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.
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12 comments:

  1. BlahCooCooBlahDecember 17, 2010 at 11:11 PM

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

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  2. Blast from the PastDecember 18, 2010 at 4:02 AM

    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.

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  3. AnonymousDecember 18, 2010 at 8:17 AM

    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?

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  4. ErinDecember 18, 2010 at 11:25 AM

    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

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  5. ErinDecember 18, 2010 at 11:28 AM

    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!

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  6. TeachinfourthDecember 18, 2010 at 4:19 PM

    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.

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  7. CheeseboyDecember 18, 2010 at 7:10 PM

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

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  8. baygirl32December 19, 2010 at 6:20 PM

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

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  9. Amber Von FeltsDecember 20, 2010 at 8:41 PM

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

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  10. Dan AlexanderDecember 24, 2010 at 5:27 PM

    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."

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  11. Pat TillettDecember 30, 2010 at 2:02 PM

    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!

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  12. AnonymousJune 22, 2011 at 8:50 AM

    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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