Argos Catalogues

Argos is a UK company that was formed in 1973. It is unique in the UK due to its ‘order and wait’ in-store shopping format, but for many UK residents it was its 6 monthly catalogue that really got us excited. In the run up to Christmas I would get the latest Argos catalogue and literally pore over it for hours and days just working out what toys and games I would like to get that year.

Looking back, these magazines are an amazing snapshot back to a bygone era which show not only what was out there but what were the hot properties of the day. You can often see which ones were hot by how much ‘real estate’ each property got in the catalogue that year. What’s also incredible to see is how many properties lasted for so long with literally the same photographs being used of a product for nearly a decade.

Below I have chosen some of the best pages throughout out the years to showcase here, but stay tuned for some regular blog posts with more stuff from the pages of the Argos catalogue!

If you want to try to find some products today that featured in the pages of Argos catalogues then Retrogos.com could be a great place to start.

1981
Some cool celebrities on the left hand page here. Lou Ferrigno, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emlyn Hughes (big footballer in the UK) and some dude who looks like a weak Hoff. On the right hand page we have some incredible ‘retro sports bag’ that you can buy today. But these ones were the real deal back then!

1982
Check out these cutting edge electronic games for the time. Mini Munchman and Astro Wars are ones that I particular remember. They might not seem like much now but they were seriously cool back then.

1985
Two huge brands of the 80s. Masters of the Universe and Star Wars. And check out those car games at the bottom right. Knight Rider and Dukes of Hazzard. I never had either of them but they appeared in almost every Argos catalogue of the 80s and I just loved the box art. Hope to get my hands on one of them one day.

1985
And one of the other biggest toy line of the 80s, Transformers. Some classic G1 figures here. I love the 80s skyline in the background too. And check out the Zoids at the bottom left! I used to love Zoids and I don’t think they get much attention these days. They were incredible feats of construction in motion. Very hard to get hold of these days too.

1986
Some classic handheld games on the left hand page here. You don’t get much better than Nintendo Game & Watches and Tomytronic 3D games. Major Morgan and Grandstand Star Force are Argos ever-present toys too. And I can still hear the noises for Computer Battleship! And then on the right hand page you have the awesome M.A.S.K. Some incredibly cool vehicles and masks in that range.

1986
Dude with a quiff in a denim sleeveless jacket rocking some foam headphones. You don’t get more 80s than that. I bet he’s listening to Huey Lewis. Personal stereos and ghetto blasters are iconic gadgets of the 80s and quite rightly so. Just look at how cool they are.

1986
One of my personal favourite sections of the catalogues. I loved digital watches, particularly the ones with games or special features on them. I had no.5 here, the one with the analogue/digital face and I also remember the day vividly when I got no.8 the Casio Databank. Two of my friends also got it and we spent hours programming it with all of our phone numbers and writing ‘Boobies’ upside down (because that’s what you do with calculators).