12 Days of Christmas Presents Past: Your Favorite Seasonal VHS Tapes From Blockbuster 

As a sort of advent calendar of kitsch, Pictorial will be counting down the final twelve days before Christmas by featuring some holiday presents of days gone by.

You’ve got Barbie’s Magical Mansion wrapped and ready under the tree, but you’re drenched in Lady Stetson perfume and longing for festive cocktails with the neighbors. Why not pop down to Blockbuster for some stop-motion Christmas movies to distract the kids?

Blockbuster and children’s programming stalwart Family Home Entertainment banded together for a promo in one December 1990 issue of Women’s Day, featuring the beloved holiday specials of Rankin/Bass Productions. The result is a dangerous nostalgia cocktail; please do not operate heavy machinery while under its influence. $14.95 a pop in 1990 money seems steep, but then again, I’m a worthless millennial who hit puberty in the Napster days. And can you really put a price on an hour of quiet children?