-drip basis, because WPIX was a local New York City station, but it was available in Syracuse, which is…I would say…when I say ‘very far’, I mean it in context. Like, it’s a full-day drive to New York City from Syracuse where I grew up. So, WPIX offered a window into a whole ‘nother world, the world of not just New York City but day-to-day New York City local television. That included local commercials which have come up on this podcast before.

 

Only a couple ones I’ll point out; Eddie’s Electronics…Eddie had another…Eddie’s Crizal Electronics, which was very…a meme a long, long time ago. Carvel Ice Cream with Fudgie the Whale, and other things like that…and this is only local for people…a lot of people…I mean, New York’s one of the biggest region…metropolitan areas in the United States, so a lot of people will relate. Lullaby of Old Broadway, the Milford Plaza, and Toys “R” Us. I mean, there was other ones that I’m sure will trickle out of my memory, but we only had Lionel Kiddie City and KB Toys. Now, KB Toys was a mall toy store, and Lionel Kiddie City was a standalone toy store. It was on the other side of town from Syracuse. So, again, contextually, a far away…far enough away from our house that we rarely went there.

 

Most of our toy shopping was done at Ames, probably, or…I don't know. I’ll have to check in with my family to get to the bottom of it. But we never…to my knowledge…I mean, at some point there was Toys “R” Us in Syracuse, but…so, I guess I could look at the history at some point. But it…or maybe there wasn’t. I don't know. I do know at some point there was, 'cause Toys “R” Us tried another thing, Babies “R” Us, where you were getting stuff for babies, not…you weren’t obviously…Babies Stuff “R” Us…like, Stuff for Babies “R” Us doesn’t quite fit in there. Because I remember going to Babies “R” Us with…and registering for stuff and looking at changing tables and stuff when we were expecting my daughter. So, anyway, Toys “R” Us is…was something aspirational to me.

 

They had Joffrey, I think, and…Lionel Kiddie City did have a great slogan. So, if you want to YouTube any of this…the Toys “R” Us thing was ‘I’m a Toys “R” Us kid’. That was pretty burned into the brains of eighties people everywhere in the region of…that watched as much TV as I did. Then Lionel Kiddie City would turn your frown upside down. I assume what happened was…now, I don't…I know there was a bunch of articles because I was unable to find any Lionel Kiddie City flyers that I could readily use for the podcast. So I couldn’t do that, but let’s see. But I could find…I did find some Toys “R” Us flyers. But yeah, Lionel Kiddie City would turn your frown upside down. Okay, so, we’ll start here. The good news is the first flyer we’re starting with is the older flyer, and it’s from 1987 and it’s a holiday flyer.

 

Now, here’s the thing; according to this flyer, this Toys “R” Us was open ‘til midnight. I got this on archive.org. It talks about the hot toys in stock. Remember, this was the eighties. It was a different time. But so, the hot toy of the ‘87 was Nintendo or Sega. But the thing is, on the front cover is a boy in a Oxford shirt. I guess Alex P. Keaton was still looming large. I don't know if…again, you would have to look into other histories. This may have been one of the first years the Nintendo Entertainment System was available. Wait, so, Nintendo was 64K and Sega was 128K? I don't know. This is interesting stuff already. I don't know. So, there’s a boy, but he’s very formally dressed playing with this Nintendo, playing Birdwatch. Oh, well, they called it Duckwatch 'cause it was just watching ducks. That was one of the games included.

 

It came with a set of binoculars where you would watch ducks. Like, that was the entire game. It looks like also the Sega system, 128 system, also comes with binoculars. Oh yeah, this one’s called Forest Friend Watch. So, they also came with a game. Quality graphics…but so, every…at first…and you’ve seen consoles over the years try this where they sell it as a package deal. This was the first NES package, I believe. So, it came with the binoculars so you could play Duckwatch, then it came with another game. Huh…oh, Goonie’s 2. So, there was a Goonie’s 1? I can’t see the name of the thing, but it came with this robot with spinning tops. I’m not kidding, either. Maybe the binoculars…you say, Scoots, I know what you’re saying. But it came with a seemingly…a robot with spinning tops. We never had that.

 

We did have the binoculars. My Nintendo story I think has been told in live shows and in some manner on this podcast before, but I don't know when or where. But so, the Nintendo Entertainment System, the full package which…oh, Rob the Robot playmate, control deck, two controllers, the Zippy binoculars, and two game packs. That was $140, $139.97. Then just the control deck, two controllers, and Super Mario Brothers. So, here’s the thing; you’re better off just with Super Mario Brothers. That was $79.97. So, I guess it was just…I can’t imagine they were doing it to make more money, because the cost of the robot and stuff…so, I don't know. Then they had Rygar, which my friend had. Rygar had…R-Y-G-A-R. That was $34.99. Now, Rygar…I remember my friend Charlie had that game.

 

It had the most beautiful sunset that you ran against for the whole game. It was a 2D game. Then a Goonies 2 cartridge, so apparently there was…this is the second Goonies game. That’s $29.99. So, maybe these had been out for a while, because they’re already selling the Sega 128K system, and that one is $99.99. Two cartridges; Hang On, and Forest Friend Watch. That’s a dual cartridge. It had both games on there. Colorful, arcade-quality graphics. What else were the toys of the season? Well, I’ll tell you; a vacuum cleaner, Fisher-Price Magic Vac. Makes a realistic sound as dust puffs fly through the see-through tank. Ages two to five. Oh, the robot needs four D batteries, by the way. I just noticed that. That was $12.99. Now, this one…talk about style coming around. Oh boy, what a deal. Holy mackerel.

 

So, if you do time travel, I highly recommend this other one, not even to…just for a good deal. I’m not even saying keep it in the box. But what do I say? Hey Barbie, and this Barbie says, fun…I’m a Fun Time Barbie and I come with my own watch. So, this Barbie is only $9.99, and it’s three…ages three and up. There’s more than one version available, and it comes with something…it’s a digital watch but in the style of a swatch watch. Barbie’s kind of in a denim…I can’t quite…the scan is not great, so…she’s in some sort of…well, maybe not denim. Like something you would either…like short-shorts and then a shirt with…what are those? A graphic on the front that matches the watch, and then either boots or leg-warmers. I can’t tell from the scan. But something that could be…that Barbie could pull off today.

 

Kinda like what Ken was wearing in the Barbie movie a couple different times. So, this might…you know what they say; it looks good on…if it looks good on Gosling, it…this is a truism within my brain that I have to…if it looks good on Gosling, remember, it looks good on Gosling. I say, oh, oh, bummer. But in this case you’d say, if it looks good on this Barbie Fun Time Barbie, it’ll probably look good on Gosling. That’s not to say it wouldn’t look good on anybody else, but practically a guarantee; put this on Ryan Gosling, it will look good. But that’s also a trusim. You can use it in an empowering way. It’s just a way of clarity. You say, if it looks good on Gosling, it looks good on Gosling. It’s kind of like…it’s a neutral thing. It’s positive for Ryan Gosling, but it doesn’t mean it has to translate to me, right?

 

It just took me literally…well, it didn’t take me…it just took me today to realize that, but…'cause I’ve never tried that, but now I won't try it. Now I won't look at pictures of Ryan Gosling. I just saved myself an entire…so much futility by accident. Maybe there’s a time-traveler from the future that said, don’t bother looking at pictures of Ryan Gosling and trying to model your fashions and looks after him, because if it looks good on Gosling, it looks good on Gosling. You don’t gotta worry about it. So, Barbie, or Borbie, as in this case…Borbie, Borbie; Barbie, Borbie. Or Allen. It would look good on Allen, too. I mean, it would look good on Barbie. It looks good on Barbie. I think that’s how we got talking about it. So, that’s $9.99…that’s an incredible deal, in my opinion.

 

It comes with a watch and a doll and a new outfit if you already have Barbies. She’s also wearing pretty big earrings. Okay, they do have something for everyone on this page, 'cause next up is a Transformers Technobot Gift Set. This is the most awesome changing robot. It’s five and up. This one is basically another Voltron or super-robot. It doesn’t have any details but it looks like it’s one, two, three, four, or five Transformers that become one, I think. Yeah, it seems to be they become one giant robot. It doesn’t have them…it just has the giant robot, and one is in some sort of spaceship. It looks like one of them is a cement-mixer. That’s pretty standard. Another one could be a crane. We may have had that one. Maybe my…one of my brothers had this whole thing.

 

I don't remember it, but…okay, next up is the World…Worlds of Wonder. My dad never…my dad’s not much into stocks, you know? Oh wait, you probably don’t know that. You say, what…? Okay, Scoots. But as a kid he rarely talked about this kind of stuff. But when he saw Teddy Ruxpin…this is not a bit, either. I’m not kidding. He didn’t put a bunch of money into it 'cause we…he had six kids to feed and, whatever, clothe. But he…when he saw Teddy Ruxpin, he literally said, I’m gonna…for the first time in my life, I’m gonna buy a stock. That’s the most sensible thing. Here’s the thing, and I’m sure Russel will find great articles about it; how…when you think about…and again, I guess I’m on a tangent. Okay, let’s cover the Little Boppers and then go on the tangent. The Little Boppers are $19.99.

 

Some of them are still enduring. So, there’s two Muppet Babies, Kermit and Miss. Piggy, then there’s Donald Duck and Minnie. They seem to be a younger version. I’ll be honest; they look cheap. Oh, they dance along with…sound-activated. Three and up. Then there’s a Little Bopper Teddy Ruxpin, so not the original Teddy Ruxpin. Oh yeah, they all must dance or sing, and they come with batteries. So, here’s the thing; so, my dad saw this Worlds of Wonder, and I can totally agree with him now…that I said, okay, wait a second, so there’s a toy that…I don't know, maybe we’ll see the…how much the original Teddy Ruxpin is. But there’s a toy that is an animatronic…and we had never been to Disney World at this point as a family or individually, nobody.

 

So, we hadn’t even seen anything other than Chuck E. Cheese animatronics in our life. But there’s something…they give you a child-size animatronic in your home that you could take home and your child could play with. That was groundbreaking. Here’s the irony; so, now it’s like, whatever…this was what year? Okay, ‘87. So, ‘07 would be twenty years. ‘17 would be thirty years. So, what are we talking, like thirty-something…? We’re coming up on…we’ll get to forty years ago. I daresay that they haven’t…so, you had…other than Tickle Me Elmo…just the idea that Teddy Ruxpin…all the…had all the…if you put Teddy Ruxpin out today, I guess it would be a matter of marketing and pricing and quality.

 

But home animatronics, other than…I mean, there’s been a giant leap forward starting maybe in 2018 for seasonal outdoor home animatronics. So, I’m sure that’ll go through to…I mean, I guess the thing is you can’t play with the animatronics, so that’s maybe where they went wrong. But I’m just saying, no wonder we don’t have flying cars. Teddy Ruxpin is still kick…would be kicking rears, you know, as far as…yeah, I was gonna say something about current theme parks and stuff. But it’s like, Teddy Ruxpin would have been…you’d say, what did you buy…? If there was no such thing…somehow, a spell was cast and all our memories of Teddy Ruxpin were gone, which is probably true for the majority of listeners. They’re like, Teddy who? Teddy Ruxpin was an animatronic toy. Also, Tickle Me Elmo was a animatronic toy.

 

I don't know what this generation of the people…'cause Tickle Me Elmo would be in your late-twenties, right? So, yeah, I guess…I don't know what was after Tickle Me Elmo, though. Also other examples, Scoots. Okay, Billy Bass, there was also some sort of robot that came out at the time of Teddy Ruxpin. I guess alls I’m saying is…whatever. Okay, so, next page is music stuff. So, this was…the eighties were a time of keyboards, man, and keyboards and piano lessons were gonna change people’s lives. I guess they were holiday toys, 'cause you have one, two, three, four, five different keyboards and the prices ranged from $220 to $40. $40-one? Great question. That’s a Muppets keyboard. I would take that. Twenty-nine color-coded keys, ten rhythms. It doesn’t say if it has any sound effects.

 

Oh, it does; sight and sound cartridges available separately. It’s a Muppet Babies one. They didn’t…the ad doesn’t correctly…I gotta Google this. Okay, I have it in a tab now. Okay, so, that’s a $40 one. I had one that was one step below that. Then you have…the expensive one is a Casio. There’s also a couple Yamahas. The $219 one comes with a forty-nine-key polyphonic organ, B drum…eight drum pads, twelve rhythms, and batteries. Then they have different stereo systems, a couple…is that a triple-deck player? I don't know what you’d do with three tape decks, but a triple-cassette recorder and player, man. Triple your cassettes. Six C batteries. Sixty bucks. Oh, this was a model. I didn’t know Toys “R” Us sold Grand Prix. So, G-R-A-N P-R-I-X.

 

That was a electronics band that was I guess similar…nowadays we do have electronics brands like this. They don’t sell consumer electronics like this, but that’s who you buy your battery pack from. A couple of them start with different A’s. I mean, I use them, so it’s like…or phone accessories. But Grand Prix or Grand Prix, as we probably called them, not in a…just 'cause I didn’t know how to pronounce anything. If you couldn’t afford a brand name like Sony or Casio, you would…if you…if we went to Faye’s, I would buy Grand Prix stuff, Grand Prix. This one comes with a built-in condensed mic. It’s a dual-cassette player. $49…$44.99. There’s a AM/FM radio. Sony Walkman cassette player; forty bucks. Oh, Worlds of Wonder VCR action game with Birdwatcher.

 

Then they sold things…Express It answering machine for your school locker. That’s $39.99. You could buy a additional activator. Synsonics guitar with a built-in amp; $99.99. Now, here’s one I have…I’ve tried to repair these. I bought them during 2020 when I was home. Fisher-Price tape recorder; $36.99. You probably saw a lot of these in your classrooms if you were growing up in the eighties or even the nineties. Okay, Page 2, we’ve got…oh, Tiger Electronics. Pinball, football, skeet, shootin’ baseball. These things were the worst gift ever. They were handheld electronic games. Maybe…this is where you wonder when you’re an adult and you lose touch. This is all style over substance.

 

Great marketing and packaging by Tiger and probably the right price point, but the games…literally, if you played it for five minutes…and then if you were really…sometimes I’d play it obsessively, but that was only when it was for some other reason other than the joy of playing the game. I guess what I’m saying is there’s no joy in Tiger Electronics games. I’m sure that there’s something out there that was great, but for the most part…those were $14.99. So, then…Nintendo must have been out for a while, because here’s everybody…so, you had that VCR game. Here’s another VCR quarterback or basketball game. Another thing; if you’re from the past and you somehow are listening to this podcast, don’t buy any VCR-based games or CD…or DVD-based games after.

 

Maybe at Goodwill for fifty cents or $2.00 or at a garage sale. Even then, probably not. Then there used to be something called Nintellivision. At this point it was called INTV System III. Then they had Atari 2600. That was still fifty bucks back then. I mean, that’s wild when you could get a Nintendo with Mario Brothers for $20 more. Again, here I am…if we do get the technology, just send this episode into the past, man. How about this; we’ll just pretend for the rest of the episode I’m actually…we’ll pretend there’s podcasts in 1987. I mean, I wouldn’t want to do that because…only with time travel does it make it okay for me to review products like this, 'cause otherwise it’s just not in my wheelhouse. But since it’s…we’re pretending…here’s one; Talking Whiz Kid. It’s video technology. Teaches math, spelling, and reading.

 

Five and up. That’s $59.99. Then Connor Computer Smarts; $99.99 with VHS. We had other things, how to learn stuff…Alfie II was a robot for three to eight-year-olds to learn. Then Texas Instruments had a bunch of stuff. This was Mathstar, flashing star…I think it taught you math. Oh yeah, Mathstar; obviously. Six to eleven. Music Major was a keyboard. It has a microphone…animal sounds. Four and up. Open ‘til midnight; that’s also on there. Then there’s a cartoon of Joffrey the…he has coffee and he’s recording and playing music. Then Fisher-Price Spelling Starter; these…$49.99. Nine functions. Okay, this looks really cool as far as…especially when you…so, this is PlaySkool Li’l Entertainer. $77.77. It looks like it comes with a stool. Fisher-Price made some…oh, this is PlaySkool, not Fisher-Price. Sorry. Whoops.

 

But three instrument sounds, twenty-five keys…it seems to have a microphone. It comes…it needs six C batteries. Three and up. So, kinda like your own synth station. I don't know, the girl doing it looks very happy. Then a AM wireless microphone. Sing along with AM radio. We’ve covered those before. A saxophone; looks like it’s made of plastic, but again, the scan could be bad. It’s a P roll Rockin’ USA sax for the Fourth of July, I guess. I mean, it’s only $9.99, so it may not…it has moving valves, though. Then there’s P Roll’s Rockin’ USA Super Guitar. Nylon strings, six-strings, songbook…look at…this one’s funny; completely metallicized. Also not electric. Alright, then we have board games. Man, this is a flyer that keeps on giving. How about it? Okay, this is Dizzy Dizzy Dinosaur; $11.99.

 

Super Jock Football; ages six and up. $10.99. Outburst; $19.99. That’s kinda still a popular style of game. Jeopardy; $12.97. That’s a pretty good deal, I think. I don't know. There’s a game…Therapy the Game. I’m not kidding. $15.99. It has someone lying down and someone talking to them. You could start playing therapy at age ten and up. If only I knew. Deluxe Uno; $6.49. Hi-Ho Alphabet; three to six…ages three to six. Six bucks. Boggle Bowl…it doesn’t have any…that’s from Parker Brothers. $13.99. Deluxe Wheel of Fortune; $16.99. Parker Brothers Instant Replay…it looks like there’s three people playing; an adult and two children. Let’s see if I can zoom in. A spinning, double-trouble challenge game. That’s $11.99. Fast Fax, F-A-X, but I think it’s F-A-C-T-S…it’s supposed to be. $9.99. Foam dart game; $5.97.

 

The New Newlywed Game…this one says M. Newlywed Game. Mnewlywed Game, the old Mnewlywed Game. Ski Ball, Skittle Bowling…not anything to do with Skittles, either. That was $8.99. Solar Quest…that looks like one of the games you can pick up in Starfield. Like, there’s two games. I’m not kidding, either. The cover is obscured, but it does look like it. Then a game, Catching Little Buddies; $12.97. A fake pool table…never get these if you’re listening to this in the past. It’s $39.99. Electric football…never…I’ve seen the ads for this. I’ve seen it at kids’ houses that I was friends with. Never seen it…never played it. I don't know if it can be played. $35.99. Stanley Cup Playoff Hockey; this was kinda similar to foosball, but these were not well-made, so you’re better off playing at a arcade. $39.97.

 

Home air pock…air hockey; $69.99. Save your money. $50.99 home pinball…again, these things are better off…you’re better off giving somebody money to play it in a arcade. Foosball; same thing. Oh boy, here’s one that’s a celebrity. I don't know what movie from…anymore, but an adorable…so, it’s a plastic ball and it’s a cute, electronic friend who scurries on command, our Ham Buddy. That’s $24.99. I know this has appeared in films before, but I can’t think of what film. But this thing actually worked. I mean, it did…it would just…it would run in the ball and the ball would roll around the room randomly. Because it was a ball and it always moved forward, it wouldn’t really get stuck very much. Here it is, and I would say this is the deal of the century. I would buy all of these 'cause there’s a lot of talking things.

 

$39.99…there’s…oh, okay, we have other ones, but this is…oh no, this is baby Teddy Ruxpin. It responds with more…so, we’ll get to the main Teddy Ruxpin main event coming up here. But this one’s $39.99. If people would have bought these…I don't know if…my dad probably only had one or two shares, but…so, that was from Worlds of Wonder. Here’s the competitors. Animal Fair has Chatley Talkalots, which look like…they have a four-second memory and repeat everything. Talk about testing patience. But those were $19.99. They kind of are different…there’s three different ones; a orange or peach, a grape-colored, and then…not turquoise, but a bluish-grey. $19.99. Then Alf, $69.99 from Calico. Storytelling elf. Tells funny stories. Then there’s a Baby Biggie Bear. This one doesn’t talk, though.

 

It’s a twenty-six plush with gripping paw, bib, and diaper. It looks cute, but it’s $26.99. Then this one…so, this is one of the softest places in my heart, these Pop…this was a sport, Popple. P-O-P-P-L-E-S. I think they had their own show. I remember buying one of these for my brother for…I mean, with my mom. I picked it out for Easter and it would roll up into a ball. It was just a plush that you could roll into a ball or unroll. That was their power in the cartoon. It was from Mattel. This one has a $2 rebate. $19.99, plus you get a $2 rebate. Then we have these. These are from Arco. It says Barbie and the soft-rocking friends, but I don't know what it has to do with Barbie, 'cause they’re all poofy. They don’t look like they’re related to Barbie at all.

 

Then Benji from Fun Farm, which I don't think this show was even on repeats anymore, but it was $9.99. Comes with an engraved Benji tag and a plastic brush. From Mighty Star, you got Fantasaurs. Like, it’s a yellow dinosaur. It looks kinda like a Brontosaurus. $11.99. Must be more than one you could buy, 'cause they’re twelve to fourteen inches. All ages. Then from Tonka…and my sister was waiting for one of these; puppies waiting for you to take them home. These furry pups need a lot of love. It comes with a carrier and a collar, and I think it came with a certificate, too, kinda like Cabbage Patch but for dogs. From Fisher-Price we had Puffalumps which was a cow, a pig, a bear, or bunny with removable clothes.

 

So, if you want to wash your kids’ clothes…I mean, your stuffed animals’ clothes…it looks like they’re in pajamas, so maybe they came with daytime clothes. $19.99. Then from Kenner, fur…Fluppy Puppies. They’re like…I don't know, it looks like some sort of fantasy being, the one they’re showing. Seven-and-a-half-inch furry friends, each with its own special personality. This one looks somewhat like a lion and a dog if it was purple from another planet or from a movie like Neverending Story or something. Okay, but here we get into the big, quarter-of-the-page Worlds of Wonder spot, and this is where we get into the legit stuff. Worlds of Wonder talking toy. It has a talking toy. There’s two of them. So, this was Teddy Ruxpin’s sidekick which we didn’t have, but I think one of my siblings had a Teddy Ruxpin.

 

A couple strange choices; one, Teddy Ruxpin is dressed in some sort of smock, so I guess if I’m already…if I’m trying to help people from the past…and I guess what if my dad’s stock…? I guess then we wouldn’t have the podcast, right? So, luckily, time travel’s not…I mean, it’s…in the future when time travel exists, I’m not allowed to do it, so…I’m a special…when you see…when you get into the future and you see all that, you’ll see right under the stuff about…rule one; Scooter, also known as blah, blah, blah, no…and then it repeats it again. I mean, who would have thought? Section 1A under Time Travel…so, you say, what’s your claim to fame? Well, in the future I won't be allowed to time travel or have anything to do with time travel.

 

Also, they…also, you commit to not thinking about me, but then they also have a process so you don’t think about me, since it just came up. But honestly…and talk about…you say, Scoots, where’d you get all that great humility you have? Well, they showed me a video in the future when they told me I couldn’t…where people said, who? So, it wasn’t a problem. I said, don’t you have a machine…? ‘Cause once they start thinking about me, won't they keep thinking about me when you send them…? They said, no. This is what happens. They say, who? Why is he 1A? Then I said, just read 1B, which…and they say, move onto Section 2. So, I guess they’re kinda looking for the outliers, like the…I said, what is it, like one in a million that somebody knows who I am?

 

Then they had…you’ve never seen a board room full of the equivalent of the TVA on the Marvel show, but real. They’re time…they’re authorities of time travel. They laughed and they said, let’s take a lunch break. Every single person patted me on the back and said, thank you, thank you. So, I said, not a one in a million; okay. One in a billion? Finally somebody just sat me down and said, don't worry, it’s never happened yet. But just in case, obviously…clearly we can’t have you traveling around. So, that’s great news, by the way. You say, I’m just here to tell you…I’m not…I’m only here…the podcast still works, I guess. Nobody remembers. But the authorities do, just like…so, that’s great. But so, Teddy Ruxpin’s $39.99. This is the original. It might be the second thing. This is actually pretty good pricing, I think.

 

Again, I’m talking about a home animatronic that works. I think only his eyes and his mouth work, and I don't know for how long. Fifteen inches. Comes with a cassette and a storybook. Needs four C batteries. Ages three and up. You can buy additional storybook and cassettes for $9.99, which again I’d say, yeah, you probably need four more. So, then you’re at fifty. So, it is…does get pricey. Then this is, again, not a bit. This is the real name of Teddy Ruxpin’s sidekick, so I’m going to be literal here and I’m not kidding; Grubby. It’s a lovable octopede who talks and sings. Works only with Teddy Ruxpin. So, I don't know how they communicate. Probably infrared. Again, that’s not a joke. It doesn’t say. So, maybe Teddy…also, Teddy Ruxpin…built into Teddy Ruxpin’s back was a tape player.

 

So, Grubby…I cannot believe…so, Grubby is a yellowish-orange color. It actually has…Grubby has six legs and two arms and a tail, and two antenna and a mouth and spots. It looks somewhat friendly. I mean, you know, totally cute. Well…I mean, right now the look on Grubby’s face is not the best, but also Teddy Ruxpin’s looking down. So, again, maybe they should have got another photographer. Okay, now…next page we’ve got…there must have been somebody…there’s Heart of the Family. I don't know if it’s Barbie-related, 'cause it is from Mattel. They got the Heart Family Stroller, the Heart Family Car, Heart Family Cuddle Gift Set, Heart Family Playground. Then you got Barbie House Party, you got My First Barbie. Oh, a generic…here we got some generic Barbie play sets from Merridis. I’m not kidding.

 

A hot tub patio set; $11.99. These things are good to have. Then a doll sports car, a deluxe sedan for two eleven-and-a-half-inch dolls. Guess who’s eleven-and-a-half inches. Oh, interesting; this says Barbie House Party, but it’s made by Arco. You just gotta be careful of the quality of this stuff. Then you got Barbie’s Glamour Home. We’re all familiar with this one. $69.97. Two-stories, a roof garden, and patio. For some reason…oh, we’ll do one more. Barbie’s Townhouse; I think my sister had this one. European styling with coordinated interiors. Here’s the thing; it doesn’t come with anything. It’s just three floors and an elevator and a backing, so you need this…you need the other stuff. $28.99. Then a couple play kitchens. Nothing better than a play kitchen for a kid. You’d probably get it at a garage sale, though.

 

This is a Little Tykes one. $39.99. Huh, this may have been the one we had in our house. Or this one is a kid’s kitchen; $34.99. Always priced right. Now we’ve got some My Little Pony stuff. Wow, I had no idea this would…here’s a pep rally set; $68. Libby Lee makeup set, we’ve got scooters and bikes. Oh, here’s Big Wheels. Eleven-inch Big Wheels from Empire; $15.99. Little Muppets play…Muppet Baby playhouse. By the way, I love Muppet Babies. They made my dreams come true. Muppet Babies do-dum-do-wop…and gummy bears bouncing here and there and everywhere. A toy box, more bikes, ten-speed. That was what we always dreamed of. Power Wheels, pow, pow, Power Wheels. $159.97. Radio Flyer Wagon; $29.99. Okay, this is smaller kids stuff; Crayola and Play-Doh. Oh yeah, this was something.

 

These were these rubber wrestlers. This must have been a early version of it 'cause they don’t look the same. I think my siblings had these. They had managers, mischievous masterminds, and then stretch…kinda like Stretch Armstrong. $12.99. The Bionic Six; I don't know who they are. Masters of the Universe, 1986 figures; $2.96 each. What? That’s a deal. $2.96. Oh, 'cause they’re from last year? Wow. ThunderCats; $18.99. Oh, that’s for one of the things. The figures are $11.99. So, think about what a deal that is, those…there’s six different 1986 figures, a couple other figures from other things that I don't know if…were still around. Oh, Ghostbust…oh, Dustbusters, Silver Hawks…I kinda remember that show. Raiders of the Air, Madballs…I’m not making any of this up here.

 

Motor City play set, Tonka stuff…oh, then…what are these things called? Slot-car racing, right? There’s a lot of them with loops, even. Then train sets. Oh, science labs with slime. There was a lot of these. Microscopes…back when I was a kid, they didn’t have a stem or whatever, but they did…there was a big…everybody needed a microscope and a telescope. That was…I said, well, what my kid needs that’ll make it right, a microscope. We did have fun with them, but I don't know how many kids became scientists. Lionel train…$197. Mets uniform; $19.99. You could get other teams. Michael Jordan basketball; $14.96. Dan Marino football; $11.99. They had remote-control cars. Wait a second, I think we might have had one of these. Oh, then they have different video games.

 

So, this was…Nintendo had been around for a while, 'cause yeah, some games are already point two. Yeah, so…wow, interesting. Even more video games. Zelda II, The Adventures of Link. Trying to think of any other…oh, there’s T&C skating. There was a couple roller-skating games. Then we get back into…oh, Atari had a 7800. Oh yeah, this is Sega. So, my friend had this Sega 128, 'cause he had this game afterburner and this other game. Then you had Hang On…okay, more trains, more remote cars. [Inaudible]…like, how it’s open ‘til midnight. I was hoping to get to that part. Galoob; there used to be a toy company called Galoob. G-A-L-O-O-B. Galoob. There’s also matchbox cars. Oh, there used to be collectible basketball and football players. I remember some of my siblings had these. $3.99.

 

But they’re not…they’re more collectibles. Bone Age; that was another…must have been a brief show. Then M to the A to the S to the K. That was another kinda Transformers, G.I. Joe thing. Here we go…I guess I stopped playing with toys at this point, but they have the GI Joe Mobile Command; $44.99. Multi-level play set. I would have loved that. It looks like something that the Jawas would be in from Star Wars. GI Joe figures; $2.69 each. Rollin’ Thunder…then…oh, is that from…? Are those…? So, this was GI Joe’s last era, or…oh, here’s one. There’s a couple Transformers, then there’s this thing. This is a sweet picture.

 

The kid has on what looks like yellow Chuck Taylors, two sets of leg-warmers or socks…we had this, a Pogo Pal Bal — with one L — blaster, and there’s a level two, even, for even better bounce. It was a ball. Looks like the planet Saturn. So, it was a ball with a platform around it, and you could jump on it. Then they have more electronic Etch-a-Sketches, Pictionary, Pictionary 2, Bible Pictionary, Balderdash, more games. Guess Who? We had that. Jenga was around already. Other games…Hands Down, Parker Brothers baseball, electronic baseball game. Oh, it doesn’t have the hours, though. Bummer. So, it doesn’t have the hours. Let me see if I can find the other one that came through here in the files. Okay, 1988, this one’s from. Let me just get to the end of this and see if it has the store hours.

 

Oh yeah, this one does. No, no…oh, that’s the same one? Oh, so, I guess that was the one we were looking at, 1988. Maybe they were both…oh yeah, so we did get both of them. Oh, so we went through both of them. That’s cool. ‘Cause I was like, huh, I had one. What happened was it just got…I had them in the same document, so I just inserted one…‘cause I was wondering why the…I thought it was good marketing that it repeated. Oh, here we go; okay, so, I did find the last page. It was…since it wasn’t…yeah, so, these ones are open Monday through Saturday ‘til midnight, and Sunday ‘til 10:00 PM. So, you could do your toy shopping, man, as late as you wanted, which was cool. So, yeah, that’s…I think that’s it. I’m just paging through some of the stuff I went through a little bit faster.

 

Oh, they have Mister or Mister…Mrs. Potato Head; $3.97. Oh, we had this one; Animal Sounds Fisher-Price Barn. $14.99. A red-nosed friend with giant shoes that doesn’t have giant shoes in this case, 'cause it…it’s in a metal box and you slowly wind it, and it comes out and says hello. How much is that? $8.97. Oh, Play-Doh Fun Factory. This was on a lot of ads. I think somebody eventually had this in my family. $5.99. Squeeze out ten fun shapes with two cans of Play-Doh. Oh, a Play-Doh Dustbusters kit with glow-in-the-dark vehicle and glow-in-the-dark Play-Doh; $9.99. A Big Builder set; you could build your own slide. $139.99. Lego battery-run train set; $64.99. Dancing Animals Mobile; $19.99. Mobiles, you got…if you know somebody that has a kid or is having a kid, get them a mobile, man. It really helps.

 

Racquet from Class Act; racquet locker shelves. Three shelves make up plenty of need…compartments for your locker. $14.99. What else do we got? Let’s see, ten-speed bikes were between $79.99 and $69.99. Though, free advice again from the future; don’t buy…buy your bike at a bike store. We got a lot of these bikes from these stores…they’re inexpensive, but they don’t have repairable parts. So, yeah, I think that’s our toy coverage for this season. Really nice to get to visit a couple Toys “R” Us flyers to carry us through the season. Thanks, and goodnight, everybody.

 

[END OF RECORDING]

(Transcription performed by LeahTranscribes)