How Much Was That Red Ryder BB Gun? Find Out the Costs of These Iconic Christmas Gifts
What To Know
- The article explores the original and current costs of iconic Christmas gifts featured in popular holiday movies.
- Many of these gifts, like the Red Ryder BB Gun and TalkBoy, were affordable at the time of their release.
- The emotional impact of these gifts in their respective films often outweighs their monetary value.
The season of giving is already upon us, and if movies have taught us anything, it is that presents are never just presents. They are emotional moments wrapped in paper and ribbon, from childhood wishes fulfilled to quiet gestures of love or a reveal that lands with just the right amount of cinematic weight.
In a great Christmas movie, the act of giving can become the heart of the story, peeling back the true nature of a relationship or nudging the narrative forward at exactly the right moment. A truly good gift in cinema keeps on giving, and sometimes that means to the story itself.
But from a practical standpoint, one has to wonder: What are the costs of these gifts? Other than the emotional damage (or in some cases, property damage) they might wreck.
Here is a look at a few iconic presents from favorite Christmas movies, what they cost at the time, and what they cost now. Please enjoy.
A Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model Air Rifle from A Christmas Story
Everett Collection
Cost: $3.50 in 1939
Adjusted Cost: $81.20
If You Wanted to Buy It Today: You can get a Red Ryder starting at $44.90
Complete with a compass and the ability to tell time, Ralphie’s (Peter Billingsley) prized Red Ryder BB Gun was inspired by the Daisy Red Ryder BB gun, a popular item from Daisy Outdoor Products, which the film’s prop makers adapted to fit writer’s Jean Shepherd’s description. The real version lacked the compass and the dial, but it was still on the want-list of many a young lad in the ’30s and ’40s.
The BB gun Ralphie desired with all his heart came closest to the Golden-Banded 1000 Shot Red Ryder Cowboy Carbine Buck Jones Special, which went for $3.50 at the time.
Turbo Man from Jingle All the Way
20th Century Fox
Cost: $28.99 in 1996
Adjusted Cost: $60.98
If You Wanted to Buy It Today: Get a limited edition TurboMan action figure replica for $400
All Howard (Arnold Schwarzenegger) wanted for Christmas was to make his son happy, and to do that, he had to fight mobs of shoppers and frenzied lunatics, all hoping to get their grubby mitts on a coveted Turbo Man, the hottest toy of the season.
The Turbo Man hysteria, as depicted in Jingle All the Way, directly mirrored the real-world Tickle Me Elmo craze of Christmas 1996. At the time, equivalent toys like Tickle Me Elmo, were almost $29.
Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now CD from Love, Actually
Universal/courtesy Everett Collection
Cost: Between $16.98 to $18.98
Adjusted Cost: Between $30.35 to $33.93
If You Wanted to Buy It Today: Still $16.99
The cursed Joni Mitchell CD that clued Karen (Emma Thompson) in on her husband’s infidelity and destroyed the hearts of every person watching that film cost between $16.98 to $18.98, depending on where you shopped.
Today, it would cost over $30, which doesn’t include the therapy one would need to process that scene in its entirety.
A TalkBoy recorder from Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
20th Century Fox
Cost: $29.99 in 1992
Adjusted Cost: $70.53
If You Wanted to Buy It Today: On Ebay, original, functioning TalkBoys from 1992 range from $150 to $999
In Home Alone 2, Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) uses his Talkboy to manipulate his voice, slowing it down to sound like an adult so he can do adult things, like make a reservation at the Plaza Hotel or trick the hotel staff. It is an essential tool to his trade.
The original Talkboy recorder, released in late 1992 as a tie-in for the film, typically retailed for around $29.99, with demand sometimes pushing prices higher at resale. It became a massive hit, leading to different versions, but the initial 1992 release was priced just under $30.
A mogwai from Gremlins
Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection
Cost: $200
Adjusted Cost: $470.38
If You Wanted to Buy It Today: Not available, but people have paid thousands for custom-bred design pets.
When Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) first stumbled into the little curiosities shop, he didn’t expect to find a singing, chirping mogwai. After being turned down, he makes a shady, back-alley deal for the creature, which he names Gizmo.
Today, that deal would run well over $450. And while it would be impossible because mogwai don’t exist, the price could easily be comparable to any number of black-market “exotic” pets, from monkeys and sloths to sugar gliders or servals, which can cost thousands of dollars.
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