What was your all time favourite Christmas present?

[PrueHalliwell]

Hi all,

A thread has just reminded me of my favourite Christmas present I got when I was around 6 or 7 and I was just wondering about everyone else's?

Mine was a cat. I don't really agree with giving animals as present but my beloved cat died a year prior from cancer and my parents said I couldn't have another one so I just sort of accepted I'd never have a cat again (kids are dramatic haha) but we went to my grandmas and she was like "oh I've left your present on the bed, go and get it" and I walked in and there was this little cat with a pink bow wrapped around her neck ( it was removed straight away ) and honestly I was so happy and the cat was the sweetest little thing and she became my best friend, I'm even tearing up a bit now thinking about that Christmas.

Just a light hearted thread as I don't think Christmas should be about material things.

Oh lots! Especially those cadbury chocolate machines

but my favourite was a Bontembi keyboard when I was about 9.The best!

Not specifically Christmas, but my birthday (which is late November). I must have been around 7 or 8 and every year Tesco would release a line of Christmas teddies in different sizes. A couple of weeks before my birthday we were in Tesco and there was the snow cat which was HUGE. Probably about 2/3 the size of a single bed and I loved it.

I didn't actually ask for that huge cat so my mum must have done a last minute purchase for my birthday. When I walked downstairs and saw that mammoth snow cat I was so happy.

Slept underneath that thing on my bed for years. It was like a weighty hug at night and it was amazing.

My first thought was my dolls' house (aged about 8).

Maybe the Fancy Lego, in a fancy Lego wooden box with a sliding lid (aged about 7, way back in 1976). Apparently bought second-hand, but I didn't know that at the time.

The doll that walked (if you had your hands on her shoulders) and talked, I think when I was 6. Originally called Poppet (I was the sort of child who did what it said on the box) a few hours later she was renamed Felicity by Great-Uncle George. She had a very cute voice and some (hideously gender-stereotypical) phrases which after the voicebox went weird sounded very amusing in a low slow growl (some years later, I hasten to add).

China teaset, probably aged 5 though it may have been the same year as Felicity who was opened at Granny's house

My first doll, aged 3.

Then there were the mini-snooker table (aged about 14?) and the hot new fad Trivial Pursuit (aged 15) which were household presents

At various points I really wanted a Girls' World, bike, roller skates and my own record player but didn't get them. Also swimming goggles (which I probably should have mentioned to someone, because they can't have been massively expensive even then).

Oh, and my lovely big blue china teapot, which I requested when I was 21.

have you envy! I asked for one of those every year…. Always saw them at the front of the toy section in the catalogue. Never got one, I’m still miffed to this day!

The year I got a pound puppy and a cabbage patch kid,best Christmas ever until came home from Christmas dinner at grandparents to find the dog had ripped them apart.

An original Gameboy color with pokemon blue game cart. I've still got it, it still works, and once my children are old enough they can play with/laugh at it. My brother got pokemon red and we used to play against each other until he sold his and bought one of the newer handheld consoles. I know MN isn't a gaming friendly site but nothing since compares to the thrill of that tiny little person on the screen walking through the grass for the first time. 😊

Ohh... That's so lovely.

An Amstrad tower HiFi shared with my younger sister ( slept in the same bedroom ).
I'd still be pleased if I got that now !

Mine was a Big Yellow Teapot.
I had one when I was little, loved it but a girl who lived down the street broke it so badly that it had to go in the bin and I was absolutely heartbroken (she was a bit of a bully). My mum bought it for me again for Christmas a couple of years ago. She’d searched everywhere for one complete and in good condition and it even came in the box. It’s my most favourite and treasured present even though I got it in my forties!

I always wanted an À la carte kitchen but Santa never came good on that one. Probably because dad was scared I’d wake him up with a meal of Swiss roll and cold baked beans! 😂.

Barbie dream house, my dad brought all the way back from the states with him.

and the original ipod. I loved it and took it everywhere with me.

My Doodle Bear. Must have been early 90s. Absolutely bloody loved that thing.

Some lovely, touching stories here of wonderful parents doing their best with limited resources. I’m also loving the fab aunties and grandmothers!

For me it was Girls World and Mousetrap (same year, when I was 8) and a remote controlled truck and Buckaroo when I was 9. And the Sony Walkman!

Post-Father Christmas belief era, it was the Spectrum ZX when I was 12. I’d get new cassette games for it every Christmas and birthday until I was about 16. I still played it periodically when I was a sixth former.

This. One of my favourites too.

I also got a Mr Frosty

Oh gosh I've just remembered I had a finders keepers snail - it was pink I think? My parents didn't really go in for branded toys so it was unusual to get something like that. I had a fake from the market my little pony around the same time.

My favourite present was a pink hippo with a zip in her belly and four tiny baby hippos inside. She's still kicking around somewhere I hope.

Cat! Man I loved that cat.

Dolls pram. I was 7yo. It was a little like this one
but it wasn't Silver Cross. it was green and had the little toddler seat on which I absolutely adored. I remember my dm apologising that the seat was blue so didn't match, but I didn't care at all. Df found a little basket he attached to the frame so I had a shopping basket underneath too.

My dear husband knew I enjoy nice smells so bought me some (my favourite) Lavender joss sticks. He then looked for a pretty smoke box but couldn’t find one that he thought was perfect. So he bought a plain wooden one and some semi shiny pink sheer paint and little diamantés. He sanded and painted the box and decorated it with the diamantés. The effort and love in that present was beautiful and I find it difficult to believe anything will ever top it. For reference he’s bought me a new BMW 3 series convertible along with a diamond Rolex watch alongside numerous beautiful pieces of jewellery. Non of them mean as much to me as that smoke box. ☺️

My cuddly Tigger, when I was around 8.

This was back in the days before Disney had everything Winnie-the-Pooh related copyrighted. There was a small toy shop in my home town, and the very talented lady who owned it used to hand make cuddly animals to sell. One year she made a range based on Winnie-the-Pooh and had them on display in the shop window. Every day I walked past and looked at them - I desperately wanted the Tigger.

Lo and behold, there he was wrapped up under the tree for me on Christmas Day. I still have him - his stripes have worn off, one eye has been replaced with a button and his tail has been sewn back on several times, but he's still my Tigger! (And much better than anything Disney have ever sold...)

Ahhh this thread is lovely.

For me it was this - cinderellas dream castle- it lit up, had a tiny swivel turntable so cinders could transform to her princess dress. A horse and carriage...and it came in a huge HUGE box.

I'll never forget peeking out the window and seeing my nana heave this huge wrapped gift out of the side of the car and finding out it was for me!! The smile on her face is something I'll never forget - she was ecstatic that I loved it. We/ my family never had much money growing up so I would try to circle the cheapest items out of the argos catalogue - pen sets and drawing pads never thought we could stretch to something as big and fancy as this. My gran put extra shifts in at work to pay for it one of the most amazing Christmases as a child I felt like we had won the lottery.

I can't remember being bowled over by any specific things, probably because I had everything. But I do remember an occasion. My grandparents used to take us for lunch at the Cafe Royal before Christmas every year. That year I was staying with them and they bought me a recorder afterwards and a bag of hot chestnuts from one of the men with a brazier.

The next best was in my 30s when DS arrived three weeks early on Christmas day.

With the roof terrace? I had one too. Absolutely adored it

This. A toy hospital. I had hours and hours of fun with it. I ended up being a nurse so perhaps this was my inspiration.

Must have been about 1965.

I was bought a Spyrograph which I played with for hours although I desperately wanted a Tressy doll which my friends had. I wasn't allowed dolls! ☹️

The Alice in Wonderland books and later on, a sewing machine.

Mine was the tree house toy from 1970s. Loved it.

A bit older I loved Fashion Plates. Spent hours on that.