HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 1991 JCPENNY CHRISTMAS CATALOG PT 2!

1991 JCPENNY CHRISTMAS CATALOG GOLD PT 2

GRIMEY

Like I said in the first part of this blog post, these catalogs are practically the size of bibles and I’ll be damned if I can’t get 2, 3 or even 4 parts out and still have a lot to pull from it. I’ll more than likely stick to 2 for now but we will see.

TMNT DUFFLE BAG

It's 1991 and of course the turtles are everywhere. I wouldn't have had it any other way. I was and still am 100% obsessed with Turtles. The lineup here intrigues me very much but I was unfortunately not a happy owner of either tent or sleeping bag. However, I did own the dufflle

One day out and about with my mom, we stopped at a little mom and pop shop that had close to nothing a kid would want. After a few minutes of walking around, this amazing duffle bag with the bros on it popped out of nowhere and, of course, I threw a fit until it was mine. Did I need a duffel? Probably not. Did I use it to carry everything I owned? Basically, yeah. It came to countless sleepovers and family camping trips; I believe it also made an appearance to a fireworks showing one July 4th.

After a while, the constant use lead to the artwork chipping away almost completely leaving behind a blank red and purple duffel bag which earned its trip to the garbage. What a sad day that was.

HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS DOLL

I've always been a big fan of Harry and the Hendersons as a kid especially being in an area like PA where Bigfoot stories are all over the place. Harry just sort of stole all the hearts in our home, regardless.

First, I actually had no clue at all this thing existed. Apparently, everything was fit for a doll back in the day including Steve Urkel, Ernest, Peewee and, somehow, Harry the Bigfoot. I managed to find a YouTube video of the Harry doll which I have shared above for your viewing pleasure thanks to TCTHEPACKRAT. Honestly, Harry is one of the least on that list of specific dolls but I know for sure had I seen one as a kid, I still would've loved owning one.

WWF ACTION FIGURES

When I was a kiddo, I was obsessed with very few wrestlers like I mentioned in the last catalog article. This listing, however, had 4 figures that includes 3 of my all time favorites; Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior and, of course Macho Man Randy Savage so I had to highlight this one.

I definitely had quite a few of these; most of them were hand me downs but the best thing about these were that if you didn't have a dog, most of the time, even a hand-me-down WWF figure was in really great condition. "Real wrestling action mechanisms in each figure! Fully posable!" Well, sort of. The first one? Yes. Not so much the second one. For a lot of these, mostly just the arms swiveled and that’s about it, making them solid the rest of the way through which kind of meant less breakage. I still have the Hulk Hogan figure, unfortunately he is missing a finger or two.

MC HAMMER BARBIE DOLL

This one caught me by surprise. I honestly didn't even notice my 4th or even 5th look through and even then I had to do a double take! A fuckin’ MC HAMMER Barbie Doll?! It's such a random listing; there's this whole spread of barbies across the top of two pages and Hammer Time is secluded to the very right with a boom box and a cassette tape in his sweet gold Hammer pants!

I'll be honest, this NEVER would've made it in my house for any reason. I've tried getting male barbie figures bought for me plenty of times only to fail. My sis was allowed a Ken doll maybe once and once only until the idea of being able to undress a male figure was deemed risqué. MC fucking Hammer? Absolutely no chance. I'll have to love vicariously through this catalog imagining that Hammer is cruising in his pink car blasting Hammer Time in his Jambox.

TEDDY RUXPIN

Last, but not least, we have the Teddy Ruxpin doll. Originally released in 1985, this teddy bear like doll had a cassette port in it's back. The eyes and mouth would move as he told stories that came in the form of an audio cassette tape. Teddy was one of those toys that a lot of my friends had and I was always super jealous of. An animatronic bear that would talk to you? It doesn't get much better than that. Or at least I thought it couldn't.

After I looked online for a few mins, I stumbled on this YouTube channel that has nothing but Teddy Ruxpin mouthing everything but his classic stories. Some of them are relatively entertaining while others are downright disturbing. Although, the one I shared was stop motion, you get the idea. Later models of the toy ditched the cassette tape option all together in exchange for a digital cartridge which takes a little bit of the fun away. So, if you're looking for a Teddy Ruxpin that can pig squeal lyrics from your favorite homebrew slam mix tapes, make sure you get the right model.

Thanks for reading! The big day is sneaking up closer and closer each day and will be over in what will seem like an hour so light the fir candles, drink another glass of eggnog and watch Christmas Vacation one more time before it's all over!