© Mark Ollig
As we welcome in December, our holiday gift shopping begins in earnest.
It is also a time when we reflect on past holidays and Christmases.
As youngsters, there were specific gifts we hoped to receive during the holiday season.
During my youth, the 1960s television series, “Lost in Space,” was faithfully watched by me every week on WCCO-TV.
In late November 1966, I began seeing the Mattel toy company’s holiday commercial for its Lost in Space Switch N Go toy collection, which I frequently asked my folks to give me for Christmas.
The toy collection included 2.5-inch-tall plastic figures of the series’ characters, including the Robinson family, Major Don West, the infamous Dr. Zachery Smith, the B9 Robot, and Bloop, the family pet.
Their spaceship, called the Jupiter 2, contained the family’s “sport utility vehicle,” known as the Chariot, which traveled on the surface of a planet.
The evening of Dec. 24, 1966, this smiling young boy opened the last Christmas gift from his parents, which was – you guessed it – the Mattel “Lost in Space” toy collection.
After thanking my mom and dad, and with Bing Crosby Christmas songs playing from the stereo cabinet, I carefully unpacked and began assembling the parts on the living room floor.
The top of the Jupiter 2 is partially made from transparent plastic and is removable so you could see inside.
The spaceship is constructed mostly out of Styrofoam, so I needed to be careful not to put any holes in it.
Mattel toy company also manufactured a plastic, highly-detailed Chariot model as a part of its Lost in Space Switch N Go toy collection.
The Chariot toy model was incredibly realistic, looking much like the one from the TV show.
An electric motor powered the Chariot along on the yellow flexible tube track I laid out on the living room floor.
Sometimes, the Chariot would take a corner too fast and tumble down the living room stairs.
The Chariot was ruggedly built and kept working.
It’s been over 50 years, and sadly, I no longer have the Chariot.
However, there is one place selling them.
The Lost in Space Chariot model I had received for Christmas those many years ago was for sale on eBay.
I was shocked when seeing how much it cost.
For $400, the Chariot could be mine once again.
One plastic character from the Lost in Space toy set sold for $75.
Another seller on eBay is offering the complete 1966 Mattel Lost in Space Switch N Go toy collection (including the original box) for $1,630.
I am still considering whether to order it.
Another television show I liked to watch during the late 1960s is “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,” which featured the adventures aboard the nuclear-powered submarine named Seaview.
Remco advertised a Seaview toy model during the 1967 Christmas holiday season.
The Seaview model is a 17-inch-long, yellow plastic submarine looking a lot like the model used in the television series except for the color, which on the television series was a darker shade of gray with a slight greenish tint.
The finely-detailed plastic toy model submarine became another 1960s Christmas gift I was fortunate to receive.
The Seaview model is not nuclear-powered as shown on the TV show; instead, it uses a much simpler and nonradioactive “elastic motor propulsion.”
To create the energy to power its propeller, I needed to wind up the rubber-band, located inside the submarine, using a blue plastic crank handle located on the front of the sub.
Again, it has been over 50 years, and I no longer have that toy.
Going back to eBay, I looked up what the Seaview submarine model would sell for today. To my surprise, one used model sold for $475.
It amazes me the money people are willing to pay to get back a favorite toy from their youth.
There is money to be made (and spent) on the toys from our childhood.
The toys you give (and receive) this holiday season may someday be worth a small fortune.
Watch this short video of the 1966 Chariot toy model traveling along someone’s living room floor and parking itself inside the Jupiter 2 at https://bit.ly/3qcAZ5X.
At least I still have my original comic book collection.
Stay safe out there.
