The Top 5 Toys of the 2000s Christmas
A scooter, a fashion doll, a robot, a second Elmo and a hamster: five toys the 2000s Decembers were about, what the record says, and where to find the modern versions.
November 3, 2026 · ZABI LLC
The 2000s began with a scooter and ended with a robotic hamster, and in between the gift lists got stranger and more mechanical: a robot with a remote, a fashion doll with heavy eye shadow, a second Elmo built to roll around laughing. It was a decade of toys that did things.
This is our selection of five, one from roughly every other year of the decade, each backed by something we could read. If you grew up on the toys of the decade before, the 1990s list tells a related story.
The five
Reported by Supermarket News, September 2000
Razor scooter
By September 2000 Supermarket News was calling the folding scooter a coming sellout item for supermarkets and mass retailers. It quoted Joseph De La Jara of DLJ International, the company behind Razor, saying that over 200,000 Razors had sold since the previous autumn and that its Hong Kong factory was making 6,000 a day. Diane Cardinale of the Toy Manufacturers of America said industry experts projected two to five million scooters sold that year, citing Newsweek, though she added it was too new a trend to track precisely.
The same article was frank about the odds of a lasting craze. Neil Khubani, president of American Direct, said demand would probably die down after Christmas. Whether a scooter is a toy, sports kit or transport is a fair question. Ray Wallace of Cub Foods credited the scooters' popularity to the extreme-sports craze and their portability, according to the paper.
Newsweek feature on the dolls
Bratz
MGA Entertainment of Van Nuys, California, introduced Bratz in 2001. Newsweek reports that Carter Bryant, a former Mattel designer, approached MGA chief executive Isaac Larian in 2000 with a sketch. The result was a set of midriff-baring fashion dolls, Yasmin, Cloe, Sasha and Jade, built around what the magazine calls a "passion for fashion", with sequins, fur and heavy eye shadow.
Newsweek says the dolls had been taking shelf space from Barbie and, in countries including England, Australia and South Africa, outsold her and held as much as 60 percent of the market. Mattel pointed out that domestic Barbie sales were rising. A Moneywise roundup adds that some parents raised body-image concerns, which is worth knowing before a gift. It remains a useful snapshot of a decade in which fashion dolls had a serious rival.
Victoria and Albert Museum record, 2004
Robosapien
The V&A holds a Robosapien dated 2004, made by WowWee in China and designed by Mark Tilden, described by the museum as a NASA scientist. It is a battery-operated robot about 14 inches tall that can dance, wolf-whistle, gesture, grunt and snore, and it is programmable, with over 67 separate manoeuvres. It came with a remote control and a black hat.
The Moneywise roundup lists Robosapien as the craze of 2004 and says it sold more than 1.5 million between April and December, though we could not trace that figure to a primary source and give it as the roundup's claim only. The remote is the part worth noticing: a robot that dances, snores and wolf-whistles on command is closer to a puppet than a computer, and a grown-up can enjoy it as much as anyone.
Hot toy list, Christian Science Monitor, November 2006
Elmo TMX
Ten years after the first Tickle Me Elmo, Fisher-Price released Elmo TMX, short for Tickle Me Extreme, a nod to the anniversary. The Christian Science Monitor describes a 14-inch plush that giggles when tickled, drops to the floor, pounds it, rolls around laughing and then stands up by itself. It was a secret project, kept from toy fairs, and shipped in opaque boxes with a flap that showed only Elmo's eyes.
It topped the paper's hot toy list. Jim Silver of Toy Wishes magazine said about 250,000 sold on the 19 September launch day, and "No one expected the dolls to sell at this rate." Fisher-Price's Gina Sirard said it set a company record for opening-day sales. Some stores limited buyers to two each. Critics such as Stephanie Oppenheim of Toy Portfolio argued that Elmo did all the playing while the child watched, a fair point for parents choosing on play value.
Reported by ABC News and the Christian Science Monitor, November 2009
Zhu Zhu Pets
ABC News described them in November 2009 as cuddly, robotic hamsters that squeak, roll and drive their own cars. Ken Levinsohn, who owns a Learning Express shop in Scarsdale, New York, had none and had waited nearly two months for a delivery. At the Toys R Us in Times Square, ABC reported, every shipment sold out within hours. One shopper told the reporters it was easier to get a swine flu shot.
The Christian Science Monitor said two major online retailers had sold out, that a scuffle broke out among Black Friday shoppers in Indianapolis, and that an analyst, Sean McGowan of Needham & Co., expected supply not to catch up before Christmas. Adrienne Appell of the Toy Industry Association told parents not to get swept up in the hype. ABC compared the hamsters with Furby, Tickle Me Elmo, Cabbage Patch dolls and Beanie Babies, which is about the right company.
What the decade tells us
Set the five next to each other and one difference shows. Two of them, Elmo TMX and Zhu Zhu Pets, are documented mainly through the chase: sold-out shelves, store limits and analysts explaining the supply. The other three are better remembered for the object itself and what it did.
Remember the list is a selection, not a verdict. If you want the next stretch of years, the lists start with the 2011 toys and run forward, and classic toys that outlived every craze covers the ones that never needed a list.
Sources
Where the facts in this post come from. Rankings and lists belong to the people who published them; the selection and the stories are ours.
- Mini scooter craze hits mass retail floors for holidays, Supermarket News, September 2000 — Razor and scooter boom figures and quotes
- Bratz article, Newsweek — Bratz 2001 debut, Bryant and MGA, the four dolls, Barbie competition
- Robosapien, WowWee Group Ltd, Victoria and Albert Museum — Robosapien 2004, WowWee, Tilden, functions and size
- 10 years later, a new ticklish Elmo tops the hot toy list, The Christian Science Monitor, November 2006 — Elmo TMX description, launch-day sales, hot toy list, limits per customer
- Zhu Zhu Pets: Hamsters to Save Christmas? ABC News, 20 November 2009 — Zhu Zhu Pets description, Times Square sell-outs, Scarsdale shop, comparison to earlier crazes
- Zhu Zhu Pets: Should you buy one on Cyber Monday? The Christian Science Monitor, 30 November 2009 — Online sell-outs, Indianapolis scuffle, analyst and Toy Industry Association comments
- Every year's top holiday toy craze since 1989, Moneywise (via Yahoo Finance) — Robosapien 2004 and Bratz body-image comments (retrospective roundup)