My favorite electronics gift was a 4WD Arduino-based robot kit I received about 6-7 years ago. I was interested in robots when I was young, but robots were too expensive and inaccessible back then. This kit rekindle my interest in robots and electronics, and I have built several robots from scratch since then.

The only electrcal gift I think I ever got was my brother's old computer that I helped him build, but I have always been facinated by how things work. I would take apart my toys when I was younger just to see what parts were inside (the toys did not survive this). As I have grown older, I have calmed down a bit, and the stuff I take apart tends to actually make it back together haha. My latest bit of fun is going to be trying to build a welder out of old microwave parts.

I wanted one of those in the late 70's but Santa never brought me one; instead my best friend did get one , so I played with his instead .

I remember that car

I like many when young had lots of electronic toys, the electronics kit with the bendy springs and wires for wiring up simple AM radios etc, but the one electronic toy i loved more than all the others was actually a small computer that after a couple months ended up being taken apart and messed with, (my parents were not happy as it was rather expensive)

Big Trak and Trailer!!!

It was a simple car with a programmable setup, you could tell it to go forward 5 right 45 back 3 tip the trailer etc, It was using a keypad version of LOGO computer language.

of course i had to take it apart, I was a little dissapointed though 2 motors and a relay to switch the trailer which was attached by a 2.5" audio jack as a way of triggering the tipping part,The trailer worked like a windscreen wiper and just went up and down in one cycle once triggered.

It was fun, and it is a shame that Kids of today don't have the chance to experiment and learn like we used to do as now they get a new phone or tablet which they cannot open or experiment with unless they are able to navigate Objective C or Java development.

The Electronics Kit for comparison

Ive been wanting one bad they keep getting better. I'm keeping up as much as I can but to have my hands on one i already marvel at the number gifs of Silicon and plastic. One of my best cliets taught the robotics course out here at the community. We'd have coffee over this one.

Being an Aussie, my thirst for how things work was filled with funway2 electronics kits made by *** Smith.

Build it yourself kits that I would sit in my families crowded garage at a make shift bench with my soldering iron and a pedistal fan blowing fumes out the window.

Many kits and many find memories. Including a electronic cricket that chirped when the lights went out. This was Great for annoying my sister. Even better when you hid more than one in her room at a time.

My entire life changed ever since i got a remote controlled car as gift for my birthday as a child. First thing I did was to rip it off to see how it works. I was very curious and as i opened it up in the process i broke some wires. I was very scared that my Dad will mad at me. So i went to my cousin and that day i got fascinated by seeing how battery powered motor work and what more can we do like leds,m leds, IR remote control, etc. From then on my passion for electronics have increased leaps and bounds. I always felt introduction of rpi has changed the landscape for hobbyists to take the experiments to next level. Now i would like to gift my younger cousin this experience.

this is a super nice action from a verry talented group called element14

il bump on this one for sure <3

<3 happy hollidays all  <3

It was around November 2010 and my older brother got a newly-released Arduino Uno as he thought it would help him with college. I was 14 at the time and thought it looked really cool, so I told my parents that's what I wanted for Christmas along with some components (a resistor kit, LEDs, thermistors, buttons, etc).

On Christmas morning, I opened it up and that was the start of my electronics/embedded programming hobby. I already knew some programming in Visual Basic but the Arduino gave me a fun and easy way to learn C (along with all the Arduino-specific libraries and functions). A short while later I bought an ethernet shield and made a temperature logger and even now I'm still logging temperatures around the house using ESP8266 modules and Arduino Pro Minis. I've worked on so many different projects which I would've been clueless about without my Arduino experience.

That one gift sparked a hobby which is still going strong and taught me a huge amount about electronics and programming.