Toys are a trapeze, swinging us from age to age. Those that leave nothing to the imagination never sweep us off our feet.

So maybe it’s good news that toys have turned out not to be recession-proof after all: analysts called last year’s holiday sales the worst fourth quarter in decades — and it was the flashy, buzzy gizmos that fell fastest, while the classics held their own.

Kids like the dough more than the cookies, the box just as much as what’s inside.