Super Nintendo, My Little Pony and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles topped the list of holiday requests from children of the ’80s. But today’s kids are looking for Game Cube, Dora the Explorer and Harry Potter paraphernalia, and college students will need to revisit the stores of their youth to shop for younger brothers and sisters this year.
Plug It In ‘ Play TV Game Systems and the Trivial Pursuit Saturday Night Live DVD Edition from Hasbro Games make the top 13 best sellers list at Toys R Us, according to a press release.
The closest Toys R Us store to Northeastern can be found in the South Bay Center in Dorchester, but for those not willing or able to make the trip down Massachusetts Avenue, shipping gifts is always an option. Amazon.com offers free shipping on toy orders from Toys R Us over $49.
For brothers and sisters too old for toys but not quite ready for a free weekend with their older sibling, Barnes ‘ Noble offers gifts for “tweens.” The Totally Awesome Game is a recommended holiday gift, according to their Web site, www.barnesandnoble.com.This magnetic board game will quiz kids on the accomplishments of people around them, and runs for $12.50.
The Dream Decoder Kit, another recommended gift, will allow your early teenage siblings to record their dreams in a journal using a light-up pen. The Kit is marked at $13.50 on Barnes ‘ Noble’s Web site. Barnes ‘ Noble also offers free shipping on orders of $25 or more and delivers in three days or less.
KB Toys also breaks down the hottest gifts of 2004 by age groups for the lost shopper. The Simplicity Lockstitch Sewing Machine, for ages 6 and up, is $50 on www.kbtoys.com. The popular gift, however, is temporarily sold out, but the Web site provides an option for shoppers to be contacted when it is back in stock.
The Razor E100 Electric Scooter, for ages 8 and up, is also sold out, but KB Toys’ Web site provides the same contact option. The scooter will run on the higher price side for almost $100.
A true gift for children of the ’90s, or earlier, is Trivial Pursuit – ’90s Edition by Milton Bradley. This game is suggested for kids age 14 and up and is available on KB’s Web site for $40. KB also provides shipping in one to three business days with free shipping starting at orders of $99.
But for some college students, brothers and sisters are not looking for toys and games.
Senior marketing major Farah Casis wants to give something more personal to her 12-year-old sister and 14-year-old brother, and to her, money is no object. She is looking to get each of them tickets to concerts they would enjoy.
“My parents don’t have the time to take them and they don’t have the money right now and it’s something that we can do together,” Casis said.
Radio stations across the country typically offer their versions of KISS 108’s Jingle Ball. Tickets for this year’s local Ball, at Tsongas Arena in Lowell Dec. 9, start at $35.
Lindsay Kelm, a sophomore nursing major, looks to her own likes when shopping for her twin sister. This year, she said The Gap and Express are on her sister’s wish list, where she hopes to spend about $50. For her brother, 21, she said electronics are the way to go, but she is still not sure exactly what to get him.
“Gift certificates are key for picky guys,” Kelm said.
For big spenders, iPods are big on the market this year. Regular iPods typically run about $300 at stores including Radio Shack, according to their Web site.
On the other end of the cost scale, DVDs also make “simple” gifts, said Tim O’Brien, a senior computer engineering technology major. O’Brien is looking to pick up the Caddy Shack DVD at Best Buy for his 21-year-old brother.
“If you give someone a DVD, everyone has a DVD player,” he said. “It’s a safety gift.”
The closest Best Buy to Northeastern is located in the Landmark Center on Brookline Avenue and Park Drive.
