I wanted to share a bit about my own “Woody”- albeit not an actual Woody doll, but another toy that, like Andy, was/is my favorite, the one who’s brave etc, always there.
When I was 10, I received a New Kids on the Block Jordan doll. Unlike blonde haired Ken, I could relate to Jordan as we shared the same eye, hair and skin color. I modeled his character after the Hindi film heroes I watched on video and made him the kind of guy I wanted to be- brave, courageous, strong, respectful to the ladies, etc. I could go on and on about Jordan, but that would bore the rest of you us who want to hear me yammer on about Woody and Buzz, which I’ll save for another thread.
No, I think this thread is quite relevant. I mean, one of the things that made Toy Story so great was the fact that we could all relate to it at one point. That being said, since I was very young when Toy Story came out, my first Woody was a Woody. Couldn’t get the coveted pull-string Woody at first (save for a few years later), but my parents got me a bendy-wire Woody the night I saw the film. Took this guy everywhere until I actually did get a real Woody a few birthdays later, who eventually replaced him.
I’m 29, and was around 14 when TS released. I was still actively playing with Jordan- taking him places (like Andy when he goes to Pizza Planet), and oddly enough, I got an Action Man figure the year TS released and played with him more than Jordan that one year, but then I sent Action Man down the stairs and his leg broke off. Then Jordan became my favorite again.
Jordan still travels with me, I take him when I travel that is, and we roast hot Schmoes at the campfire. -Omar
My real world ‘woody’ was a soft toy of Lady from Disney’s ‘The Lady and the Tramp’. I got it as a gift way back in 1973, or at least thats what I was told (I was 5). I do remember having that toy with me all the time right up until I was in my late teens. Then I discovered beer and women and the whole macho thing and she just got put in the cupboard along with my other childhood toys. Time moved on, I moved out etc and somewhere along the way she became a lost toy. Having kids of my own I would have loved to have passed her on as a family heirloom. Now I’ve gone full circle and have loads of toys. My kids love it.
I used to have a small stuffed dinosaur I took EVERYWHERE. And later, a small Littlest Pet Shop skunk I took with me everywhere as well. Also a plush badger, but I stopped taking him with me when I went to high school.
Now it’s either a plush Conker, plush Mario, or Luigi figurine. Or a tiny Hyena figurine I bought last year in France.
Most my toys took turns being my “Woody”. My favorites were a blue seahorse and a skunk. I had so many toys I can’t remember them all. But I still have my seahorse and my skunk. Oh, and I have a breyer horse plushie one of my friends gave me that I take everywhere (because I still sleep with my toys.) And another skunk.
I have a bear that my Dad got me when I was born. He brought me and my brother and sister a cuddly toy when we were born.
His name is Bear, yeah I know really imaginative. But that is just the name he sort of aquired and it stuck.
He sits in my room with a Superted bear from the cartoon series. You folks in the US should google it, as I’m guessing he might not have reached your shores.
Bear has a big brown head and a cream muzzle. His body is alot smaller than his head and he has a purple bow around his neck.
He is not the colest toy but he is mine and nobody is getting there hands on him! lol
I have always had a love for teddy bears. All through my early childhood I had favourite teddies that I took everywhere.
I had a small-ish yellow bear that matched my moses basket that I have had since the day I was born. I never gave it a name but it was always a favourite.
I also had a very fluffy white bear with a light blue bow around his neck, and I called him Snowy. I remember carting him around lots and even on holiday once!
There were way more cuddly bears, but I don’t want to blabber on and on, but the two I have mentioned were my all-time faves.
I still have them now, stored in this pink vertical net basket stuffed with other plushies and my sister’s teddies.
I still have my first woody. He’s the puppet version from Burger king, i used to take him everywhere. To preschool, daycare, and even to first grade (but i stopped when a kid told me he’d destroy woody if i ever brought him again). My initials are on both his boots. He has stitches on his right arm after i burned him with matches (yes, we played with matches one time and i burned his arm). He was my favorite toy for a long time until i got my hasbro woody.
My equivalent to Woody was a plush toy of Wishbone, the dog from the PBS TV show. He traveled everywhere with me for a few years. He’s definitely a well loved toy, given that instead of white, he’s turned a sort of ugly gray over the years. One of his eyes fell off and had to be hot glued back on, and most of his nose has chipped off over the years.
But he’s still one of my favorite toys, warts and all!
He used to have a red string for his mouth, but I don’t know where it went, and a scarf, which I still have somewhere.
I got him for Christmas when I was about 6. He’s been through a lot.
The most interesting event was probably when I brought him to a Christmas light show thing and I accidentally dropped him in the parking lot…I had a minor panic attack after we left and convinced my parents to go back. We found him in the parking lot, literally an inch away from being crushed by a car tire.
I have to admit something- Jordan, the one in the photos, is actually Jordan 2. The original one was literally played with to death (and several body swap upgrades) and I lost him (oddly enough) on the last day of high school.
Here’s something odd- no two Hasbro NKOTB figures look identical, and the Jordan doll is notorious for having two headmold designs- one fat and square (like mine) and one thinner, like most of the others on Ebay. It took me several years to find and recognize another one a head just like mine.
Now of course that simply must mean that my first Jordan has by now taken over a daycare center and is heck bent on keeping new toys there. -Omar
I have a cat stuffed toy (Actually a cougar, but details) that I got during the summer before 3rd grade. i won it in a claw machine on the boardwalk. I was actually trying to win a different one in the machine, but I’m happy I missed. His name is Spotty because of his spots (creative, i know) and his name is in my email address with numbers at the end. He has this pipe cleaner with red, white, and blue beads on it around his neck that is a bracelet kind of thing. I have that on him because in about 3rd or 4th grade (most likely 3rd) we each had to teach the class how to make something. The girl I liked showed us how to make those bracelets with the materials she brought in so since I liked her I put it on my favorite toy. I still like her to this current day and still have Spotty next to my bed. Yes, i sound stupid, i know.
Now that I think back, I actually did have another favorite toy. It was a Robocop action figure (basically my own Buzz Lightyear). Of course, I was too young to see the movie back then, but with all his cool accessories, it didn’t matter. He had a couple guns, and a sword, which lit up with his visor. He had about 12 different buttons on his back for different sounds and effects. He has barely survived today, but he’s not getting passed down. He already lost an arm, and the sword was broken in half.
I had a Dizzy Devil plush that I carried around with me when I was really young. I left him on the plane and never saw him again. I think it was the greatest loss I’ve ever felt at the time.
I bought another one a few years ago, but it just wasn’t the same. I’ve gotten too old for Dizzy Devil. Apparently at 25 I’m still not too old for Woody, though. Or Buzz. Or Bullseye. Or Lots-O-Huggin Bear.
-Omar
