Christmas 1984 was one of my best ever. I was ten years old and Transformers had just come out. My grandmother dragged my grandfather into every mall and Bradlees up and down the eastern seaboard to buy me and my sisters some great toys. I was a very lucky kid and I loved playing with those toys. I stayed up all Christmas Eve putting on stickers and transforming every one of my new robots over and over til I could do them all in my sleep. But even though those were some of my most favorite toys ever there are still some things that we have today that I wish were around when I was a carefree 10 year old who had much more time to play with them.

So here is my Christmas Gift Guide of Things I Wish Existed when I was 10 Years Old.

Modarri – Those Transformers toys that I received, well I used to take them apart with my Dad’s precision screwdriver kit. I would take parts off of one character and swap them with parts from another character who had the same body style, now they are called repaints. Well, imagine a line of cars that you could swap all of the pieces and they would fit perfectly with each other. Then add independent suspension, real rubber tires and some great designs. If you did that then you’d have Modarri from Thoughtfull Toys Inc.

Skylanders Trap Team – In 1985 I got my first Nintendo Entertainment System. I was all about Super Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda. I was so hooked on video games and now I could play some great ones right at home. The only thing that could have made them better would have been collectible action figures that retained all the experience acquired while playing. Imagine keeping all those extra power ups and things when you played Super Mario Bros and then taking that experience with you to Super Mario Bros 3. Well, over the years my interest in video games waned a bit. It was re-awakend with the released of Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure in 2011 and has been increasing with each new incarnation of this franchise. With the fourth installment things have changed up a bit and you can trap and play with major villains from the series in addition to a whole new cast of characters and those who have been around since the beginning. Skylanders Trap Team can be played on the Wii, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and on various Tablets.

Modibot – While it is no Transformer this little guy can do many, many things. A highly posable figure that started as a 3D printed idea come to life. After a successful Kickstarter campaign Modibot came to life. I backed the project and got a bunch of the figures. With Modibot you can swap out parts, add in additional accessories and pose, pose, pose. A minimalist action figure that stands in so many positions because it is so well balanced and flexible. Additional accessories can be 3D printedd in a bunch of colors so that your Modibot can be a ninja one day and a viking warrior the next.

MEGA Bloks Skylanders – There are many building systems out now like LEGO, K’NEX, KREO and more. Out of all of them I have enjoyed MEGA Bloks, specifically their Skylanders sets, immensely. While playing the Skylanders video game is fun and the figures are cool they can’t move and pose how I’d like them to do so. MEGA Bloks has made so many great sets based on Skylanders including Flynn’s Ship, Kaos’ castle and so many others. I was so fortunate to receive most of them as they came out and even some before they were released to the public. I hope to review even more of the MEGA Bloks Skylanders set in the coming year.

Sky Viper Camera Drone – There are a ton of options today for remote control aircraft. I have helicopters, planes and quad copters. Not all of them can do what the Sky Viper Camera Drone can. This quad copter can fly around 100 feet in the air do stunts and also take still shots and video. The controls are easy to manage and you can be up and flying quickly.

Half Shell Heroes – I enjoy the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and have done so ever since the first cartoons hit television. I also like little versions of the characters I know and love. We recently got my son a bunch of the Half Shell Heroes. This included the Shellraiser van, a couple of turtles and vehicles and also a sewer lair play set. The figures are cute and fun and while they aren’t super poseable, they look great and always stand up.

Crayola Virtual Design Pro Car Collection – When I was a kid there was a toy called Little Van Goes. With it you could mix and match plates to create different vans by rubbing a crayon on a paper over the plates. I loved making those and coloring them in. I still love to color and create. Crayola has just recently come out with the Crayola Virtual Design Pro Car Collection where you can design the look of a bunch of different cars. The set comes with many color pencils and thin markers as well as stencils to further aid in your design. You not only design the look of the cars but then you can scan them with your phone or tablet and what you create gets made into a 3D model. Then within the app you can change the wheels, the exhaust and more and drive your creation through a series of tracks and stunts.

Loot Crate – This subscription service has it all for the pop culture video game and movie geek. Each month a new themed box arrives with a bunch of amazing items inside. Some of my favorite t-shirts have come from Loot Crate. It seems like half of the toys on my desk at work have come from a Loot Crate or two. In addition to toys and shirts there are also stickers, pins and more that are part of the monthly crate. There is also a very vibrant community of people online sharing their unboxings, photos and more all around their love for Loot Crate.

Samsung NX1 – When I was about 10 years old my Dad started teaching me how to take photos. We would use his Pentax K1000 35mm camera. I enjoyed taking photos and over the years bought or was given additional cameras to shoot with. Photography at that time was very expensive and so that limited how many photos I could reasonably take. With a digital camera the possibilities for taking photos are endless. I recently got my Samsung NX1 as part of the imagelogger program and this is one incredible camera. It takes 28.2 MP images and records 4K video. It uses all of the NX lenses in the line and can do so much more. I’ve barely scratched the surface as to what the Samsung NX1 can do but I have a limitless roll of film to use, something I wish I had at 10 years old.