Top 10 Nostalgia Inducing Toys We All Played With

Back in the ‘90s, there was much less talk about the issue of gender divides in the toy world. Polly Pocket was strictly for girls while Mighty Max was marketed solely for boys. Everything about Polly was pretty and adorable and ad execs must have assumed that boys preferred monstrous figurines. Regardless of which one you played with though, there was something undeniably satisfying about holding an entire tiny world in your hand. Losing pieces may have been inevitable, but that didn’t stop us from collecting as many as we could.

In an age where grade schoolers have iPhones, the technology of the Yak Bak might not seem overly impressive. But in the ‘90s when it was released, it felt like the most advanced piece of tech in the school yard. Imagine being able to record your own voice- on something so tiny! Chances are you definitely used it to send inappropriate messages to your siblings behind your parents’ backs. Its predecessor was the slightly more cumbersome Talkboy, which, let’s be honest, every kid wanted after seeing Kevin use one in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”.

Whether you thought they were creepy or cuddly might depend on the year you were born. For those who were young in the late ‘90s when Furbies were released, opening one on Christmas morning was the next best thing if your parents wouldn’t get you that puppy you had always wanted. The Furby was pre-programmed with several actions and words it could say, but you could also teach it new tricks. Clearly the creators got something right because they sold over 40 million of the toys in the first three years they were on the market.

These dolls were in such high demand in the lead up to the holiday season in 1983 that stores couldn’t keep enough in stock to satisfy customers and literal riots were started by parents trying to snag one for their children. Cabbage Patch Kids were unique in that they achieved successful sales with both girls AND boys. Whether intentional or not, something about the marketing behind them had parents crossing the gendered toy line. They really tried to up the authenticity of these dolls, offering each one with a birth certificate and official adoption papers, making you feel like each one was truly unique.

C'mon everybody- let’s skip it! While a more simplistic version of this toy called the Lemon Twist had been marketed in the ‘60s, it was revived in the ‘80s by Tiger Toys and quickly caught the collective eye of children everywhere. In what some call the “Skip It Renaissance” in the 1990s, a counter was added that could let you show off to your friends just how many skips you managed. This type of toy that encourages kids to actually get outside and do some physical activity doesn’t really seem to get made anymore. It was even voted as one of the best 100 toys of all time by Time Magazine.

We’d like to issue an apology for the fact that you’ll inevitably have the Lite-Brite jingle stuck in your head after watching these vintage ads. Though it was first released in 1967, even in the ‘80s, Lite-Brite was still a childhood must-have. Somehow, it still felt incredibly high tech and ahead of its time. Who could resist the colorful lights and pegs that seemed to magically turn into a cohesive image (if you used their templates, of course). Hasbro has tried to update the concept over the years, offering a flat screen version, a 3D cube version and now even an iPad app, but nothing compares to the one we had as kids.

The predominant thinking in decades past seemed to be that boys wouldn’t want a mini oven. But ask any little brother… they were TOTALLY jealous. This product had the same fun elements of the Easy Bake Oven while satisfying parental concerns about quote unquote “gender-appropriate toys”. Regardless, these were a LOT of fun. Creepy Crawlers have been around since the ‘60s in different iterations and under different names, but unlike its predecessor, this one didn’t come with a high risk of getting burnt. There was just something so satisfying about playing Frankenstein and creating these plastigoop bugs, especially if we had the Easy Bake Oven going beside it to keep the snacks coming.

Honestly, even today we’re not exactly sure how this popular sketching toy worked. The Etch a Sketch was invented in the late 1950s but it experienced a resurgence in popularity in the late 80s and early 90s. Though the concept might be simple, we’re pretty sure everyone remembers the frustration of making a mistake and feeling powerless to fix it. There was no worse offense than one of your siblings ruining your painstakingly created drawing or worse, an accidental shake that wiped your slate clean with no one to blame but yourself.

This party game is either amazing or maddening, depending on how good your hand eye coordination is. Typically played with multiple people (though there is a solo option), Bop It forces you to act quickly to comply with the orders it barks out at you. The longer you play, the faster you have to work. There’s nothing that haunts us more than that terrible scream that let us know that we failed to execute the command properly. There were several iterations of Bop It created after the original and the most modern ones are still sold today.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Koosh Ball


Moon Shoes

If you wanted to prove to your parents that you were ready for the responsibility of owning a pet, keeping this virtual critter alive was the best you could do. Sadly, most of us couldn’t handle the pressure when it came to frequent feedings, potty training and cleaning up excrement. There’s no shame in having killed your Tamagotchi and you definitely shouldn’t take it as an indication of how well you’d be able to care for a real human child. There were many off-brand imitations, but nothing could hold a candle to the Japanese original. To this day, we think back fondly on our first little electronic friend.