Light Sabres

Always slightly disappointing when you got them out of the box, this ultimate laser weapon beloved of the Jedi masters resembled something more akin to a flourescent light bulb by the time it reached the toy shops.

When the first Star Wars film was released in the seventies, the light sabre was powered by half-a-dozen batteries and produced the equivalent glow of a pocket torch with a blue sweet wrapper over the bulb. Children who actually tried to use the mighty weapon for its intended purpose found it would snap in two instantly.

When The Phantom Menace was released nearly three decades later, technology seemed barely to have moved on. The toys were now fitted with extendable green tubes, which made them look like drain cleaners.