ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS...
Marion McMullen looks at some of the top toys and gadgets that have made the festive wish list over the years
1 ALDI’S Christmas character Kevin the Carrot has inspired shoppers to queue at supermarkets this year to get their hands on newly launched stuffed toys in his likeness. His popularity has led the retailer to describe him as “just a humble carrot who stole the nation’s heart”. Shoppers took to Twitter to record their efforts to secure their toy and the small Kevin the Carrot plush toy, available for £3.99, has already sold out online.
2 PARENTS queued for hours to get their hands on the Thunderbirds Tracy Island model in the early 1990s. The toy retailed at £32.87, but was almost impossible to find in stores. Anthea Turner, above, famously came to the rescue by showing how to make your own model using boxes, newspaper, tin foil and drinking straws. The BBC was promptly inundated with requests for the worksheet.
3 THE Teletubbies were a huge hit with youngsters back in 1997. Every child wanted either Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa or Po for Christmas, but demand quickly overtook supply and shops were bare. Stores were besieged by anxious parents if there was even a rumour of a new delivery of the £27.39 toy.
4 JAPAN’S virtual Tamagotchi pets also shared the number one toy spot with the Teletubbies the same year. The pets cost £9.99 and were hugely popular among teenagers. The small digital Tamagotchi were hatched from eggs on a screen and they grew and developed as the owner cared for them. Millions were sold.
5 INTERACTIVE pet, the Furby, was soft and furry and could talk and play games with their owners. They spoke their own language, Furbish, and liked to sing. They were launched just a few months before Christmas in 1998 and quickly disappeared from shelves as people rushed to snap up the toy.
6 DO you want to ask the audience, go 50/50 or phone a friend? The interactive board game of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? was a best-seller back in 1999, thanks to the popularity of the nightly ITV show. Everyone wanted to know if they had the general knowledge to be a winner and the £23.78 game put them to the test.
7 BATTERYPOWERED hamsters Go Go Hamsters were selling out as quickly as they appeared in stores in 2009. The £9.99 toy was popular with parents as well as they didn’t need feeding, vet visits or cleaning.
8 ONE of the hottest toys in the Christmas retail market in the 1980s was Cabbage Patch Dolls. They could even be found on sale at top store Harrods in London. Each doll came with its own set of adoption papers and was guaranteed to be one of a kind.
9 THE Optimus Prime toy was inspired by the Transformers movie and was one of the retail industry’s dream toys of 1985 and the action figure would have set you back £16.87. It continued to remain a favourite with a hi-tech version named as one of the dream toys of 2007.
10 EVERYONE was going barking mad to get hold of the Teksta Robotic Puppy in 2000. The £38.74 electronic toy was the pet everyone wanted and it responded to sound, light and infra-red. More than 40 million were sold in the first four years.