Category Archives: Toys from 1980s

Along with a massive increase of plastic toys including child domestic appliances and plastic lunch boxes, video and computer technology began to invade most childrens lives.

Interactive speak and spell toys made learning more interactive and ranged from a electronic robot call Aphie through to Vtech computers for young kids.
For the older kids the launch of Space Invaders, and smaller handheld devices brought hours of video games into the home.

He-Man Masters of the Universe

Leave a reply

He-Man a fictional character whose duty was to protect the realm of Eternia and the Castle Grayskull from the evil forces of Skeletor. Produced by Mattel in 1982 around this time there was a number of action figures around not least Star Wars figures but these were aimed more at the younger target market and allowed them with the arrival of the animated series developed into He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Image of He-Man himself Action Figure

Castle Grayskull was the source of He-Mans powers, inside the castle was a Sorceress who could grant powers and could communicate telepathically. continue reading>>

Upright Transformers Optimus Prime and Logo

Transformers

Leave a reply

Transformers were introduced by Hasbro originally in 1984 introducing a number of action figures, the animated TV series and comic books about two warring groups of alien robots. Phases such as Robots in disguise and additional characters and updated additions kept the new generations interested.

The addition of big block buster films trilogy the first released in 2007 allowed the franchise to gain sales and launch a number of video games to appeal to the target audience.

Characters such as Optimus Prime and the villain in Transformers was Megatron were introduced. continue reading>>

Three Care Bears and some Care Bear Books

Care Bears

Leave a reply

Care Bears were originally used in Artwork for use on greeting cards in America by American Greetings. In 1983 this artwork was turned into plush teddy bears and a TV series started and was popular through till 1987 a movie was also released.

Each Care Bear came in a different color and has a specialized logo on its belly which represented its duty and personality. In the movie these were referred to as Belly Badges.

Expanding on from the Care Bear family were additional characters lion, rabbit, racoon, penguin known as the Care Bear Cousins. continue reading>>

One Rubix Cube New and sealed ready for twisting

Rubik Cube

Leave a reply

Just about everyone recognises the Rubiks Cube, the square toy puzzle which would frustrate most people as the task of untwisting the toy so that each side returns to its own colour 9×9 cubes on each of the six sides.

In 1974 a Hungarian names Erno Rubik who was a professor of architecture and sculptor invented the cube. Originally named the magic cube, the puzzle was licensed to Ideal toy corporation in 1980. Figures in early 2009 reported sales of 350 million cubes sold worldwide.

One Rubix Cube New and sealed ready for twisting

It is easily the worlds best selling toy and unlike today’s throw away toys it will last and is not easily completed and discarded people will come back to it, and ok it is also known that cubes with stickers on have sometimes been picked off and stuck on one side to make it seem they have actually worked out the puzzle. continue reading>>

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Leave a reply

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TV Series and a number of Films lead to a number of action figure toys, costumes and typical merchandise such as lunch boxes to be released aimed primarily at the boy market the introduction of the character April gave some appeal to girls also.

The name changed shortly after release from using the work ‘Ninja’ to ‘Hero’ to make it less intensive to some children and some alleged attacks or over eager playing being reported in some areas.

The Turtles gained worldwide popularity with several movies and TV series being released an official Moview Soundtrack and songs such as T U R T L E   POWER!! were released and did surprisingly well in the charts. continue reading>>