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With just a few days to go, the shops and posties are busy as last minute purchases are completed, and everyone begins to settle down and look forward to Christmas. But, first let's look back at years gone by...
Nostalgia is a fine thing, with memories of loved ones and favourite games and films giving the past a rose tinted glow.
And the toys! They were a definite highlight of Christmases gone by.
When my dad sold our family home around a decade ago, he found a dusty old box hidden away in the eaves. Contained within were some of my most precious childhood toys.
There was a Carebear (Good Luck Bear to be precise), a Strawberry Shortcake doll, some Wurzles (remember them?!) and Rainbow Brite, her horse Starlite, and a Sprite.
If those words mean nothing to you, then let me explain.
Rainbow Brite was a 1980s cartoon character. Her mission was to save the world from eternal darkness at the hands of ‘Murky’ and ‘Lurky’, the baddies of the story.
Pictured (l-r): Starlite, Rainbow Brite, and Sprite.
My Rainbow Brite doll, now nearing 40 years old, remains in my possession today. Her dress is long lost, but her long coloured locks remain. Starlite is still somewhat white, and Sprite is still a mischievous looking creature with his grubby face hinting at misadventure.
While their life has mainly been spent inside a cardboard box, they’ve recently moved house again, because I’m just not ready to let them go (Toy Story has a lot to answer for...).
Their importance in my life is summed up in this family photo of my 7th birthday. My cousins and granny, a cake (OF RAINBOW BRITE HERSELF!!!) and me, clutching my new toys with all the love in the world.
Ah memories...aren’t they great?
Fast forward a few years from 1987, to somewhere between me receiving these beloved toys, and my dad rediscovering them in the depths of his attic, and I stumbled across a couple of Rainbow Brite DVDs for sale in Woolworths. I had to buy them. I watched them that same day, and the memories came flooding back.
The ‘Colour Kids’ with their individual Sprites, were working with Rainbow Brite, to spoil Murky and Lurky’s plans. Starlite’s role in the drama, carrying our heroine to victory as the colour remained in the world. Murky and Lurky left plotting and planning for another day....
While I can’t say it was ‘as good’ as I remember from my younger years, it was a great trip down memory lane and confirmed Rainbow Brite’s position as my ‘favourite ever toy’!
They now live in a cleaner box, stored away for posterity alongside a box full of 1990s Take That memorabilia...a story for another day!
Growing up in the mid to late nineties and early noughties, I was truly privileged to receive the best of both worlds when it came to toys, games and things to keep the kid quiet.
Two spring to mind straight away.
Pictured: Raphael was one of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The first one was a gift from before my time, thanks to the prevalence and popularity of car boot sales back in the day, a set of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys from the 80’s. They were one of my favourites to pass the time at my Nan’s house.
There were all four of the turtles, but weirdly, like most toys from the time, through a weird plastic version of origami, they’d turn into snapping turtles…which were kind of terrifying. There was the large Battle Bus, with its plastic moulded shell and squeaky wheels. They definitely got the most out of their shelf life.
In fact my Nan still holds onto them to this day, collecting dust in the attic, but the memory of playing with them as a child, and the knowledge as an adult, that they did so whilst saving a few pretty pennies, really keep those rose tinted glasses pink.
Pictured: The Game Boy.
Not only did I get the best of the funky smelling, rubberised, plastic toys of yesteryear, but also got to witness the birth of modern day gaming. I remember my Gameboy Colour and the amount of trips it went on with me, or nights under the covers, using a small tacky flashlight to keep the screen lit.
However when the Gameboy SP launched, boy did that change.
I was nine years old, but the flip of the device, it’s lightable screen, and complaints from my parents about it being too bright whilst they’re driving are all still fresh to me 21 years later.
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