SELECTION

(Set in Christmas 1986....)
(Original Blog Posting: Dec 2004)
(Continued from BURNT)

Christmas morning came and all was forgotten about the 3P0 incident (cept my finger still hurt like crazy). Luckily I managed to sleep Christmas Eve, even though I was in fear that ‘Santa’ wouldn’t leave me any new toys.

We opened some presents for Helen first as she was still very tiny. She got plush toys and squeaky things and baby clothes. She actually liked the wrapping paper more than the contents.

OK. For me... The 3P0 incident scarred me literally. The mark on my finger stayed there for a number of years and that alone made me think more than twice about playing with fire, regardless or not whether Santa wouldn’t leave me any toys. My parents took it no further and I still got my presents.

My main present I remember from that year was a huge Transformer by the name of Metroplex. At the time he was the holy grail of all Transformers figs. There was no way that Hasbro was ever going to produce a Unicron (until many years later anyway) and the Autobots needed a playset. Metroplex was a huge white transformer that changed into a battle station/base for transformers to play on. You could store smaller figures inside him and he had some pretty cool weapons. I also received a Blades toy because he was pictured on the box. Michael received both a Galvatron and Ultra Magnus.

Michael was also introduced a cool looking new toyline called Thundercats. He had two figures - Lion O and Mum-Ra! These looked great in detail and were bigger than anything from the He-man toyline. The main attraction was the light up eyes that Mum Ra and Lion O both had. I also got into Thundercats slightly later, but Transformers was my main thing and always had been.

Another clever toy I received was a HeMan/Masters of the Universe figure by the name of Modulok. With Modulok, he could be taken apart to make 1000's of different creatures out of his limbs. This at the time was a mark of genius.

That year I got heavily into drawing and realised in my own view that was'nt half bad. I was happy that Santa left me pens and things to draw with. The 5 or 6 selection boxes Michael and I got each lasted us till Christmas 1987 (true).

This was the year where I kept some trimmings in my drawer. I began to hate it when the trimmings came down and all the happiness had been put away. Compared to the Christmas Period - Non Christmas days are Black and White in comparison. 1986 lasted longer than a year for me. I was in a class I had been wrongly placed in and all my friends who were my age were in the class below me. Blaise Primary never explained why they put me in a class where most of the kids were a year above me. That still remains a mystery. That was the year when I was bullied by the older kids till they moved on to 'The Big School' and became the little kids again. Watership Down, Transformers comics, Drawing, and Christmas Trimmings I had hidden away all kept me going.