Have fun
Jim
Yesterday, I stopped by the Salvation Army store, and I bought a few DVDs they had for sale. One of them was Rifftrax Shorts which features (as the DVD case itself states) "THE STARS OF MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000". It was brand new and still sealed for only $1.99, so it seemed like a good deal.
I decided to watch it as soon as I got home. The shorts featured were mainly public service films. One detailed why seat belts should always be worn in vehicles, while another described the dangers of dry cleaning your own clothes with gasoline at home. Another one, entitled "William's Doll" told the story of a boy named William who sees a baby girl in a stroller. He goes up to her, and she grabs his finger. As she continues to hold it, he apparently starts feeling a nice connection with her. Afterwards he asks his dad to buy him a doll, but his dad tells him dolls are for girls. A few days later on William's birthday, he receives a football, a football helmet, and of all things, a "Cannonball" Lionel train set!
Later, the boy, his sister, and one of his friends set up the oval layout. They have fun placing a number of Star Wars figures on the trains. Evidently Princess Leia enjoys riding backwards on the cowcatcher and sitting in the gondola, Lando likes to do headstands on the boiler, while Han Solo hangs on top of the caboose. Greedo isn't a risk taker, so he prefers to sit in the gondola. Assorted other figures also ride along. See how many you can recognize in these screen shots of the Cannonball set in action:
The story has a happy ending. The boys grandfather tucks him into bed that night and notices the boy seems a bit disappointed. He asks, "What's wrong?" and the boy tells him he would have liked to have gotten a doll for his birthday. The next day his grandfather takes him to the toy store and lets the boy pick out a doll. The boy cradles it and is happy. The boy's dad isn't pleased with it at all, but the grandfather reminds him of the dad's young days playing happily with a Raggedy Andy doll.
Later the boy's friends come over to ask him if he wants to play football. He says okay, puts the doll down, puts his helmet on, grabs his ball, and happily goes off to play.
The reason I posted these pics is because they remind me of how so many of us started out in the hobby. Maybe we didn't have a prototypical layout at first. However our imaginations, plenty of other toys, and figures combined to give us hours and hours of fun!!!
btw The original version of "William's Doll" without the Rifftrax commentaries can be viewed on You Tube.
Although I had Lionel trains it was the first set I bought for my 2 sons.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
Getting ready for the museum opening Friday morning.
Gentlemen, start your engines !
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Its still Sunday isn't it?
Enjoying the World's Greatest Hobby
Northwoods Flyer
The Northwoods Flyer Collection
of
American Flyer Trains
"The Toy For the Boy"
Wonderful posts all! Sorry I'm going to miss dougdagrump's locomotive drag race at the museum.
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