Dear Three Wise Men: The toys we ask for and miss
How can we forget the years when, with our hearts dancing with emotion, we wrote letters to Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar to ask them for all the toys we longed to find under the Christmas tree, on the morning of January 6th.
From the classic Barbie, Bratz and Cabbage Patch dolls, or the Knights of the Zodiac, Hot Wheels cars and tracks, avalanches and bicycles to video game consoles, are some of the gifts we ordered from the Wise Men.
On this Three Kings Day, the MILENIO Digital team opened the trunk of memories to share with our readers the photos of the toys that came from the Middle East and that have a great history.
Do you remember these toys?
WARNING: Read this note with tissues in hand!
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Big surprise: Super Nintendo, Knights of the Zodiac and carts under purple balloons
Photo of Super Nintendo games (Mario Fragoso)I was 8 years old. I woke up excited and got my mom up because the Wise Men had arrived. I came across a SPECTACULAR image: these beings from the Middle East decorated my living room with hundreds of purple balloons -my favorite color- and they had left me a lot of gifts.
I received my Super Nintendo with the Super Mario World game (it took me 1 year to finish it), Hot Wheels cars, three Knights of the Zodiac: Pegasus, Dragon and Swan.
And not only that... they also brought me board games: Who's to blame? and a Uno. I lied to my mom telling her that they were for her because nothing in the room had her name on it and she believed me!
Every morning of Three Kings Day I remember it as if I were living it and I thank that Reina Maga for keeping my illusion alive.
[Mario Fragoso]
Goals for Cascaritas
Goals (Zeltzin Zamora)
Since I was a child, soccer always caught my attention, because I am part of a Pambolera family, for this reason, every year I asked for things related to football such as balls and shirts, one of them and one of the most special was that of Jorge Campos, my lifelong idol.
One Three Kings Day, some collapsible goals arrived, which replaced the stones or partitions to mark our goal in the middle of the street.
These goals were the protagonists of many cascaritas with my brothers, cousins, neighbors, people who were or are an important part of my life.
[Zeltzin Zamora]
Game Boy Color Pikachu Edition
Game Boy Color Pikachu Edition.One of the happiest days of my childhood was seeing under the Christmas tree my Pikachu edition Game Boy Color that the Three Kings brought me in 1999. I was 5 years old when I opened that gift, but for a long time it was my toy favorite, so much so that I still have it to this day. Despite hours and hours of playing with it, it still works like a charm.
[Rogelio Loredo]
Woody and Buzz Lightyear dolls
Photo Buzz Lightyear (Sebastián Rosales)
These figures, protagonists of the movie Toy Story (1995), are a special part of my life because they arrived on my first Three Kings Day, on January 6, 2002.
From that day on, I took them everywhere and slept with them.
[Sebastián Rosales Montes]
Bugger
Bugger.Every January 6th, my brother and I received the same toys from the Three Wise Men, but there was a time when we loved remote-controlled cars.
Our uncles, who took care of us when we were kids, used to make us tracks with curves and obstacles in the backyard and it was a lot of fun.
We didn't want to stop playing, but I remember that the batteries took a long time to charge and didn't last long, so we had several cars to replace them when they ran out of batteries and continue racing for many hours.
Insector was the last one I ordered on Three Kings Day, but I still have all my cars.
[Sweet Gamer]
Remote controlled car
Remote Control Cart
A simple remote control car, which only moves back and forth with two buttons, became my favorite toy on January 6th.
At 9 years old, I received another car of this type and I used it for the first time playing with my dog. At first, the dog ran away from the toy, but then bit and threw it several times. You can imagine the tragedy... I cried for several hours in front of my wrecked car until my parents bought me another one.
[Antonio Guadarrama]
Bratz dolls
Bratz Dolls
The Bratz dolls were four friends: Jade, Chloe, Sasha and Yasmin, physically different, but with incredible taste in fashion.
When I was a little girl, nothing excited me more than owning a Bratz doll, because the history of their friendship and how they supported each other was amazing.
My favorite was Yasmin. My Bratz collection reflects the effort that the Wise Men made year after year.
[Fernanda Mendoza]
Sweetheart Playhouse: A Haven
Sweetheart PlayhouseI can't remember exactly the year it arrived, but that white house with the purple roof became a shelter , in which my sister and I planned our next mischief. Between laughter, games and whispers of complicity, the hours passed very quickly in that game house. A place made for imagining and living adventures, because even from a young age we need a place just for ourselves.
[Amellaly Morales]
Xbox 360
XBox 360
This console came to me one Three Kings Day to bring me much joy. Through the Xbox I have had great experiences, as I made friends online, which were consolidated in real life.
[Esteban Montejo]
Pianosaurus
Pianosaurus.I was seven or eight years old when the Three Wise Men spoiled me with a blue pianosaur that I used to spend afternoons with after coming home from school and that, over time, ended up becoming one of my favorite toys.
Now every Three Kings Day, the image of this toy reminds me of those days when, sitting on a small wooden chair, I would place the booklet with sheet music on the back of my tiny sleepy-eyed dinosaur to play what was on that then I called music.
[Ernesto Huerta]
Balls
Pink Ball (Cynthia Cortés)
'Alive' toy: Round pink object that bounces at the user's pace and is used to practice various sports at a basic level.
Balls have always been my favorite, as they were easy to manipulate and control. A simple toy that paved my way in the sport.
When I was one year old I was given my first pink ball and from then on I tried to bounce it all the time. I always had fun and not only did I use it with my hands, I also climbed on it and jumped like a toad or dropped on it and tried to roll like my ball.
Thanks to my ball, the first sport I played for more than six years was basketball.
[Cynthia Cortés]
John Cena vs. Max Steel
John Cena
Little man about 15 centimeters tall who wore the typical clothing of wrestler John Cena in 2009: denim shorts, white tennis shoes and blue wristbands.
I was 10 years old. I was playing with my cousin to throw our toys on the stairs, when he took my John Cena and, although I yelled no, he threw it on others of his.
To our surprise, both of his Max Steel dolls lost their heads and an arm, but mine was unharmed.
Crime does not pay and the perpetrator ended up crying, while I felt an immense calm from seeing my complete John Cena .
[Rafael Solchaga]
Barbie Ballet
Photo Barbie (Miriam Ramírez)
The Barbie doll, in a pink dress and ballet shoes, was all the rage in the 1980s and I was lucky to have one.
It was the time of the program Las aventuras de Capulina and watching Uncle Gamboín (achí ech mijitos) on television. The Wise Men, although they visited the house each year, did not always leave the gifts we asked for; however, that year they did fulfill me.
It was Ballet Barbie. She is fair-haired and blue-eyed, in her pink dress and slippers. I had her for many years and several times I rescued her from my little brother's bites, although one day I couldn't do much and she broke her head. I put it back on, but it was no longer the same.
Over the years, more Barbies arrived, but she continued to occupy a special place and after keeping her for a long time, I decided that, like her friends, she should make other girls happy.
[Miriam Ramírez]
Game console in the shape of a tire
Video game photo in the shape of a tire
Although I was already a big boy, the Three Wise Men decided to give me my last gift, which, for me, was the most symbolic of all: a video game console in the shape of a tire.
It was my mother, who with what little or much she had left in her pockets, helped the Kings so that my brothers and I had this device, austere, without being a recognized brand by any means.
I remember that it contained several preloaded video games and with it I spent several afternoons and nights of entertainment.
Growing up I received gifts of all sizes and colors, but none meant as much to me as this tire with games inside.
[Hector Ortiz]
A Cabbage Patch Fairy
Cabbage Patch Fairy
As a child, one of my favorite dolls was the Cabbage Patch. She was the second daughter, so she almost always inherited them from my sister, who, fortunately, hardly liked dolls.
I remember that one of my last Christmas gifts or perhaps the last, because I was already more on the threshold of adolescence than in the cradle of childhood, was a fairy from that line of toys, which I still have.
It was the first one that I received new, in its transparent box, with its birth certificate and that particular smell of those little dolls with dimples on their cheeks. Maybe she was the one I played the least with, but she was the one I valued the most.
[Nancy Corro]
Champions League Final Ball
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Champions League ballWhen I was 9 years old, the Three Wise Men brought me one of the things I had wanted for years: a Champions League ball.
In 2005, one of the most spectacular editions of the Champions League European Cup was played, at least from 2000 to date, and which ended with the Final where the Liverpool beat Milan on penalties.
That final marked me, and despite the fact that my team lost, I was amazed by what I witnessed that day in May 2005. With this, for the Wise Men of the 2006, one of the things I put in my letter was that they brought me the ball for the Champions League Final. And so it was.
[Jorge Garcia]
Cabbage Patch Kids... tiny
Cabbage PatchWhen I was 7 years old, I asked the Three Wise Men for a Cabbage Patch Kids doll, which stood out for looking like a real baby , since he was almost the same size and had his birth certificate with his name.
However, they brought me one of the same brand but half the size and completely plastic, which had a bathing suit and a jet ski.
Despite the fact that the first day I was disappointed that I did not receive my ideal doll, Charleene became one of the best gifts I have received, because 21 years later I remember her as the toy that made my childhood the most happy
[Fernanda López Castro]
Tigger stuffed
Tigger stuffed.The stuffed tigger belonged to my older sister and when I was born she inherited it to me to "take care of"; It lasted seven years with me and when my niece was born I gave it to her so she could play with it.
[Mayra Yazmín Ruíz Dosamantes]
Xbox first generation
X Box first generation
Black video game console developed by Microsoft.
That year, the Three Wise Men decided to freely interpret my letter and left gifts under my shoes other than the ones I asked for. I knew nothing about the world of videogames, so seeing that Xbox didn't come as a very pleasant surprise, because I didn't know what it was or how it worked.
However, after turning it on and starting the game that came with it (Halo: Combat Evolved), I spent hours and hours with my dad and brother, screaming, frustrated, laughing, and excited, trying to finish all the levels. .
[Gersain Grande]
Micro oven
Micro Oven
Like many other friends, my dream when I was a child was to have a micro-oven, which came to me one Three Kings Day.
I remember spending hours "baking" cupcakes hoping they would look just like the ones in the photo, and although I never did, it's one of the best memories I have of those dates.
[Katya Vite]
Auto Ricochet
Ricochet (Luis Madrid)A remote-controlled car that was characterized by being able to turn on its own axis and being an "all terrain".
After asking the Wise Men for three years in a row, they finally fulfilled my wish, which made me very happy. I immediately put its battery to charge in perhaps the longest couple of hours of my life.
I went out with my friends from the block and began to compete with those who had received the same or a similar toy. Soon we organized a racing tournament in which the prize was a bag of sweets donated by the mother of one of them.
I don't know if it was because my toy was new or just luck, but I got that sweet trophy. In the end I shared the sweets with everyone and I had one of the best afternoons I remember from my childhood.
[Luis Madrid]
Interactive Barbie House!
Barbie house photo
I was 8 years old when I prayed to the Three Wise Men for a Barbie house, which in those days was the latest of the latest, because it was not only a house, but also interactive: Barbie bathed and the shower rang, it made a cake and the oven was making noises.
That day I was the happiest, I didn't stop playing until I fell asleep in the living room, and also, Melchor left me his autograph in the box. Today, 17 years later, I still keep it intact, and every time the opportunity to donate it presents itself, I refuse to get rid of it.
[Sandra Medina]
A very special stuffed animal
Giraffe Lafa (Diego Martínez)Lafa arrived in 1994, just a few months old, after one of his mother's friends traveled to New York. He came to accompany me when he began to put together puzzles.
When I was in vocational school, at the age of 16, they asked us to bring a childhood toy and Lafa accompanied me. In the classroom, the teacher told us that "we had changed to grow up" and we all began to cry out of nostalgia that we could no longer be children.
After 25 years, the toy is whole. My relationship with Lafa is very similar to that of Mr. Burns, from The Simpsons, with Bobo.
[Diego Martínez]
Matchbox Jeep
Yellow JEEP (Jocelyn Chavez)
The best surprise of Three Kings Day came when I was 5 years old, the day I ran to the Christmas tree and I was very sad to see that there was nothing; However, my parents told me to go out looking for the Three Wise Men: I found a yellow Jeep from Matchbox and I didn't hesitate to go out and drive it.
The car was a legend in my family because I wanted to use it even to go to the store and also because I never let any of my cousins (older or younger) drive it, I could only drive and take them, even if someone tried to handle it he told them no, but let them take pictures on it (As in the photo).
[Jocelyn Chavez]
Play Station 2
PlayStation 2 (Miguel Jimenez)
It was 2006, I was 10 years old and a PlayStation 2 was waiting under the Christmas tree, next to the soccer game Winning Eleven 9. I don't remember if I cried with joy when I saw it, but I did start playing with it. my brother, then 17 years old.
We went on like this for hours and, without knowing it, it was the last stage that I would live with him the most. He almost always beat me. Sometimes I would get angry and leave in the middle of the game.
A year or two later, my brother was hardly home anymore. I started spending a lot of time alone, with the PlayStation 2 by my side. I was never bored.
A video game console made me see that, despite the distance and the moments, there will always be a time to be with the people I love, and with my own company.
[Miguel Jiménez]
Lite-Brite Magic Board
Lite-Brite Magic BoardI have always liked December dates because of the amount of colored lights around the city, so on Day de Reyes could not ask for anything other than similar.
When I was 8 years old I wanted to have a 'Lite-Brite Magic Board', it was nothing more than a box with a spotlight in the middle and a screen with many little dots where a black sheet was placed on which LEDs were placed. colors to form a figure.
The blackboard came with various templates of figures such as boats, clowns, houses, trains, fish and many other things that were perhaps simple, but for me they were the best because I was "MAKING ART WITH LIGHT".
I could spend hours entertaining changing templates or making my own, my fascination for the toy was such that I took care of it like no other, even ten years later, when my younger brother turned 5, I still lent it to him to play for a while And yes, now that I'm 25 I still have it and even with its original box.
[Montse H. Tula]
Bicycle...unexpected
Bicycle (Ricardo Lara)
Once, the Three Wise Men brought me a gray bicycle, I guess they thought it was time to do more exercise; however, I wasn't thrilled with the gift because I didn't ask for it and it ended up tucked away in a corner of my house for a long time.
Later, several children in the neighborhood began to have and use bicycles, so I began to ride my own.
As time passed, a kind of club for cyclist children was formed: we organized races, we went to places that seemed far away at the time, and there was a skate ramp where we had too many 'thrown' accidents.
My bike was later stolen and the club disappeared over time.
[Ricardo Lara]
Passenger buses... to scale
Photo scale buses (José Medina)
As a child my dream was to be a passenger bus driver, I wanted to drive on the main roads and I had a fascination towards them.
At the age of eight, the Three Wise Men brought me several scale buses and in the bedroom I would play with them and imagine their paths and with the pillows and objects I found I built them passenger terminals.
[José Luis Medina Rivera]
Cabbage Patch Doll
Cabbage Patch (Itzaxaya Campos)Rosalinda was the first doll I had in my childhood. My sister and I had a different one and we took it everywhere. For the dolls we asked our parents for new clothes every weekend.
We even sang a bedtime song together with the dolls every night.
[Itzaxaya Campos Cruz]
Recorder
Recorder on Three Kings Day.I remember the recorder my sister received on Three Kings Day, which I also used. Despite the fact that we are eight years apart, that recorder was the perfect excuse to spend time together, whether it was to listen to music or to have a "concert".
[Emily Paulín Cuenca]
Classic model car
When I was 15 years old, yes, at that age, the Three Wise Men put me on what they call a list of "well-behaved children", they remembered me and fulfilled a wish that to date is my passion: cars.
When I saw this classic car it made me feel so happy because the Three Wise Men still, from the United States, never forgot me.
[Iván Ramírez]
Sweet Cupcakes doll and recorder
At 3 years old, the Wise Men brought me a Sweet Cupcakes, which brought its accessories and the best thing is that it had a smell: my doll smelled like a banana.
It became one of my favorite toys, which I took everywhere and which I keep with great affection.
Another of my favorite toys was a recorder with several buttons, which when pressed made different sounds and at the end played a melody.
It's a great memory I have and my recorder still works!
[Vanessa Campuzano]
Editing: Edgardo Velázquez
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