# What was that "Must-Have" Christmas toy of your childhood? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 1, 2000, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639 "2000-12-01T21:25:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2000, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/1 "2000-12-01T21:25:31Z")
For me: Death Star playset A three story Aldaraan destroying assembly of cardboard and plastic. Featured a crank operated trash compacter (for real Wookie-bending action), foam rubber “junk”, and a green plastic ankle-grabbing monster. Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 Awful, awful, awful… The processor in the Atari 2600 was so underpowered that it couldn’t keep track of four ghosts, so this game was programmed with just one ghost who blinked around to four different points in the screen in succession, creating a siezure-inducing strobe effect. ---
**Author:** ![Anake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/97f17d/32.png) [@Anake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anake)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2000, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/2 "2000-12-01T22:31:31Z")
Since I was a young child of the 80’s (born in 1982), my must have toy when I was four or five was Teddy Ruxpin. My mom searched high and low throughout Las Vegas for Ruxpin. She was desperate because I spent most of my life before the age of 5 in the hospital and I really wanted this toy. Well, she got it for me and I cried and screamed my head off when I realized it talked. Don’t ask me why I hated the thing when it’s obvious I wanted it, needed it so badly. From, Anake ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2000, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/3 "2000-12-01T22:58:35Z")
I don’t really remember wanting one toy really badly but I do rknow that Cabbage Patch Kids were really popular when I was a kid. My Grandma could have bought one for me before they caught on but she didn’t cuz she thought they were ugly and then when they caught on she couldn’t find one anywhere. I do still have a few CBK’s though. ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2000, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/4 "2000-12-01T23:04:09Z")
When I was a kid, we got a tin can tied to a string, and we were grateful, darnit. Ok, the above was courtesy of my dads speech when I was growing up. The only must have toy that I really wanted (and remember) was a light saber. 1977. Yikes. I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2000, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/5 "2000-12-01T23:19:06Z")
Yup, for me it was Cabbage Patch Kids. Mine - “Xavier Daniel” A couple years later it was a skateboard. ---
**Author:** ![GolfWidow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GolfWidow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GolfWidow)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/6 "2000-12-02T00:44:15Z")
A Bionic Woman doll. She was WAY cooler than Barbie (and could kick her ass too). Also, a bike. I just had to have a two-wheeler. Mine originally came with training wheels but after a few weeks Dad took the training wheels off. Of course, I couldn’t ride the bike then so I just “walked” it around the yard until one day Dad came up with the bright idea to teach me to ride it by pushing me on it down a hill. Well, I stayed on but hit the only tree in the yard at the bottom of the hill. Needless to say, Mom taught me to drive when I turned 15. ---
**Author:** ![Shadowfox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Shadowfox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadowfox)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/7 "2000-12-02T01:23:16Z")
I’m dating myself here by posting this, but I remember wanting the Charlie’s Angels dolls. I also remember really wanting a Big Wheel, but my mother wouldn’t buy me one because she considered it to be too much of a boy’s kind of toy. Of course, now they make these things in pink for the girls. Why didn’t they make them for girls when I was a kid? (pout) ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/8 "2000-12-02T01:48:35Z")
When I was about 10 or so, I just _had_ to have an Atari 2600. When I got it, I think they had developed all of about 12 cartridges. For the next few years, every Christmas/birthday was a call for more cartridges. I do remember when the Pac-Man came out for the 2600. (I was in 8th grade). A friend of mine bought it, which was enough to let me know not to waste my money. Eventually I moved on to ColecoVision. The other thing I had to have was a BB gun. Got that around age 12. About this time most of the other kids were clamoring for a Mongoose brand dirt bike and OP (Ocean Pacific) clothes. ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/9 "2000-12-02T01:50:42Z")
Eagle-Eye G.I. Joe with Kung Fu Grip ™ ---
**Author:** ![Welfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e56c9b/32.png) [@Welfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Welfy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/10 "2000-12-02T02:04:15Z")
I thought having a Nintendo was a big thing. I got one when I was seven or so and I was so excited! I, like Shadowfox, wanted GI Joes when I was little, but everyone just laughed at me and said they were for boys, not little welfs like me. Oh yeah, I always wanted a Barbie dollhouse but I never got one. I received this big fluffy white cat stuffed animal when I was tiny, but it didn’t last long. Someone spilled baked beans on it (why this cat was near baked beans is beyond me). ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/11 "2000-12-02T02:06:31Z")
Omni had a Cabbage Patch Kid??? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! For me, the thing I wanted most was the USS Flagg, the 7’ long [GI Joe Aircraft Carrier](http://yojoe.com/commercials/85/ussflagg85-1.rm). I never got it. ☹ When I was younger, I really wanted a Green Machine. Those were so cool! Again, I never got one… Oh, the humanity! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/12 "2000-12-02T02:35:57Z")
A kitchen playset “Dream Dancer”-a ballerina doll that you attached to a stand and with batteries she danced My Barbie Town House ---
**Author:** ![poohpah\_chalupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@poohpah\_chalupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poohpah_chalupa)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/13 "2000-12-02T02:38:25Z")
I remember wanting a **Spirograph** and my family teasing me relentlessly about that. Other than that, **Hot Wheels** , of course, a **Mattel “ThingMaker”** and **“StrangeChange Time Machine”** and a **Major Matt Mason** , an astronaut “action figure” (a _much_ preferred term over “doll”). I’m _still_ waiting for a Calvin Transmogrifier …and I never _did_ get that Spirograph…☹ btw, I’m going to be giggling all night over **Demo** ’s response to **Omni** having a CPK. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/14 "2000-12-02T02:40:34Z")
For several years in a row (early 70s) I asked for Lite Brite. I finally got it…about two years ago. Thanks, Mom. ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/15 "2000-12-02T04:19:45Z")
Hot Wheels was a biggie for me–I almost didn’t get the set, a race track with a loop, because it was a ‘boy’ toy, but Santa relented. When I was eight, a bike was my big wish. Now, my mom didn’t have enough to get me one, and the people next door helped her out (Gods bless 'em). Anyway, Mr. L, the neighbor, wanted to bring the bike over himself, after his family celebration. This meant no bike under the tree when I woke up. I was bitterly disappointed, but knew enough to realize that if the bike wasn’t there, there must be a good reason, so I tried to be brave. Poor Mom, she had to sit there watching me try to be grown up, and pretend I was excited by the other presents. Then, a bit after we finished opening presents, what do I see outside the big picture window? SANTA on a bike riding up to our door. Major excitment, lots of jumping up and down, perhaps a squeal or two, and the root of my on-going committment to belief in Santa. Oh, and he had a carton of Lucky Strikes in the basket for Mom, so she was happy, too. ---
**Author:** ![Uniball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Uniball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniball)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/16 "2000-12-02T04:32:03Z")
G.I. Joes. The big ones. The Six Million Dollar Man action figure. Playmobil kits. Today, I’m collection the amazing military toys from [http://www.dragon-models.com](http://www.dragon-models.com) . They’re WAY better than G.I. Joes and 21st Century ones. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/17 "2000-12-02T04:41:55Z")
Well, a couple years ago I wanted a pinball machine. A REAL pinball machine. They aren’t THAT expensive. . . And no, I didn’t get it. I WILL own one in my lifetime, though. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/18 "2000-12-02T04:44:48Z")
Ahhh, the Green Machine! I was the lucky owner of one of these incredible souped up BigWheels. It was sooo cool, until it was stolen from me in the school playground:( ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/19 "2000-12-02T04:48:49Z")
**poopah** : 😃 **Mike** duuuuude! You’re so lucky to have had one though! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bc8723/32.png) [@Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Lord_Davidson)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639/20 "2000-12-02T04:49:16Z")
Megazord from the Power Rangers original series, the one with 5 separating Zords. I got it. Never have you seen a happier child. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-must-have-christmas-toy-of-your-childhood/43639.md?page=2)