The more things change, the more things stay the same...
Looking at the must-have toys for this coming Christmas, kids are still requesting that Santa bring them dolls, Legos, video games and Star Wars stuff.
It seems the most in-demand toys during the late 1970s and early '80s are still very much in fashion - although, to be fair, Lego has been going strong since 1932.
All aboard the nostalgia train, as we go through ten of the top toys you may have had on your Christmas wishlist (if you're of a certain vintage):
STRETCH ARMSTRONG
Must Have Christmas Present in ..... 1976
Hindsight Review: the makers tried to sell him as some kind of crime-stopping super-hero, but really, all he could do was be really stretchy and try not too look too much like Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four. These days he'd more likely be used as a stress relief than a children's toy.
ANYTHING STAR WARS RELATED
Must Have Christmas Toy in ..... 1977
Hindsight Review: if only we had the foresight to keep all of these things in their original packaging, we'd be so rich right now! Did any kid manage not to completely rip them open the second they got them?
SIMON
Must Have Christmas Toy in ..... 1978
Hindsight Review: these days kids have the likes of Rock Hero on the PlayStation, but the central idea is fundamentally the same. House parties would never be the same again once board games were made obsolete by this guy.
ATARI 400 8-BIT HOME COMPUTER
Must Have Christmas Toy in ..... 1979
Hindsight Review: yes, it brought the likes of PacMan and Asteroids and so on into our homes, but those graphics just look like the TV is broken and stuck between two channels.
POGOBAL
Must Have Christmas Toy in ..... 1980
Hindsight Review: "What if we put a little platform on a ball? And then the kids... stand on it? And jump around like it's a Pogostick? But... what will we call it?" - pitch meeting for the creation of the PogoBal. (We assume)
GLO WORM
Must Have Christmas Toy in ..... 1981
Hindsight Review: awfully phallic, no?
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE
Must Have Christmas Toy in ..... 1982
Hindsight Review: as much as Barbie was creating an unrealistic image for young girls to try to recreate, it's not as if young boys had it any easier. Huge bulging muscles and teeny, tiny leather underwear wasn't exactly an easy goal in the Irish Winters.
CABBAGE PATCH KIDS
Must Have Christmas Toy in ..... 1983
Hindsight Review: Were they born in cabbages? They all have a vague Children Of The Corn look about them as it is, and now we don't even know where they came from. Should we have been worried?
WRINKLES
Must Have Christmas Toy in ..... 1984
Hindsight Review: does this not look like the most comfortable thing in the world to hug?! Look at his little old wrinkled face!
TEDDY RUXPIN
Must Have Christmas Toy in ..... 1985
Hindsight Review: The single most terrifying thing on the list. The advert even cuts him off half-way through his sentence. "I would like-", as though they knew he was going to turn evil at any moment.
