12/19/05: Radio Shack Full O' Gifts! Radio Shack as I know it today is more like 7th on the list of places to check when I'm looking for some obscure cell phone part, but in its heyday -- albeit in my eyes -- it was a tremendously different toy store that sold all sorts of alpha omega electronics that you couldn't get anywhere else. The chain had a terrific ability of looking at then-current hot trends and figuring out ways to do them on the cheap. My favorite example isn't seen in this particular ad, but it's totally worth mentioning because it's been on the tip of my tongue throughout the history of X-Entertainment. I'm talking about....The Claw. Behold, one of my very favorite toys of all time. Radio Shack's "Battle Iron Claw" was delivered to me from my brother 'round Christmastime -- he'd picked up a few different remote controlled vehicles for a song off of a closeout table, and while I will never believe that anyone in their right mind would part ways with such a magnificent item for five bucks, he swears that that's all he paid. The Claw was slow-moving with its tank treads and heavy innards, but speed wasn't the selling point: It had...a God damned CLAW! It couldn't have been more beautiful. Controlled by the same remote, the claw moved up and down, left and right, claspy or no claspy...you could even make it spin around and have everyone in the room saying "Oh Claw you so crazy." While the Battle Iron Claw's ear-destroying noise level made it improper for sneaky stealth missions, I firmly recall the sense of pride as I had it deliver my brothers chocolate Entermann's donuts from across the room. God, I loved The Claw. And by association, Radio Shack. As for today's commercial, it seems to have been intended as the ultimate Radio Shack reminder that people didn't need to buy those pricey tabletop Coleco arcade games if they wanted to have a little joystick fun -- get a load of the gamut of knockoffs in this ad, from "Kingman" to "Zapman" to "Alien Chase" and beyond. In a sentence, the games were fun to play but not the kind of gifts you'd brag about to your friends. That said, Radio Shack only skimped on coming up with clever names for their library of titles -- the actual play value of the games was perfectly adequate, so much so that hundreds of tribute sites exist today. I mean, real tribute sites, not like the one I'm doing. Click here to download this commercial! (.WMV, 5 MB) ....close this window!