Christmas to remember

Hopefully your Christmas was another one to remember.

Camera phones allow us to capture the moment and post it within seconds to any social platform for all to see.

Not so in the 1970s.

When I was growing up, moments were captured on film if they were captured at all. Which is probably why I have so few records of Christmas morning beyond the staged shots meant to ensure limited and sometimes expensive photographs captured just the right feel.

Same with video cameras.

Those magical moments I wish were recorded for posterity are only in memory. My memory. Mom is gone and Dad has dementia.

As I’ve mentioned, Christmas mornings were reserved for opening stockings, eating breakfast and tearing into the colorful mysteries under the tree.

Wish I could remember what Christmas it was. Maybe 1975? It was sometime around the peak of my Mego World’s Greatest Super Heroes mania. I already had a pretty full stable of the eight-inch likenesses as envisioned, manufactured and marketed by the Mego Corporation.

In 1972, Mego licensed characters from both National Periodicals (DC Comics) and Marvel Comics. By 1973 heroes were hitting the shelves.

Not sure which was my first. Probably Batman; the one with the removable mask.

Anyway, others followed. Aquaman. Human Torch. Mr. Fantastic. The Thing. Green Arrow. Joker. Penguin. Riddler. Shazam. Captain America. Falcon. Hulk. Iron Man. Lizard.

I still needed Spidey and Robin. Especially the other half of the Dynamic Duo. It was my mission to make sure those were under the tree that year.

Growing up we lived in northern Virginia, not far from Washington D.C. For Christmas we would drive up and watch the lighting of the National Tree. Then we would visit Tyson’s Corners and shop. For a kid it was the best.

I can still remember picking out Spider-Man and Superman after the festivities. I was allowed to have one or the other. I think I chose Spidey. Superman was to be a gift from my grandparents that Christmas, though my kind hearted Grandmother did offer it to me early. That act of kindness was vetoed by my parents.

That Christmas morning I was surprised (?) with Superman, but more importantly with Batman’s faithful chum, Robin, who I had been seeking for some time. In addition there was a much larger present waiting for me. To my surprise it was the Mego Mobile Bat Lab.

Mobile Batlab

For those unfamiliar with the vehicle I’ve included a photo.

There are no photos of me opening the Bat Lab nor are there any photos of me with the Bat Lab while it was in my possession. Can’t remember how long that was, but I’m sure it was much too short.

During that time, however, it was the only part of the Mego fleet of vehicles I owned. There was a Batmobile, Batcycle, Batcopter, Spidey Mobile, Joker van and more.

That didn’t matter. Slippers served as cars and were promptly chased down by the Bat Lab.

To add a little realism, I would sit down and cut out “money” from green construction paper. Even going so far as to print denominations on the bills. Yes, I was an only child and had way too much time on my hands as well as an obsessive personality.

As with all memories, I’m sure my Mego time was much shorter than I remember.  But, however long it was hours well spent. Good and bad guys clashed in epic battles. Most were made up, but a few were cobbled from comic book storylines.

The Bat Lab? It was gone long before the box. Mom and Dad used the box to house ornaments for the next 15 years.

Star Wars became part of an international phenomenon in 1977. It became my next obsession. Still is to a degree. Super heroes were substituted for space heroes. By 1980 I was too old to continue the toy habit and both were gone.

Comic books did continue and when my son, Dylan, was about the same age as I was when Mego hit the shelves, ToyBiz debuted the Spider-Man Classics line. For the next five or six years his birthdays and Christmases were filled with six-inch heroes and villains.
There current resurrection tickles a fancy for a time when Dylan was younger and we could play on the floor much the same way I played on the floor during my childhood. Only without the construction paper money.

Merry Christmas and keep the memories alive. They only grow sweeter.

Hopefully your Christmas was another one to remember.