Category Archives: Toys from 1990s

Toys of the 1990’s or 90’s popular toys, technology and the evolution of films and newer technologies lead to massive grossing toy sales. CD sales were rocketing and Computers were growing in popularity and starting to appear in the home.

The Internet began to take off in the later years. Outstanding sales of Nintendos Gameboy Handheld console were recorded as a bestseller for two years running, and later models evolved into GameBoy Colour, and GameBoy slim and in recent times the DS and 3D DS versions.

Cyberbets like Tamagotchi were a massive seller and appealed to the masses of kids as the price point was under $15.

Buzz Lightyear A key character from the huge Toy Story movies made this a must have toy and huge Christmas sell out for a couple of years with a highly popular initial product and a popular follow up.

A later version of Game Boy was the color version

Nintendo Gameboy

Ask any child or adult that has grew up around 1989 and they’ll be able to talk emphatically about their favourite games on the Nintendo Game Boy. A handheld gaming device that revolutionised game play for millions of people worldwide. Multiple games were able to be purchased in a single cartridge that were inserted into the back of the Game Boy.

In its first Christmas over 1 million units were shipped in the US alone!!

It followed on from Nintendos first handheld gaming device that was released in 1980 – The Nintendo Game & Watch, and smaller lcd Donkey Kong and other dedicated devices. continue reading>>

Image of Tamagotchi White

Tamagotchi

Tamagotchi the digital virtual pet on a egg shaped keyring was a craze and a huge hit first released in 1996, with a new collection and designs released in 2004.
Up to 2010 over 76 million units were sold. The story is Tamagotchi eggs have been laid to see what Earth is like and it is your task to raise the egg creature.

Image of Tamagotchi White One I had Tamagotchi red with clock face
3 small buttons were all that was needed to navigate through, you could feed, clean, happiness, weight, play. The eggs goe through a number of stages of development, each stage lasts a set amount of time depending on the version. continue reading>>

Green Super Soaker 50 Water Gun

Super Soaker

Released in 1991 the Super Soaker took over from the humble water pistol in style and became the envy of kids everywhere. It began with its simple pump action gun which provided high power water via a pistol action and countless water fights, the only way to survive one of these was to avoid if you can and then hope the pressure or water quickly ran out.

Super Soakers are now made under the Hasbro Nerf brand, the original name was Super Drencher when Lonnie George Johnson and American engineer invented it.  He originally licensed the soaker to Larami Corp, two years later sales over $200 million happened and today well over $1 billion of sales have been made. continue reading>>

Image of Pop Up Pirate Game and Box

Pop up Pirate

Pop Up Pirate a game that was enjoyed by thousands when they were little and still proving very popular purchases for parents today.
A simple game for 2-4 players, enjoyed by all generations. The game consists of a plastic barrel, a small pirate to placed in the top of the barrel and multiple plastic swords to place into the slots on the side of the barrel. Each time the game is played a random slot will cause to pirate to “pop’ out of the barrel.  Each player takes it in turn to place a sword into the sides.  Whichever player causes the pirate to “pop” is out and the game is won by the last player remain without popping the pirate. continue reading>>

Skip-It Toy

Skip-It

Ask any girl that grew up in the late 80s and 90s and they’ll be proud to be able to boast of their skip-It talents. An apparatus that was able to be used by one person to skip.  One end had a ring that was able to be placed around the ankle, and the other, a ball connected together so that the child would be able to jump over it.

First released in the 1980s and proved extremely popular, but re-released in the 1990s when it became even more popular with the added bonus of a counter.  It was so popular it actually made Times magazines top 100 toys list.  Other than the counter other items were to be able to added to the Skip-it.  These ranged from stickers, streamers and charms to covers that would make patterns while being skipped. continue reading>>

red and blue koosh ball

Koosh Ball

The Koosh ball was a toy rubber ball with a soft rubber code with strings of rubber emrging from it. It was developed in 1986 by Scott Stillinger so that his children could throw it around without damage. It was named after the sound it often made on landing.
Scott set-up his own company with his brother in law who had previously worked for Mattel… how very handy.

The Koosh ball was one of the Christmas best sellers in 1988 the company later expanded the products to include key-rings, baseballs and yo-yos, my favourite was the Koosh with fling, it could really fly. continue reading>>

Rollerblades

RollerBlades really took off in 1990’s and were on the top of most childrens lists. It was no longer cool to be the kid using classic roller skates. The new design was inline skates which looked similar to ice skates. So many designs and colors were released but you had to adapt to the different design and especially with balancing and stopping.

The Rollerblade name has become associated with all in-line skates but the early version began in 1980’s by Scott and Brennan Olson from their basement they worked on making the blades easier to put on, adapt brakes, protect wheels from damage. The trademark Rollerblade has been in use since March 1983. continue reading>>