Christmas 2007 is almost here. Stores are packed with harassed shoppers, overworked staff and , so I thought I would continue with this theme and list the best selling toys of the past 10 years as determined by the British Association of Toy Retailers (BATR).
1997 - The Year of the Teletubby
The Teletubbies marked a revolution in pre-school television. Anyone who was around and the time will remember the incredible launch of the Teletubbies toy range, and how near on impossible it was to get one. So it was no surprise that it became the BATR Toy of the Year in 1997. I remember being in Hamleys in London and people were grabbing as many as they could of them off of the shelves as soon as new stock was put out. I did actually manage to obtain 2 Teletubbies that year: total cost = £45. 10 years later, what do I see but Teletubbies in Woolworths for £7.50 a piece!
1998 - The Year of the Furby
Possibly one of the most annoying toys ever to have be developed, these gibbering bits of fluff were selling like hot cakes in the run up to Christmas ‘98 - not far short of half a million. Each Furby has its own personality, communicated with each other and spoke “Furbish”. But by New Year’s Day many were shut away in cupboards just to try to get them to shut up and go to sleep! The Furby was made by Tiger Electronics and became this years’ number one best seller and took the BATR award.
1999 - The Year of the Furby Baby
What else can I say thats not been said above? Amazingly, people didn’t bore of these awful things, so when Tiger Electronics bought out a baby version it was had another BATR award-winner on its hands with the british public going mad for these infant Furbys. Not only were they cuter, they also had higher pitched voices and more inclined to learn English!
2000 - The Year of the Teksta
For those of you who don’t remember him, Teksta was a robotic dog made by Vivid Imagination, and became the Toy of the Year in 2000. He was very similar to a Tamagotchi, just on a bigger scale. He played ball, barked at the TV and ran around causing canine havoc. He even came with his own bone! Quite a bargain for the £39.99 it retailed at back then.
2001 - The Year of the Lego Bionicle
Bionicle was a Lego product which you build into fighting robots and vehicles. Aimed at a slightly older market than “traditional” Lego, it was more like a character-based version of Lego Technic and shared more than a few pieces. Each character had its own colour, and each colour represented a different element, such as fire, air orwater. Bionicle predictably spawned its own computer game, movie and other spin-offs.
2002/2003 - The Year of the Beyblades
On a basical level, the Beyblade is kind of like a spinning top. Developed and manufactured by Takara, the basic objective of the game is for one player to knock the competitor’s Beyblade out of a “dish”, which to regular Beyblade participants is called a Beystadium. Hasbro released a Beystadium which was an enclosed version and had “penalty pockets” which stopped the Beyblade from spinning but the top could come back out. The Beyblades themselves had pictures on them of a creature, commonly known as a Bit-Beast, which symbolised what the Beyblade does or looks like. This toy was so popular amongst boys and girls alike it was the BATR Toy of the Year two years running. You can still buy these toys; they have many different sets, shooters, stadiums, the lot!
2004 - The Year of the Robosapien
Surely everyone remembers the toy-like biomorphic robot, with the advert that said “The robot that thinks its human”? The robot was controlled by an infrared remote which was included with the toy, or by a PC or PDA which has an infrared transmitter. Robosapien could walk, grasp objects with either of its hands and be able to throw those objects with slight force. It could make several noises, which if I remember rightly were of a man pretending to be a gorilla. A very big seller with a big price tag!
2005 - The Year of the Tamagotchi Connexion
I was not 100% sure what these where until I saw them: little bits of plastic on a chain! An interactive virtual pet that will evolve differently depending on how well you take care of it. Play games with it, feed it and nurse it when it is sick and it will develop into a good companion. Also, the Tamagotchi Connexion has some special functions:
- It can communicate with other Tamagotchi friends, play games, exchange gifts and even have Tamababies if the friendship goes well!
- It can use, play or wear the gifts it receives.
I have never had one myself but I can see them being extremely annoying, sort of like the cheap version of Nintendo’s “Nintendogs.”
2006 - The Year of the Dr Who Cyberman Mask
This was, and still is, a must for all Dr Who fans, old and new. The mask is a replica Cyberhead at 1:1 scale and features a voice changer with speech, sound effects and lights. It has three play buttons:
Button 1 - Plays Cyberman Phrases and lights up the mouth
Button 2 - Changes your voice into the voice of a Cyberman
Button 3 - Gives off Cyber Weapon sound effect
This was a big seller, and the release of the Dalek Sec Hybrid Voice FX Mask this year has been tipped to be BATR Toy of the Year 2007.
As well as the “traditional” toys, like those noted above, the two big-sellers this year are both from Nintendo - the Wii and the DS. Both are games consoles, one being for the home and the other portable, and have smashed predicted sales all over the globe this Christmas.
Overtaking sales from more powerful consoles (Playstation 3 and XBox360), the Wii’s innovative motion sensitive control system has widened its appeal beyond the traditional gamer, along with non-traditional games.
The Nintendo DS’s dual screen handheld console has been around for a couple of years, but the sheer number of games combined with the touch-sensitive screen and built-in microphone for voice control again makes it more accessible and also increases the type of games and even applications developed for the DS.
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Sorry for saying this, but the Tamagotchi, as a cheap copy of Nintendo’s Nintendogs?
The Tamagotchi was invited quite a few years ago, in the 1990’s.
Whereas, the Nintendogs came out not too long ago.
Cris,
I wasn’t implying that Tamagotchi were created after Nintendogs. I was merely using Nintendogs as a more recent point of reference so readers understood what the Tamagotchi was all about - i.e. a virtual pet that you feed, look after, etc. Naturally, Nintendogs has evolved from Tamagotchis.
Ryan
Are Beyblades still being sold in stores, even in 2008? If so, which ones?
Thank you, because I am having trouble finding them. They seem to have disappeared off the shelves lately.