The 1980s was a great time to grow up. The world was simpler, yet there were still plenty of toys and gadgets to play with.
Here’s a list of some of the most popular toys of the 1980s.
Teddy Ruxpin
It may seem creepy today, but in the 80s this story-telling bear was all the rage. In fact Teddy Ruxpin was the best selling toy in 1985 and 1986! Countless kids across America fell asleep to Teddy Ruxpin’s stories, and it was touted as “The World’s First Animated Talking Toy”.
Teddy Ruxpin
Super Soaker
The first Super Soaker water gun was marketed as this amazing invention. Though this toy was huge in the 1990s, the first model actually launched in 1989 under the name “Power Drencher”. Compared to the small, weak water guns that it competed against, the Soaker was like the Goliath against the little David guns.
Super Soaker
The biggest benefit was the tank on top. It allowed you to shoot a constant stream of water, whereas the little guns would shoot very tiny, short jets. If you wanted to win a water gun fight but didn’t have a Super Soaker, you didn’t have a chance unless you grabbed a lawn hose.
Rubik’s Cube
Simple but highly addicting, this little gadget was designed to help people think. Supposedly you had to be very smart to figure it out, because the only way to solve it is to figure out the correct pattern.
Rubik’s Cube
So how popular was this little gadget? It’s sold about 350 million units since it was first invented, so it was definitely one of the hottest toys of the 80s.
My Little Ponies
What a concept- small, colorful plastic ponies with long hair that little girls could comb and style. It sounds simple, but these toys were revolutionary in the 1980s.
My Little Ponies
Part of the success came to the marketing towards young girls. The company didn’t want to make a toy that was appealing for everyone, knowing that not all kids are different. It’s the same reason other gender-oriented toys like Barbie or GI Joes were so successful.
Popples
Picture a very colorful stuffed bear with a long tail. That’s basically a Popple.
Popples
Simple, but kids loved them back in the 80s. Soft, fun to cuddle with and easy to fling around due to their long tails, parents everywhere found themselves at one point or another buying their kids a Popple during this time.
Transformers Robot
The Transformers cartoon has been around for a long time, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that a good Transformer toy was made.
Transformers
Depending on which character you purchased, they would be able to turn into different things. It might be a truck, jet, train or tank. Little boys loved these toys, and would have huge battles between the Transformers on the kitchen floor.
The Smurfs
Tiny blue people with white hats and white boots. Well, except for Papa Smurf who had a red hat.
Smurfs
Based on the successful cartoon series, a brilliant toymaker had the idea of creating a collectible series of Smurf figurines. And since there were a dozen or so “main characters”, collectors paid a good chunk of change to get the whole collection.
Atari
The first major video game system ever invented can’t be left off the list. Even though the original Nintendo Entertainment System came a bit later and beat out Atari for market share, the Atari still had some very fun games and started the video game craze.
Atari
Those are some of our favorites from the 80s, what were some of yours? 🙂
