From Tamagotchis to Heelys, here are the best presents from your 00s childhood. Photo / Getty Images
From Tamagotchis to Heelys, here are the best presents from your 00s childhood. Photo / Getty Images
It’s no secret that Christmas doesn’t hit the same as it did when we were kids.
Born too late for board games and too early for the peak of the tech age, we late 90s/early 00s kids were somewhere in between. Our Christmas lists weren’t full of cellphones or Apple watches, they weren’t full of Beanie Babies or Garbage Pail Kids Cards.
Instead, we begged Santa for the latest CD, Heelys or whatever toy was being talked about on What Now that week, and I for one kind of miss it.
So there is only one option. We might have adult responsibilities now but forget about them for five minutes because I’m about to sprinkle some Christmas nostalgia on you and take us back in time.
Here are the coolest Christmas presents from your childhood:
Whenever a new Now came out you were begging your mum to go to The Warehouse and pick up a copy.
Most of the time she said no because the last time she got you one you left it out and it got all scratched and no one could appreciate Christina Aguilera. Either that or she said no because she had already brought it for your Christmas present.
The Sims
The Sims. Photo / EA Games
When dial up internet was still a thing and computers took 10 minutes to turn on, The Sims took the world by storm.
Debatably the start of the gaming era, this game was all about building a family, using the motherload cheat code for money and then killing off all your sims. For what reason? No idea, you just woke up and chose violence.
Furby
If you didn’t have one your friend definitely did.
Rumours went around the school of Jessica’s Furby moving and speaking in the night which was terrifying to 8-year-old you but even so it was on your “presents I want” list to Santa.
Tamagotchi
When your parents gave you one of these it was like giving you your very own child. You had to feed it, play games with it and make sure it didn’t die.
Of course, you took the responsibility seriously for approximately five days but then you went to tee ball and your mate’s birthday party, forgot to feed it all day, it died and ultimately became a cool accessory to hang on your school bag.
iPod
iPods were one of the coolest gifts around in the early 2000s. Photo / Ozier Muhammad, The New York Times
Nothing screamed “I’m almost a teenager” quite like getting an iPod for Christmas.
You uploaded all your favourite tunes on there - aka your parent’s iTunes library - and had fights with your Walkman friends who thought their Walkman was better than your iPod. Ugh, as if.
Bop it
Bop It. Photo / Etsy
Twist it, pull it, spin it, flick it, bop it, sounds like something an FBoy might do, but get your head out of the gutter because it’s actually the very cool, very iconic 2000s toy, Bop It.
This Christmas present was such a hot commodity that even Grandma wanted a go.
Tech Deck
Tech Decks. Photo / Farmers
He was a skater boy, he said see ya later boy *cue the sick fingerboarding trick*.
Tech Decks were the coolest stocking stuffer you could get at Christmas and always resulted in an intense fight with your sibling when they stole the purple wheels and you got stuck with the boring black ones.
In your letter to Santa you very specifically noted you have a passion for fashion and wanted Chloe from the Wintertime Wonderland collection - “don’t even think about giving me Jade” you warned.
So when you unwrapped that perfectly wrapped gift and saw blonde hair and leg warmers you were over the moon and ran to the landline to call your friend while your dad struggled to get your new doll out of the box.
Razer scooter
You were the coolest kid in town with one of these. Photo / Twitter
Mum threw some wrapping paper at this and called it a day but c’est la vie because you’d just got a Razer Scooter.
Before the days of helmets and knee pads, this thing was the ultimate injury instigator but nothing hurt more than when you were showing your friends a sick trick and failed. Thankfully your ankle pain overshadowed the bruise on your ego.
Mighty Beanz
Mighty Beanz. Photo / Instagram @nickliebhauser
No one knows why these were cool but they were and we simply must respect that.
For Christmas, you’d get a whole set and race (aka throw) the ugly ones down the hill at full speed hoping they would break.
Heelys
Heelys.
Before Air Force 1s, Heelys were the chunky shoe of choice and boy, were they a moment.
Nothing upset your family more than when you insisted on wearing them absolutely everywhere but whatever major loser, haters gonna hate.
Spiderman glove that shot webs
Spider-man Super Web Slinger. Photo / Hasbro
When you unwrapped this you only had one thing on your mind. How you were about to terrorise your sister to the point of no return.
Mum and Dad would definitely confiscate this from you by the end of Christmas day but not before you were an absolute menace with it. You might be on next year’s naughty list but yolo.
My secret journal
My Password Journal. Photo / Amazon
Things got very serious when you unwrapped this gift because you were about to spill all the tea about your crush on Josh and how annoying your sibling is.
For at least three days this was the light of your life and you felt like a real Lizzie McGuire but then you misplaced it, forgot your password and asked your dad if he could hack into it with a screwdriver.
Bob the builder tool kit
Bob the Builder. Photo / crazysales.com
There’s no rest for a Bob the Builder apprentice.
What did you say, mum? You want me to fix the cupboard dad never got around to fixing? No worries, it will cost you a juice box and a Nutella sandwich.
Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS. Photo / Amazon
If you were really lucky your parents would have waited and got you the DS with the camera in it but if you were too desperate to wait, you’d unwrap this bad boy on Christmas morning.
Usually paired with Nintendogs, Animal Crossing or a random cooking game, this was the best present you could get before you levelled up to an iPod or cellphone and solidified that you were in your pre-teen era.
Playstation 2
PlayStation 2 games. Photo / Ebay
If we are going to pay tribute to the beloved Nintendo DS, it’s only fair we also include this legend.
You had Singstar, your cousins had Guitar Hero and together, you were unstoppable - that is until the grown-ups had one too many eggnogs and decided it was time to relive their glory days.
