Memory unlocked.
Posted by Quiet_Molasses_3362@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 86 comments
Posted by Quiet_Molasses_3362@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 86 comments
SpaceGerbil@reddit
NOTHING CAN STOP THE ANIMAL!!!!!!!
truffles76@reddit
Except for.slightly raised obstacles directly in front of it.
VacuumsCantSpell@reddit
"AMAZING STUFF!" That's the best they could come up with eh?
uniquecleverusername@reddit
I never got one as a kid, but after reading these comments, it sounds like many, many, many things could stop the animal. I did have a stomper. The thing that stopped that was "driving it" under water.
Tedanki@reddit
Yup, song played in my head as soon as I saw the image.
BigSquiby@reddit
whoever posted this can go straight to hell. im going to have the fn commercial bouncing around in my head for the next week.
chili's baby back ribs
Get your skis shined up grab a stick of Juicy Fruit
The taste is gonna move ya
gimme a break, gimme a break, break me off a piece of the kitkat bar...
now we can both live with these
Relative-Gas-1721@reddit
The An-I-mal!
fromthedarqwaves@reddit
I wanted one so bad. Never got one. Years later my friend had one and let me try it out. Definitely not as mind blowing as I was hoping.
lordskulldragon@reddit
The commercials were way cooler than the toy itself...
Svenderhof@reddit
I guess that is one of the cases where it's good that I never got one, because I only remember how cool the commercials made them seem.
I wonder if these could be upgraded or completely fabricated with modern tech and materials that could live up to how cool this thing was in the commercials. Even just motors and battery tech are way better now. If the failing was mostly just a matter of the thing having been underpowered, that's completely solvable.
Zerkcie@reddit
We found a way to upgrade it. We stuck model airplane engines on it and use lit sparklers to ignite them. It was a twirling mass of plastic claws đ (I really am surprised we all werenât killed as children)
newsflashjackass@reddit
The Animal was a decent toy, it's just that the commercial was stellar.
The concept was revisited with The Claw.
Not to discourage (re)inventors but no one so far has discovered a better general shape for wheels than "round".
ScreenTricky4257@reddit
The Craw?
Svenderhof@reddit
That's no deterrent from trying MORE POWER!
newsflashjackass@reddit
Finesse may fare better than brute force.
Svenderhof@reddit
I suppose if we're going to over engineer we could go down the road, of... completely designing and building a specialized road.
Or we could try strapping some solid fuel model rocket engines to it and see if that does something.
newsflashjackass@reddit
To hell with wheels. Conveyor belt roads.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_walkway#Slidewalk
Svenderhof@reddit
I still don't see how this is going to get us over a pile of logs but smashing through one can get us there too so I'm game.
newsflashjackass@reddit
Simple. We make the wheel shaped like the opposite of a pile of logs. ^(đ)đ
Svenderhof@reddit
... It was right there the whole time.
Prestigious_Dream_27@reddit
I canât hear you over the sound of my Nickelodeon Moonshoes and my Nintendo Power Glove.
Svenderhof@reddit
spotcatspot@reddit
I remember being so disappointed in this thing. As a little kid it was a point I realized commercials were full of shit.
johntwilker@reddit
I remember being like, "That's it? I just... goes, and has claws?"
stykface@reddit
You're not wrong!! I loved the commercial..... The Animal Monster Truck Toy Commercial
lordskulldragon@reddit
In the beginning of the commercial they're clearly yelling at the things to get them to move, definitely not cheering them on! lol
Brocephus_@reddit
Exactly. There's still one of these in my childhood bedroom closet back home. The thing was ridiculously slow, good at getting stuck, great at depleting batteries. No controlling it.Â
handytendonitis@reddit
The no control thing was the main thing. This was right around the same time some super expensive toys could be controlled remotely. There was all kindsa lame gimmicks to unload toys that didn't have R/C control. Like putting animal claws inside of truck tires. Genius.
LeftyNPancho@reddit
I got mine jammed in my momâs afghan throw blanket on Christmas morning.
usernameiwontremembe@reddit
This was an unfulfilled childhood wish of my husband. I got one for his birthday this year on eBay . He was so excited. He had to 3D print a battery door for it. But it works and itâs awesome!
hacksawomission@reddit
Pfft, never forgot. The Animal! The ANIMAL!
lieutenantLT@reddit
This brings back the painful memory of yearning for that toy on TV Iâd never have
PoisonMind@reddit
What's Tempest? Looks cool.
evilcatminion@reddit
I still have my black version!
StickDroid2178@reddit
I was going to say I had a black one.
brmiller1984@reddit
Oh, dang! I forgot about this!
spderweb@reddit
I had one of these. Mine was black with silver claws though.
PlagueDrWily@reddit
Had the yellow one, it was so disappointing I didnât bother replacing the batteries once they died. It was a cool monster truck for He Man or GI Joe to plow over the bad guys though.
Sasselhoff@reddit
I'll be honest with ya, I totally forgot about this one! Now I don't recall if it was me that had one, or if I just remember friends getting them...somehow I think it was my buddies, but I got to play with it too. I seem to remember it being a little bit of a letdown, after the commercials, haha.
habrasangre@reddit
F
FreemanAMG@reddit
I had the black one and I loved it! Also, this was the first toy I disassembled and successfully put back together
DexterousMonkey@reddit
I got one of these for Christmas when I was about 4 years old. I just remember getting my shirt stuck in the claw wheels and crying as the truck slowly devoured my shirt.
Downtown_Horse1204@reddit
I had the camero
ChromeDestiny@reddit
I had a variant with glow in the dark claws.
zenerNoodle@reddit
On the one I had, the claws on one of the wheels wouldn't retract after being deployed, so it would start going in bumpy circles after hitting the first obstacle it encountered. I don't actually remember being too disappointed by it, though. Just one of those gifts that were unexpected (don't remember seeing the commercials) and didn't quite work out. Doubt I played with it for more than a few hours in total. Kinda wish I could've just told my parents to return it.
Definitely agree about it unlocking a memory, though. I haven't thought about this truck in decades.
civiltribe@reddit
oh I have the song in my head more than the product so I have no association of it being tied to this toy I vaguely remember and was probably slightly too young for? but now I have some context for why that song exists in my brain.
JeepnHeel@reddit
There is a vast emptiness inside me that will never be filled until I have the full size version in real life. The closest I have come is a lifted TJ that ran 37's, but never solved that final step of how to get the huge claws that come out.
LH99@reddit
six? C batteries that lasted ten minutes as it got slower and slower.
AlienDelarge@reddit
Its a wonder it could move the weight of its own batteries
R0botDreamz@reddit
I got this Christmas 86 I believe. Incredible toy.
Fun fact: they re-released a modern version a few years ago. It actually responds to voice commands. I comes in a cage and it breaks out of the cage with the voice/noise command and even growls. Has the retractable claws and everything. I bought myself one for Christmas that year.
fprimex@reddit
Bought one for my kids and one for my nephews. If you want an entertaining Christmas morning with four kids yelling at boxes at the top of their lungs this is the toy to get.
tr1mble@reddit
Reminds me of getting this toy ....another awesome looking thing from the commercials, but disappointment once in your hands lol
Tinyhulk27@reddit
My cousin had one and we totally expected it to drive up the wall based on the ad.
theDragonNinja-@reddit
Why did we all have pjâs that looked like these?
ezmoney98@reddit
I cut the top open to put my GI Joes and the bottom where the batteries go had a lid that I lost immediately so of course more GI Joes get shoved in there too.
newsflashjackass@reddit
Them Cobras won't know what hit 'em!
therobotscott@reddit
Forget flying cars, this is the vehicle design society needs, nay, DESERVES!
redbeardscrazy@reddit
Had a blue one.
Varmitthefrog@reddit
GOD DAMN I JUST TIME TRAVELED.
BackFromTheDeadSoon@reddit
The lengths that they went to to just not put rubber tires on these things.
LineImpossible3958@reddit
The Animal! The Animal! Nothing can stop!, the Animal!
(Turns out twigs and tiny rocks could in fact stop the Animal)
NBKiller69@reddit
My sister and I were playing with one, and very young me made the mistake of letting it climb into my lap. The claws hooked onto my shirt, which proceeded to wrap around the wheels. Fortunately, my parents were in the room and got me untangle before it finished strangling me lol
xt0rt@reddit
I got that one and this long one that would kinda crawl up the wall and over obstacles for Xmas
steamerlatino@reddit
The most Xennial toy ever. Loved it back in the day.
Holiest_hand_grenade@reddit
I remember wanting it so bad and then destroying it by driving through a puddle like in the commercial. Like a puddle to mid tire. That's was enough to splash water into the motor and done
cjandstuff@reddit
Grew up projects and government cheese poor, but somehow I had this toy. Maybe it was a Christmas gift from a relative. It looked so cool, but ran so badly!
Way_2_Go_Donny@reddit
I forgot about this. Never had one, but neighbor kid did. Seemed underwhelming.
_The_Spungos_@reddit
The question really is: Can anything stop the animal???
handytendonitis@reddit
Narrator: In fact everything can stop the animal
555byte@reddit
What about the Cross Boss? I thought that was cooler, but I never had either myself.
seolchan25@reddit
I had that one!
Rivas-al-Yehuda@reddit
Major memory unlocked! I wanted that thing so bad. I don't think I ever ended up seeing one in person, but I do remember the commercials.
Vian_Ostheusen@reddit
damn. forgot about this.
Frosty_Cloud_2888@reddit
I wanted one but never got one. My friend had one and bought it for show and tell. We were amazed.
reynaldoboyolo@reddit
I thought these were pretty cool. I feel like they did better climbing things like cushions and pillows. We had the red one and the yellow one. I'm pretty sure the red one is still in the basement at my sister's house (where we grew up)
protoman86@reddit
Never had the toy, but I remember the commercial for sure đ
Blackn35s@reddit
As I kid, I looked at this ad and totally saw through the bullshit.
Hilsam_Adent@reddit
My elder brother talked me out of buying one of these. "Granted it looks cool as fuck, but I bet it's a steaming piece of dogshit." Asshat that he was... occasionally, he looked out for me.
Jokierre@reddit
If memory serves, the claws retracted when you twist the grey hubs. When they were out it wouldnât move backwards. Yeah, this was a clunky toy that looked cool.
emptybeetoo@reddit
If my memory serves, when the claws were out the thing wouldnât move at all unless it was on a flat surface. One of the more disappointing toys of my childhood, but I guess it taught the importance of tires so not a total loss
Jokierre@reddit
Exactly! âMovingâ wasnât really a feature the designers had in mind!
psyclopsus@reddit
Of all the nostalgia snapbacks in this sub, this one gave me whiplash the most. I never had this toy but it immediately registers in my brain
ian_blake@reddit
theme song just unlocked in my brain, THE ANIMAAAAL
Cainesbrother@reddit
Yep. I remember not getting one. God! I hated being poor!
austinmiles@reddit
This thing seemed cool but I had a pretty awesome rc truck that I got from an estranged grandpa when I was like 6 that was so cool that this thing dint have that big of a draw other than wanting to see it work.
Geek_King@reddit
Yes, I had one that looks like, if memory serves, a yellow corvette with monster truck tires. The only thing that sticks with me was the terrible clicking, gear grinding noise it'd make it if met an obstacle it couldn't climb. Due to that behavior, I didn't play with it a ton.