(Strip Number 4730, Original Publication Date, 16 December 1986)
Panel 1: We find ourselves watching Lizzie tell Christopher that Santa is bringin'her a Space Babe this year.
Panel 2: As she describes the trendy toy as being all diff'rent an'how some gots green, yellow an'purple eyes and have real aerials that come outta their heads because Lynn wants to pretend she's British, Elly looks on in concern.
Panel 3: Lizzie doesn't care else Santa brings her as long as he brings her a Space Babe.
Panel 4: The problem with that is that Elly has just phoned every store in Milborough and there isn't a Space Babe to be had in the province.
Summary: This, I think, is meant to set the stakes for the sort of Black Friday-ish mess (and, as has been noted, tribute to the Cabbage Patch Kids craze) we're in for. I knew back in 1986 that if there were not a Space Babe under the tree, much suffering would ensue. Absent the gift she'd yearned for, Lizzie would not only cry and lose faith in Santa, she would also be subjected to a demeaning lecture by Problem Hair John about how materialistic she is and how children she couldn't help in the first place would be glad to have her problems. This gave me the jibblies. I do not like these jibblies.