It was the day before Christmas, 1997. I was six and playing in the shed behind the house. Being six, I was completely obsessed with cardboard boxes, and was delighted to find a particularly big one in a corner, hidden behind a whole lot of other junk.
I dragged it out, opened it up, and found… the holy grail. The toy to beat all other toys. It was a Baby Born, all packaged up in its white-and-pink box. And it was all for me.
(I only have one sibling and he was an 11-year-old boy at the time with a serious gaming addiction, so it was safe to assume that Baby Born wasn’t going to anyone else.)
I knew Santa must have delivered it early and stashed it away in our shed to save himself some stress. Clever Santa! So I left Baby Born in the box, and eagerly awaited her true arrival the next day. It was the best Christmas of my entire life. Close runner-ups: the year I got a Razor scooter, and the year I got a dollhouse.
Now – I know Christmas isn’t all about gift-giving. But sometimes I miss the days of being young and just about wetting my pants with anticipation for what was wrapped up and waiting for me under that Christmas tree.
As adults, we don’t tend to get all that excited about presents – generally, anything under the tree is probably just a variation of things we buy for ourselves all the time. But as a kid, you have no capacity to really buy the things you dream about unless you save your measly pocket money for 35 light years. So Christmas? The jackpot holiday to beat all others.
For MM editor, Jamila, her best-ever Christmas was the year she got a Rockstar Ken doll. Rockstar Ken was particularly special in that when you put warm water on his hair, purple stars appeared.
Rosie loved the year she got a Puppy Surprise (but she only got three puppies, so that was a bit of a downer). Although one year her and her sister also got a Super Nintendo, and that was pretty special too.
Lucy was obsessed with Polly Pocket and Skydancers and remembers getting each of them under the tree and being incredibly stoked about it. And for Nicky, it was her Strawberry Shortcake bike (with training wheels) and her Baby Alive.
But enough about us. It’s your turn to take a trip down memory lane and remember the days of when unwrapping the It-Toy of the season was the highlight of your entire life.
Take a flick through the gallery below of the most Christmas presents from over the last 50 years, and then tell us what your best-ever Christmas present was.
What was your favourite Christmas present as a kid?
Top Comments
The year I got a pink Barbie convertible. Extra special because I was "testing" Santa...I had refused to tell him what I wanted, because if he was real he would KNOW. I was so nervous going to sleep Christmas Eve, but when I woke up there it was, my barbie dream car. The only person I had told that was what I wanted was my mum. And she promised me she hadn't told Santa. He WAS real!! I was the happiest girl ever!
The best pressie I ever got was the year I got a jewelry box with a ballerina that spun and played music. My sister got one just like it, and I nearly wet my pants when she opened hers, I was so excited for her. I didn't dare hope that I had one too!!! The year my brother got an Atari was the funniest Xmas. Little bugger had been unwrapping and playing with the inferior, cheap version for a month or so, so got the shock of his life Xmas morning when he opened his pressie, not knowing that Mum had saved up and exchanged it. He had some explaining to do....