'Must Have Toys', selling out etc. Did it all start with Buzz Lightyear?

[ProfessorBranestawm]

It's the first time I remember it making the news, people fighting over the last BL in the shops, not enough stock etc.

But maybe that's because I wasn't old enough to remember before that?

I know there was Mr Frosty (before my time though :o) but that was more children really wanting one and parents not giving it, rather than parents not being able to get hold of one I think?

I'm just pondering really! I feel like this sort of thing gets bigger every year (out of stock, scouring ebay etc) but maybe it's just I'm more aware of it?

Marketing is a very clever thing.

I remember news reports when I was a child of people fighting over cabbage patch kids.
And I specifically remember a woman wailing I want my dolly, omit was earlier than Buzz!

omit = so it

I vaguely remember the cabbage patch craze, too. The weren't particularly pretty dolls, either. Marketing is indeed clever.

Zebra I was going to say Cabbage Patch Dolls predated Buzz as the Xmas toy that was sold out too

My mum couldn't get my brother a Transformer in the 80s as sold out, but that could be a local thing as obvs there wasn't the internet then.

There was the Teletubby thing (first time round), in the late '90's. I didn't have kids then; I remember being totally bemused that there were kids whose Christmas would be ruined without one of this ugly-bugs.
They were actually aimed at kids far to young to care, so all the hype came from the parents...

Power Rangers were also a pain to get hold of back when they first came out.

Yes remember Cabbage Dolls in the early 80s I think? Yes to teletubbies in the late 90s too...

Yep all marketing!

Missing the point but I wanted a mr frosty and wasn't allowed one!!

I remember seeing people fighting over Cabbage Patch dolls as well.

The first one I remember was Cabbage Patch Dolls, which was about 1980

I can remember a witnessing a fight in Argos over a ghostbusters hq dolls house type thing in the early 90's.

I can remember mum looking for cabbage patch for my sister woolies had delivery and people were queueing to get them. When furbys came our at first I was in Argos every day for dd1 got 1 eventually Christmas eve I'm sure suppliers love the hype.

I remember my mum desperately trying to get my brother a Tracy Island in the early 90s.

It's just clever marketing. Look at hatchimal. It really is a pile of rubbish costing £60 but you can't get one anywhere. £60 on a pile of,plastic tat that doesn't do anything, per the reviews!

I came on to say Cabbage Patch Kids, too.

I remember the Tracy Island year... Blue Peter did a "make your own one our of paper mache" which was wildly popular due to the real thing being unavailable. Not sure how one would go about making an improvised Hatchimal though...

Woman in tesco the other day nearly in tears at customer services begging them to find Hatchimals it's the panic makes you do crazy things

It goes back much further than Buzz. I remember having to go the next town 1 hour away track down a Millennium Falcon about 35 years ago. (In the days before Toys R Us and when there were lots of interesting small toy shops.)

When I was about 5, my dad drove 200 miles to buy me a talking doll for Christmas. I'm almost 52!

I wasn't allowed a millennium falcon cos I was a girl my boy cousin got 1 I got a girls frigging world

I remember the fuss over furby's when they first came out and my mum has told me a story about queuing in the early hours of the morning to get me a game called whack attack when I was little in the 80's!

I never got a Mr Frosty either 😢

There are a couple of must have toys I remember either from wanting one or brother& sister wanting them.
Tracey island
Cabbage patch doll
Teletubbies
Furbies (1st time round)
Easy bake oven

I am sure there is a must have sold out toy craze every year.