In the 1970’s a SONY TV with a remote control! That was a WAY cool thing to have in those days! Or a car with an electric seat and electric windows!
Everything seems to have these things these days…
Perhaps look to art. Go to art fairs. Art does not wear out.
A 12" reflector is exactly what I wanted when I was between 10 and 14 years old, and I fully expected to have one when I grew up. I could easily afford one now, but I’ve largely lost interest in backyard astronomy since then.
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A copy of Citizen Kane? This was not easy to do back in the 70’s, though trivial today.
A motorcycle.
Bought my first one in 1975, one year after starting my first full time job. But relationship and then kids got in the way, sold it.
Bought my second one in 2012 after retirement.
Never bought or owned a True sports car.
On the other hand, when I’ve made True sports car drivers who were trying to give me a hard time look like FOOLS over the years, it made it twice as sweet.
I’m 48. When I was a preteen I wanted a go kart really really badly. I never got one. 
I bought one a couple years ago. 
Growing up a city kid who must’ve been a farmer in a previous existence, I always wanted a “little place in the country.” Away from all the urban noise and distractions, with enough space not to have to see another living soul unless I wanted to. Plenty of woodland to almost get lost in, and be able to grow anything I ever saw in nursery and seed catalogues. Didn’t quite make it, but those couple’ pots out on my small city patio do look nice even so.
I’ve bought myself most of the toys I wanted as a kid.
I have 3 pinball machines and two arcade video games.
I had a convertible sports car.
I have a home theater (with actual seats from the Ciné Capri!).
I have almost all the tools I coveted as a kid.
All I really need now is a SEM - something I always thought would be too cool.
I had one of those while growing up. It was way cool.
But I wanted a personal jetpack and a flying car. Still waiting on them. 
I swore I’d buy myself pointe shoes and learn how to use them. Never mind that I’ve never taken a ballet class in my life (I wanted to, but there just wasn’t money for it).
Now, of course, I realize that without proper training it would be dangerous to buy these and I’d end up doing damage to myself. I still want some though.
I have almost every single GI Joe figure from the 80’s/90’s line. Long after i stopped playing with them when i was little i still had regular “I own every GI Joe” happy dreams occasionally so i always told myself i would make that happen if i could. Some are just super rare/expensive though. I also regularly have candy for dinner.
A motorcycle. I failed the test twice, and found out I have next to zero eye/hand coordination.
Candy for dinner!
Popsicles for breakfast!
Woooøooo000o-hoo!
'Scuse me… ok, I’m back, with a handful of Twizzlers (bought a month’s supply from the Hershey factory store).
Yeah, I do a lot of things I never got to as a kid. But I’m trying to learn that I can rent experiences rather than buying things. What I mean is, if I had the cabin way out in the woods, how often would I go there? Can I just take off and get lost in a wild area instead? Always wanted to sail, but boats are such an effort and expense. So last year, I joined a boathouse and was surprised to find that I rented a sailboat exactly once. This summer, I’ll map out more time.
Next idea: rent a convertible and drive up the coast. Surprisingly affordable, if you don’t need a Lamborghini. Hey, a week in a Mustang or a Miata should stave off ‘mid-life antsiness’ quite well… (That 1964 1/2 Mustang was one of those ‘gotta have it someday’ things, but I’m willing to compromise…)
Yeah, i wanted a good - maybe not 10-12 inch, but good - telescope for a long time. Bought a barely-used ETX-125 a few years ago. It’s hard every come out of the case.
A sort of parallel thing was remote control aircraft. At the time I exhausted rubber-band powered sailplanes and small Cox-engined line-control craft, a decent 4-5 channel setup was 'orribly expensive - $500 to $1000 or more. Just a few years after I gave up planes, the IC-based Japanese stuff started coming in and excellent 6-channel setups were $150. Too late, though.
I was thinking of the kids who grew up wanting a $10k 3-D Printer, and soon a better one’ll be 1/10 the price (and half the size, and more accurate).
I’m picturing an identical thread to this in 20 years… “I really wanted a jet-pack, but now that I got one, so did everyone else, and we’re all just standing in line, 1,000 ft over the Loop, waiting for landing clearance.”
My father’s middle sister, and her husband, were the Responsible Ones. They worked, and tried to help their families - to the point that Aunt Irma bought my father’s school clothes, and Uncle Clifford paid his mother’s property taxes. Both came from hard-working farm families, but those families would have gone without necessities without help.
Several years ago, my mom gave them the Christmas of their dreams. Aunt Irma always danced. She still does, at 83. She always wanted to learn to tap. So Ma gave her shoes and lessons that year. And Uncle Clifford always wanted to learn to play bluegrass music. He got a banjo, and lessons. I always thought that was the best Christmas ever.
I just wanted a pinball machine (Bally’s Eight Ball Deluxe, by preference,) and one of those ice machines that makes little tubes of soft ice. Maybe someday!
(I wouldn’t mind a classic Caddy convertible. My first car was a '75 Sedan Deville, and it was spectacular. It would have been even more fun as a convertible!)
I guess that the wish that changed most from childhood to now, though, was my dream of bringing home All of the Puppies. I still love dogs, but I don’t want puppies. I’m cool with having two or three dogs around, but I prefer to adopt the adults - even/especially seniors. A good dog is worth the effort, but someone with more energy is welcome to deal with the babies.
My “rent an experience” idea would be: go volunteer at a Puppy Shelter.
Well, okay, it might be a Puppy ‘n’ Kitty ‘n’ Dog ‘n’ Cat Shelter, but it might just be wonderful.
I always wanted a carousel horse. As a kid I was entranced with Mary Poppins and the part where the horses came to life and went off the merry-go-round. I always imagined that as an adult if I could get myself a carousel horse, I’d be able to find a way to make it come to life - because, you know, adults know EVERYTHING.
Now at 49 I know better - but I still want a carousel horse. Some of those things are pure works of art.
Conservatively, I have probably fostered 100 puppies as an adult. These days, I foster the senior dogs. I have volunteered a lot at various local shelters, but my cat allergy keeps me away from the mixed facilities these days - breathing is a useful thing! (And I’m the go-to gal for most lizard and iguana fosters around here, simply because I actually have a little experience, and I’m not afraid of them. )
Puppy breath is awesome, but nothing tops an old dog who is happy to just enjoy the great indoors in between bouts of relieving herself in the back yard!