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I want to tell you a Christmas story.

Back in the 1980s when Transformers were all the rage our young son set his heart on the first version of Optimus Prime which was the year's must have toy. It had been advertised on the telly since at least August, but like most parents we thought it was too soon to buy Christmas presents, better hold off till nearer the day, he might change his mind.

So come late November/early December we start looking in the shops for this fantastic transforming lorry, only to be told time and time again they had just sold the last one, but not to worry they were sure to have another delivery before the big day.

By the third week in December we were phoning every store within a 15 mile radius hoping they had had a new delivery, with no luck.

Every time we heard rumours of an Optimus Prime delivery we would rush to the shop, only to be told they hadn't had a delivery or they had just sold out. In some cases there were a few toys in the shop but it was like a rugby/ football scrum or a scene from the1996 Arnie Schwarzenegger film Jingle All the Way.

By the 23^rd December we were despirate but still hoping and crossing all our fingers and toes that we could still get the transformer Optimus Prime. But come mid day on Christmas Eve we had to admit defeat. We still rushed out to the shops and bought a lot more toys that we thought would take our son's mind off of Optimus Prime.

By 6 a.m the next morning we knew we had failed. With every present he unwrapped his face fell lower and by the end his lips were quivering. He did eventually cheer up, playing with the boxes his toys had come in and we ended up with a large post Christmas visa bill.

The lesson we learnt that year was it is never too early to start your Christmas shopping.

Anyway our son is a Thirty something now and yet again this year Optimus Prime is a must have toy, I wonder if he still wants one!