Looking at My 1965 Christmas List

Translating from six-year-old penmanship:
Mattel's Power Shop
Cat and Mouse Game
Pike's Peak Hill Climb
Secret Sam
Marble Raceway
James Bond 007 Road Race
Jack and the Beanstalk
Duffy's Daredevil
Winnie the Pooh Game
Eldon's Thrill Drivers
Monkeys and Coconuts
Shenanigans
Camp Granada
Daredevil Trick Track
Hamilton's Invaders
Hands Down
Operation
Motorific Torture Track
Fish Bait
Union Station
Time Bomb
Hands Up Harry
Getaway Chase Game
Smackaroo
Gilbert Chem Lab
Rock'em Sock'em Robots
Thingmaker
Bats in Your Belfry
Battle Action
James Bond Set

Mattel's Power Shop
Well, no wonder I didn't get this: sander, drill, lathe, jigsaw. Plus it cost $17.99, a lot of money in those days.

Cat and Mouse Game
"It's magnetic...fun...fast...and tricky. Cat chases mouse around walls and obstacles in enclosed plastic house. Mouse enters 1 of 3 holes to score, cat scores if he nabs him...6 scores win." I didn't get this one either.

Pike's Peak Hill Climb
I didn't get this either. But don't worry--Santa redeems himself later in the list. The catalog page shows what looks like part of a Brady Bunch-type blended family, with each parent having one child who looks just like them and nothing like the other parent. It also looks like Mom's been sharing her makeup with both kids.

Secret Sam
Secret Sam doesn't appear in the 1964 Sears Christmas catalog (which I have on CD) or the 1966 edition (which I have in old-fashioned paper), so it must have been a one-year wonder. There was a Secret Sam attache case, which contained a dismantled gun and other goodies--I assume this is what I was asking for. I didn't get it, but I did get a Secret Sam Sixfinger gun, a hollow plastic finger...well, here, I found a picture online (thanks to whoever's site I got it from):

Marble Raceway
"Line up colorful marbles, watch them pass on curves, collide and race for the lead position. Player whose marble finishes first, wins the game." I didn't get this one either.

James Bond 007 Road Race
This is another item I couldn't find in the 1964 or 1966 catalogs, so thanks again to the Internet for its kindness in providing this picture. $34.95!? Wow. No, I didn't get it.

Jack and the Beanstalk
Another one that I had to search for online. I don't remember it at all, but it looks like something I would like.

Duffy's Daredevils
Another one that apparently only was in the catalog for the one year, and which I didn't get, and which I don't remember, and which I can see why I wanted it...

Winnie the Pooh Game
My sister got this one, which was fine, since I got to play it.

Eldon's Thrill Drivers
It's hard to tell from the box picture, but this was a slot car set. I never had a slot car set (other than Motorific, which isn't quite the same thing), and don't remember ever playing with one at anyone elses's house either.

Monkeys and Coconuts
Your monkey goes around the board and collects coconuts which look more like rabbit pellets. Didn't get this one either.

Shenanigans
Santa brought me this one. It was based on a Saturday morning children's game show, where two child contestants would go around a giant game board and perform stunts at each square they landed on. The show was more interesting than the game, though we played the game a lot.

Camp Granada
This one I played at somebody else's house and fell in love with, though I never had it myself--until a few years back I got it on eBay. Didn't really hold up for me though.

Daredevil Trick Track (actually Daredevil Trik-Trak)
I got this--in fact I had two different Trik-Trak sets. I think the other one was just plain "Trik-Trak" and I probably got that the year before. The car is gear-driven!

Hamilton's Invaders
Those bug/monster things look very familiar. I never got it though.

Hands Down
My sister got this one. Doesn't seem like we played it very much, though.

Operation
Well, everyone knows Operation--I don't see any point in posting a picture of it. My sister had it.

Motorific Torture Track
More specifically, this was the Motorific Giant Detroit Torture Track, one of the varieties of Motorific Torture Track. This is the one I got, and still have. I got a similar Motorific Racerific set later, probably the next Christmas, and even though I had bad luck as far as the cars actually running, I used to set up elaborate layouts, often intersecting with train tracks and other components to make up settings for my sister and me to play with Disneykins, Matchbox cars, Winnie-the-Pooh erasers and various other pieces in a game of make-believe that may have gone on for weeks at a time and involved dozens of characters and their extended-family relationships.

Fish Bait
I got this one. It was the sequel to Mouse Trap and Crazy Clock, both of which I also had. All three were lost in the Great Garage Sale Disaster of '73, but all have been reacquired. Best games ever.

Union Station
I haven't been able to figure out what this was. Some kind of train set, maybe.

Time Bomb
A classic toy. I never had it, but I can remember playing with it at someone's house once. It seems like you wouldn't get much use out of it before it would break...

Hands Up Harry
This looked great in the commercials. If you shot him in the belt his pants fell down. I never got it.

Getaway Chase Game

This and the Rock'em Sock'em Robots were the things I asked for every year but never got. I'm not sure why--I certainly got plenty of other things. It still looks really cool.

Smackaroo
I don't remember this at all. It looks confusing. But you can play baseball, bowling, smack-it, and many other wonderful games.

Gilbert Chem Lab
I couldn't find a picture of this specific chemistry set, but needless to say I didn't get it.

Rock'em Sock'em Robots
As I said above, this was a perennial on my lists. I probably asked for it for my birthdays as well. They brought it back in the 80s in a larger size and I bought it then. Several years ago I saw that it was back again, smaller this time.

Thingmaker
The Thingmaker was the heating unit, and there were various sets of molds that went with it. I got the Creepy Crawlers set, and later I got Fright Factory and Mini-Dragons. Plastigoop was the liquid you poured into the molds.

Bats in Your Belfry
I don't remember this one, but I'm not at all surprised I wanted it.

Battle Action
Apparently Ideal had an entire line of Battle Action playsets, usually with something that blew up, like a bridge or a tank. I don't think I ever had one.

James Bond Set
There were a number of James Bond sets--I'm guessing this is the one I had in mind.


Here we have my sister on Christmas morning, 1965--I'm not sure what she's doing. At left is her new toy range, front left is my Motorific Torture Track, and next to her is a Trik Trak set. (Behind her is Dad's chair, with a towel draped over it to protect it from his Brylcreem.) The item at far right says "Teeny Tiny Tales," but I'm not sure what it is.


And here I am playing with Fish Bait, with my sister's Bash game and my box of Lincoln Logs nearby. I don't know why there's an alarm clock on the end table--maybe Dad slept on the couch, with the alarm set to wake him up to put out the presents.