ET The Atari Game What A Let Down

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with E.T. 

I've seen the movie dozens of times. Even as an adult, I still own a few collectible items like E.T. trading cards, a pin, bedding, etc. We even have a framed movie poster hanging in our bedroom.

I remember one Christmas I was given exactly 12 ET-related items. I piled the unwrapped gifts around me near the Christmas tree and counted them over and over again--they included the plate, cup & bowl set, bedding, snack tray and more.

One gift I was beyond-jazzed about was an actual E.T. Atari 2600 video game.

Like most '80s kids, I loved Atari. Who didn't? My top favorite games were Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Asteroids, Pitfall and Donkey Kong. In 1982, the idea of an E.T. Atari game was simply too good to be true--the perfect marriage of my very favorite movie and my very favorite gaming console/pastime.

I remember popping it in and something just wasn't right with it. No matter what I did, I couldn't figure out how to play. Nothing about the game made sense to me. I remember thinking my version was broken somehow.  After a few failed attempts, I hurried to a friend's house because she too had just gotten the game. I needed to test out her version and remember my shock in learning she too was clueless.

Were we stupid gaming girls? How was it that we kicked ass at Pac-man, Space Invaders, Frogger and Pitfall, but sucked at the E.T. game? I remember being bummed beyond belief. I wondered why of all the games to baffle me, it had to be my E.T.? Such a let down.

Years later, I was working at an Internet company which owned a very popular male-friendly gaming site, IGN.com. I believe it was there that I first heard the truth about E.T. for Atari.

Apparently the developer was rushed into finishing the game design in time for the 1982 holiday season. Rushing the creativity process must have really made the game backfire. I'm doubting Atari had time to allow for lots of testing and market research-if any. They simply wanted to cash in on the E.T. craze.

At age 12, I didn't read media reports which apparently criticized the E.T. game. To this day the game makes "Worst Games Ever" lists all over the world. The Atari E.T game is also noted as Atari's biggest financial mistake ever made, netting a loss of $100 million loss.

In September 1983 reports began to surface about gazillions of E.T. game cartridges buried in a landfill in New Mexico, read about that here. Some say it's true, some say it's an urban legend.

 The famous E.T. Atari game landfill photo

I love this quote from Howard Scott Warshaw, the designer behind the worst game ever created. It's cool how he puts a positive spin on his infamous creation, however it doesn't help me get over the disappointment in my most anticipated gift that Christmas.

"People worry I might be sensitive about the ET debacle, but the fact is I’m always happy to discuss it. After all, it was the fastest game ever done, it was a million seller, and of the thousands of 2600 games, how many others are still a topic? Another thing I like to think about is having done ET (consistently rated among the worst games of all time) and Yars' Revenge (consistently rated as one of the best) I figure I have the unique distinction of having the greatest range of any game designer in history." —Howard Scott Warshaw

I Saw E.T. 14 Times - IN THE THEATER!

RE-POST FROM AUGUST 21, 2009



Remember when you were a kid, if you liked a movie, you had to see it over and over again. If you didn't, you weren't a true fan. You'd memorize every single line and could easily recite the script along with your friends. What happened to those days? Why doesn't this matter to most of us anymore?

I think back to the films I saw in the theater. Often it was summer cinema when school was out and movies were like $4 and popcorn was like $2 - and we thought that was pricey back then. Our moms would get rid of us for a few hours. Back then it was safe to just get dropped off at Sunrise Cinemas on Sunrise Highway. Today, not so much.

We'd brag about how many times we saw our favorite film. In my case, this was especially true for E.T., Karate Kid, Goonies and Footloose. Ironically, I had crushes on the lead kid in every movie from Henry Thomas to Ralph (he was from LI and we shared the same b'day!) to Sean Astin (I had an inhaler like his character Mikey!) and Footloose - Kevin Bacon - wow! Thanks to Footloose, I discovered hair mousse. I had read in Seventeen magazine about this brand new hair product called "mousse," you cold manipulate your hair to appear spiky, just like Wren's in Footloose!

For Christmas of 1982, I had to have an E.T. sleeping bag, sheets and bedding, snack tray, posters, figurines, the board game, cup and plate set, and much more. I still have some of those items. I loved them all so much. I remember counting all of my E.T. things, writing them down in a notebook and admiring them all for days over the holiday break from school.

I loved The Goonies more than any of my friends to the point where I even slipped a mini tape recorder into the theater with me. I recorded the audio and listened to it repeatedly for days and days until I had every line down pat, "...This is my dream, my wish, and it didn't come true, so I'm takin' 'em back, I'm takin' 'em all back!" I remember Corey Feldman's lines like it was yesterday. Too bad I didn't have a memory like that when it came to science and history. I'd be a top scholar!

As an adult, the only film I've seen an excessive amount of times would have to be Rushmore. I know pretty much every line, own the soundtrack and DVD, and I still laugh at all of the same scenes.


By the fall, I still loved ET and my mom threw me an ET Halloween birthday party complete with her best shot at an ET shaped cake. I dressed up like Gertie did on Halloween and went as a cowgirl.

1980s Board Games | Smurfs, A-Team, Cabbage Patch Kids ...

What was it about the 1980s toys that every toy required a Milton Bradley or Parker Brothers board game to go along with it? I vaguely recall owning the E.T. and Cabbage Patch board games. I'm quite sure both were on my Christmas list ... Did any of you have the following board games? Do you even remember these games?

Ms. Pac-Man & Pac-Man Board Games

Both board games were released by Milton Bradley in 1982 to try to "Bring the video game to the table!" definitely not as exciting as the video games though. Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Man board games are available on eBay ranging from $10-$20 depending on their condition.

Cabbage Patch Kids Hide-and-Seek Game

Milton Bradley released this fun-filled match game in 1984 during the height of the Cabbage Patch Kids craze. The idea was to match up as many Cabbage Patch Kids (they popped up) before the timer went off.

Cabbage Patch Kids Friends to the Rescue Board Game

Parker Brothers 1984 Cabbage Patch Kids - Friends to the Rescue board game is going for $10-$40 on vintage toy websites and eBay. According to BoardGameGeek.com:

"In this game, you must help rescue the kids from the clutches of Cabbage Jack. The delightful Bunny Bees will help you lead the kids to safety. And finally Colonel Casey, the kindly old stork, will help you bring the kids home. Collect 4 kids, each with a different color hair, or all the same color, and you're the winner."

The Smurf Board Game

 

First released by Milton Bradely in 1981, the above Smurf board game is available at $16.99 on Ecrater.com and makes a great gift for Smurf fans everywhere.

The A-Team Board Game

My younger brother was a fan of the A-Team, I personally was not. This Parker Brothers board game was hot in 1984 and looks just as silly as the show. More information is available at BoardGameGeek.com.

The E.T. Board Game

I love(d) E.T. so very much. We even have an E.T. movie poster hanging over our bed. I couldn't get enough of E.T. as a kid -- read more about it here. You can bet your bippie that in 1982, the E.T. Board Game by Parker Brothers was on my holiday wish list. Today this game goes from $10-$175 depending on its overall condition.



Watch the E.T. Board Game Commercial: 

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial | June 11, 1982

This weekend during what I often refer to as "The Best Year Ever" or 1982, my most favorite childhood movie of all time opened in theaters. Yes, Friday, June 11, 1982 was the day E.T. opened in Long Island theaters. The movie theater setting the backdrop for this momentous occasion was called Sunrise Cinemas, located on Sunrise Highway in Valley Stream.

This multiplex theater was amazing back in the early 1980s. Sunrise Cinemas featured so many different movies and weekend matinées. Coleco games filled the waiting area allowing us kids to kill time and engage in a few rounds of Ladybug while our folks waited on line for movie tickets.

Happy Anniversary E.T.

As much as I loved E.T. and saw it 14 times in the theater that year, one horrendous line in the movie somewhat tarnishes my pleasant memory. Wedged between my parents and six-year-old brother in a jam-packed theater, a 9-year-old me had to endure one of my very first embarrassing moments. 

What could that possibly be? When Elliott (my love, Henry Thomas) blurts out this horrible name for his brother, Michael (Robert MacNaughton). I can't even type it. To this day I'm still embarrassed. So you'll have to just watch it here on YouTube. It's only 15 seconds, so sit tight and check it out. 

I was surprised to learn the line was later removed for the DVD release, interesting. Too bad it wasn't removed when it mattered to me most, back in 1982!

Elliot in E.T. to his big brother Michael, "It was nothing like that ..."

E.T. TV Lap & Dinner Tray With Legs

The tin ET dining tray was the coolest in 1982.

When I was a kid back in 1982 I loved E.T. What's more, I loved watching TV during dinner time. Some times, especially if I had some sort of cold or flu, Mom would allow me to have dinner while watching TV. Don't ask me why, but this was such a big deal at age 10. 

Christmas of 1982, I received one of my favorite gifts that Christmas. It was an E.T. dinner and lap tray. Back in the early 1980s and late 1970s, metal or tin dining trays or TV dinner trays were popular. They had folding legs and you could sit with your legs stretched out with the dinner tray over your legs. If you were too sick to leave your bed, Mom could bring you the metal dining tray which would allow you to have breakfast, lunch or dinner in bed. 

I think I also had a Smurf lap and TV tray.

Kids of the '70s and '80s know there was nothing cooler than eating off of a tin tray featuring the faces of your favorite TV show, movie or cartoon character. Did you have one?

"Heartlight" Neil Diamond's ode to E.T.

Yeah, Goonies and Gremlins were awesome Spielberg movies. However, true followers of my blog know that E.T. is my favorite childhood movie of all time. Back in 1982, l remember my mom playing me this Neil Diamond song. "Oooh, Ally," she said. "This song is about your favorite movie, E.T. Listen!"  The song was called "Heartlight." I loved it.

I "taped" the tune and played it over and over again on my black and silver radio. Probably purchased at T.S.S. in Elmont, New York. The lyrics were simple, and for a 10-year-old kid, they were fairly easy to understand. 

Lines like, "...Cause sometimes the world ain't kind" and "...A friend is someone you need," and my personal favorite, "...And home's the most excellent place to be." I guess I just loved home and close friends. Simple kid stuff. 

Oddly enough, I’ve never thought much about "Heartlight" until today. 

Did a quick Wiki search. Neil Diamond wrote the song after viewing the film with his friends, songwriters Carole Bayer Sager and her husband at the time Burt Bacharach. Although the name E.T. is never once mentioned, the songwriters had to pay Universal Studios $25,000 for conceptual purposes. “Heartlight” was one of Neil Diamond’s last chart-topping hit. 

Enjoy the song ... And yes, I hope it stays in your head for hours and hours :)

Have More Fun In Bed

I've always had a thing for fun sheets and pillowcases. Right now you will find a Skurvy/Paul Frank, Hello Kitty and Pac-Man pillow atop our bed. When we first moved in together, we had a full sized bed. It was easy to find Hello Kitty sheets at Target to accommodate our bed back then. However, when we switched to a Queen, it's been boring sheets with very little character. I know I can get fun prints and polka dots, but I love my characters.

Luckily I can still spice up our bedding with fun pillowcases. I believe you're never too old to take part in youthful bed and bath items. My husband doesn't seem to mind our Hello Kitty shower curtain and Ziploc type bags.

Strawberry Shortcake
Target released newer versions of Strawberry Shortcake as she made a successful comeback over the past few years. I prefer the original pictured here.



ET
My most favorite movie and treasured bedding featured the lovable alien and Elliot in various scenes from the movie. We used the ET sleeping bag until recently - it was so badly torn, I had to trash it. I still have the flat sheet and a pillowcase though.





Smurfs
In addition to ET, I was a big-time fan of The Smurfs. I had several Smurf lunchboxes (who didn't in the '80s?) and especially adored my Smurf sheets. My aunt still has my cousin's Smurf sheets which is sure to come in handy for my cousin's child, seeing as the Smurfs have made a comeback and have an entire line of toys out for today's kids to enjoy.



Pac-Man
My husband and I are serious Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man fans. When we first met, we discovered we had a common bond of loving the old '80s video game. This made selecting a wedding cake topper pretty damn easy. We went with Pac-Man groom and Ms. Pac-Man bride figurines. He loves his old Pac-Man pillow case (as does our kitty, see image below) and we still have a vintage trash can we use for recyclables in the kitchen.



Our cat, Chawklit relaxing against her favorite pillow.

Our Pac-Man wedding caketopper.

My 10 Most Favorite Childhood Gifts Ever!

I was in Target the other day when I realized Christmas is sort of approaching slowly, but surely. OK, so blame it on the fact that next to the Halloween costumes were aisles filled with Christmas wrap, cards and ornaments just itching to take over the Halloween section.

I love Christmas, it's one of my favorite holidays to reflect on years past. I could probably write several posts about my holiday memories. One thing we all remember are those three-page Christmas wish lists filled with games and toys which transformed into fancy electronics once we hit our teens.

For me, the "18 and over" Christmas lists became more mature and modest and included boring items like socks, gloves with postage stamps and deodorant as stocking stuffers. Once I hit 30, other than my Wedding Registry, I quit the wish list biz. These days, it's more like a mental note and a hint to Mom or DH, "I'd really like one of those Snuggies" or "Gift cards are nice and maybe a new frying pan."

But thinking back, there are gifts I'll never forget. Though I'm not sure if they were actually Christmas gifts or Birthday gifts - they were gifts I loved so very much I figured I'd share them with you. Maybe some of them were on your list once as well.

1. The Famous Holly Hobbie Oven
Every girl born in the early '70s had to have one. I loved that it was my favorite color, blue! Like most kiddie ovens, it came with the two signature cake mixes, one chocolate and one yellow. Funny thing is, once I ran out of cake mix, I think that oven just sat in my room. But whatever the case, I loved it anyway. It's amazing to think a high powered light bulb could actually bake a cake. Too bad it always took, what felt like, two hours to go from a watered down, sweet liquid to a minuscule cake that took all of two seconds to devour.




2. Barbie Hair Salon
Like most little girls, I loved to style Barbies' hair. A snip here, a snip there. Sometimes, I would get a little wild and color their blond tresses with blue, red or black markers. That kinda sucked since the marker didn't easily wash out and usually stained the hair. All of my little friends had the Barbie head that came with the powdery makeup. I bet I told my parents how much I wanted one and by accident they picked up the Barbie salon, not knowing. To this day, I have never owned a Barbie hair/makeup head and no, that's not a hint that I want one today.

3. Cocoa the Hamster
In third or fourth grade, I became obsessed with the idea of owning a hamster. I must have seen it on an episode of one of my favorite shows, because in Catholic school, I never had a class pet. You know how schools have that class gerbil and every weekend a different kid gets to take it home? I've actually never experienced that. We had plants instead. After weeks of begging, drawing pictures of mouse-like pets in cages and insisting I would feed and take care of it, my parents took me to a pet store and I soon became the proud owner of Cocoa.



4. Run Yourself Ragged
There was something about this game, Run Yourself Ragged, that I adored! I loved the colorful oranges and greens. I could play it for hours, yet when I look at it now, it's the type of game that seems like after ten minutes, I'd put it on a shelf and never play it again. Snooze, right? But in second grade, I loved Running Myself Ragged. I think it may have been a Christmas gift from a relative.




5. Kabangers
Ah, yet another dumb toy that kept me occupied for hours. I don't know what it was about these rock-hard balls that I loved so very much. The sound of that clacking and the agony of the pain I felt if my finger got caught between them. They were a staple amongst my toys for at least a year or two and were probably the dumbest item I ever owned. I remember standing on my lawn Kabangin' like a fool, what was I thinking?



6. Anything ET, Smurfs, Strawberry Shortcake & Cabbage Patch
'Nuff said, a poster, a shirt, sheets, dolls, stuffed toys, if it was one of the above characters, it was heavenly.


7. Atari
Can't create a list of favorite gifts without old school video game platforms now, can we? Thinking back now, I feel like that was a gift my dad may have bought himself and we took it over. I remember hours spent playing Kaboom, Asteroids, Space Invaders and Pac-man and never being able to figure out how to play ET. Years later as we know, ET had a glitch in it.




8. Popcorn Popper
Man, there was something about receiving a popcorn popper Christmas of '83 that was really exciting to me. I'm not quite sure what it was, but I loved it! I remember inserting half of a block of butter into the slot at the top. I especially enjoyed watching the melting madness go down while freshly popped corn would get stuck in greasy pools of butter trying to make its way to the bowl. Fun times!


9. Retro Pink Sharp Boom Box
One hot electronic item will always have a tender place in my heart. My bubblegum pink '50s style SHARP brand retro style tape player/radio. I'm not sure what the occasion was, but I received it from my parents in 7th grade. I absolutely loved blasting my Monkees tapes on that thing, it was the coolest radio ever! I'd bring it by our pool and enjoy fun in the sun while listening to Tears For Fears and Howard Jones.




10. Colors, The Benetton Perfume
This was the first perfume I ever really NEEDED to have. It wasn't cheap by '80s standard and I remember hinting to my folks for months that I needed to have this perfume. I believe it was Christmas of 1988, I received it. Purchased from the Benetton store, it was beautifully packaged and I wore it sparingly for months as not to waste it.

Underoos Are Fun To Wear | 70s Underwear

Underoos are fun to wear!

If you were a kid back in 1977, you most likely owned a pair of Underoos. I, however, did not. 

Underoos were marketed by Fruit of the Loom after Hanes turned down the idea. Wow, whoever made that executive decision must feel like the ass from Mars who refused to use M & M in E.T.

Underoos were super popular back in the days. They're an integral part of 1970s pop culture. Underoos let kids have fun in their undies. The early characters were all super hero themed and I was never big into DC Comics or Marvel Comics. I wasn't really into comics so maybe that's why it wasn't a big deal to me at the time. I think that the cooler Underoos characters such as E.T. and Pac Man were only available for boys. Otherwise, I totally would have sported them!

I especially loved the commercial and jingle for Underoos. Remember it? I do recall feeling a bit awkward during the boys' Underoos commercial -- like cover up! Ya know?

At The Dive Shop With My Scuba Diver Dad

Hanging out at the dive shop.

Last weekend, we were driving along the Southern State Parkway on Long Island when old memories suddenly came back to me. As we approached the Baldwin exit 20S, I remembered hanging out with my dad at the dive shop on Grand Avenue. My dad was really into scuba diving for most of my life.


Around 1982, my dad would take me to his friend's scuba diving shop every Saturday morning. Dad was tight with the owner --  a jolly, Irish white-haired man everyone loved. He would let me have anything I wanted. The shop sold Lance brand snacks. I remember munching on endless packages of peanut butter sandwich crackers and playing hours of free arcade games while dad would sip coffee and talk shop with his dive buddies.


A big fan of E.T., I created a poster of E.T. wearing a scuba mask and tank which the dive shop owner loved. He hung my poster up and left it there for as long as I can remember. Those were good times -- innocent, happy times spent hanging with my dad while mom was busy cleaning and food shopping.  It's funny how free arcade games and snacks were all it took to keep a kid content back then.

Movies Make Me Feel Weird

When you see a film, does it leave you feeling kinda weird? I can't explain it really, but it's as if I  dwell on certain aspects of the movie and maybe compare it to my own life. Sometimes I wonder if it can really happen or what I would do if it really happened. I've been doing this for as long as I can remember. I think that's why the feeling freaks me out a bit and I'm searching to find out if other people ever feel this way too. 

Like it seems normal for a child to leave the theater after seeing ET wondering if he or she will meet up with ET late one night and maybe to always keep some Reese's Pieces handy just in case. I know I did. I even made sure I had a basket on my bike in the event that I needed to ride my yellow Huffy with the banana seat, up to the sky to escape the FBI.

When I saw Footloose, I swear I began spiking my hair like Wren McCormick's and dancing around our yard and the park on Averill Boulevard to "Let's Hear It For The Boy" blasting on my cheap portable tape player. I told you how I often reenacted the tongue on the pole scene in A Christmas Story in our grammar school yard which was actually the church parking lot. Gotta love Catholic school.

Don't worry, I've grown up a lot in that respect. I'm not going to pretend I'm 12 so some rich family can adopt me and then try to seduce the dad like in Orphan or paint my face blue and be all Avatar-esque. However, movies still touch me in this freakishly profound way.

Tonight we saw The Lovely Bones, no I've never read the book. I suck when it comes to reading lately, Remember this post where I confessed this before.  Anyway, the entire ride home from the theater, I thought of the movie. I thought about that awful neighbor. I thought about that sweet girl who never got to grow up. I thought about the family she left behind. I thought about the other victims. I thought about what heaven would look like if I believed there was such a glorious place.

I thought about murder victims and how life is so unfair and unkind. I thought so hard, my throat hurt from the lump I developed thinking about horrible men who snatch women and children and leave them dead in fields, woods and ditches. I think that's truly my biggest fear. Let me go any other way but helplessly at the hands of a psycho. Sorry to be such a downer.

Thanks for listening.

10 Reasons Why 1982 Was The Best Year Ever

Today is the first day of 2011.

For the last 24-hours, I've been bombarded with Facebook updates and Tweets proclaiming 2011 is gonna be the best year ever. Sorry all you silly, hungover hopefuls, this year is probably gonna suck just like 2010, 2009, 2008, etc. If it were up to me ... if I had full control ... we'd be ringing in 1982. 1982 was my year. 1982 was one of the best years ever. Even though it wasn't the year I met my husband, or the year I met Micky Dolenz, or the year I graduated high school or college, it was an amazing year.

1. I was 10! Who wouldn't want to be 10 back in the 80s? Old enough to have fun, but not worry about pimples, boys, weight, makeup, a part-time job, SATs, college, etc.

2. E.T.!  E.T. was the best movie EVER. Remember, I saw it 14 times that year!

3. The best music! The Motels, Hall & Oates, Rick Springfield, etc. Looking over the list of Top 40 songs from 1982, almost every song is awesome. 

4. Politics Shmolitics! I didn't care that Ronald Reagan was president. I was 10, it didn't really affect me.

5. Baby aspirin was still magical! Yes, I know in October, 1982 there was that whole Tylenol scare issue going on, but my mom still let me chew St. Joseph's baby aspirin. Although I cared, I was 10, the Tylenol thing didn't really affect me.

One Day At A Time, awesome show!

6. TV was terrific! Love Boat, One Day At A Time, Alice, Joanie Loves Chachi, Dukes of Hazard, etc. I loved prime time network television. Some of the best TV ever!

7. California Girl! I went to California for the very first time for free! It was my favorite trip ever! My parents had given up our four seats while heading home to New York from Florida one day. We were asked to accommodate a family of four who needed to get on that particular flight. In exchange for giving up our seats, the airline bought us all dinner while we waited for the next flight home. They also gave my parents four free plane tickets to anywhere in the continental US. We went to Universal Studios and Disneyland. We traveled to San Fransisco and LA and even stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

8. Atari! I loved playing what would become timeless classics such as Donkey Kong and Pac-man! Best video games ever!

9. Soooo stylin'! Tiny Jordache bags, ribbon barrettes, feathered clips, hearts, rainbows and 3/4-length jersey shirts with iron-on images were all the rage and I loved it all! Best fashions ever!

10. Recession-proof! In 1982 there was a recession and the unemployment rate reached like 10%. My parents were teachers and their jobs were safe. I was 10, it didn't really affect me. Today, in 2011, I'm no longer 10  and the recession really affects me.

The Goonies 25th Anniversary in Astoria Oregon

I Should Be At The Goonies 25th Anniversary Celebration in Astoria, Oregon - But I'm Not, Which Sucks!

• 25 years ago this weekend, I was 11 1/2 (to kids, the half is very important).
• 25 years ago this weekend, it was with much anticipation that I witnessed one of my most favorite movies, The Goonies (favorite next to E.T. of course).
• 25 years ago this weekend, I went to see a film because I had a crush on Corey Feldman and left loving Sean Astin. Sean with his mop of auburn hair, freckles, braces, decked out all in Wrangler dark denim and sucking on an asthma inhaler--boy was he yummy!
• 25 years ago this weekend, I carried a mini tape recorder into the theater with me so that I could bring The Goonies home with me.  I recorded all of the audio. To this day, I swear I can recite every bit of the script while watching the DVD.
• 25 years ago this weekend, I began pouring my allowance into Goonies movie cards, books, posters, anything I could get my hands on--much like I did with E.T.
• 25 years ago this weekend, began my summer love with The Goonies. Ask anyone I went to Hofstra University drama day camp with or my grammar school buddies. Summer of '85 I was all about those damn Goonies!
• 25 years ago this weekend, I adored Cyndi Lauper and her hit song "Goonies 'R' Good Enough". Check tomorrow's blog for the video.
• 25 years ago this weekend, I began writing dozens of letters to the stars of The Goonies. Take note, this was all I received in return:

(click to enlarge)

<-- Postcard from actor Ke Huy Quan who portrayed the adorable Richard "Data" Wang (did you know that his real-life little sister portrayed the little girl stomping her feet when Brand/Josh Brolin stole her bike?). That blank space is where Ke Huy was supposed to tell me what a great fan I was and sign. He didn't. Not sure why I saved it.

As you know, Corey did eventually send me a handwritten letter! This letter won me over and I soon forgot Sean Astin and was all about Corey Feldman again.

I wish I was at The Goonies 25th Anniversary Event in Astoria, Oregon, but alas, I'm unemployed and therefore didn't have the funds to join my lover Corey Feldman and co. and am stuck reading all about it in his Corey Feldman Wordpress blog instead.

Child Stars Turned Stone Cold Foxes

Henry Thomas, Joey Gordon-Levitt, Leo Dicaprio, Jason Bateman & Tobey Maguire. Can You Feel The Hotness?

A good many of the young actors I fancied growing up, often lost their cuteness upon hitting that awkward stage, typically between 15-18.  Seriously. Think about your male friends and family members. How often have you seen a photo of a cousin, uncle or friend who was adorable at 12 then fuggers by 17? Sadly, it happens.

However, some lucky studs retained their looks and that list is actually quite long.  Here are a few of my personal favorites. Who's yours?

Stay tuned, tomorrow I will focus on one particular child star that didn't end up as yummy as these dudes.

Henry Thomas--from adorable kid in 1982's ET, to adult hottie in 2010.

 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt--from Angels in the Outfield sweetie, to super delicious indie boy!

Leonardo DiCaprio--Growing Pains save-the-show character, to smokin' hot blockbuster actor.

Jason Bateman--from '80s Silver Spoon preppy kid, to metrosexual daddy.

Tobey Maguire--from This Boy's Life actor, to certified DILF!

Check back tomorrow for one child star that sadly did not age well.