Christmas Gift Guide 2018: 15 gadget gift ideas for retro lovers

DAYS GONE BY

Sure, unwrapping a gleaming piece of shiny new kit on Christmas day is pretty awesome. But will your new wireless gizmo really stand the test of time? Avoid that question altogether by selecting something suitably retro from this old-school assortment. If you’re forever dreaming of days gone by, when photos were printed, records were flipped, phones were dialled and toasters were the most stylish homeware item, these are the gifts you need.

NOKIA 8110 (£70)

Back in ’99, nothing was cooler than Nokia’s 8110 slider phone. Just ask Keanu Reeves: even the realm-hopping Neo had one in The Matrix. Want in on the shut-to-hang-up action? Good news! Just as the Wachowski sci-fi flick got Reloaded, so Nokia has brought back the 8110 – only, this time it’s packing 4G, a rear camera and a colour screen. It comes in black if you reckon you’re The One, or yellow, if you prefer your handsets fruity.

TYPEWRITER MATCHBOX PRINT (FROM £20)

Clickety clack, tippety tap: typing used to be a properly noisy pursuit – enough to drive any budding essayist up the wall. Mercifully, crafting copy today is a much quieter exercise, with typewriters largely consigned to service as artfully hipster ornaments in, erm, artfully hipster cafés. Commemorate their functional days with this striking wall print, scanned from a Dutch matchbox – because nothing says retro like scaled-up vintage packaging.

HAYNES RETRO ARCADE GAME KIT (£25)

How many retro console reboots does it take to send the whole world back to 1983? Roughly 17, give or take – and this DIY number might be the one to tip things over the edge. Still, the Raspberry Pi-powered kit should stand you in good stead if things go all Stranger Things: packing a 120 LED screen, it’s on you to assemble and solder this thing together by following the gloriously old-school Haynes instruction manual. Your reward? A Pong-style game that’s oddly addictive.

FENDER NEWPORT (£200)

Audio quality has come a long way since 1968. Amplifier design, on the other hand, has never reached the same heights of pastel-shade style and witch hat knobs. Enjoy the best of both worlds with this amp-inspired Bluetooth speaker from the strumming sorts at Fender. Not a millennial walking their dogs, its two woofers and one tweeter make for a lovely listening experience, while a 12-hour battery life should be enough to see you through even the longest afternoon jam.

MONOPOLY: RETRO EDITION (£30)

Want an authentic retro Monopoly experience? Best have a rummage in nan’s cupboards for that tea-stained 1961 set, complete with peeling squares, half the usual number of Chance cards and a hairclip to replace the missing boot piece. Too faded to use? Keep the original in storage and try this old-school edition, instead: an 80th anniversary celebration of everyone’s favourite cause of family arguments, it features tokens from several decades of the game – which also make for ideal artillery when the property war gets too heated.

POLAROID ONESTEP+ (£150)

Remember when photography was equal parts art and guesswork? When you had no idea how your festive snaps would turn out until you picked up the sleeves from Boots? Relive the overexposed glory days with this smart retro snapper from Polaroid – only, without the three-day wait. Besides capturing analogue snaps and spitting them out in an instant, this updated throwback camera can connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth for a host of creative controls, from double exposures to a noise-trigger shutter – perfect for papping Santa crunching those cookies.

WILD & WOLF SERIES 746 PHONE (£50)

Give the gift of 50-year-old telephone tech with this modern upgrade of a design classic. Based on the iconic ringer distributed by the British General Post Office, this re-imagining of your nan’s favourite phone plugs straight into a standard socket to deliver simple dog and bone brilliance. Available in those bold 70s pastels we all know and love, this replica replaces the original dialler with push buttons, while retaining the out-of-place oldness that retro-revellers yearn for.

ROBERTS REVIVAL RD70 (£180)

It doesn’t get more retro than a kitchen radio – but, despite its vintage styling and old-school tuner, this bonny box from Roberts is no ageing relic: Bluetooth smarts let you stream from your smartphone, while a DAB+ tuner means you won’t be stuck suffering through the festive drivel playing on the main stations. Rejoice!

LEGO VW BEETLE (£75)

Say hello to hippy heaven in vehicular form. OK, so it’s a little more angular than the original, but this faithfully reproduced replica of the symbolic VW Bug is straight out of the ’60s. Complete with surfboard, cool box and beers (to scale, sadly), tricks such as a tilting rear seat add extra authenticity to the alluring azure-blue paint job – though you’ll have to provide the Sgt Pepper soundtrack yourself.

PRO-JECT PRIMARY E (£149)

You know those weird black discs you’ve been buying from the market every month to use as placemats? Pop one on this Pro-Ject player and prepare for a retro revelation: turns out they’re vinyl records! Once you’ve recovered from the discovery, the updated Primary E turntable will help you make the most of your burgeoning collection, without breaking the bank. Simple, stylish and sweet on the ears, this belt-driven beauty is everything you could want from a retro record player – just don’t go using it as a Lazy Susan.

PATAGONIA P-6 RESPONSIBILI-TEE (£40)

Not an actual ’80s tee, this throwback top from Patagonia pairs old-school style with new-school threads: made from 100% recycled material, it contains 4.8 plastic bottles and 100g of fabric scraps – so you can rock the trail like Depeche Mode’s still in vogue, without a hint of carbon guilt.

SMEG 4-SLICE TOASTER (£155)

The record is on, the jive is a playin’. Then, just when you’re getting into your retro groove, an unexpected toast craving hits you like a great ball of fire. Thankfully, this throwback toaster’s on hand to sort you out with slices in a jiffy. With Smeg’s pop-up powerhouse, the benefits are two-fold: it’ll singe four pieces of the crusty good stuff at the same time – and it’ll look darn fine doing it.

USB MIX TAPE (£15)

Remember the days of carefully crafting music mixtapes for your one true love? No? Well, pretend that you do with this 21st-century take on cute compilations – without the heartbreak of spoiled spools and over-dubbing. Complete with authentically stained listing card and peeling stickers, the neatly-packaged USB stick is good for 900 minutes of high quality audio – so you can finally share that Frankie Goes to Hollywood mega-mix with your mates.

SCARAMANGA LEATHER VINTAGE FLIGHT BAG (£117)

Before budget airlines and lurid uniforms, pilots were the height of cool, striding through departure hauls with aviators on – despite the dim fluorescent lighting – leather satchel slung over one shoulder with all kinds of important flying things inside. Like, you know, compasses. And little model planes. Make like the Pan-Am pilot you dreamt of being with this hand-crafted vintage flight bag from Fife firm Scaramanga – the perfect match for your EasyFly lanyard.

PAC-MAN QUARTER-SIZE ARCADE CABINET (€180)

An 8-bit alarm clock. A Beatles-themed mini-fridge. An ironic floppy disk. All acceptable retro fare for your office desk – but none as enjoyable as this quarter-scale, fully playable replica of the original 1980s Pac-Man arcade unit. Sure, it might land you in a disciplinary meeting for excessive procrastination, but one look at its authentic button layout, coin slots and Pac-Man ROM – all in miniature – will surely have your boss hazily reminiscing about the highscores of his heyday, leaving you free to slink off for more mindless button mashing. And a game of Pac-Man.