IT'S the time of year many parents dread, when pester power is at its height. This year Christmas is complicated enough – who can we have round for dinner: which set of grandparents is going to be disappointed? What if the weather's lousy and we can't meet up for walks? And – we're looking at you, Professor Leitch – what the heck is a pasting table and where do we get one?
One of the biggest stresses in the run-up has, for years, been the annual struggle to hunt down and snag this year's must-have toys. Some of us are still traumatised by the Tracy Island torment of 1992, but let's not go there just now.
It is, in fact, possible to get ahead of the game – in October, the Toy Retailers Association and members of the British Toy and Hobby Association got together and released their prediction of the Top 12 toys for Christmas. This year's No 1 is the 5 Surprise Mini Brands Mystery Capsule, which appears to be a 2020 reboot of the Lucky Bag. Number 2 is the Barbie 3-in-1 DreamCamper, and number 3 is another reincarnation of an old favourite, Lego in the form of Harry Potter Hedwig.
It's interesting to note that at no 11 is Star Wars The Mandalorian – The Child "Baby Yoda”. Many of today's parents – and grandparents, come to think of it – grew up with Star Wars toys. Our picture above was taken in 1983 and shows six-year-old Gregor Kyle from Bearsden; he was hooked on the franchise. "I've seen all three of the Star Wars films and I think they're smashing," he told our reporter. "I've already got the Millennium Falcon as well as Boba Fett and his spaceship Slave One. This Christmas I want to add the At-At [pictured] and the Snow Speeder."
Our main picture, taken the following year, shows brothers Ross, three, and Ryan O'Rourke, 17 months, from Cumbernauld, much taken by a robot toy called Omnibot. Whether Santa delivered one is not recorded.
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