Christmas catalogs from the "good old days"

WARNING: This thread is going to be an unapologetic wallowing in nostalgia for lost youth, along with an old fogy "back in my day" story, so be prepared.


Back in the days of my youth... the arrival of the Sears or JC Penney Christmas catalog in the mail was cause for great celebration among kids everywhere. You see, in those days there were lots of toys that we didn't even know existed until we saw them in the pages of the Christmas catalog. There were no online stores or toy company websites, and (in my town at least) there were no super-size toy stores that carried a full range of all available toys.
Thus, when the Christmas catalog showed up and you quickly turned to the last part where all the toys were, there was inevitably a "holy crap!" moment when you first laid eyes on some awesome toy that you'd never seen before.


So here's a catalog that stands out in my mind as a great one from my youth. There's more catalog scans out there, so I'll dig up some more later.

From the Sears 1979 Christmas Wish Book:

 

1979 was the year I got the Mego Lizard doll, although he was rudely left out of this catalog.




The words "tall Snaggletooth" caused the hearts of all Star Wars figure collectors to skip a beat in those days.



The Japanese Gaiking robot at the bottom right kicks ass. Not cheap at 1979 prices however.

 

The big Godzilla toy didn't really look much like the movie Godzilla, but we didn't know any better.



1979 was the year that Star Trek: The Motion Picture came out, but the only toys available at Christmas were the much-superior old school Trek stuff.

 

I was never much of a sports fan myself, but my football-loving next-door neighbor had an electric football game, and it was pretty fun.




The stuff of which childhood nightmares are made.





Something for the girls. Note the price of the Barbie Dream House -- expensive even by today's standards. Only for the most spoiled '70s princesses.

 

Gen-X, FTW!

 

From the 1983 Sears Christmas Wishbook:


I always found the no-name generic rip-off toys interesting as well, like the bendy figures at the top right.


This GI Joe stuff is all pretty much still available in stores right now.

 

Let us now snicker at the archaic technology of 1983, smugly assuming that our Mp3 players, Wiis and iPhones will never similarly be mocked...







LOL @ the VHS remote control on a cord - "Up to 20 feet away!"

 

The huge AT-AT toy was the heartbreaker for me. It was so cool, but I knew right away it was too expensive for my parents to get it for me. I did get the ESB Scout Walker however, so that eased some of the pain.