Happy Easter: 28 Years Ago Today(ish)
I mentioned this in my second blog post ever, but the first D&D product I ever received was the Moldvay Basic Set (the one with the Erol Otus Cover), which my mom and dad gave me as an Easter gift 28 years ago when I was in 7th Grade, way back in 1983 while I was living in Sandy, UT. I'd been playing the game for at least six months before that, but always by borrowing stuff from my friends or checking books out at the library (remember when you could check out D&D books at the public library)? But, finally, I had my own D&D set. I was "official."
Easter wasn't a huge holiday at our house - my family is not made up of church-going folk (although, oddly, both of my parents attended church when they were little, but I only recall my sister and I going a handful of times in our youth). But, we always had Easter dinner with the family, including my grandma and uncle, and my sister and I always got some sort of Easter Basket. As we got older, the baskets included less in the way of candy or eggs (especially since I absolutely can't stand hard-boiled eggs), and more in the way of little presents, like a super cool Lego space set, or maybe a new drawing pad and colored pencils.
The D&D Basic Set was the Easter Gift of 1983 for me. I don't remember anything else that was in my basket. And, it's actually eclipsed pretty much every other Easter gift I received as a child. There are actually only two other Easter Gifts I remember with any clarity.
The first is a Lego Space System "Surface Explorer" that I had received the year before and which provided me hours of entertainment at my Grandma's house while she and my mom watched a "Lawrence Welk Show" marathon on PBS.
The second was the super cool Star Wars Cantina Adventure Set (Sears Catalog Exclusive) which I must have received for Easter 1979 but I remember that I got the one with the rare blue Snaggletooth action figure, which had debuted in the Sears 1978 Christmas Wish Book, but by Christmas 1979 the figure had been replaced with the more proper red Snaggletooth.
So, you'll notice a theme with my Easter gifts - they confirm my descent into geekdom at a very early age.
And, how perfect is it that my daughter (who is barely 22 months old, so really my wife is the culprit) gave me a Green Lantern t-shirt for Easter this year? The geek cycle continues.
So, Happy Easter, everybody. Any fun, cool, or interesting gifts you remember from over the years?
Easter wasn't a huge holiday at our house - my family is not made up of church-going folk (although, oddly, both of my parents attended church when they were little, but I only recall my sister and I going a handful of times in our youth). But, we always had Easter dinner with the family, including my grandma and uncle, and my sister and I always got some sort of Easter Basket. As we got older, the baskets included less in the way of candy or eggs (especially since I absolutely can't stand hard-boiled eggs), and more in the way of little presents, like a super cool Lego space set, or maybe a new drawing pad and colored pencils.
The D&D Basic Set was the Easter Gift of 1983 for me. I don't remember anything else that was in my basket. And, it's actually eclipsed pretty much every other Easter gift I received as a child. There are actually only two other Easter Gifts I remember with any clarity. The first is a Lego Space System "Surface Explorer" that I had received the year before and which provided me hours of entertainment at my Grandma's house while she and my mom watched a "Lawrence Welk Show" marathon on PBS.
So, you'll notice a theme with my Easter gifts - they confirm my descent into geekdom at a very early age.
And, how perfect is it that my daughter (who is barely 22 months old, so really my wife is the culprit) gave me a Green Lantern t-shirt for Easter this year? The geek cycle continues.
So, Happy Easter, everybody. Any fun, cool, or interesting gifts you remember from over the years?
I remember getting that exact same Lego kit as a present! Perhaps not for easter though.
ReplyDeleteI have a 22 month old daughter, too. I always remember my grandmother hiding money, not in eggs, but carefully cracked and reglued walnut shells. I hope to do the same with my daughter. As for gaming, I hope to use "gateway" products such as boardgames and slowly lead her and my wife towards tabletop rpg's. The new Lego game series is just the ticket.
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