Mattel Kraken, 1981

I managed to dig out some old toys from my childhood over Thanksgiving weekend at Mom & Dad's- a lot of the toys we had were destroyed or lost because, well... we played with them. We had some fun stuff back then- Lord knows I'd love to see all those toys new again!

When Clash of The Titans came out in 1981 I was nine years old, and was really into knights, swordplay, dragons, and the like. My little friends and I would wage war against one another with crudely fashioned, homemade weapons in the backyard or at the creek on the edge of town, lost for hours in our play, lost in our imagination. Those were fun days! The Christmas after the movie came out, we got the Perseus, Charon, Thallo, Calibos, and the very cool and now rare 15" Kraken!

Mattel had planned to release a second wave of toys for this line, including a playset for Calibos' Lair. Unfortunately this didn't come to fruition, eclipsed perhaps by the merchandising phenomenon of the Star Wars toy line by Kenner, in full swing at the time.

Depicted as a giant squid in 19th century literature, the great special effects artist Ray Harryhausen reimagined the creature as a four-armed, reptilian monster for Clash of The Titans.

I have no idea how this totally awesome toy survived my childhood, how we had not managed to break off one of his four arms, two front flippers, or lose his removable tail. Mattel either made a really durable toy or we some how held the sea monster in higher regard than some of our other toys.

I've yet to see the 2010 remake of Clash of The Titans, but I would be willing to- while I'm sure the new special effects would eclipse Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion photography and "dynamation" technology, as a child I was fascinated by the 1981 version.

*Take a closer look at Mattel's Clash of the Titans toys at Action Figure Archive!

I hope you have been able to hold on to some of the joy and imagination from YOUR childhood- maybe this blog is helping you do just that, as it has for myself. I personally believe it's healthy to enjoy toys, especially if you are an adult- we love toys because they are FUN!  Do yourself a favor and take a peek at some of the "Blogs of Note" on the sidebar of this blog- these like-minded people bring me a lot of happiness, inspiration, and laughter. And friends, that is both rare and beautiful- it's something the world really needs, perhaps more now than ever. I want you to remember:

-You deserve to be happy- don't ever let anyone tell you any different!

-Help others achieve happiness whenever you can, they deserve it, too :)

-Play with TOYS and have FUN with your life!