Retro Weekend Rewind: Christmas Edition - Christmas Comes to Pacland, Atari 2600, & Christmas Crunch
It’s beginning to look a lot like an ‘80s Christmas! (At least for us!) In this month’s edition of the Retro Weekend Rewind we’re going to take a look at some Holiday Favorites from that Ho! Ho! Ho! so awesome decade! So stop circling toys you want from that 1981 Sears Wish Book Catalog, mix up a fresh pitcher of Tang, and cozy up to a quick trip down Retro Christmas Memory Lane!
Christmas Comes to Pacland
Christmas Comes to Pacland (Preview) 12/16/1982
Christmas Comes to Pacland was a prime-time Holiday special based on the Pac-Man Saturday Morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera. It aired on December 16, 1982 on ABC. Pac-Man and his family help Santa get airborne after a crash landing on Christmas Eve while avoiding “Packy’s” ghostly enemies. The cartoon featured classic voice talents as Marty Ingels (Pac-Man) Russi Taylor (Pac-Baby), Frank Welker (Chomp Chomp/Morris Reindeer), Peter Cullen (Santa Claus/Sour Puss) among others. Who remembers skipping Magnum P.I. that Thursday to watch this Christmas adventure and talk about it the next morning at school?
Atari 2600
Atari 2600 Christmas Commercial (1981)
It wouldn’t be an ‘80s Christmas without an Atari 2600 and a few games under the tree! The Atari VCS (Video Computer System) was originally released on September 11, 1977 and officially called the Atari 2600 by 1982. This video game system brought arcade gaming home in a big way and can be considered the console that the entire industry is built on to this day! Popular games for the 2600 were Asteroids, Space Invaders, Yars’ Revenge, Centipede, among many others. Some of the Atari systems, including the two that I had (divorced parent’s) were bundled with Pac-Man and Combat! What were some of your favorite Atari 2600 video games?
Cap’n Crunch’s Christmas Crunch Cereal
Christmas Crunch commercial (1988)
Christmas wouldn't be complete without the sugary breakfast goodness that is Christmas Crunch! This cereal is a seasonal version of Cap’n Crunch that was first introduced in 1988, by Quaker, and can still be purchased during the holiday season today! The cereal included the regular Cap’n Crunch cereal pieces, but added red and green Christmas Crunch Berries. Each year the box features the Cap’n dressed as Santa Claus. This Christmas version of an ‘80s favorite cereal still destroyed the roof of every boy and girl’s mouth who just wanted to stay off of Santa’s Naughty List!
We hope you enjoyed this look back at Christmases long, long ago! Be sure to leave a comment below, Tweet, or Facebook us with your favorite childhood Christmas memories! If you have suggestions for future Retro Weekend Rewind posts let us know. Thanks for stopping by and we’ll see you here next time! Merry Christmas from The Near Mint Fanboys!