Posts Tagged ‘Rocket Tubes’

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE

Tuesday, April 12th, 2016

     Well, there goes another two months.  I cannot believe how busy I have been. Scott Henderson still thinks he's cool! The new job has been exciting but my down time has been either precious or precious little.  I had to take a sick day today because I was getting run  down and whatever flu like illness that was going through our office caught up with me today.  I’m not sure how much of this blahg I’ll get written today because I’m supposed to be resting but the temptation of the available time to write this blahg is getting to me like this flu. 

     I thought the title of this blahg being It’s Never Too Late would inspire me greatly but it’s really a catch-all to inspire me to write a blahg as much as it is to inspire my readers to read this.  Hey readers, how you doing?  I always ask the question if I have readers and I never take the time to assume I do have readers and should just acknowledge them and ask how it’s going with them.  Again I ask, hey readers, how you doing? 

     Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, I want to tell another one my based on my own life stories.  I know how you all love those.  Way back in 1979 I was, and still am, a fan of the Micronauts.  At first it was the comics even though I had a vague awareness that there was a toy line on which the comics were based.  I didn’t own any but when the 1979 Sears Christmas catalogue came out, I became fascinated with an item in the catalogue.  Micronauts Sears Catalogue 197979The item was the Micronauts Rocket Tubes.  Here’s the details of that add: 

The transportation system of the future.  Micronauts are propelled on a smooth, silent cushion of air.  Includes 15′ of microtube which makes several fantastic layouts such as a 10 1/2″ vertical shaft or a 6′ x 20″ continuous oval loops.  With 2 cargo vehicles and 2 special Microanuts.  Wall power pack.

The price was only $59.99 but it might as well have been a million dollars because I was 17 and had no job and no savings. 

     If you think that wanting something and not having the money for it deterred me then you’d be wrong.  It was, after all, a Christmas catalogue, so I thought maybe I could ask for it for Christmas.  My Mother said no.  I offered to pay half toward the cost even though I didn’t have the half.  My Mother said no.  That was the end of my dream until 37 years later.  Now that I’m working again and have some disposable cash, I thought it was time to revisit that dream.  Before I tell you about that version of my narrative, check out this original video for the Micronauts Rocket Tubes: 

     Wow, wasn’t that fun?  Probably more fun than reading my blahg about the Rocket Tubes.  Well, I’m going to continue on.  Thanks to the modern age of the Internet and Ebay, I was able to track down a Rocket Tubes set for a reasonable price.  I still remember the day I came home to tell my wife and my daughter about my online purchase.  All I said was that I had bought the one thing that I always wanted.  My daughter Abbie guessed it right away and was just as excited that I had purchased the Rocket Tubes.  In a previous blahg, My Good Life, I wrote about having once wanted a Rom The Space Knight action figure and how Abbie had used her own money to buy me it for Christmas in 2014.  After Rom, that left the Rocket Tubes at the top of my wish list.  Of course, if you’ve read previous blahgs, World Peace is always at the top of my list but the Micronauts Rocket Tubes was a close second. 

     My friend Bryan heard that I had purchased the Rocket Tubes and asked that I make a video of it once I received it in the mail.  Here’s that video: 

I know, it’s not a great video but it conveys the message I want to get across.  By the way, if you missed that message, it’s this:  IT’S NEVER TOO LATE. 

     Before I move off of this topic, I want to draw your attention to something I mentioned in the video.  If you click on the image of the Sears advertisement for the Rocket Tubes that I have posted above then you will see that there was an extra bonus that you could have purchased from Sears.  Here’s the description: 

Glider Launcher.  Accessory for item (15).  Mounts on a vertical rocket tube shaft.  When Micronaut figure ‘blasts off’ up the shaft, it launches up to 3 glides.  About 11″ wide x 11″ long x 3″ high.

As you can see from the picture in the Sears Catalogue, the gliders are very colorful and have decals on them.  Rocket Tubes GlidersThis is of course the gliders that were sold as an accessory in Canada.  In the United States, the gliders were very plain looking but at least they were included in the price of the Rocket Tubes.  In Canada, our more colorful set was an accessory that would have cost you an extra $10.99.  I didn’t even have the $11 in 1979 and I’ve yet to track down a set of these gliders.  The gliders were exclusive to Sears so they are now at the top of my wish list after World Peace. 

     I want to move away from the Micronauts now and back into the realm of Jazz which has been a favorite topic of mine in the past.  Midnight In Moscow LPI recently picked up an album of Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen called “Midnight In Moscow.”  I believe this album came out in 1962, which coincidentally was the year I was born.  I had never heard of Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen but some research has shown they were very popular in Britain and the title song, “Midnight In Moscow” was one of their big hits.  Give it a listen: 


I found out that Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen were also favorites on the Morecambe and Wise variety show also out of Britain.  I found this great video of them performing “I Want To Be Like You”.  You will no doubt recognize that song as coming from the movie “Jungle Book”.  Check it out: 


     So I discovered Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen 50 years later.  That’s okay, like the title says:  IT’S NEVER TOO LATE.