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According to the philosopher and writer Johan Huizinga, toys are vital for human development, because by playing, the child models their future activities in adulthood, and besides, the game itself, no matter what, is our life in miniature. Therefore, it is necessary and vitally important to play, at literally any age.

Just don't tell your kids about this, or you'll have to buy them whatever toys they want in any store, and buying toys will take up most of your family budget! And for us, adults, in childhood, everything was definitely not like that...

Well, let's agree, each of us - unless, of course, our parents were in the Forbes Top 1000 - had some special toys that we longed for as children, but alas, we never received them. For one it may have been some kind of stunningly beautiful doll, someone else may have desperately wanted a computer game, and someone else was a huge fan of a Transformer car. And all this is united by the fact that we never got the opportunity to play with them. In our childhood, that is.

Recently, a thread appeared in the AskReddit community, the author of which asked readers this question: "What is a toy you always wanted growing up, but never got?" Now there are already more than 700 different comments in the thread - and we could not even imagine that there are so many different cool toys in this world!

Bored Panda has compiled this selection of the most outstanding, interesting and simply popular comments from the original thread especially for you, so please feel free to scroll this list to the very end, upvote the best submissions and, of course, add your own favorite toys in the comments below the post. After all, we all come from childhood, so let's dive into our memory once more!

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#1

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them The Brave Heart care bear. He was my favourite. I asked for him many times, and I never got him (or any care bear for that matter).

This casually came up in conversation once early on in my relationship with my boyfriend. He bought it for me for my 35th birthday that year.

ladymierin , Visit the Care Bears Store Report

Final score:
278points
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#2

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them The Barbie Jeep that you could actually ride in. But once I had kids, I bought them one (not the Barbie version, but still). And guess what? I was five pounds under the weight limit so I was able to ride in their battery-powered Jeep. I mean, it was a couple decades late, but I eventually got to do it.

smugmisswoodhouse , Rusty Clark ~ 100K Photos Report

Final score:
243points
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#3

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Castle Grayskull, from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Maso_TGN , Boynton Report

Final score:
170points
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Mad Dragon
Mad Dragon
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wanted that SO badly! My best friend had everything He-Man, so I still got to play with it when I was at her house, but I wanted my own!

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#4

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them A chemistry set. This was during the 1960s, before the 1969 Child Protection and Toy Safety Act. I didn't get a chemistry set, but I did get a Thingmaker, which at the time was an open hot plate that metal molds were set on, to cure Thingmaker goo into rubbery shapes. Releasing fumes that would set off coughing fits if breathed too deeply, and sometimes getting burned by the hot plate. 'Twas a wild time for children's toys.

Nmyownworld , Jonas Ahrentorp Report

Final score:
159points
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Powerful Katrinka
Powerful Katrinka
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had something similar, but it was called "Creepy Crawlers." I shudder to think about what toxins were released during the hearing process.

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#5

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Lite bright 🥲

anon , thomas ambridge Report

Final score:
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#6

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Easy - Bake Oven

Antibara , Rachel Report

Final score:
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#7

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Mousetrap board game

anotherorphan , artistmac Report

Final score:
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#8

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them A real RC car. Not the garbage my parents had gotten me from Radio shack that took 723 AA batteries and couldn’t move on anything but the hardwood floor.

No. I wanted a proper Taniya monster truck like the Lunch Box or a buggy like the grasshopper. Or an amazing one from Kyosho. They took real NiCd battery packs. Had real transmitters. Could plow through dirt and grass.

As an adult my wife and I were driving and I saw an RC shop and said “hey hun. Can I stop somewhere for a sec?” She ofc said “sure”.

That was 20 years ago.

I now have 16 different RC vehicles from planes to helicopters to buggies and monster trucks. Of all sizes. Being an adult means getting the things I always wanted.

wormholeweapons , MIKI Yoshihito Report

Final score:
139points
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Robert T
Robert T
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One that would actually drive on carpet would have been nice!

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#9

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them walkie talkie

iFister , Joe Haupt Report

Final score:
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unfilteredCigarette73
unfilteredCigarette73
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I bought a set with some chore/B-day $$ when I was 11. Depending on the channel it would pick up neighbor's phone calls if they were cordless phones, cellular phones, and police radio calls it was a blast

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#10

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Hotweels. But I’m a girl and those were “boy toys”. Still pissed. Anyone old enough to remember the slime ramp s**t they came out with will get it. Hot wheels knew slime was gonna be a hit 20 years prior edit: the Harry Potter slime gummy maker thing. Y’all know what I mean

Kidslikeus , Joost J. Bakker Report

Final score:
119points
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Jessisaur
Jessisaur
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I was a little girl I collected toy cars and I'm so glad my parents let me. Toys shouldn't have genders.

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#11

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them There was a super mega barbie mansion that came out with an elevator and garage or something. Maybe it was a pool. Idk but it looked sick af to 8 year old me

JollyMcStink , Brand: Mega Bloks Report

Final score:
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#12

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Always wanted a Tamagotchi

DuracellCosmonaut , MIKI Yoshihito Report

Final score:
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#13

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Moon shoes ))):

anon , Character Toys Report

Final score:
106points
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Vinay Pai
Vinay Pai
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What did these do? Like walking on a bouncy mattress or something?

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#14

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them A typewriter. It was at the top of my Christmas list when I was about 11, and I begged and begged for one. That Christmas, my younger sister got one, but I didn't. I even double checked the tag to make sure there wasn't a mix up.

I didn't say anything, but I was so incredibly disappointed and confused and didn't know what I did to warrant what felt like a punishment. I thought I must have come across as too entitled or something since I had insisted it had to actually type (ie, not a 'pretend' one).

I mentioned it years later to my mom - yeah, it stuck with me. She didn't remember it at all and denied doing it as any kind of punishment or lesson. I think she just got a little confused about who wanted what when she was buying gifts and got it in her head that my sister was the one who wanted the typewriter. There were 4 of us to keep track of after all.

My sister was a little s**t about it. She gloated and would never let me use it. Brat.

RemmiKam , Charles & Hudson Report

Final score:
106points
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#15

A father

PapiChulo134 Report

Final score:
105points
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bottomless.abyss.of.bordem
bottomless.abyss.of.bordem
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

WOW! Way to make everyone uncomfortable! That is clearly NOT an answer to the posed question. Well done.

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LovingKnuckle
LovingKnuckle
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Damn yo. I mean I feel for you, but why BP gotta throw a sadness grenade in the middle of this jovial thread. Oh wait I know…

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Austin Sauce
Austin Sauce
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A father is a toy?

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peace
peace
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

every longing for a toy disappears behind the bigger miss of a father

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Jeff Boughter
Jeff Boughter
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Call b******t on anyone that laughed and said sorry, if you were sorry you wouldn't have done it just sayin. Life took mine away when I was 5. Looking now, I feel like I'm a bit of a monster now, and I feel like I kinda like it 😈

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ConstantlyJon
ConstantlyJon
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1 year ago

This comment has been deleted.

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#16

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Play-do Barber Shop. I became a hairstylist years later.

SugarsBoogers , Julie Magro Report

Final score:
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Kel_how
Kel_how
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had the Play-Doh dental thing but definitely didn't become a dentist 😄

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#17

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Sea Monkeys.
Once I learned about Artemia nauplii, there was no point...

still_grinding_on , Visit the Big Time Toys Store Report

Final score:
92points
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OurLadyOfLunch
OurLadyOfLunch
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Desperately wanted Sea Monkeys because of the ads in magazines. My 6th grade science teacher had us raise brine shrimp in class. Imagine my 11 year old heartbreak when I realized they were the same thing and not at all like the nuclear underwater family pictured.

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#18

A real cabbage patch doll. All my friends had them and would bring them to school and play with them at recess. My mom got me a fake doll from the craft fair. And it looked exactly how you'd picture a fake cabbage patch doll from the craft fair to look

Po_Momof4 Report

Final score:
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Ches Yamada
Ches Yamada
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"A fake one from the craft fair" - sadly, the "real" cabbage patch kids were created at those craft fairs. Xavier stole the concept from crafters.

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#19

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them The ninja turtle pizza thrower van.

Ph33r-Enigma , prbecker Report

Final score:
84points
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Adam L
Adam L
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have one!!! (and still a lot of my original TMNT stuff)

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#20

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them The playback voice recorder that kevin had on home alone lol

The red side pistol the power rangers used to carry. Those were the hardest to find toys on the market at the time.

Mundane-Ebb-3209 , 20th Century Studios Report

Final score:
82points
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nooneimportant
nooneimportant
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I finally got a Talkboy about 6 years late, and always wanted the White Power Rangers talking sabre

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#21

Barbie. My two sisters each got a Barbie.

I got Midge.

AMerrickanGirl Report

Final score:
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#22

A red Ryder range model air rifle

Competitive_Juice627 Report

Final score:
72points
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#23

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them You know all those Lego "Collect all of these sets to make this bigger build" sets? It's not that I never got them, but I never got more than 1 set, so I was never able to make the big build

The next best thing I did get was a similar set of builds from K'Nex, which I did get all 4 sets

Zer0Studioz , Dave Catchpole Report

Final score:
70points
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Bad Mole
Bad Mole
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We were too poor for me to ever get Lego, and my dad wouldn't buy me any even when we had a bit of money for Christmas gifts (his hobby was marriages so there were always a rotating cast of step brothers and sisters, too). Now my kids have moved out and one of their bedrooms is my Lego room.

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#24

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them The gi joe uss flag aircraft carrier

deputytech , gijoe Report

Final score:
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#25

A rock tumbler

Picklesgal111 Report

Final score:
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Margrete Sonnenberg
Margrete Sonnenberg
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Another thing I asked for and my dad already had. We tumbled some rocks, due to the noise it stayed in the garage when it on.

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#26

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them G1 Megatron. He was always sold out everywhere.

yeahwellokay , Chen Zhao Report

Final score:
64points
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#27

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them A mini-bike like they advertised in the Sears Christmas catalog.

XploringTheWorld , smallteam Report

Final score:
59points
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#28

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them I always wanted an electric guitar, but never got one.

blacklamp2623 , Luis Villa del Campo Report

Final score:
57points
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#29

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them An American Girl doll. Loved the books so much. I've been tempted to buy myself a Samantha now that she's out again, but I like the original outfit better.

horseruth , Jim, the Photographer Report

Final score:
52points
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Willow
Willow
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Our generation dolls are basically these except a third of the price for more stuff. I totally love them!

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#30

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Bop it

TheManDirtyDan , Visit the Hasbro Gaming Store Report

Final score:
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best turtle
best turtle
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

bro i always wanted a bop it during my childhood because me and my sister were so competitive with the one they had in my after school program

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#31

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them I wanted creepy crawlers, i got an easy bake oven instead

rubythroat22 , Brand: Creepy Crawlers Report

Final score:
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CalmAndCollected
CalmAndCollected
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

These were awesome, the original... the newer version was not as good.

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#32

Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots

KNOCK HIS BLOCK OFF!!

JJohnston015 Report

Final score:
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#33

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them An Oscar Meyer weenie whistle 🤣

occasionalbot , Brand: Oscar Mayer Report

Final score:
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Injun Joe
Injun Joe
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Saw this vehicle last year. Was awesome! I've always wanted to see it. And yes, have the whistle! A 45 ager here! Lol

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#34

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them A minibike. I have one as an adult now, so it’s ok.

the_liquor13 , Richard Elzey Report

Final score:
20points
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#35

A My Size Barbie.

SnobBeauty Report

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#36

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them A little mermaid doll that could swim!

Novel-Reward-378 , Tilaweed Report

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#37

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Technodrome!

CoolIceCreamCone , COOLTOY Report

Final score:
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#38

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them Back when the iron curtain fell and we got American superhero action figures, I really wanted a Batman on a motorcycle. But economy was s**t and my parents couldn't afford it.

queenliz2fr , Miguel Discart Report

Final score:
15points
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#39

30 People Are Reminiscing About Toys They Wanted So Badly As Kids, Yet Never Got Them The original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Megazord. I never really asked for it, but I thought it was cool. There was a kid in my class who had it and brought it into school and I felt so jelly of him lol. He had the Dragon Zord too, so he could fully-transform the thing.

I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, since other friends close in age shared this thought.

HueyDeweyandBusey , Del N Report

Final score:
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#40

Steve Austin (6 million dollar man)

Ader896 Report

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Terence Kilgore
Terence Kilgore
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

With the removable bionic implants and you could look through the back of his head for the bionic vision? My buddy Jason had one...was so jealous!

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#41

Soundwave

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#42

Sock em' Boppers

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Kelly F
Kelly F
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My parents wouldn't buy two pairs. My sister and I each got one.

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