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Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Toys From The 80's


There have been many times when I have been at a store buying something that Lucy needs, but then I get side tracked looking at toys that I want to get her. Unfortunately, I have heard that a 5 month old is a little young for dress up cloths and play time kitchens. So until then, I guess I will be stuck buying chew rings....I hate how those sound more appropriate for dogs than children.

Over the last few months of scanning the toy aisles wishing I could pick up some cute little Polly Pocket for her I have noticed that there just aren't as many good toys as there use to be. Toys these days seem to either be a simple, not too imaginative doll or some high tech toy/computer board that will claim to have your child making Einstein look like a gomer.

So here are some good ol' fashion toys that I think should make a comeback...well maybe not all of them, but it is sure fun to reminisce.


Glow Worms - Oh I loved these! I slept with mine every night for the longest time. They are pretty self explanatory....they are worms...that glow! Go figure! But they were perfect for little girls at night. I loved being able to just give it a squeeze and see the cheeks light up...also helped make midnight bathroom runs A LOT easier.




Popples - These little fur balls were a fun stuffed animal that could be rolled up into a nice tight pouch. I loved them and the cartoon that they made of them, even though they do look like a cross breeding of kangaroos and turtles that has gone horribly wrong :)


Forest Family - Cute little animal families that you could play with. They had all sort of animals: bears, cats, raccoons, squirrels.... I had the raccoons. I loved to use these critters in place of the dolls in my doll house. Apparently it was more fun to have the raccoons in the house and the dolls as the family pet.



Battle Beasts - Here is one for the boys. Every figure was a different animal, reptiles, insect and they had a black square on the front. The figures would battle and you would decide who would win by pressing the square. Their chests were heat sensitive so when you pressed your finger an image would pop up... fire, water, or wood. Fire burnt wood, water put out fire, and wood could block water.



Smooshees - A plush squishy animal or doll that could fit into whatever accessory it came with. One item was a dog that came with a fire hydrant that you could squish him into. Or a turtle that had a shell, you needed to squeeze him into it to be dressed. Apparently squeezing equaled fun back then :)


Purr-tenders - The story behind these stuffed animals is that all these cats are trying to get adopted and so they pretend to be different animals because they felt like people didn't want cats. I had this one...the parrot cat and I loved to pretend that I was actually hiding this cat from my mom. So I would keep the cat in the parrot outfit till my mom was gone then I would let my cat be her self. I had an endless amount of fun with this one. Do you know how hard it is trying to teach a cat to fly to help make her look like a parrot?



Slip n' Slides - What kid didn't have one of these? Even with growing up in Alaska we had one and I loved it. Well, until I reached the end. Our yard was just barely big enough and at the end of the slide was where the grass stopped and the rock garden began....we had a lot of scrapped knees that summer.



Pound Puppies - Kids could go to the store and adopt a Pound Puppy which would come with his very own home and some information on your puppy. There were many different colors and patterns of dog so each child could have a unique dog. The creator of pound puppies actually wanted the child to have a special bond with their dog and truly love it. What is really cute is that there is a website http://www.poundpuppies.com/ where kids can still go online and pick a puppies and play with it and take care them.


Wacky Wall Walkers - A gummy sticky octopus that can be thrown onto walls, windows, or doors and would squiggle on down. As you can tell from the boy's hair and sweater this ad many be from the 80's




Wuzzles - Island of Dr. Moreau for kids apparently. These animals were cross breeds of each other. A bunny hippo, kangaroo elephant, bumble bee bear, and my favorite... seal moose. I spent several hours in class wasting my time by drawing up my very own wuzzles (But never a Li-ger)


He-Man and She-Ra - My brothers played with He-Man and I always wanted She-Ra so I could play with them cause apparently "Barbies and He-man don't mix" But I do remember the my barbies snagged that tiger A LOT cause they liked to ride with style!



Lincoln Logs - These are great great toys! Anything that has kids building things and following designs and instructions are great toys. Plus, I have many many memories of my brother and I building cabins or fortresses and fighting our battle beasts or when he wasn't looking, I'd have my Trolls go camping.


Skip-it - I think almost every kid had one of these. In my neighborhood we actually had skip-offs, yea I know...sounds like I come from the streets... "You got Skipped fool!" The Skip-It held a counter that could tell how many times you skipped over it and we would see who could go the longest. I remember getting upset when I could tell that my Skip-It was bouncing too much and wasn't counting all my skips.....oh the problems of an 8 year old.



What toys did you all grow up with and love?

40 comments:

  1. I think that we had pretty similar toys. I still have my Pound Puppy and Pound Purries. I picked up an old school original PP at a yard sale for my kids. Sadly they are not as into it as I was. One of my sisters was super into He-man and we used to play He-man and She-ra all the time. I always had to be She-ra.

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  2. Oh gosh....I had forgotten all about the Poppables! I had a couple of those!

    Growing up my favorite toys were Barbie and My Little Pony.

    But you are right...there aren't many toys for kids to play with nowadays. Most of it has to be electronic and have sound effects.

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  3. Oh man! The memories!

    I loved, loved my glow worm.

    Pound Puppies too.

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  4. I can tell that I am quite a bit older than you are (37)because, some of these toys I remember my little sisters having...but you are so right! As far as these toys are concerned...there is, "no school like the old school".

    I love that you used your Glow Worm to help you on midnight bathroom runs. That is a great idea...I want another baby... I think I will have to get a Glow Worm!

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  5. I saw forrest friends (or something like them) at O.P. Taylors a few years ago, but they were really expensive. My kids always have a slip and slide in the summer and Lincoln Logs are popular here too.

    I loved my sticker book, and I had a set of shirttails stuffed animals from Hardees- I loved that show! And I had the baby pound pets too. Do you remember LadyLovelyLocks? I'm trying to remember what else I played with. I liked playing school, reading books, wearing a bonnet like Laura Ingalls, riding my bike all over my town (now there's a days-gone-by concept)and playing Barbies.

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  6. I loooooooove Popples. I had several of them!

    Happy TT!

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  7. Try Back to Basics Toys...online. You will love them. And they have Creepy Crawler Ovens, Cahhty Cathy, Slinkeys, and Mrs Beasely!

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  8. I loved my popple! What memories this post brings back. I was a huge fan of He-Man.

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  9. I remember these! It must be 80s day today, I'm up to post 3 with an 80s theme. Did I miss a memo? :)

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  10. I think one of my favorite toys ever was the Puppy Surprise. I still sing the commercial every once in a while. What better toy that one that you may get 3, 4, or even 5 puppies!

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  11. Well - you haven't been around the kids toy market as much as I have but - Lincoln Logs are still available, as are skipping balls. And - those animal families are around too. They're now called Calico Critters - and they're expensive. Here's a link.
    http://www.growingtreetoys.com/brand/calico-critters-accessories.html

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  12. Oh, the childhood memories! Great list.

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  13. They brought back a few memories!

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  14. Wow, that totally brought back some found memories for me.
    It's so funny you mentioned Jill's sight bc someone just told me about it on my last post. I love it!

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  15. A bunch of those are on the market right now, pound Puppies, Popples, Skip It, slip and alide, Glow worm, Lincoln logs, (remember bristle blocks? I loved those) Evrything seems to be making a come back, Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Ponies, those dolls in the Soda Bottles.

    I think we had the best toys when were younger.

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  16. They do have Glow Worms and they are so much better than the one I had as a kid. I remember it like took my whole weight to make that little sucker light up. Today's Glow Worms are simple as can be to light up. I loooved my popple. I had that very one! I think it might be around here still somewhere.

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  17. Don't worry, they still make Glow-worms, Slip n'Slides and Lincoln Logs!

    But you are right. I think Rescue Heroes have replaced He-Man (oh, how I loved He-Man).

    My fav toys were Strawberry Shortcake dolls, and those are getting harder and harder to find at our local Target. I think Bratz are taking over, and I REFUSE to buy those for my daughter.

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  18. I love slip in slides! and Lincoln logs were so much fun! i played with those all the time when i was a kid! great list! mine is here

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  19. I forgot all about Smooshees!! So cute.

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  20. Great list! I forgot about so many of these! Thanks for the flashback!

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  21. Dude.... I LOVED my skip-it!!!!

    And my glow worm rocked. Nice list!

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  22. Let's see. I'm going to age myself here: Holly Hobby, Cabbage Patch dolls, My little Pony, BARBIE, and those dolls that had different expressions depending on what "face" she was wearing.

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  23. I always find it funny how many toys I grew up with are coming back... Strawberry Shortcake, Cabbage Patch Kids, to name a few

    I still love the basics and hope to get those for my child too!

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  24. Don't forget the snoopy sniffer!

    Great list and call them teething rings, it'll make you feel better!

    ~Harris.

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  25. Skip It!!! (Or how I learned very early that I have no coordination whatsoever!) Great list.

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  26. We had a skip it - but it was called a "lemon twist" and looked like a lemon.

    We were "poor" (5 girls) - so we didn't get all the "cool" toys.

    We had a variety of dolls "Baby This and That" - Baby Drowsy where you pull a string and she says some phrases. One of those heads where you can do the make up and hair...Spirograph...

    Lots of kids in the neighborhood so we played outdoors a lot and games we all could play...

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  27. Happy I could provide you and your husband with a good laugh :)


    I love these toys, what memories. I also really loved rainbow bright!

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  28. GREAT LIST! I loved (LOVED) my easy bake oven - oh man I loved it. And of course, cabbage patch dolls!

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  29. Those were fabulous! What a blast from the past!! Good job! We just bought the boys some Lincoln Logs for Christmas. Love those! And Popples! I forgot about those. Love them!
    I also loved Monchichis. Do you remember those? The monkey looking things with hard plastic faces?

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  30. I LOVE this post . . . I loved my Easy Bake Oven (until it shorted out and dad took it away). I was a freak for Play Doh and Silly Putty. My favorite of all was my Lite Brite.

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  31. What a way to bring me back to my childhood!! I love them-- wow, skip-it, glo-worm, LINCOLN LOGS!!!! :D

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  32. They still sell a lot of these toys!! Our daughter got a glow worm for Christmas from our neighbors. And we got our neice a pound puppy for Christmas in 2006. And I have seen Lincoln Logs a lot recently. All 3 of these things are sold at TARGET!!

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  33. We still use lincoln logs in the school where I work and I love.. I mean the children love them.

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  34. I have to laugh because I still have my glow worm, my popple, and my smooshies.

    I agree, it is hard to find good, durable, basic, imagination toys.

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  35. Oh my goodness, I had ALL of these toys (well except HeMan...which oddly enough, my brother didn't have either)! Good memories. :)

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  36. My 4 year old has a Glow Worm, and she sleep with it every night...for a child afraid of the dark, it's a lifesaver. I loved Popples, Pound Puppies & Slip & Slides. I also had every Rainbow Brite doll, and a few of the cute bears with the snow globe noses (Nosy Bears), plus Babs & Buster Bunny from Tiny Toon Adventures...and Pogs :) My kids have Lincoln Logs, and they love them.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog by the way. The knitting is slow progress, but it seems to be getting easier with practice.

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  37. Gloworms have been around for years! I had one when I was little (I'm 17 now). I've been trying to track one down for one of the children I look after quite often, but I can't find them anywhere! I might need to find one online.

    I found your blog a little while ago and really enjoy reading it!

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  38. I have my wooden felt creatures still and my smooches... i didn't know anyone knew what those were... I love your blog you have some really cute ideas, thank you for sharing!

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  39. I have my wooden felt creatures still and my smooches... i didn't know anyone knew what those were... I love your blog you have some really cute ideas, thank you for sharing!

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