The Best Designed Christmas Gifts
by Adrian Hanft, (10 comments)
Have you finished your Christamas shopping yet? This year’s shopping has go me trying to think of the best gifts I have ever received for Christmas. Considering all the years with trees overflowing with presents, there are very few gifts that come to mind. While the initial excitement of presents is always fun, most gifts don’t leave much of an impression. But there are some gifts that are are much more than others. Some gifts define your childhood. Some become a part of you daily routine. Some improve the quality of life, and others change your life completely. It isn’t surprising that the gifts that have done that for me are some of the best designed products ever made. Here is my list of the best Christmas gifts I have ever received…
Swiss Army Knife - The best tool ever made. I have had mine for over ten years. I got the one with the pliers, not the saw. Amazingly, I still have the original tweazers and tooth pick.
Star Wars - Anything Star Wars related has always been a great gift. The movies defined my childhood. This year the saga ended, and hopefully my DVD collection will be complete.
Sketch Books - There is something very exciting about starting a new sketchbook. Great gifts.
Lego - Each year I got a new set of Legos. It was always my favorite gift, and never got old … Even to this day.
iPod - What hasn’t already been said?
Record Player - This is actually a gift that I will be getting this year. While the iPod has allowed music to become a part of my daily life, its constant presence has turned my favorite music into background noise. I am hoping that the tactile and interactive nature of vinyl will change my music from a routine back into an experience.
The Bike - Everybody remembers the year they got their bike.
Dyson Vacuum - This is what my wife got this year (early), and we can’t stop talking about it. The design is stunning. I never would have thought I could be so impressed with a cleaning tool.
So there’s my list. What are the gifts that you remember the most?
Comments (10)
GoCatGo said:
You will love having a turntable for the very reason you stated. Playing records is quite different than pumping music out of a computer or iPod.
Anything “Lego-like” is fab. Try constructiontoys.com. They have Lincoln Logs for heaven’s sake.
Happy holidays!
Posted on December 16, 2005
adelie said:
Adrian,
Sorry to bug you, but I’ve never known anyone that’s bought a Dyson vacuum. So:
Did you get the kind with the pivot ball? Is it as cool and wonderful as it looks? Does it actually vacuum carpet well?
Thanks for putting up with me.
Posted on December 17, 2005
Mikhail said:
Mines gotta be the N64, one of the best consoles ever created. That and Mario 64 combined, no kid could be happier.
Posted on December 18, 2005
DC1974 said:
I’ve received some nice gifts for Christmas, but thinking about your list and making comparisons to my own life: I think my birthday gifts were better. Things like bikes, my drawing board, etc. all came on my birthday. The one Christmas gift that everyone in my family still talks about today was at my third Christmas. (When I was two and a half.) I apparently decided that I really, really wanted a Weebles tree house and wasn’t going to be satisfied until that was the gift that I opened. I pretty much tossed aside anything until I got to that one gift. Apparently, this was quite amusing.
Posted on December 19, 2005
Bennett said:
I have to say the matt cutter that I received in college has been one of the most useful Christmas gifts I have ever received. It must be well designed since it works smoothly and consistently. It never lets me down.
In childhood. I wish I would have received Lego brand blocks, but for some reason my family went with the imitation Lock Blocks (sp?). They were not designed as well, but the glow in the dark ones were very cool.
Leader 1 also sticks out in my head. For some of the same reasons as the Lego/Lock Blocks thing, I had Gobots and not Transformers. I can’t help but the stir the pot and say that although Transformers were the originals, Gobots were better designed. They transformed much more easily, which in turn made for much quicker switching during play time. Simplify.
A few years back my wife and I bought each other dinning room chairs (Kyoto Chair) from Design Within Reach (these actually were in reach) and how could they not be well designed.
Posted on December 19, 2005
Bill Kerr said:
Bennett:
transformers were WAY cooler… and much more intricate… the cassette tape that turned into the condor! How cool was that thing!
transformer packaging also kicked ass with the special viewer to see the characters ability levels…
I remember making the transforming (shootch shootch shootch) noise when playing with those things… damn i wish i still had them!
Posted on December 19, 2005
Adrian said:
For some reason, I never got any transformers or gobots even though I really wanted them. They aren’t very easy to make out of Legos either!
adelie, No, we didn’t get the pivoting ball kind, and yes it does work great on carpet. We didn’t realize how dirty our carpet was until we filled the canister with dirt the first time we used it on our living room. The brilliance of the design is more than just not losing suction, too. You can remove the canister, empty it, and put it back with one hand in ten seconds.
Posted on December 21, 2005
Karen Veal said:
Ade- Remember that weekend when I brough my Dyson to Colorado with me because I had become a Dyson Freak. After that Betsy couldn’t live without one. Now I’m excited to hear that you feel the same way. Now you know how smart your mother-in-law really is.
Posted on December 23, 2005
Adrian said:
Karen, Yes, you get the credit for turning me on to the Dyson. Who would have thought?! We are a crazy vacuum-loving family, aren’t we…
Posted on December 23, 2005
Jake said:
My big one that I look forward to every year is the Hess truck. I have about 20 of them now and some are pretty old. The older ones were handed down by my grandfather. They are a collectors item now and he gave me the whole proper care lecture. Ha!
Posted on January 8, 2007