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The Parents' Gift Guide

Gift guides

The Top 5 Toys of Christmas

The toys each Christmas was about, year by year and decade by decade, with the story behind each one.

  • The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2025

    Five toys that turned up on the DreamToys list, the Toy of the Year awards and the hot-toy roundups of last December, and the stories behind them.

  • The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2024

    An animatronic blue alien, a card game with a mean streak, a cartoon dog family, a revived 1980s doll and a shark in bricks: five toys from Christmas 2024.

  • The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2023

    Barbie, Pokémon, Squishmallows, a six-thousand-piece castle and a game of Twister with a screen: five toys that mattered in Christmas 2023.

  • The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2022

    Squishmallows, a guinea pig that has babies overnight, a cartoon cat's dollhouse, a Pokémon box and a Star Wars walker: five toys from Christmas 2022.

  • The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2021

    A bubbling cauldron, a soft food squad, a Star Wars starship, a camera-equipped Tamagotchi and a film-inspired playhouse: Christmas 2021 in five toys.

  • The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2020

    A year spent at home, a green character with no toys yet, and a puppy that unwraps itself: five toys that were on the lists in the strangest Christmas of recent memory.

  • The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2019

    A Christmas with no single craze: five toys that appeared on the 2019 lists, from a doll that grows out of a flowerpot to a virtual pet that came back from the 1990s.

  • The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2018

    The first American Christmas after Toys R Us liquidated: five toys from the 2018 lists, including a Hogwarts hall in bricks and a doll from 1983 in its anniversary dress.

  • The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2017

    A robotic monkey that sold out, a doll wrapped in seven layers, a stretchy hero from 1976 and two more toys from the lists that shaped the shops that December.

  • The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2016

    The Christmas of the egg that hatched, the retro console that vanished and the tiny groceries with faces: five toys that appeared on the 2016 lists, with the documents behind each.

  • The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2015

    A rolling droid, a very wet game, tiny groceries, a Star Wars set and a gift that ended in a recall: five toys from the 2015 lists and headlines.

  • The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2014

    A sold-out snow queen, two robot dinosaurs, a spaceship from a film about bricks and a game with a long memory: five toys the 2014 lists agree on.

  • The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2013

    A hugging Elmo, a rubber-band loom, a tablet for the playroom, a construction kit with a story and the Furby's second act: five toys from the 2013 lists and awards.

  • The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2012

    A Furby with new eyes, a Lego line for a new audience, a tablet with its own award, the Turtles back on screen and a game with a portal: five toys of 2012.

  • The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2011

    A learning tablet, a ninja line from Lego, a game with a portal, a rocking Elmo and some angry birds: five toys that the 2011 lists and awards agree on.

  • 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.

  • The Top 5 Toys of the 1990s Christmas

    Beanie Babies, Buzz Lightyear, Tickle Me Elmo, Tamagotchi and Furby: five toys the 1990s Decembers were about, with what the record says and where to look today.

  • The Top 5 Toys of the 1980s Christmas

    A cube, a doll, a shape-shifting robot, a talking bear and a handheld: five toys the 1980s Decembers circled, and where to find the modern versions.