Are this year's toys reboots and upgrades of popular playthings from years past?
What’s the biggest, the brightest or most memorable holiday present you’ve ever received?
An HO scale train set? The latest Cabbage Patch doll? A shiny bicycle with a banana seat? NFL football jersey?
Granted, these gifts are much like something Santa might have placed under the tree in the 1970s or 1980s.
One year, Santa left my brother a Superman costume, and he’s remained a super man ever since. That same holiday, I opened a box to find a white princess dress and, of course, I’ve continued to play a princess since then.
One gift the family might like to forget was a set of aluminum mixing bowls for Mom. They were so memorable — the bowls still reside in the kitchen cabinet.
What about those dangerous lime green "clacker" balls on a string? Can’t you just hear someone shouting, “You’ll knock your eyes out!”
For Christmas 2023, one can’t help but notice how many projected current and "hot" toys are replicas or updated versions of old favorites. The toy box is getting a makeover.
How about a new take on a train set? An interactive Batman figurine? A kit for making "snow’"to build your own snowy family?
A slice-pretend-to-bake-kitchen set is expected to sell big this season.
Squishy stress balls are offered for sensory fun, including a Santa look-alike and a Christmas Tree. In my view, these are reminiscent of the good, old Stretch Armstrong doll filled with syrup. His arms and legs expanded into various contortions when pulled. The family gave mine a good workout several holidays ago.
Who can forget the memorable Furby? Now, he’s interactive, plush, updated and offered in the color purple. Of course, 2023 provides drones galore for kids. These remind us of the old-fashioned cardboard child-powered planes launched in the air by hand.
Indeed, it’s a walk down memory lane as parents consider holiday gift options.
One year the family hid a full-size Barbie doll in the front seat of a muscle car in the garage. The daughter never found it. This holiday season, the new generation of Barbie fans long for the Barbie Dreamhouse, updated from the 1980s version, or a ticket to view the new Barbie and Ken movie.
How about interactive baby monkeys for your fingers? Some may recall the bendable, stretchable, lanky "Toy Story" cartoon figurines from years gone by.
"Star Wars" movies have been released regularly over the past couple of decades or so. This year, you can purchase the new and exciting Star Wars LOL (Laugh Out Loud) animatronic droid doll.
Robotics have kicked into high gear this holiday season, and a favorite playful version is a Dog-E interactive robot dog.
Here’s a traditional gift with a new twist, or snap. It’s a Tiny Land kids fort building set fashioned from plastic sticks that snap together and some that glow.
I can visualize my brother wearing his new Superman cape and crawling on the living room floor to build a Christmas Day fort. The materials he used were free — old blankets and sheets.
“Outdoor” toys being hyped in 2023 include a rocket launch pad, which is rated one of the best toys for 9-year-olds. Brother had one of those decades ago, but someone forgot to tell him to take it outside. He proceeded to practically blow the living room apart shooting plastic missiles.
Many may want this year a gift that’s a new take on an old favorite ― the bouncing ball. The 2023 version is a flying, spinning, whirring colorful ball, and it sounds cool when you give it a toss.
Some things never change, and what toy manufacturers claim for 2023 is probably true — the new-take on the old is hot, again.
Andrea Chancellor has more than 20 years in newspaper and magazine journalism and 20 years in public relations.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Many of 2023 'hot' toys are replicas, updated versions of past favorites
