X-mass 1975, as an almost 16 year old I went with my family to Florida, that was the first time I thought "hey scuba is something I could do".
Uncle said he would let us breath of the his tank at the bottom of a 6 foot pool but later said no. We swam like fishs in the ocean and lived it up while the natives shivered and grumped about the cold 60 deg weather.
Went to a coulple of dive shops and looked at cataloges,
so my brain is kinda set on this era for gear.
My plan is to collect gear I would have wanted and maybe had if I could have gotten certified in the late 1970s.
The only other factor was all the JYC specials, sure wish they would run them again.
yeah right 
You mean black/silver isn't color co-ordinated?