When I dreamed of stumbling through the woods, I was always accompanied by the Ready Ranger Pack. This plastic kit from Aurora always seemed a bit bulky in ads, but boy did it ever look useful.
Doug: I accidentally got this film thinking it was Shock Waves. There is a version without the nudity. I actually...
ShadowWing Tronix: I remember it was released in syndication as part of “The Groovie Goolies and...
The Retroist: I think Sean’s poster would make for a better cover for the film.
Kris Knives: I’m sooo glad I decided to get this on VHS when I had the chance. The Retroist: The whole Darth Maul thing kind of bummed me out. He was a fairly compelling character, at least...
LOI: Nice article, Like above poster, I started watching some Pertwee episodes on my local PBS station back in the...
degenerart: I remember how big the release of this film was. I worked at Waldenbooks and we had dozens of tie-ins,... The Retroist: @Flack – I always remember the movies I went to see on a big opening weekend. Raiders, the...
Professor Brian Oblivion: Thanks everybody! I really appreciate it.
Retro Justin: That’s some amazing footage.
Hmmm… I always wanted one, but this always seemed like a really cool-looking, albeit useless-in-real-life kit.
P.A. Horn is useless, does not summon any help. “Countless” signals are required from the (weak?) signal light to get a reply. No evidence of a Morse Code chart so the kids can actually communicate with the tower. No matches, flint, or any other way to start a fire to keep warm and stave off attacks by wild animals.
On the other hand, these kids seem kind of dumb to go around calling themselves Rangers. When trapped by a rockslide, they don’t simply climb over the rocks or just go back the way they came. Instead, they choose to be trapped and spend the night out in the woods, requiring an expensive airlift rescue. They need a gadget to find the North Star, which is pointless anyway since they aren’t going anywhere. Can’t read a map, which would tell them how far they are from the park, and where they are. They need a periscope to see a bright, plainly obvious signal light from the tower. Doesn’t seem like they’ve told anyone where they’ve gone in case they don’t show up after a while.
How many would-be Rangers, I wonder, even now are littering the Wilderness, nothing more than skeletons enshrouded in orange plastic ponchos, stretched out on the ground with with Ready Ranger kits set up like little tombstones in front of them?
Ah, the stuff that adventurous dreams are made of! I remember seeing this ad on the backs of comic books, my mouth watering at imagined dangers overcome with the help of this highly technical and utterly practical backpack! Lucky was the lad who found one of these beneath their Christmas tree, methinks. I’ve seen cynical reactions to this toy on other blogs. It’s perhaps not one of the greatest toys, but it at least offered the prospect of high adventure without a rubber knife or simulated firearm.