Cabbage Patch Kids and the Christmas of 1983
How a hand-stitched doll with adoption papers became the toy that emptied department stores in 1983, and what the record says about the shortage.
Toy crazes and classics
The toys that sold out one December, and the classics that outlasted every craze.
Tickle Me Elmo: The Toy That Sold Out in 1996
How a plush Sesame Street doll that giggled became the hardest gift to find in December 1996, and what the contemporary reports actually say.
Furby, 1998: The Toy That Talked Back
How a furry electronic creature with its own language emptied shelves, injured shoppers and got itself banned from the NSA during the 1998 holiday season.
Classic Toys That Outlived Every Craze
LEGO, Slinky, Etch A Sketch, Play-Doh, Barbie and Hot Wheels: six toys with documented origins that are still around long after the toys of their moment.