What gift does Ralphie want in "A Christmas Story"?

Poor Ralphie Parker. This kid has one Christmas dream and everyone keeps shooting it down. His mom freaks out every time he mentions it. His teacher thinks he's nuts. Even Santa basically tells him to get lost. But man, does this 9-year-old want this gift BAD. What exactly is the gift that Ralphie desperately wants in "A Christmas Story"?

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The answer is: A Red Ryder 200-Shot Carbine Action Range Model Air Rifle

You know you're dealing with an obsessed kid when he can rattle off "Official Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time" faster than his own name. In "A Christmas Story," Ralphie didn't just want this BB gun, he NEEDED it. It was his destiny. It was his everything.

Poor Ralphie spends the entire film hearing everyone around him warn him of the (same) danger. His mom? "You'll shoot your eye out!" His teacher? "You'll shoot your eye out!" And department store Santa? "You'll shoot your eye out!" And the guy practically kicks Ralphie down the slide with his boot when he asks for it. But hey, Christmas morning rolls around and there it is, hidden behind the desk. And what's the first thing that happens when he shoots it? That BB bounces right back and knocks his glasses clean off his face. At least he didn't shoot his eye out!

Ironically, while story creator Jean Shepherd swore that was his childhood gun, but BB gun manufacturer Daisy said he had mix-and-matched different BB guns from the 1940s. Sure, the Red Ryder was real and every kid wanted one, but that fancy compass and sundial stuff? That was the Daisy "Buck Jones" model.