Argosy Toys has seen dozens of Christmas toy crazes over the last three quarters of a century, ranging from board games to Sylvanian Families.

Paul Wohl began helping at the Westcliff shop when his parents bought it in 1987. 

While video games were in their relative infancy and long before the dawn of smartphones, he says trivia games were all the rage at the time.

Echo: Darth Vader actor David Prowse visited the shop while promoting a showing of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi at the nearby Classic Cinema in 1980.Darth Vader actor David Prowse visited the shop while promoting a showing of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi at the nearby Classic Cinema in 1980. (Image: Thom Wohl)

He said: “Trivial Pursuit was crazy back then. We used to sell at least ten a day. At £25 each, that was a lot of money, but people couldn’t get enough of it. It still sells well now.

“Sylvanian Families was also very popular after that.”

Magnetic game “Kluster” is this year’s best-selling toy. The party game challenges up to four players to place their stack of small magnets into a ring without it attracting any of the other pieces.

Echo: Little Tikes and Lego Star Wars were popular toys in bygone years, pictured in the 1990s.Little Tikes and Lego Star Wars were popular toys in bygone years, pictured in the 1990s. (Image: Thom Wohl)

Paul added: “We posted a video on social media and 24 hours later, we’d sold 144 sets. There isn’t enough in stock to keep up.”

His son, Thom Wohl, 19, added: “We cannot get enough of them. We had 48 in this morning, and we've sold 20 of them already.”