Toys have been around for centuries. You may have heard your grandparents talk about playing with something as simple as a hoop that they rolled down the street. Advances in toys have changed drastically through the years.
The 80′s are remembered not only for the hair bands and leg warmers, but also for some awesome toys. Board games were much more popular in the past. Families actually sat down together and rolled dice, chose cards, and played hours on end together.
A popular 80′s game was Trivial Pursuit, a board game with trivia questions you answered and received a piece of “pie” which you had to fit into your playing piece. Many of the best selling toys of the 80′s were doll or stuffed animal type toys.
Cabbage Patch Kids were extremely popular. These pucker faced stuffed dolls didn’t “do” anything. They came with a birth certificate and provided children with a friend to carry around. Another familiar friend kids couldn’t live without were the Care Bears. Stuffed Bears with names like Funshine Bear, Cheer Bear and even Grumpy Bear became quite sought after.
Glo Worms were another unique toy. Small rubber figures that glowed after being charged by holding them to the light. Along with Glo Worm there was Glo Spider, Glo Snugbug, Glo Grannybug and plenty of other friends. A Glo Park of sorts was also available where they could go to their house and sleep or play on the frozen pond. Children felt somewhat comforted by taking these glowing critters to bed with them.
In 1985, Nintendo introduced it’s first console, the NES, or Nintendo Entertainment System. This was after the Atari sadly failed. The NES brought a whole new level of gaming to the world like it had never known. The days of the lame video game (if that’s what you can call it) PONG, were over. Now you could take Mario through an adventure or shoot at ducks in Duck Hunt. The game revolution was on it’s way.
The 90′s saw toys like Beanie Babies hit the market. Beanie Babies, the small bean filled stuffed animals became many people’s passion. Who could own the most? Which one was rarest? Adults and children alike started to seek out the most rare one. Who could forget the Tickle Me Elmo phenomenon? This giggly, wiggly doll led some parents to spend amazing amounts of money just to get their hands on one.
The 90′s also saw a jump in the action figure market. Power Ranger and Beetleborg figures became very popular. One of the biggest trends in the 90′s was probably the Pokemon franchise. Starting in 1996, these cards started many a new collector seeking for the special holographic cards in each package.
With Nintendo introducing the game boy, the first hand held gaming system, kids could now take their gaming with them in a whole new way. Gone are the days of sitting together and playing board games. The technological world has taken over and gaming has become the in thing.