Remember the toys that caused Furor in the 90s

For those who were born between the 80s and 90s, who today identify themselves as “Generation Y”, they recognize that iconic toys emerged in those years that marked an entire era. Today some of these are cult objects, others have been reinvented to adapt to the new generation and maintain a place on toy store shelves. 

For those of us who have passed level 30 or those who are almost reaching 40, remembering the 90s fills us with nostalgia for all the things we have experienced, a childhood that will never return and that, in retrospect, we wish we had valued more. 

However, there are some elements that will last in our memory and that, thanks to the Internet, collectors’ and fans’ sites, could even return to our hands. These are the long-awaited toys that set trends at this time. Here we will make a summary of the most representative.

flying dolls

Although Barbie dolls seemed to retain the reign in this category, by 1994 the Sky Dancers appeared, a line of fairy dolls that measured approximately 18 cm and that, in turn, were dancers.

The great attraction of these dolls is that they came with a base, combined with the colors of the theme or the character’s outfit that, in addition to serving as a support base, was the place where a rope was pulled that propelled the doll towards up, while the wings rotated like propellers, producing an effect as if it could actually fly.

At this time, all girls dreamed of having the Sky Dancer collection, as it became a resounding international success. After several years of sales and some reports of injuries to children, they were withdrawn from the market. Subsequently, several brands designed new versions with playsets and other operating mechanisms, but none of these models have had the impact that the originals had in the 90s. 

The stress of caring for a virtual pet

The Japanese Tamagotchi toy was a compact electronic device in the shape of an egg and on whose screen, in black and white, you could see your virtual pet, which you had to feed, care for, entertain and clean, so that it would not die But, when you did not fulfill your duties, you only had to reset the device so that everything returned to normal and try again to take care of your pet with greater responsibility. And not to mention the antics between brothers who reset each other’s Tamagotchi to get revenge, a situation that generated many family tensions, no doubt.

Furby: the smart doll and another pet to take care of

The beginning of “artificial intelligence” in toys can be traced to the Furby, a furry creature with big eyes and a beak to speak that emerged in 1998. This doll could interact with children, who had to care for and feed the Furby, as well as teach him to speak.

The novelty in this toy is that it was programmed to say few syllables and sounds at first, but gradually its language evolved, to clearly speak the language for which it was intended. In this sense, many people thought that the doll repeated what he heard and prohibited the entry of toys to their offices, thinking that it was a type of “spy doll”. 

Furby fever reached its peak between 1998 and 1999, after which they disappeared for a while, until a new generation was launched in 2004. 

Later, in 2012, 2014 and 2016 new versions were presented, with improvements, more colorful designs and more expressive eyes to try to captivate this new generation. 

Play at being a Playmobil farmer

The advertising and marketing boom of the 90s managed to raise the popularity of Playmobil sets at the time, the most requested being the Domestic Animal Farm, although The Pirate Ship, Treasure Island and The Circus also headed the list. lists of the Magi.

For its part, the Playmobil 123 line was launched in this decade in order to meet the needs of babies from 18 months to 3 years, an age group that was a bit neglected in terms of attractive toy design.

In this sense, some designs were improved to offer greater security to babies, as well as a better grip and great appeal with bright colors to keep the attention of the little ones. This approach was highly receptive and has been maintained over the years, so you only need to look for the best Playmobil 123 if you want to make a special and resistant gift to a baby in this age phase. 

Play-Doh hair salon

Many agree that the golden age of musical and gooey commercials was the ’90s, and if there was one ad that wouldn’t get out of our heads, it was the Play-Doh sets, like the hair salon with crazy hairstyles or the ice cream parlor. In these years we did not even dream of slime, so this plasticine was the softest, funniest and most functional material to play, create, model and do everything that the imagination allowed us.

This brand is another example of conviction and knowing how to reinvent itself, as it remains in toy stores, bookstores and online stores with a wide variety of play sets, adapted to the different ages of children, to continue promoting creativity and fine motor skills with Modeling.

So if you have children, surely in your house there are several cans of Play-Doh compound and a couple of playsets that you have bought so that the little ones can have fun as you did.

In the end, we see how some of the most iconic toys of the ’90s have stood the test of time, adapted to change, and continue to take their place on toy stores, gift lists, and birthday presents. However, we could continue talking about so many other trend-setting products about which nothing is known now, and with which our children and grandchildren will never play, unless we have them stored and well preserved. 

We can also think that many of the toys that are fashionable today will be a relic in 20 or 30 years, and that they say a lot about how a society is evolving and the preferences of children are changing over the years.