Thursday, July 05, 2007

Ready Ranger : a whole mess of promises


I've always been intrigued by the Ready Ranger pack, in comic ads and catalogues it seems to make a lot of promises. I mean, Power Pack, signal light, compass, weather forecaster, PA and a compass? If that all worked it would be so bad ass. I've heard from friends that this was not the case however. Anybody have it?

30 comments:

TS Hart said...

Thank you for posting this. I have been trying to tell people about this toy for years.

chunky B said...

I vaguely remember this toy. I remember having to have it for the periscope and the light, and playing with those pieces exclusively. I remember toting the back back around and when we got to an area to set up "camp" my buddies would grab all the cool stuff and leave me with the back pack, needless to say I stopped bringing it out to play with, just the periscope and flashlight. The ads made it seem like so much more.

Scurvy said...

anything with a PA system to me is where it's at.

rob! said...

not being mechanically inclined, i think that toy would have induced NOT anticipatory glee, but terror and worry that i wasnt gonna use it right.

i'll stick to my Millennium Falcon, thank you.

Anonymous said...

Yep, I had this toy! I loved the PA system

Anonymous said...

I had one. I mostly used the periscope. I also had the camera that looked like a gun with a folding stock.That was cool!

msspurlock said...

Ah, what nostalgic bliss this brings back. The Ready Ranger toys were the best value for the money of any toys made during that decade. Talk about playability and possibilities. I had the backpack, and really wanted the camera, but they never stocked them in our stores.

Anonymous said...

I had one of these. The straps were made of plastic, and quickly fell apart. (Thanks Mom, for sewing up some replacements!)

The hinges were the next parts to fail, so it stayed in the house after that.

I had the gun camera mentioned above. (Used 126 film, I never had it developed)

I also had a perimeter alarm. (orange box which would alarm when a trip wire was pulled)

There was also a tent available. I think it was blue plastic.

Anonymous said...

I had the Toy as well, My little Brother and I went on many.."adventures" with it. This brings back lots of good memories. I can't beleive it was only $10.00 (in 70's money). the PA and the Flashlight were heavily used.

LastChance said...

OMG! I got this when I was 8 or so. It was my absolute favorite toy for years. It didn't really matter that it didn't live up to the hype. It was all about pretending. My friends and I had some great 'adventures'.

Anonymous said...

Oh yes, this brings back memories. My brother and I each got one as a Christmas gift and played with it for years afterwards. Similar to others' experience, we took them out for adventures in the backyard, under the house, up in a tree, etc. Back then, nothing seemed cheesy, you were just limited by your imagination. PC3

neckleaper said...

I got one of these when I was little.Wish I still had it.

Anonymous said...

I still have this toy including the camera gun and is in great condition.

Unknown said...

I can't remember if I had it, or my brother had it. I remember using the PA, the tripwire alarm, and the periscope. I used the rest, too, but only in my imagination (as the rest didn't really work).

Unknown said...

I have been trying to remember what this was called for years! Loved this toy. I had the perimeter alarm and the vinyl sleeping bag. This thing was awesome!

PaulH said...

I've been trying to find anything on this toy for...well....decades. I got this for christmas that year, and the woods behind my house were never dull again.

Anonymous said...

I bought this for my little brother (Joe) back around 1975. I was working as a lifeguard in Dade County (FL), and my parents refused to buy this for him. (Don't know why.) Anyway $10 was a lot of cash for me- took home about $1.50 an hour. Joe (& his buddies) played with that toy until the straps and hinges fell off! We're adults now, and he still talks about that toy.

sasha said...

i just bought this on Ebay -- i remember my mom wouldn't buy it for me at Kiddy City because she said she was cheap and now u see she was right but I LOVE THIS! and thank you for telling people about this-- i was looking for this on Ebay for years but I thought it was called Ranger Rick but later just a few weeks ago i stumbled upon it by accident and just had to buy it

sasha said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I just dug my Ready Ranger pack out of the basement and had my daughter take the pledge... now she's playing with it the way I did as a kid at age 7. I was worried that it wouldn't compete with her DS or the dvd since its all pretend dials etc but all kids love to make believe. Seeing her with it brought back a lot of happy memories. Plus I had to laugh about having Mom make replacement straps... mine too!

Rob said...

I remember when I got the Ready Ranger back pack for Xmas. I convinced my friends that if we went deep into the woods, my pack had everything to help us find our way back. Well, the three of us went into the woods and got lost. None knew how to use a compass, much or less take a compass reading before we left. And much to our surprise, we discovered that most of the stuff in the pack were meant to be used at night. We finally made it a house and asked the owners if we could call home. It turned out we were only about half mile from our houses. We all got in trouble and my friends were kind of pissed off at me. I don't know why.

Steve Cherches said...

I had it too. Loved it. I thought it came with an inflatable sleeping bag too (orange and turquoise) but that might've been a separate thing.

Thanks so much for posting! Love it!!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for putting these pics up! I also had one of these great sets. I remember it also had "alert signal" functionality! It told you to disconnect the hose that's used for the "megaphone", and to spin it over your head. Much to my shock it actually started making a "woo woo" kind of noise! It's now decades later, but every time I see a length of common pool hose, I have to spin it over my head to show whoever I am with how extraordinarily clever and resourceful I am.

-Steve www.alt3redegos.com

VampireSlug said...

I remember begging for this forever until I finally got it for either Christmas or my birthday. It was nowhere near as cool as the commercials made it out to be, I was a little disappointed and rarely took it outside for fear of breaking it or losing parts. I'd kill for one today though.

Anonymous said...

Had it as a kid. Loved it. Would like to buy one today for my son. It was one if the best xmas gifts I recieved as a child.

Anonymous said...

One of the best toys ever. One year my parents got some furniture that came in a big box. We made a submarine out of the box and used the periscope in the submarine. I wish I still had this toy.

Thatgeoffguy said...

When I was a kid I used to just swing the black plastic tube around and make it whistle. That lasted for about five to ten minutes before my dad yelled at me to cut it the hell out.

This toy held an exalted status for me as a kid.

Ken said...

I got one in 1975. Loved it. I marked every Sears Wish Book and JC Penney catalog (anyone remember doing this?) I could find in September 1975 so nobody would miss the fact that, yes, I really wanted one of these things.

Steven Combs said...

Loved this toy growing up and wrote a lengthy blog post about it at: http://bit.ly/1HlbBAj

Huge thanks to PlaidStallions for the image of the Ready Ranger Mobile Field Headquarters!

------------------------
Steven
http://www.stevencombs.com

Bob said...

I have found an unopened Ready Ranger Mobile Field Pack among some of the toys stored in the basement. The box is still sealed. What an amazing find! Most likely I will be putting it on Ebay.

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