By CHARLES OWENS
So what’s the big in-demand, and hard-to-find, gift this holiday season? Your guess is as good as mine.
It’s been a tough year for America. The national recession, and the global economic downturn that followed, has had a direct impact upon a lot of folks. Thankfully, the toughest of days are now behind us and folks are starting to shop and spend money once again. And one of the biggest shopping days of the year is fast approaching. The Friday after Thanksgiving, better known as “Black Friday,” is the one big day of the year when families get up together — bright and early with the chickens — to catch the biggest and best bargains of the year.
Set your alarm clock. Start your vehicle’s engine early so you can defrost your windshield (it is supposed to snow Thursday night into Friday morning). Stand in line (outside in the cold for that matter), and wait for the nervous store clerk to open the door. Rush inside like a shopper on a mission. Black Friday is definitely an experience.
It’s also the day that shoppers officially begin their search for the one in-demand, but really hard-to-find item. The Cabbage Patch dolls (Remember them?). I’m ashamed to admit that I had a Cabbage Patch doll video game growing up. In more recent years we’ve had the Nintendo Wii rage and the Tickle Me Elmo doll. Black Friday marks Day One of the search for that one big gift that moms and dads must purchase for their children, or that moms must purchase for dads and vice versa.
However, there doesn’t appear to be that one big gift this year that is registering on everyone’s radar screen. Unless you are looking for one of those little fake pet hamsters. Apparently the Zhu Zhu pets are in demand. But I have no need for a fake hamster.
Yes, the Nintendo Wii is still popular this year, but it’s no longer the must-buy gift of the holiday season — as it was a year ago. Price cuts have actually made all three of the big video game machines more popular this year. The Playstation 3 is down to $299, and the lower-end Xbox 360 model is selling for $199. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that Nintendo has slashed the price of the Wii to $199 as well. But still there isn’t really that one big video game system this year that every child and adult must have.
Moving on to other popular gifts, a lot of folks out there are still looking for the GPS systems for their vehicles. You know, the little black box you attach to the top of your rearview mirror that talks to you in a woman’s voice, telling you how to get from point A to point B. But the GPS systems have been around now for a year or two as well, so they don’t exactly fall into the new must-buy, brand-new gadget category like the fake hamster does. I wonder if the hamster talks?
You can’t go wrong with a good flat-screen television, but those have been around for a couple of years now too. So these aren’t exactly a hot new gadget. The same can be said for laptop computers. They are tiny (like the hamsters), expensive and neat, but not exactly new. So scratch them from the hot, new, must-buy gadget list as well.
So what exactly is the big, must-buy gadget or toy this year? I really don’t know.
Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe folks can instead focus their attention and their money on the above mentioned older, but still in-demand gifts. The GPS system. The flat-screen television. The cheaper video game systems. The cheaper Blue Ray player. If not, you can’t go wrong with jewelry and clothing — as long as you know the correct size of the person you are buying clothing for. And if all else fails, you can buy one of those fake pet hamsters. The cat would appreciate it.
So what else are the kids looking for this year? I have no idea. It’s too bad they didn’t bring back the Cabbage Patch dolls or some big fad from year’s past. I would have certainly waited in line for an Atari 10,400 (an imaginary successor to the Atari 5,200), or even a Sega Genesis 2. But no such luck. Apparently retro isn’t in this holiday season. So those of us who prefer treasures of year’s past are stuck with the newer high-tech gadgets instead. Like pet hamsters.
Ready or not, one of the biggest is just around the corner. Finish off the turkey. Use the extra day off from work to get Christmas decorations up in the front yard, and then set your alarm clock for bright and early. It’s time to go shopping.
Remember the early bird catches the worm — or in this case the fake electronic hamster.
Charles Owens is the Daily telegraph’s city editor. Contact him at cowens@bdtonline.com.
