Friday, December 17, 2010

Clown Around Figurines | Best Christmas Gift Ever!

I loved the Clown Around Clown House

You may remember I once blogged about the worst-ever Christmas gift I received as a kid -- the Andy Gibb doll. Today, let's discuss one of my most favorite Christmas gifts ever received as a kid. I realize most of you will have no recollection of Clown Arounds, but they were all the rage for a short time in 1981.

Clown Arounds were clown figurines kids collected --  much like Smurfs and Monchhichi figurines. Produced by Mego Corp, each Clown Around was a different character.  Houses, cars and other toys were sold separately and could be used with the Clown Arounds. Man, oh man, I loved these goofy looking figurines.

Clown Around image from Kathysfastfoodtoys.com
One Christmas Eve, when I was about 9, I received a Clown Around Clown House -- I believe it was the exact house pictured above. I loved the Clown House so much. I remember how happy I was tearing the wrapping paper off, only to discover my Aunt Carol had actually gotten me one of the coolest gifts ever! I loved the colors of the house and setting up the Clown Arounds inside the house. I swear, I must have played with that house the entire night. I loved it so much!

What one your favorite holiday gifts from your childhood? I'm surprised I forgot to mention this gift in my Top 10 Gifts blog post last year.

12 comments:

BlahCooCooBlah said...

That one clown with the machete on the shelf is going to give me nightmares!

Blast from the Past said...

Without a doubt, the Vertibird - a 1970's helicopter toy that was totally awesome! It was on a wire and went in a circle. You controlled the speed and height and got to pick up different objects with the hook on the bottom of it. It was really cool - especially for its time.

Anonymous said...

I have no recollection of these at all, but they remind me of the smurf collection my sister had. Hey, isn't the smurfs movie coming out soon?

Erin said...

OMG! Could you be my long lost sister? lol I loved those toys when I was the same age and I thought no one else knew about them and thought I was crazy! I still have my collection and wanted to look for more of them I spent hours one night looking at ebay but I couldn't remember their name! Erin

Erin said...

oh yes and my favorite Christmas gift ever, The Mork from Ork posable doll He had a huge packon his back that said all the catch phrases!

Teachinfourth said...

I had this really cool desktop pinball machine…I loved it. I can't remember the name or anything like that but it was great.

Cheeseboy said...

Clown around? These I do not remember. but like Fabu - they do remind me of the Smurfs

baygirl32 said...

I dont know the clown arounds, but I had a ton of Smurfs, Monchhichi and Care Bears

Amber Von Felts said...

Oh man, I remember having a similar experience with a smurf village!

Dan Alexander said...

I still have my Clown Around figures! I know they all have names (they were printed on the back of the packages), but I don't remember what they are. My favorite clown was one that looks like Bowser from "Sha-Na-Na."

Pat Tillett said...

I've always been afraid of clowns, so would not be my "best gift ever," that's for sure...
I wouldn't even buy these for my kids because of it!

Anonymous said...

OMG, you have just solved a huge mystery for me! I still have all my toy figures from when I was a kid (I called them all "little people") I had this one clown figure with a leisure suit doing the Travolta pose, and I never knew what kind of figure it was. (In 1981, I was 3, so can't remember too much). The figure was in one of those Clown Around pics, so now I know! Just made my day! :)

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