COLUMN: A look back at what made my childhood 'epic'
I had epic toys.
I pried open the ancient family toy box this weekend and, waving the dust away, my gaze rolled over the colorful collection of a childhood world I hadn’t seen in years.
As I picked out a GI Joe figurine I smiled like meeting an old friend. It was a surreal feeling, realizing how much my fingers had grown since the last time I held him. I reached back in to find other gadgets, games and plastic characters.
It was like a family reunion in the back of the laundry room.
I rediscovered all the sets of Playmobil, my cowboy and Indian figures, a shoe box of baseball cards and an army of Army men. Underneath those I saw all my "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Batman" action figures, a couple of huge "Jurassic Park" dinosaurs, more GI Joes and a giant box with the word "LEGO" on the side. I am not ashamed to say I poured that whole thing out and rebuilt my LEGO X-wing before moving on.
After that, I found a Lite Brite clown with all the pegs pushed through, a plastic case with my sister's Barbies, and a dress up bag which contained my Dragon Knight Armor and, of course, a Robin Hood suit. I decided I would indulge and let myself play for a little while.
I gave my smart yo-yo a spin (hitting myself in the eye while trying to see if I could still pull off my "Around The World" trick), pushed some flashy "Hot Wheel" cars across the floor and fired off a couple discs out of my Millennium Falcon Space Shooter that I terrorized my mom with.
I couldn't believe how many toys I actually had as a kid, and my favorite set wasn't even there. My Fisher-Price Great Adventures Castle was given away to my little cousins when I left for college. That baby was the best thing ever and the setting for the adventures of all my toy characters.
Also missing was my favorite childhood game: Weapons & Warriors Castle Combat Set. My dad and I spent hours playing it and lost probably hundreds of those balls in our family living room. To this day, my mom will sometimes find a couple lodged deep under the furniture.
As I shut the lid to my toy box, a reminiscent wave of good memories flowed over me. What I had inside it and the fun it brought my childhood was epic. Was yours?
