The Fad Toy Everyone Was Obsessed With the Year You Were Born
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You remember it all too well: You saw the commercial for that toy, and you needed it in your life immediately—or else. Your neighbor Ashley already had two, but your parents wouldn't buy it for you outright, so you had to wait breathlessly until your birthday, when you could rip open the present to reveal that hot toy du jour.
And while some were short-lived trends that caused near-riots in toy stores, the majority of these became instant hits and have stayed popular over the decades. (As you'll see, some have evolved and are for sale today as updated versions, while you'll have to settle for vintage if you want to get your hands on others.) From Pogs to Furbies, here's the fad toy everyone was obsessed with the year you were born.
1950: Little People
Little People was formed by Fisher-Price in the early '50s for kids ranging from six months to three years. The first Little People toy, "Looky Fire Truck," was introduced in 1950, and it sold so well, the company introduced the "Super-Jet" and "Racing Rowboat."
1951: Magic 8-Ball
This toy is a fortune teller's dream come true! The Magic 8-ball was developed in 1950 and manufactured by Mattel. It's still one of the more accurate ways to find out if your crush actually likes you back. Facts.
1952: Slinky
If you haven't watched a Slinky go down a flight of stairs, are you truly living? This pre-compressed spring was invented in the '40s, but it didn't gain worldwide popularity until the early '50s.
1953: Matchbox Cars
Even though they were, in fact, matchbox-sized, these cars rivaled their life-size models in style.
1954: Candy Land
Eleanor Abbott designed the Hasbro game while recovering from polio in 1945. Years later, it was still making a sweet statement—and still does to this day.
1955: Colorforms
Before color TV, there were Colorforms. This toy was like a coloring book with training wheels, using peel-on vinyl stickers to help you stay inside the lines.
1956: Mr. Potato Head
Before making his acting debut in Toy Story, Mr. Potato Head was a popular toy spud with a variety of plastic facial attachments.
1957: Play-Doh
Who knew that flour, water, salt, boric acid, and mineral oil would make such an iconic concoction? More than 100 million cans of Play-Doh are sold every year.
1958: View-Master
These firetruck-red stereoscopes were the ultimate way to go somewhere else—without going anywhere at all—with just one simple click.
1959: Barbie
This plastic princess has dominated the toy scene since her 1959 creation. It's estimated that more than a billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide, with Mattel claiming that one hundred are sold every minute.
1960: Silly Putty
This Flubber-like toy was created during WWII when the U.S. was researching possible rubber substitutes for use. Silly Putty can bounce, flow like liquid, and break if pulled apart the right way—like a character straight out of a Marvel movie.
1961: Ken
Barbie existed for two years before her companion Ken hit the scene. He's great at doing stuff, and he was Kenough to be the most popular toy of the year.
1962: Etch A Sketch
This temporary drawing board was introduced in 1960 and became one of the best-known toys of its time. After all, a blank canvas is exciting, but an erasable one is even better.
1963: Easy-Bake Oven
The cooking game changed in 1963 when kids had the power to make baked goods of their own. The mini oven comes with cake mix packets and tiny round pans that, together, make a delectable treat—thanks to two 100-watt incandescent light bulbs. And yes, it's evolved over the years and is still popular today!
1964: The Beatles Flip Your Wig Game
This limited-edition Beatles-themed board game is all about getting your designated Beatle (Paul, John, George, or Ringo) a hit record—as if the real Beatles had to even try!
1965: Chatty Cathy Doll
This talking doll may look creepy AF today, but Chatty Cathy was the second-most popular doll after Barbie in the '60s. Cathy had some big tiny shoes to fill.
1966: Spirograph
This geometric drawing toy was developed by British engineer Denys Fisher and first sold in 1965. The trippy shapes made it the perfect toy for the swinging '60s.
1967: Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots
This two-player action game features two robots in a boxing match. It was revamped in the 2000s with smaller robots.
1968: Monopoly
This popular board game, created by the Parker Brothers (which was acquired by General Mills in 1968) has been around since the '30s— but it's had several resurgences over the years.
1969: Mouse Trap
This multiplayer board game involves creating an elaborate trap to catch your opponents' plastic mouse piece.
1970: GI Joe
The creation of this line of plastic soldiers eventually led to the coining of the term "action figure."
1971: Weebles
These Hasbro egg-shaped characters were a hit for their ability to wobble, but not fall down. The toys made a revival in 2010 after a new line of larger Weebles were released.
1972: Boggle
In this popular game, players use a letter grid and a sand timer to find as many words as possible. This was back in the days before we had Wordle.
1973: NERF
These foam-based toys stand for "non-expanding recreational foam" and earn around $400 million a year in revenue.
1974: Connect Four
This two-person game is as simple to learn as it is addictive to play.
1975: Pet Rock
Who needs a cat or a dog when you can get a pet rock? These smooth stones made the perfect '70s pets, complete with googly eyes.
1976: Skateboard
Whether you're a skateboard novice or you're fully running on rocket power, skateboards have made a huge impact on pop culture since they rolled into existence in the '50s. They didn't officially go mainstream until the early '70s, when Frank Nasworthy created polyurethane skateboard wheels and gave skateboards the traction and performance capabilities they have today.
1977: Atari 2600
This home video game console is known for popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and ROM cartridges with game code, allowing players to play games that aren't already built into the unit. One giant step for gamers.
1978: Hungry Hungry Hippos
Few games portray the munchies quite as accurately as this one. The Hippos even have names: Sweetie, Bottomless, Veggie, and Picky. What a crew!
1979: Baby Alive Doll
This doll eats, drinks, and wets herself, for better or for worse. Everybody played house when they were little—and this life-like toy made it feel like the real thing.
1980: Rubiks Cube
Originally called the Magic Cube, this cubic puzzle was invented by Hungarian sculptor and architecture professor Ernő Rubik. It may seem challenging, but there are 43 quintillion ways to solve this puzzle. Talk about options!
1981: Strawberry Shortcake
This super-sweet cartoon and her cat, Custard, were originally designed for greeting cards. By the '80s, every little girl wanted a piece of the Strawberry Shortcake franchise, buying stickers, dolls, and playing her video game on the Atari 2600.
1982: Glo Worm
This toy's head would light up when its plush worm body was squeezed.
1983: Cabbage Patch Kids
These plastic cherubs have consistently stayed one of the most popular dolls worldwide. And, contrary to popular belief, they're "born" in the Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia...not in a cabbage patch.
1984: My Little Pony
Whether you're a horse person or not, My Little Pony was a staple. These ponies dominated the toy scene and quickly became a major entertainment franchise.
1985: Pound Puppies
Before Beanie Babies were relevant, Pound Puppies ruled the stuffed animal scene. This Tonka Toy line inspired an animated special, two animated series, and a movie.
1986: Popples
These colorful little marsupials rolled up into furry pom-poms and made a hubbub both in the toy world and on television.
1987: Teddy Ruxpin
This animatronic teddy bear had a built-in cassette player in his body and would read you stories. Creepy, but also convenient, no?
1988: Nintendo Entertainment System
The 8-bit home video game console was the first of Nintendo’s mega-sellers, bringing the likes of Mario and Zelda into seemingly every living room in America.
1989: Game Boy
The handheld game console meant parents could banish their children from all those aforementioned living rooms. Kids now could play their favorite games anywhere…as long as they had four AA batteries.
1990: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The TMNT already had a popular animated series, but a 1990 live-action film was such a smash, it made related merchandise a must-have that year—and for much of the '90s.
1991: Sega Genesis
Also known as the Mega Drive, Sega's answer to Nintendo's dominance in the late 1980s was simple: Bring Sonic the Hedgehog into the mix. The addition of the action-packed game with your purchase secured the console as a cool product for teens.
1992: Barney plush
The blockbuster success of PBS's series Barney & Friends naturally meant that children needed to sing "I love you, you love me" to their very own cuddly toy dinosaur.
1993: Talkboy
This cassette player and recorder was famously created as a prop for Macaulay Culkin in the 1992 movie Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. After the invention was released to market, demand was so high, toy stores were selling out around Christmas of '93.
1994: Pogs
The game of milk caps took the country by storm as kids collected pogs emblazoned with their favorite designs...and then battled their friends with slammers. It was often played "for keeps," which, in the high-stakes world of cardboard-circle collecting, was an excellent way to lose said pals.
1995: Sky Dancer
Pull the string on this little diva, and she'd go flying into the air via her foam wings that worked like a propeller. Fun! Not so fun? According to CNN, a few years later, 8.9 million of the toys were recalled over 150 reported injuries, including temporary blindness, a mild concussion, and a broken rib.
1996: Tickle Me Elmo
After Rosie O'Donnell demonstrated on her talk show the plush that laughed when you tickled it, demand skyrocketed, sending holiday shoppers into utter hysteria. People fought, others were trampled—and ultimately, the $30 toy was being scalped for upward of $1,000 a pop.
1997: Tamagotchi
Sure, The Lion King taught children about the "Circle of Life," but it was the egg-shaped digital toys that made them live it. Each Tamagotchi housed a virtual pet that kids would feed and shepherd through the stages of life, and if you didn't own one as a child, rest easy—the toy made a comeback in 2017.
1998: Beanie Babies
Around this time, there was basically no point in showing your face in public if you didn't have a robust Beanie Baby collection. The floppy animals were believed to be rare, which led to serious collecting (and hoarding). Of course, the "great bubble"burst, leaving the beanbag friends virtually worthless.
1999: Furby
Furby's key selling point was how supposedly smart it was, as the robotic toy came out of the box speaking "Furbish," but eventually would speak more and more English. Also, it could open and close its mouth, so yay?
2000: Razor scooter
Razor reintroduced kids to the classic scooters of yesteryear with sleek aluminum and a patented brake design. All other modes of transportation immediately were deemed irrelevant.
2001: Bratz
These dolls enthralled little girls with their wild fashion, glossy lips, and heads that were way bigger than the rest of their bodies.
2002: FurReal Friends
The original FurReal Friend was a robotic cat that laid in your lap and purred when you pet it. It sold out in many stores, with the toy's engineer attributing the success to the "emotional" element of "nurturing."
2003: Dance Dance Revolution
The wildly popular arcade game made its way to homes, where players used a floor mat to dance along to the video game on their screens. It was like exercise, but...not.
2004: RoboSapien
There have been loads of toy robots over the years, but this one likely made it big by the transparent volume of things it could do. A remote control allowed kids to try out a whopping 67 different functions, including farting and burping.
2005: Guitar Hero
Alongside its rival, Rock Band, this video game let users play along to rock hits by tapping buttons. If there's a video game console rotting somewhere in your basement, there's a good chance a guitar-shaped control is decaying right alongside it.
2006: Nintendo Wii
The Nintendo game console was a huge smash, thanks to its motion-sensing remote, which let users make gestures to control the games.
2007: Webkinz
These stuffed animals didn't look very different from anything on the market, but each came with a "secret code" that let kids play with their toy virtually on the Webkinz website.
2008: Bakugan
Bakugan was basically the descendant of Pokemon, a Japanese toy in the shape of a sphere that pops open to reveal a monster.
2009: Zhu Zhu Pets
The massively popular $7.99 robotic hamsters cooed and even scooted around—just like the real thing, but better, because you didn't have to feed it, and it couldn't die!
2010: Silly Bandz
These silicone bracelets lay flat in virtually any shape imaginable and then stretched around a wrist into a zig-zag look. With themes ranging from "princesses" to "Dallas Cowboys," each one sort of was like your own little secret.
2011: Lalaloopsy Silly Hair Dolls
A 2011 New York Times article reported that there was no hit toy that year, although the piece did note that these gals were "sold out or hard to find in some parts of the country." The plastic dolls featured hair that kids loved to style.
2012: Skylanders
One way to make a hit toy: Combine two things that little kids already love. Skylanders epitomized the larger fad of toys-to-life, video games that included figurines that could interact with the game.
2013: Rainbow Loom
Tweens flocked to this craft kit that helped them create rubber band bracelets. They were so popular, two schools in New York banned the looms, with one principal claiming students were "addicted" to that sweet high of affordable jewelry design.
2014: Elsa Dolls
Although Frozen actually hit theaters in 2013, its long run turned the Disney juggernaut into the highest-grossing animated film worldwide the following year. As a result, it was a cultural phenomenon, with little girls overwhelmingly preferring merchandise featuring the icy Elsa over her sister Anna.
2015: Shopkins
This line of tiny toys personified everything from nail polish to lettuce. The fervor around the collectible pieces was thanks in part to the hundreds of varieties available, as well as designations for "rare" and "limited-edition" characters.
2016: Hatchimals
These fluffy guys "hatch" via tapping and rubbing on their egg shells. After that, you get a pastel-colored creature that you raise to talk, walk, and dance—basically, it's the love child of a Furby and a Tamagotchi.
2017: Fidget Spinners
Originally marketed as a way to help kids focus, fidget spinners exploded into the zeitgeist in 2017…and fizzled out nearly as fast.
2018: L.O.L. Surprise Dolls
The colorful L.O.L. Surprise! dolls combines trendy dolls with surprise toys inside. And, of course, there are cute accessories.
2019: Baby Shark
Sorry in advance for getting this earworm stuck in your head, but there was a huge obsession with anything Baby Shark ("doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo"), especially if it played the song.
2020: Baby Yoda
Before Star Wars fans learned that The Child's name was Grogu, everyone called the insanely popular Mandalorian character Baby Yoda...and had to have one of these huggable dolls.
2021: Magic Mixies
These Magic Mixies cauldrons cast a spell on young fans who loved putting together potions in order to create a mist that reveals a furry interactive little friend.
2022: Squishmallows
These ultra-plush Squishmallows came out in 2017, but they've only grown in popularity as limited editions made kids (and adults) stalk local stores to find new ones.
2023: Barbie
Yes, the doll is back at the top of the list, thanks to Barbie, the movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. All of her accessories and the Barbie Dream House are on the top of a lot of wish lists this year.
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