Most Popular Toys Of The 1980s

the most popular toys of the 1980s the 1980s toy market was still in full swing however this decade would see some changes that would alter toys in the future many of the toys from this decade were actually popular toys that originated in previous decades so if you do not see them in this video there's a good chance they are in a previous episode the 1980s did see some popular toys that were unlike anything else that had ever been released before in today's video we'll discuss some of the most popular toys of the 1980s and by the end of the video you'll be able to see how things start to change trivial pursuit is a board game that was released in 1981 and the popularity grew fast it was created in canada in 1979 by chris haney a photo editor for montreal's the gazette and scott abbott a sports editor for the canadian press winning the game is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions players move their pieces around a board and land on squares which determine the subject of a question that will be asked the questions are on a card and can be from one of six categories including history science and nature each correct answer earns a plastic wedge which is slotted into the player's game piece over the years the game has remained popular and dozens of new themed editions have been released some of these additions are for kids baby boomers or anyone in between the game has also been released in a hundred different editions in different languages around the world glowworm is a stuffed toy for young children which would light up when squeezed it was released in 1982 by hasbro's play school division many kids saw it as a comforting companion while trying to go to sleep because the head glowed when it was squeezed the toy was such a success that a musical version was then released along with storybooks videos and other merchandise my little pony is a toy line that was developed by hasbro and released in 1982 it followed the original my pretty pony toy that was released in 1981. my little pony featured colorful bodies manes and a unique cutie symbol on one or both sides of the flanks since its release there have been numerous animations and merchandise released my little pony has also changed over the years to keep their appeal to little girls each new incarnation is known as a new generation care bears were initially created in 1981 for use on greeting cards from the company american greetings in september of 1982 the characters were then produced as a toy line for parker brothers and then kenner the following spring throughout the years there have been several movies and television series along with various kinds of merchandise the toy has remained popular enough that some mothers have passed along their care bears to their daughters there have been several generations and relaunches of the care bears throughout the years over 40 million care bears were sold between 1983 and 1987. masters of the universe was a sword and sorcery themed toy that was created by mattel in 1981 and released in 1982 the origins of the toy are somewhat fuzzy as there are several artistic designers that have made claim to the creation of the popular toy mattel created the action figures at a five and a half inches scale as opposed to the three and three quarter inches scale that kenner was using for star wars figures there were two main characters which were he-man and skeletor but there were also a line of other characters each figure came with its own mini comic that explained some of the things that were going on eventually dc comics got on to the action and there was also an animated series and a movie there was a re-release of the toy in the early 2000s but it never quite caught on like it did in the 1980s cabbage patch kids are a line of cloth dolls with plastic heads that were first produced by coleco industries in 1982 this doll set every toy industry sales record for three years running and was one of the most popular lines of children's products in the 1980s each doll came with a birth certificate and adoption papers the public went so crazy over these dolls that they actually started rioting and fighting over them in stores especially during the black friday season the dolls were so successful that they actually cancelled their advertising at one point because the company could not keep up with the demand somehow coleco eventually filed for bankruptcy and hasbro took over the dolls since then the dolls have switched hands numerous times but they are still being produced by wicked cool toys but in the 1980s they were king and every little girl wanted one of these cabbage patch dolls stompers were created in 1980 by an a eddie gold farm and sold by shaper toys they were battery powered 4x4 vehicles that ran on a single double-a-powered battery in the uk they were called trekkers and marketed by corgi toys the original vehicles were the chevy k-10 scottsdale chevy blazer dodge warlock ford bronco and jeep pancho later on other vehicles and stunt sets were also introduced as well as foam tires newer models were given two speeds and even a neutral position so that they could be played with without battery power in case the batteries ran out these toys were very popular in the 1980s amidst the growing popularity of monster trucks and bigfoot pound puppies were created by mike bowling in 1984 and were first sold by irwin toys in toronto canada after irwin the line was produced by tonka which introduced them to the u.s market the toys became so popular that a tv special aired in 1985 followed by a television series in 1986. in 1988 there was even a movie released as with many toys of the time there was other merchandise such as little golden books shirts coloring books and folders in 1987 hardee's and pizza hut offered them with their children's meals pound puppies remained popular well into the 1990s until they were discontinued in 2002 however in 2014 the toys were reintroduced but never were quite as popular as they were in the 1980s a couch ball is a toy made of rubber filaments radiating out from a steel bound core and it was patented in 1987 by a scott h stillinger the ball consists of about 2 000 rubber filaments and was released in a variety of colors eventually the balls were also made into key rings yo-yos and even baseball and tennis sets koosh balls were originally produced by odds on products inc but now are produced by hasbro rainbow bright is a media franchise by hallmark cards and was introduced in 1983 there was an animated television series that first aired in 1984 which was the same year that hallmark licensed rainbow bright to mattel for a range of dolls and other merchandise in 1985 a movie was released and in 2014 and 2015 there were attempts to reintroduce rainbow brite to the world but it wasn't met with as much popularity as it was in the 80s teddy ruxpin was an animated children's toy which looked like a bear and it featured a mouth and eyes which would react to stories played on a cassette tape player built into the back of teddy at the peak of its popularity teddy ruxpin became the best-selling toy of 1985 and 1986 and yes you may have guessed it but even had his own animated television series at one time the toy was originally produced by worlds of wonder but is currently being produced by wicked cool toys the cassette tape deck is long gone though garbage pail kids was a series of sticker trading cards produced by the tops company and originally released in 1985. it was designed to parody the cabbage patch kids dolls which were super popular with girls at the time so boys everywhere were buying them and showing them off to girls each card featured a character with some sort of abnormality or word play eventually cabbage patch kids sued tops over the trademark infringement this led to a change of the resemblance of the characters as well as the logo design by 1988 sales had dwindled so much that the series stopped completely since 2000 there have been several attempts to revive the once popular cards but they have never quite caught on like they did in the 1980s micro machines were a really popular tiny toy car that was released in 1987 by globe which is now part of hasbro these tiny vehicles were further popularized by commercials which were famously done by the actor john mashida jr at the time he was listed as a guinness book world record's fastest talker the product also had a catchy slogan which was remember if it doesn't say micro machines it's not the real thing these tiny cars are still being manufactured today power wheels is a brand of battery-powered ride-on toy cars for kids under seven years of age the brand name dates back to 1984 when the san francisco-based toy company kransko acquired pines of america makers of battery-powered vehicles for kids two years later cransco renamed the line power wheels the toys were manufactured with realistic features including in some cases working cb radios working fm radios opening doors and hoods and it also had a reverse and forward speeds by 1990 sales of the battery-powered vehicles reached over 1 million per year throughout the years the vehicles have remained popular and they still have many different models that are being produced gobots were a line of transforming robot toys similar to hasbro's transformers but these were produced by tonka from 1983 to 1987. however gobots became property of hasbro after their buyout of tonka in 1991. gobots were part of the 80s robot sensation that swept the united states for a short time the line sold well initially but was overtaken by transformers hanna-barbera produced a cartoon series called challenge of the gobots which ran for 65 episodes from 1984 to 1985. for the most part gobots have now just become a small part of the transformers throughout the years transformers took the world by storm in the 1980s they were toys that could be changed from cars or planes and into robots thus the name transformers was given to them it was kind of like playing with two different toys at the same time in japan they were produced by takara tomy and in the us and worldwide they were produced by hasbro because of their transforming abilities they also came up with some catchy phrases which were more than meets the eye and robots in disguise transformers were divided into two sides which were autobots who were heroic and decepticons which were the evil opponents they were so popular that there was an animation television series movie serial and various other types of merchandise in more recent times it gave way to a live action film and a resurgence to the toys but the 80s were transformers all the way teenage mutant ninja turtles were a group of four turtles who were also trained in ninjutsu they were named leonardo donatello raphael and michelangelo and splinter was their sensei they made their appearance in comic books in 1984 and eventually made their way to toys cartoons and even films the toys have been produced by the company playmates toys since 1988. the turtle craze was so huge that it landed a huge array of merchandise from shirts backpacks hats underwear sheets and so much more their popularity did not dwindle and it even grew stronger in the 1990s until they hit a dry spell for a couple years in 1996. in 2003 there was a slight resurgence of the series and toys and in 2014 a movie was even released throughout the years the characters have remained popular with kids and with the kids that are still young at heart the nintendo entertainment system is an 8-bit third generation video game console that was produced by nintendo it was first released in japan as a family computer commonly known as the famicon in 1983. the system became the best-selling video game console in japan by the end of 1984. in june of 1985 nintendo unveiled the american version of the famicon the system was placed in test markets starting in new york city in october of 1985 and released nationwide in 1986 with 17 different games nintendo revitalized the video game system industry that had crashed in 1983. within a couple of years the system had taken over the gaming world and made super mario brothers and duck hunt a household name so many people believe the game system would fade but nintendo proved everybody wrong the word nintendo brings up happy memories of playing games with family and friends the game boy was another 8-bit video game innovation by nintendo it was first released in japan in april of 1989 and then in north america three months later it would be more than a year later before it gets released in europe it was a simple game system in which the screen was a dull green dot matrix it quickly became a smash hit and outsold any of the competition that came out including ones that had color screens the game boy went on selling through the 90s and defined that decade as well the 1980s produced some incredible toys and many of them are collectors items some of the popular toys are still being made today and are just as popular now as they were in the 1980s the decade also made the video game system a popular item and in every household following this decade toy companies would have a major challenge trying to compete with video games thank you for watching this little video on the most popular toys of the 1980s if you enjoy these types of videos try one of the other decades that i've covered [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Rhetty for History

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Keywords: Most Popular Toys of the 1980s, 1980s Toys, Most Popular Toys, 1980s, 80s, He-Man, Care Bears, Cabbage Patch Kids, Garbage Pail Kids, Nintendo, Game Boy, Rainbow Brite, My Little Pony, Gloworm, Trivial Pursuit, Masters of the Universe, Pound Puppies, Stompers, Teddy Ruxpin, Micro Machines, Power Wheels, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Rhetty for History, 80s Memories, 80s toys, popular toys, childhood memories, 80s kid, popular toys in the 80s, 1980s toy craze, Toys

Id: ADwfNKKAl_c

Length: 15min 21sec (921 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 07 2021