When you were writing your list of Christmas toy requests to Father Christmas as a child, where was the first place you went to for inspiration? The Argos catalogue of course! Opening its pages was like opening a world full of toy based possibilities, and whilst we were never going to get most of the things we wrote on our list, just looking through the pages of the bulky catalogue was enough to fill us with a large amount of youthful wonder and joy!
Sadly, the good old Argos catalogue could soon be consigned to history, as it was recently announced that the store is conducting a digital only trial to ‘test demand’. Personally we think that would be an absolute travesty, but even if it means the end to our beloved paper pages, we still have our wonderful childhood nostalgia to hold onto.
Recently, Argos were kind enough to reveal their best selling Christmas toys of the last 45 years, and we’re delighted to present the list in full below, alongside some nostalgia filled pictures! As you will see, it contains many items that you’ll remember straight away, alongside some toys that might leave you scratching your head somewhat…
How many of the toys listed below did you ask for at Christmas? And more importantly, how many did you manage to get your dirty little childhood hands onto? Please do let us know by posting a comment, and be sure to share this post with your friends, family and fellow 80s kids, so they can see one, how many of the toys they owned as a child, and two, which toy was the best seller the year they were born!
1973 Shrinky Dinks
1974 Risk Board Game
1975 Othello Board Game
1976 Stretch Armstrong
1977 BMX Bike
1978 Dungeons & Dragons
1979 Star Wars
1980 Hungry Hippos
1981 Rubix Cube
1982 Lego Train Set
1983 Strawberry Shortcake
1984 Cabbage Patch Dolls
1985 Transformers
1986 Lazer tag
1987 Sylvanian Families
1988 Ghostbusters Proton Pack
1989 Optimus Prime
1990 Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles
1991 Gameboy
1992 Barbie
1993 Thunderbirds Tracey Island
1994 Power Rangers
1995 POGs
1996 Toy Story Buzz Lightyear
1997 Tamagotchi
1998 Teksta The Dog
1999 Bob the Builder
2000 Furby
2001 Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Board Game
2002 Bratz Dolls
2003 Beyblades
2004 Robosapien
2005 BMX bike
2006 Xbox 360
2007 Nintendo Wii
2008 In the Night Garden Iggle Piggle
2009 High School Musical Dance Mat
2010 Go Go / Zhu Zhu Hamsters
2011 Leapfrog LeapPad Explore Tablet / Electronic Test Tube
2012 Skylanders Giants / Nerf Gun
2013 Furby Boom
2014 Frozen Snow Globe
2015 Barbie Saddle n Ride / Star Wars The Force Awakens Kylo Ren Deluxe Electronic Light Sabre / Pie Face
2016 Hatchimals
2017 Cozmo