15 Famous 80s Toys
If you grew up during the 80s and 90s, consider yourself lucky! These were the days when all the coolest toys came out. Some were merchandise from your favorite TV shows like Garfield and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or movies like The Little Mermaid or E.T. Everything including action figures, coloring books, books, small cars, stuffed animals and board games were all booming in the 80s.
Now with all the technology and content on YouTube and streaming services, toys are simply not what they were (which is really too bad). Thankfully, some of these toy brands have withstood the test of time and still remain popular today. With a big applause from myself, I really hope these continue well into the future so our kids can enjoy them as much as we did.
1. Lite-Brite
The Lite-Brite used to be one of my absolute favorite toys growing up. It was so neat to create the picture from the book on the screen and see how it turned out. I would spend hours choosing the colors and watching them glow and then leave it for a few days to enjoy. The only part I wasn’t too crazy about was using up all the black sheets that came with the screen, so it wasn’t as fun to reuse sheets since the white light would just shine through it. But still! It was fun while it lasted.
2. View-Master
I’m not sure if View-Masters are still popular, but I loved looking at all the pictures on the reels through this lens. The manufacturer was also creative in that customers were pushed to collect as many reels as they could to “enjoy all the fun.” Well it worked. Even when my younger brothers were younger during the mid-2000s, they had a purple View-Master with reels of rainforest animals, cars and Nickelodeon characters. I had some with pictures of old Disney characters, Nickelodeon TV shows and animals.
3. Cabbage Patch Kids
There was a specific time, 1983, where parents went absolutely insane over Cabbage Patch Kids during Black Friday. Everyone wanted one, to the point of them being ripped out of customers hands. Because they were first generation of customized dolls, kids could pick which one they wanted to “adopt.” Except they grew out of control when customers were climbing over each other just to get one. The creator certainly made a lot of money in the 80s, but as other options came out, like Tickle Me Elmo and Furby, people eventually lost interest, and they haven’t been the same since. But I remember my personal Cabbage Patch Kid’s name was Herbie, with red hair, brown eyes and freckles. I had him for about three years until I got my fingers wrapped in his hair and my mom had to throw him out. Poor Herbie.
4. Transformers
Based off the famous TV show, the cool thing about Transformers action figures were that you could transform them into a vehicle or robot. I never played with them personally but I know the boys in my class would bring them to school and have mini battles at recess. These were the nerds of course, but still, they were crazy about them. I’ll stick to watching the movies.
5. My Little Pony
Another one that I never got into as a kid, but My Little Pony’s popularity during the 80s was explosive. From the action figures to coloring books to stuffed animals, there were so much to collect. If you watched the TV shows, you probably had some toys, right?? There were simply so many to collect, and in all different colors, so how could you choose? Perhaps one of the best things about them was that they came with brushes so you could brush their manes. They also came with other accessories like sunglasses, microphones, stickers, mirrors and hair pins so you could dress them up.
6. Strawberry Shortcake
I don’t remember too much of the early days of Strawberry Shortcake, but they were really neat because they were named after foods and flavors and smelled just like them! There was Apple Dumplin, Butter Cookie, Orange Blossom, Plum Puddin, Purple Pie Man, Banana Twirl, Lemon Meringue and so many more. Like My Little Pony, these dolls also came with their own accessories, such as brushes, hats and even their own pets. They certainly played on your emotions as they were so stinking cute and smelly…until they lost their scent and were buried at the bottom of the toy box. But overall, they were still a big hit amongst thousands of 80s kids.
7. Masters of the Universe
Remember He-Man? I do! My favorite was the green Origins Battle Cat (I’ve always been one for animals). But of course, everyone had to have the He-man action figure as well as Skeletor since they were the main characters.
One of my favorite things to do as a kid was to get create my own adventures with characters from different “worlds”, such as Masters of the Universe, Ninja Turtles and Spider-Man. Or if my friends played with action figures, we would make them battle. My favorite was Christmas time, where I could show off my new toys and hope that my friends didn’t get characters as cool as mine.
8. Rubik’s Cube
Like PAC MAN, Galaga and Tetris, the Rubik’s Cube is an incredibly simple puzzle to solve; simply make all the sides the same color and it’s solved. But actually doing it was what made it so addicting and popular. There was about a week that went by where I tried to learn all the algorithms so I could solve it effectively, but gave up right away since they were too complicated for my 10-year-old self.
To this day, the Rubik’s Cube lives on, making it still one of the most popular puzzles on the market. As of today, over 350 million Rubik’s Cubes have been sold worldwide and the fastest time in solving it is 5.55 seconds. Of course, there has been some time for people to quickly apply the algorithms and figure it out, but it still remains a mystery to me.
9. Atari and NES
This is where video games all started. During the arcade games explosion, Nintendo and SEGA Entertainment Systems came out with the systems that allowed people to play at home. Some of the most popular games that have even been remade over and over again include: Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Zelda, Sonic, Kirby, Final Fantasy and so much more.
I’ve personally been in and out of video games my whole life, but Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong remain some of my favorites. I’ve always been a Nintendo girl as you can tell.
But these game systems were some of the 80s most advanced technology, alongside the Casio keyboard, typewriter, Commodore 64 and other home computers.
The very first Atari came out on September 11, 1977 and cost $199 ($863 as of 2021). The NES came out in 1985 and cost $150 ($478 as of 2021). That’s quite a bit of money if you ask me, but it looks like they did lose a bit of their worth over time since the Nintendo Switch is $300 and Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X are $500.
10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
For anyone who watched the show, who didn’t have the action figures? For the nerds, these were on bed comforters, lunchboxes, toys, stuffed toys, Halloween costumes and so much more.
For those of you who have kept your toys over the years and are waiting to sell them, a mint condition figure in the original packaging sold for $700. Pretty crazy in my opinion, but some people are incredibly addicted to their collections.
In history, Playmates Toys produced hundreds of TMNT action figures as well as other accessories, cars and playsets. It was in the 80s that this action figure line had made such an impact that it generated billions of dollars in licensing revenue. Even the 2003 animated TV show and 2007 had sparked the interest in new, high-quality action figures as National Entertainment collectible Association produced new toys from the original Mirage comics.
11. Care Bears
So I myself was never really interested in Care Bears or anything cute and cuddly when I was a kid. With 3 brothers growing up, I was a total Tom Boy! But for the girly girls, they were very popular. They were used on greeting cards, TV shows, movies and of course, the plush toys.
Care Bears toys came out in 1983, derived from the American Greeting cards and then turned into a TV series from 1985 to 1988. There were also three movies: The Care Bears Movie (1985), Care Bears MovieII: A New Generation (1986), and The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987).
The most popular were Bedtime Bear, Wish Bear, Cheer Bear, Birthday Bear, Tenderheart Bear, Good Luck Bear, Grumpy Bear, Love-a-Lot Bear and Friend Bear. Again, too mushy for me, but apparently not for others!
12. Pound Puppies
Who’s not a sucker for sad eyes at the dog shelter? I am, since that’s how I got my rescue dog, whom I love dearly to this day. And that’s exactly what this toy company’s praying on using these toys: compassion.
The whole story behind Pound Puppies is that they were sold in cage-like boxes that made them look like they would literally die without you. Do you think that concept would survive in today’s society? Probably not, but it was one of the things was common in the 80s but not today. The Pound Puppies had huge eyes and looked too innocent not to “adopt”, which was was what made them so popular. As if this wasn’t enough, they went after the cat lovers with Pound Purries that used the same concept, just with kittens instead of puppies.
13. Popples
Another one I haven’t played with personally, but the concept of a brightly colored, fuzzy teddy bear with pom-poms on their tails are pretty cute. The cool thing is that each Popple character transforms into a brightly colored ball. The original line was sold from 1986 – 1988, including Pretty Cool, Party, Pancake, Puzzle, Prize, Puffball, Pretty Bit, Potato Chip and Putter. There were also some others like Rock Star and Baby Popples, as well as Pufflings, Sports Popples, Pocket Popples and other full-sized Popples.
The toy line was a big hit in the 80s, but like everything else, it declined in the 90s. Additional attempts to revive the toy brand were made in 2001, 2007 and 2015. There’s even a Netflix series made in 2015, revived from the original 1986 TV series.
14. Teddy Ruxpin
For all the story time fanatics, you’d love Teddy Ruxpin, the animatronic stuffed bear that reenacts stories played on an audio tape cassette deck that’s built into its back. The toy line actually became the best-selling toy of 1985 and 86. It was also reintroduced in 2006, for which it was awarded the 2006 Animated Interactive Plush Toy of the Year award by Creative Child Magazine. Phil Baron was the voice actor featured on all tapes and on the TV Show The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, but left the entertainment industry during the 90s to become a cantor. But he’s the only actor associated with the property.
As of 2019, it was announced that The Jim Henson Company would be distributing a TV series under the Henson Independent Properties banner.
15. Glo Worm
Designed by Hasbro’s Playskool division and introduced in 1982, the Glo Warm was a plush, pajama-looking worm body with a device that lit up when squeezed from within; it created a soft glow. It was a big hit as soon as it was released, so much that various merchandise followed, including a story book series, night lights, video and another Musical Glo Worm toy, for which its popularity continued well into the 90s.
But sadly, the product was criticized for harming young children because its head could be softened with phthalates, which could be dangerous if swallowed.
But in 1986, the Glo Worm had some Glo Friends made of soft vinyl. They were so popular that Wendy’s released a series of 13 soft vinyl toys to advertise their food products.
Which 80s Toys Did You Play With?
For me, my absolutely favorites were the Lite-Brite, Rubik’s Cube, Cabbage Patch Kids and View-Master. I’d love to hear any fun stories you had as a kid when playing with these. Does anyone still have their original toys from the olden days? I’d love to see!
