I was never into dolls, so I didn’t ask for or receive the Cabbage Patch Doll when they were HOT HOT HOT. I didn’t want the creepy but cute Teddy Ruxpin. But I didn’t completely avoid toy-induced mania either.
Don’t get me wrong. As a kid, I was plenty greedy. I used to sit with a Sears catalog and circle what I wanted on every page. And then every catalog. I was tireless in wanting new stuff. Having divorced parents, it paid to play the odds — so a big, random list was a kind of mother’s helper.
I learned this the hard way.
One Christmas, I told everyone in my family that I really wanted an Easy Bake Oven. And I got double-lucky. One side of the family got me the shiny new Easy Bake Oven and my other set of grandparents got me an old-fashioned (but still brand new and functional) Holly Hobbie Oven. I was a very happy 5 year old and my mom was a very irritated 28 year old. From then on, I had to make fully distinct Christmas lists so I wouldn’t get overlapping gifts again.
Ultimately, I sacrificed the olde timey sweetness of HH for the slick modern stylings of the the Easy Bake Oven (c’mon, it looked like a new-fangled microwave and not a wood burning stove!); I’m happy to say I had years of baking miniature cherry and apple pies with a 60 watt lightbulb.
I can’t help but wonder which toys my boys will really beg for. Will it be the now forty year old EBO or something equally retro like Transformers, Legos, or matchbox cars?
[Toy links and images go to Retroland.com and the mini-histories are good fun to read — thanks!]
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What lengths would you go to in pursuit of the elusive “It” toy for your own child? Or did your parents go to great lengths when you were little? Share your stories as part of this weekend’s Blog Blast from Hasbro and Parent Bloggers.
