The 10 Best "One Hit Wonders" From The 1980s
January 9th, 2021
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”.
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.
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.
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.
Popples
Picture a very colorful stuffed bear with a long tail. That’s basically a Popple.
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.
The Smurfs
Tiny blue people with white hats and white boots. Well, except for Papa Smurf who had a red hat.
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.