I remember flipping through the pre-Christmas Sears catalogs of my youth looking at all of the toys I knew we couldn’t afford. My world of impossibilities was limited, despite the thickness of the book, stuffed as it was with other, less attractive (to me) holiday gifts: dishwashers, towels, bathrobes, etc. I wonder how the child Darrel would have fared in the current wide-open world of the Internet. Could I have attained the things I craved on eBay or craigslist, used or “hot” off the shelves? Or would my desires merely have swollen when facing the river of goods from Amazon.com?
Saturday’s the last day of the Holiday Toy Wish Book sale at Fred Meyer, where the cover is a Star Wars Turbo Tank Vehicle that hearkens back to the Major Matt Mason items I lusted for in the ’60s. What caught my eye first, though, was this.
Now, I’ve got nothing against shooting games, even games where you’re shooting defenseless animals instead of brain-eating zombies. But did the juxtaposition of that image and the game’s title — “Big Buck” — give anyone pause for a second? I hope it did. I hope they decided the multiculturalism of having an African-American kid in the photo for a hunting game was more important. I hope they’re right.
The Bella and Edward dolls from Barbie’s Twilight edition. Now with bloodsucking action. Or something….
Again, no problem with toy guns — I played with many a toy gun and was known to use a stick if toy guns were not available — but 5 seems a little young to be adding in the bayonet action to your “Peacekeeper”. And seriously, the toy gun with the rubber cutty, pokey thing on the front is for kids a year younger than the vampire dolls?