Ask Mike: The most popular toys
Hey Guys,
While out shopping the other day I saw something truly terrifying. A display so frightening that it chilled the cockles of my heart. I saw Christmas decorations. In October. While the early holiday push may seem obnoxious to some, I have to admit that it actually worked on me (kind of). I left the store wondering about the most popular toys in past years. Out of all of them, which toys were the biggest hits?
Ask 10 different people about their favorite childhood toy, and you’ll likely hear ten different answers. I tried to find some hard data. Luckily, Forbes did a story on the most popular toys of the last 100 years, and broke them down by decades. For example, 1910-1919 belonged to Raggedy Ann dolls, while the 1940s were owned by Candy Land. The Rubik’s Cube dominated the swinging ’70s, and Cabbage Patch Kids were the champions of the ’80s. I would have given the ‘80s crown to Atari, but hey, that’s just me.
The Forbes list is a mixture of “some of the best-selling and best-loved toys of the past 100 years.” Other sites, like Purple Slinky, list Crayola Crayons, View-Masters, and Lincoln Logs as some of the most popular toys in history. Other notable contenders include the Barbie doll (still going strong), G.I. Joe, and generic toys like teddy bears and yo-yos.
As far as I can tell, there is no one greatest-selling toy that everyone can agree on. However, it’s worth noting that Lego sells an astounding number of toys. Granted you don’t buy one Lego piece at a time, but according to Gizmodo, more than 400 billion Lego bricks have been made since 1958. That means that for every person on the planet, there are about 62 Legos floating around. Whoa.
Do you guys have a favorite toy of all time? If so, what was it and why did you love it so much? Please leave a note below and let’s get the nostalgia going.
Thanks for reading,
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I agree, it’s crazy having Christmas decorations in October! It’s not even Halloween yet!
Mostly just dolls.
I loved Barbies and Cabage Patch Kids and still do!
I think you guys can understand what kind of toys I initially thought this article was about.
The Rubik’s Cube wasn’t sold until 1980. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubik%27s_cube
When I was younger , I loved to play with barbies espically my Cinderella Barbie . Most of my barbie’s ended up having a bad haircutting sesion with me.
They had Rubik’s Cube in 1972. I gave one to a friend as a gag gift for high school graduation
Who ever wrote that article had to be wrong on many things.
my mom still has her raggedy ann + andy
and to the person who linked to wikipedia’s rubix cube page… wikipedia lies.
I know, the Christmas decoration things drive me bananas!
When I was a tot I loved my teddies, a toy kitchen, and these big Duplo type Legos without the rounded edges. I used to flip the kitchen on it’s back and put all of the teddies me and my brother owned into the “shelves” in the side and we then proceeded to pretending we were in A;A rocket ship or B:a Ship.
We also loved cardboard boxes, famous in my house for being able to draw buttons, dials, and a large array of things in order to create a spaceship.
Give the 80′s to Atari? They actually released the 2600, their best selling console, in 1977, and while it sold through the 80′s, it was also in the 80′s that the company died. Nintendo won out the 80′s with video games. Most Ataris were purchased in the early 80′s if not the late 70′s. Of course they kept getting used through the 80′s, heck mine still gets used now. I’d love to give them the 80′s too, but it just wouldn’t be correct.
I played with lots of barbies and dolls when I was a kid, but was very fond of my big red firetruck. I also had a large collection of TY’s and other stuffed animals, which I still collect today.
I don’t even want to think about christmas. Fall is my all time favorite season, and december is just too cold sometimes. I’ll stick to Halloween, thanks!
I grew up in the 50′s & early ’60′s and any lad worth his salt had cowboy stuff – especially a cap gun & holster. Most all my friends & I had boxes full of little green Army men. Before Legos, we had Tinker Toys and Erector Sets (look them up in the history books). Also, just about every household with children had at least 1 Hula Hoop.
Erector sets (the original metal ones not the later plastic ones). Fun and educational, these could be used to build almost anything. I combined mine with a miniature working steam engine and made all kinds of self-propelled mechanical contraptions. I grew up to be an engineer who specializes in toys — go figure.
Legos were almost unlimited fun, perfect for indoors and out, rain or shine, you could take your imagination anywhere with them. You can never have too many legos.
Bicycles — a kid’s first taste of true freedom!
i still love legos and im 15
sigh, I saw them a couple of days before the end of september
I think I nearly cried.
My family’s favorite thing to do is puzzles! They are so fun, unless you lose a piece and you have to change the name to ’549 piece puzzle’ or something.
I loved barbies when I was in kindergarden and preschool. That was about 6 years ago. Today, I am eleven, and right now, those barbie dolls are in the landfill haha.
I saw halloween outfits and thought “god that’s early” then I realised it was October… Time just flies by before we know it it really will be Christmas.
When I was growing up, my fave toys were Beanie Babies. It may have just been my love of animals or my desire for a pet, but everytime I walked into a store I had to have one. I actually had a collection of them (most of them being dogs and other canines because they were my faves).
I absolutely without a doubt loved my Mrs. Beasley. She was the doll that the little girl Buffy had on the show Family Affair. And I am 47 years young and still have her!!!
My most favorite toy was He-man. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles come in a very close second though.
Eh, they had Thanksgiving decorations in February. I’m not shocked by this.
Hmmm…You know, maybe those Thanksgiving decorations were from the year before…and they forgot to take them down…
I LOVED MYT EASY BAKE OVEN!! ALSO THE BABY ALIVE DOLL. THOSE WERE THE BEST EVER!!!!!!!! YEAS IT TAKES AWAY FROM HALOWEEN AND THE HARVEST FREAH AIR THING AND FESTIVALS WHENB YOU SEE cHRISTMAS THINGS OUT AFTER SCHOOL SUPPILES GO AWAY. IT TAKES THE FUN OUT OF WONDERING WHATS HOT THIS YEAR AND YOU SEE IT SO MUCH THAT YOU PUT OFF BUYING IT SO YOU DO NOT GET IT YOU JUST DECIDE THERE IS SOMETHING NEW AND DIFFERENT THAT IS OUT BY THE TIME YOU GET IT.
i hate toys except transformers and hot wheels and G.I Joe
When I was a kid my mom got a hold of some of those museum-quality dinosaur figures. I played with them from the age of six until about 11. I remember I’d fill up the bathtub and stick the brachiosaurus in so that its nostrils poked up above the water line, because back then the prevailing theory on brachiosaurus was that it hung out in lakes with just its nostrils above water, and that’s what all my dinosaur books illustrated.
When I was 15 I dug the survivors out of their boxes and to this day they reside (and occasionally battle to death) on a shelf in my library.
We had outdoor toys; pogo sticks, stilts, jump ropes, bikes, sleds, swings, slip-and-slides. I think my mom enjoyed a quiet, neat home. Our being outside gave her both!
i love you who mat so ever you are,………..
My favorite childhood toy was my rubiks cube and the one that was shaped like a pyramid. I loved both of those. Carried them in my backpack to school because I did those instead of reading when I was done with tests and stuff. I also drew a lot. My mom bought me so many art sets and colored pencils, she thought for sure I was going to end up an artist or an art teacher. Instead I went into nursing.
The whole article was questionable…except about the decorations that is.
Unlike most little girls I was never that interested in barbies, or stuffed animals. I actually adored the toy weaponry they sold on the boys isles. Shotguns, pistols, tomahawks and bows, all were my favorite things in the world. The swords and shields, suits of armor and all that good stuff were a guilty pleasure of mine right into my late teens, and even today, Halloween remains my favorite holiday to deck myself in absurd outfits and realistic weapons. XD
Hmmm, I’m going to say my favorite toy as a young child would have to be my Teddy Ruxpin. He rocked!
Then I got my Nintendo Entertainment System, and me and Teddy played that a lot, lol.
Ugh, they over-commercialise every holiday. I hate it!
But I would have to say that my favourite toy was (and is!) Lincoln logs!
My favourite toys were action figures
I remember buying my first batman toy when i was a 2 years old…
My favorite toy was a plush Eeyore. Even had to actually pin on his tail because he went every where with me.
I didn’t get to play the atari until almost the 90s, so it didn’t die out for me, but I kept playing it well into college. It’s in storage at my parents house now though.
Given to me in the 80′s when I was about 7years old was this landscaped garden in a small box with all these little trees. All i had to do was water it and when I woke up in the morning all the trees had little coloured beads on them and these little balls that looked like snow. To me being 7 it was the most amazing gift I remembered during my childhood
In my day it was He-Man, Gi Joe, and of course Transformers.
And for the ladies… Cabbage patch kids. and other stuff….. not sure didn’t pay much attention.
Sorry folks. Whoever keeps insisting that Rubiks cubes came out in the 70′s is wrong, period. There were a number of previous attempts and patents. But, the 3D puzzle we all know as Rubiks Cube, did not become available to the public until 1980.
Play-dough forever, man.
Hotwheels cars and GI Joes were my favorite toys in the 80s and early 90s . I do agree though it gets annoying seeing Christmas stuff out in the beginning of October it’s like Dude we haven’t even gotten to Halloween yet. I mean I’m not a Scrooge but geez.
My favorite childhood toys were cabbage patch dolls for sure. I wonder who has sold more, Legos or Crayola?
One toy that has had an erratic history is the Lionel Train. They were popular in the twenties and are still a favorite among toys. If not for the younger set, then for the oldsters.Train sets and race car sets are probably the most hobbified of all toys.
I loved my erector set and my sled.
I loooved my old set of Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs that my grandmother kept for me when I went to visit her. She threw them away one day, thinking I didn’t want them anymore….I cried that day. xD
Well in the 80s i loved my cabbage patch, my aunts atari, barbies and my matchbox cars! Still have some of my barbies and cars that my kids now play with.
Early Christmas decorations always remind me, (to my dismay) that I better start planning for it because it will be here before I know it. Around where I live, Christmas decorations start popping up around the end of August.
When I was a kid, the popular toys were mostly simple. Mr. Potato Head consisted of all the face parts, but you had to provide the REAL potato. Barbie only came in one design, and Silly Putty was big. I suppose my favorite toy would have been Operation.
For a walk down memory lane, you can view the old commercials for toys on YouTube. There you can find Chatty Cathy, Betsy Wetsy, Lincoln Logs, Slinky, Barbie, Gumby, PlayDoh, Tinker Toys and many others.
Commercials for other old products are on YouTube as well, including Bosco, Maypo, Good ‘n Plenty, Cracker Jack and a host of old cartoons that were big hits back in the early days of televison.
The best ever had to have been the Toy Story Buzz Lightyear Action Figure, complete with an opening helmet and the trademark buttons, which you could press to hear such phrases as “To Infinity…And Beyond!” or “Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!” You could pull the wings out and swoop him around…ahh, me. those were the days.
As a kid, as today, I really enjoyed games. The great part is that some of the best games I got as a kid I still play as an adult. Heck, Space Hulk, one of my favorites, just saw a 20th anniversary special edition release that’s proving what a fantastic game it still is. And there’s more good board games than ever available.
Games like Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Pandemic and more are all things a kid can enjoy with their friends, a family can all enjoy together, and can last for many, many years!
My favorite childhood toys were my barbies, beanie babies and this one pikachu plushie who I still own to this day.
I’ve been seeing Christmas decorations in October for years. That’s nothing new to get upset over.
I saw many Christmas decorations in September, and I hate it. I think the earliest should be Nov. But everyone wants the jump on getting the sales.
I think my favorite toys were always the dolls.
The Think-A-Tron by Hasbro. Made in 1967. It was the forerunner of a P.C.
A little grey and green plastic box like thing that came with punch cards with ture or false trivia questions on them. Different catagories. There was a little screen that would light up with a T or and F.
The only bad thing about the toy was that the TV commercial said, “the machine that thinks like a Man”. Sexist. I remember most of the questions were rather simple, so I suppose it did think like a man.
I love Candyland!
My thrift shop had their Christmas out in the VERY. MIDDLE. of AUGUST.
On the 120th day of Christmas… boy, if you put THAT into a song, it would be about six hours long!
Tinker toys, Lego. Mechano, Play-Doh
Water pistols, Cap guns, Sling shot,
Hotwheels, Race Car sets, SSP Smash Up,
StopThief, Clue, BattleShip, Subsearch, Twister,
Sleds, Snow Surfers, Water Surfers, Kites,
Motorized Remote Helicopters, Airplanes, Boats,
Bubble maker, Bead makers, Gyroscope,
Piant-by-Number, Lite brite, Car Model Kits,
LP’s , Cassettes & Player, Trinkets, Science kits,
Pet Rock, Watches, Clothing, Seasonal wear,
Nintendo Duck Hunter, Ping-Pong, Intellivision,
have a Nice Day,
I’ve even seen ‘Christmas in Summer’ ads on TV, and i’ve seen Halloween things in August! That’s crazy, i agree!
I loved my Jem dolls, and still collect Barbies. I have dozens of Barbies. Some are still in their boxes. I really loved Jem, though. She had cool music. Hey, I was like six when I liked her. After I turned ten, all I wanted for presents was music. Didn’t really care for toys.
I just wanted to say that maybe you’ve just noticed the early start to the christmas decor in stores… but having worked in retail (hobby lobby to be precise) the christmas decor would hit the store shelves by July!! It would be mid June and we were already unloading the christmas tree and getting ready to display them! As for as toys go… my all time fave is hot wheels
im to lazy to research, but wikipedia is only other people responding to questions, and like the story above, people dont always know the facts…. think about it.
I can’t believe this!! I mean, I can, I just hate it! Why would anybody buy Christmas stuff in October? It’s not on sale and surely no one will buy it. It’s ridiculous.
Sorry. I mean surely no one will put it up yet and no one wants to store it.
I also think it’s absolutely ridiculous to have Christmas decorations up before Halloween. The businesses who do this say they want to get a head start on the Christmas shopping season, but I think they’re running on plain blatant greed. When I was younger, I’d be real happy if I got a train set for Christmas. I’d like to know, how many kids would be happy to get one of those?
in preschool i had this little buzz lightyear action figure that said his famous phrazes and my bro had dat comander Z bad dude the was a robot in the show and it waz soo kool how u could put them in front of eachother and they talk 2each other llike stuff like i will defeat u etc… but all time in preeschool me and my bro loved our genses dat was in our room we would stay up all night playin powerrangers lol now i play 360 and ps3 used 2play wii bad graphics wow things change soo fast
It’s all for the love of money… yours, if you notice, during August and September retail stores can concentrate on back-to-school and it’s harvest season for the grocery stores.
By October, the kids are in school and if you haven’t preserved anything, it’s almost too late; and let’s face it, Halloween is a bust, other than candy or a costume, there’s not much for either group of stores to sell. So grocery stores begin to concentrate on their cash cow (Thanksgiving) and retail stores concentrate on their cash cow (Christmas). The true spirit of either holiday is now just an annoyance in the way of making a sale.
Mike this was so interesting. As I read through the other peoples answer’s, I did not see the favorite game I played with my mother and siblings. JACKS. We would bounce that ball just right and pick up the number of jacks at the level we were on. WOW, what memories. This was almost a every day after supper clean up game. My dad read the paper as he worked alot, and, GOD Bless my mom, but she loved it as much as us kids.
Why didn’t you include the NES? The NES by far outsold the Atari.
my favorite to was my beanie babie koala bear, but when i was four and i got her i decided that she was a hamster, period. No one could convince me she was a koala bear. Her name was Henrietta and me and my siblings created a whole world and bigraphy of her life for her. I also loved play doh and especially legos.
im a kid and if its a kid between four and six i say something creative or dolls and dress up stuff or if its a boy little figurines or legos now if it 7 or 8 get something like games crayola things outside things clothes for any age and every kid should love an electronic
I’m 26 yrs old and my favorite toys growing up were lego’s and the atari. My dad and I used to have competitions on the atari with a game called ‘Food Fight.’ We would see who could get the higher score. I still remember how much fun I had doing that with him.
I grew up in the 30′s, My favorite thing for Christmas was real glass baking sets by Pryrex. But in those days one only got 1 (one) item plus some candy and fruit for Christmas. Not all did, but so many did. Shirmay
yea i hate seeing xmas decorations before thanksgiving! it takes the thought away from that holiday….
my favorite toys were Polly Pocket and Cabbage Patch kids dolls =]
My favorite toy was a stuffed sea serpant named Cecil-he had clothes and hats. Had a wire inside so you could bend him into different positions. Also loved my Mrs. Beasley doll. Usually tore apart my Barbies-wish I hadn’t I had one of the red headed ones that are now worth lots of money!
This is ridiculous, it goes to show that Christmas has lost all of its meaning.
What about Schwinn Bicycles, American Flyer sleighs, and the little red wagon?
Christmas in October is obscene!
I Remember Cabbage Patch Kids, Good times!
I got My first Cabbage patch Kid when I was just 3 years old from my now deceased Grandmother!
Me and my 2 Sisters had a tea party with all of our cabbage patch kids when I was 9, and another time we took all of them to the park across the street from our house when I was 10! By the time I grew out of them, at the age of 12, I had about 20-30!
Let Me Tell you, those were some good Times!
I also Forgot to add, Whenever my kids first see The Big tree or Santa Claus at the Mall, they SCREAM in my Ears:
MOMMY!! TOY-STORE!!!!!!!!
I hate X-mas early.
It makes Me sad.
Favorite toys? Books. By a long shot.
andrea ur sick
bt i thouht dat too
lol
My favorite “toy” is the Super Joy. I just love how it has so many games.
And it also came with 2 controllers and a gun.
i still love legos and im 15
Comment posted on October 2nd, 2009 at 6:00 pm by me
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I’m 13 and I love legos too but I build those lego pro builder battleship sets. Some adults find legos as an interesting hobby too.
Ty beanie babies were my everything when I was little.
pornos
my sister got a battery-operated train set with the old Rudolf and Santa characters on it, you know, like the fuzzy claymaiton shows. we still put it up around our tree and think it’s the coolest thing ever.
i have to say my favorite toy was my easy-bake-oven because i love to bake, and now i have my own pie company
I love Christmas, you can put up decorations in January for all I care!
The best of the best toys? Hello Polly Pocket, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, and Battle Ship. What’s better than playing with dolls smaller than your pinky nail – it jumped started a whole new O.C.D. for me at a tender age. Plus, knockin’ the head up on my sister’s Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robot was the best way to let her know how I felt. Not to mention, sinking all of her ships when she couldn’t even locate my battle ship was better than revenge!
Game Boy. I still have the original gray brick from the late 80s and played it up until last month when it inexplicably died on me. We had a good enough run.
so according to the tale, i was given a doll at age 1 for my birthday by my grandma. i named the doll when i got older, stebie. unable to say stevie. looked like a boy doll to us. the doll is now 57 years old. yep i still got it. my mean little sister put ball point ink on it when i was 10 or so. too bad, but i still love that doll. one day a couple of years ago, i went into an antique store and there i found another. at the time 20.00 was more than i could afford. then i was not sure i wanted to try to go back cause i was afraid it would be gone and would have missed an opportunity to get another stebie doll.
I think the main reason for putting up Christmas decorations so early (at least here in Australia) is that Christmas is no longer what it used to be.
Back when we were kids, you could get a massive pile of toys for just a few dollars. Now a few dollars will barely buy you a meal at McDonalds. Toys are more expensive and technical, resulting in a larger sum of money needed to pay it off. So stores set it all up early so that you can put the presents on lay-buy, which means parents don’t get stuck with a crying kid at Christmas wondering why they don’t have an Xbox 360 like all the others.
Plus, nobody really seems to be into the spirit of christmas anymore. It’s just consumerism these days, and not many people can afford it anymore with the financial crisis. But even before that happened, I’ve been noticing less and less people putting decorations up on there houses.
We don’t even bother with a tree anymore. We just usually have lunch together. (Because our family doesn’t normally eat together. We go off and do our own thing.)
Christmas is slowly dying in our town, in my opinion.
My Mom & Dad made my sister and me a dollhouse — out of plywood — roofed with one side open, two stories (no staircase, however; guess that was too complicated!), hinged doors. Another Christmas they made a wooden cook stove (with hand-painted burners) and a doll wardrobe. When we got older and realized that everyone else’s parents weren’t doing this for their kids, these gifts became even more special.
As for decorations, I live in Belgium where they don’t even celebrate Hallowe’en and the supermarket is FULL of witches, hairy spiders, skeletons, etc. Go figure!
Well, I haven’t been around since the 70′s, but my favorites were my video tapes… if that counts? Especially all the Disney classics, because I would watch them over and over and over again, my mom would tell me. I also loved silly putty and play dough (the smell of them will stick with me forever!). They still make silly putty, and sell them at the grocery store for a buck! I saw them just 2 days ago
I know what you mean! I went out today with dad to Home Depot and Menards just looking around for some lights, and they were already dragging out the Christmas stock! It made me sort of happy though, I can’t wait for Christmas!
I still love Lego’s and I am 35 years old! I loved Lego’s, Barbies and their stuff, toy cars like hot wheels, Matchbox etc., Cabbage Patch Kids, oh yeah and BIG WHEELS!!!!!, Lincoln Logs, marbles!!!, Crayola Crayons!!, Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony, Erector Sets, Chinese Checkers (though not really Chinese), Candy Land, Mastermind, Monopoly, Life, Sorry, Parcheesi, Clue, Cooties, Hungry Hungry Hippo, Operation, cards, Go Fish, Rubix Cube, Atari – Pac Man, Centipede, Donkey Kong, Frogger, etc., Nintendo, remote control cars, jump ropes, playgrounds, bicycles, Sit-n-Spins, Uno, Chinese jump ropes (though probably not Chinese), those rubber bouncing balls that you sit on, red radio flyer wagon, boxes of course, forts outside, swing sets, swimming pools, skate boards, jacks, yo-yo’s, Kitchen sets (wooden), Easy-bake oven, Sega, pick-up-sticks, Tinkertoy construction set!!!, train sets!!, chess, tops, that little short-legged hound dog from Fisher-Price with long ears and wheels under his feet that you pulled with a string, and the wooden honking goose you pull with a string, the Fisher-Price telephone!!, etc.!!
Okay this is probably really going to date me but, I had one of the original Thumbalina dolls, the one were you turned a knob in her back and she moved. It was supposed to make her look more lifelike. I carried that babydoll everywhere and absolutely adored her. I was convinced that everyone around me would think that she was a real baby! LOL!
The best toys i had when i was younger, were the ones i made up myself. Like using an old cupboard door and some chalk to pretend i was a teacher. Finding fossils in the garden, or shiny stones. Ofcourse i did have other toys i loved too, like my keyboard (which i still have and now my daughter plays with it!), my doll whose hand u would twist and her hair would grow – i loved her!!!!
My favourite toy was a stuffed-animal… it was some kind of pitbull and I bought it with my first ever £5. I also loved playing with this toy my grandparents had from when my parents were little – you had a cork board, some pins and wooden pieces and you hammered them into the board to make pictures. My cabbage-patch doll freaked me out when I was a kid; I got one in the 90s though.
hot wheels,toy cowboy gunsand big wheel,roller skates, and frisbee
I think it’s insane to think it’s insane Christmas decorations are coming out. In todays economy, who wouldn’t get a jump on things? Early bird gets the cheap worm, in my opinion (and of course my children get many a toy).
My most favorites were the old Polly Pocket sets. I had cheap dollar store ones to multi-packed themed sets. Even so expensive Disney Themeed ones. The Polly Pockets now are not what they used to be, There like half barbie size and come with rubber clothing. Thats no Polly in my eyes.
Anybody remember the Beanie Babies? I LOVED them!
I have a giant tub of them in my room when I used to play with them, and the Tinie Beanie Babies you got at fast food restaurants like McDonald’s, yeah that’s how they always lured me in…
I never cared for Barbie, cuz what kind of adventures can she do? Barbie gets lost in the mall? Or Barbie looses her credit card?
I had the best childhood ever with my Beanie Babies, and since I was the youngest and all my sisters were teenagers then, I was on my own. And I will always savor those memories of growing up.
http://mt23fts.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/beanie_babies_1_for_web.jpg
http://www.simplybelle.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/beanie-babies.jpg
I can’t believe no one has mentioned Lite Brite, Glow worm, Matchbox cars, and the my buddy and kid sister dolls. What did it for me though were micro machines, transformers, and my fav. He-Man
My favorite toy was the Green Machine. I was a Big Wheel type toy that looked like a grasshopper. You could do hook slides and other tricks with it. I think I was the only girl on the block with it since it was geared toward little boys. Not everyone celebrates Halloween. If you do, I can see the disappointment that you may have because of the lack of options available in stores. As far as Christmas displays in October. With the economy being the way it is and hardly anyone offering layaways anymore, people can start buying gifts and decorations a little at a time. They don’t have to wait until last minute to try to buy everything and possibly have to resort to those credit cards.
Lego will always be the Toy of the Century for me.
Long live LEGO!
Ya I was at the mall yestorday and it had cristmas decorations in the stores! What happened to the Halloween ones?! My favorite toy was probably stuffed animals haha! I had so many of them!
I saw a store with Christmas trees on display, less than a week after Labor Day.
Adventure Team G.I.Joes were my favorite growing up in the early 70′s… you could have adventures inside as well as out in the backyard. Joe had so many cool vehicles back then like the Seawolf submarine, the TroubleShooter, the TurboSwampCraft and the like… he even had a great “homebase”, The G.I.Joe HeadQuarters!! It was a travesty when Hasbro stopped making those original Joes… I believe even the former President of Hasbro has been quoted saying how that was his biggest mistake.
I loved my McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken (long before it became just KFC) play sets. I loved playing with Hamburgler and Ronald McDonald.
I also loved collecting animal figurines (plastic, porcelean, rubber… small, medium, and large). I would play with them all day long. My favorite animals were horses, but I played with any animal I could find. Of course the different sized animals meant that I had pigs bigger than giraffes and elephants in my zoo.
I also loved Matchbox cars. I may be a girl, but cars are fun. Even my 2 youngest girls love cars.
I loved my rollerblades, bikes, and Sega Genesis when I was little. My friends and I would pretend to be Power Rangers when we rollerbladed, and we’re females! We were so awesome riding around the apartment complex. Then I loved playing the Sega with my cousin, we’d go insane over Mortal Kombat. I was so envious he could pull off combos.
difinatly my baby born
she went everywhere with me
even sunday school
i loved her
and yet never named her for some reason
she was just baby born =s
close second was my barbies
i think i had about 40
then third was lego
but we had the big lego
duplo i think it was called
i hv a three year old brother and whenever he gets it out i cnt resist making a house from the bricks and im 17 =s how weird of me lol
xxxx
wow
This brings back memories =]
I went through phases of these things like most kids
I loved
Betty Spaghetti
Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles
Batman
Cabage patch babies
Game Boy colour
this game where loads of butterflies shot out of an elephants trunk and you had to catch them with a net..cant remember what they were called =]
And my ALL TIME FAVORITE has to be TEACUP BUNNIES!!! but no one seems to remember them =( they were so darn cute xx
I totally loved my roller skates. It gave me a chance to get away from a lot of chores I had at my foster mother’s nursing home. Wow it was like sailing away to Wonderland until I fell over the cracks on the sidewalk lol. Never could figure out what to do with dolls. Thought they were rather boring lol. Of course climbing trees and fences was a lot of fun until I showed off one day and broke my arm. Ahh those were the days.
My favorite toy when I was real little was a cloth doll with a tiny music box inside… she played some of the prettiest songs. Then Candy Land became my favorite. Next it was Barbies and that lasted for quite a while, along with legos, lincoln logs, cap guns, and my bikes. Then it went to sports toys.. footballs, basketballs, baseballs, etc. My bike still remained a fav for a long time. To this day, almost 19 years old, Candy Land still wins my heart, legos are still awesome, bikes are wonderful, and Ill always enjoy game consoles from Regular Nintendo to Wii from Playstation to PS3 from XBOX to 360… You gotta have games! I also enjoyed books and still enjoy them.
Oh I left out roller blades, sidewalk chalks, jump ropes, hoola hoops, and my slinky.
hi i want to met in contac with the deomnical.com to have moeny
I liked playing In the early-mid 70′s with the “Wizards” a gyroscope that came in lots of different colors. Also my parents bought me 3 Krazy-Kars because i used them so much i would wear them out. I finally got too big for them to fit in. I got lots of exercise with that toy.
I saw a tv show on VH1, I think, and they said the number 1 toy was the hula hoop. I think that the number 1 toy has got to be the ball. There are so many games you can play with a ball.
I was a big fan of He-Man, She-Ra, Rainbow Brite, Ninja Turtles, Thundercats, etc. Rainbow Brite on her own was a billion dollar industry, and she only did one season!
Dinky cars were always my favourite toy, lego in second
Play Do(h….name depending on which brand of the two most popular you had)…..there were great playsets, and best of all you could just have a couple of cans and make tons of things out of them. I entertained myself for hours, these were much enjoyed by friends also.
I loved baby dolls like “Baby Born”, Barbies and barbie houses, and the one Country Kitchen I had which matched my height and had fake food and everything.. I thought it was sooo cool back then
My Little Ponies and Cabbage Patch Kids and Barbies, for the win.
When I was growing up, my toys were My Little Pony and a couple spare Barbie dolls. lol I tell you what, I could’ve started a small ranch with all of my MLP’s. ^_^U
As I got older, my love for MLP’s continued, alongside those little pet shop pets. Oh! And does anyone still remember those Pound Puppies and Pound Kitties?
I remember having a few of those.
I kept playing with MLPs even when I got into Star Trek (lol, it maid for some interesting play times with those two very different worlds).
Eventually I stopped playing with them, but to this day, I’m not 28, they keep a spot in my heart. *^_^*
p.s.
I totally agree. Christmas stuff this (WAAAAAYYYYY too) early is just wrong.
Seriously.
Mine has to be hot wheel cars. I have a box 3 generations old.
wow .
likee i had no idea tht crayons were popular .
well maybe i did but still .
wgo wants crayons for CHRISTMAS !!!!
im just sayin !
I love magic cards and dnd
1. I can beat that, i saw christmas deco. in mid-september!
2. My favorite toy was an old stuffed rabbit that used to be my moms. She gave it to me before i was in preschool and i still have it (granted, i dont know where, But i have it!)
chirsmas decorations in Octoberis crazy it not even halloween. People are so funny like i dont know why people would do that it is not even close. mY FAVORITE TO ALL TIME WAS THE GUATOR HERO WORLD TOUR it is the best lol
. We finish the game in a day. We broke noght 5:00 A.M it was soooo fun. P.S (people are so funny i cant believe how people would put chirsmas stuff up in october. I think there on crack lol jk but they have a promblem seriously B.Y.E !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had all of those toys as a kid. I think my favorite toy originally was my water baby. When I got older I loved the tamagotchi and the ferbe.
My fav in the 80′s was cabbage patch and my little girl loves them now!
When I was younger, my sister had one of those Lite Brite things and I thought it was one of the coolest things ever. Along with my Rapunzel Barbie doll which later got a haircut. I also loved the Baby Chou Chou dolls.
Pokemon and Yugioh cards dominated my Christmas presents, I even got Pokemon action figures and plushies a few times. I remember back when there was only one YGO series and 150 Pokemon.
Silly putty. I used to love the stuff. I’d play with it for hours, rub it onto newspapers, and yes, in my much younger years, I even tried eating it (my mother is still surprised that I survived the stupidity of my childhood). I still giggle every time I see some, and now and then, I still buy an egg and bring it home.
Oh, and Tamagachis (I know I didn’t spell that correctly, but really, who can?). I was in high school when those things came out, but even so, I was as excited about them as any child. Everyone I knew had at least five strapped to their backpacks even though they’d been banned after a week, and we just never got tired of watching those little monsters “go poop.”
…until we did, and they lost popularity, only to resurface a decade later with so many more games that somehow only made them less fun. I don’t like the new versions. Maybe it’s just because I’m still loyal to the old, but while I’ve been trying for years to get one of the older versions in decent condition, I don’t want a new one at all. Or maybe I’m just too mature now?
…nah. That can’t be it.
Colt Peacemaker, Winchester Rifle, Holsters, Cowboy hats and stuff. Now I’m all grown up and The Colt Peacemaker is real, as are the 3 Winchester rifles and other western memorabilia.
Whoa, that’s a hard one.
i would have to say bop it, it passes the time away, and you dont want to stop playing it until you get a really good score.
MR. POTATO
Late 1970′s Star Wars Xmas as I received the Death Star , remember the trash compacter it had styrofoam instead of real trash, battery operated light sabers, action figures and X-wing fighter.
1978 didn’t anybody else get Coleco electronic Quater back? I remember playing that so long the battery wore out by the next day I was glued.
Macbooks are the best toy out there – and one of the most expensive!
Atari should have been on that list like really pong pwns
the good ol’ X-BOX 360
I thought the same thing as Andrew really next time rephase ur title
LEGO!!!!!!!!!
anyone remember Mr.potatoe head?
My favorite toy of all time was a little, pink stuff pig. It was given to me by my kindergarten teacher and I’ve always had a little special place for it in my heart.
who the hell says cockles
Dammit Mike
I thought you was gonna talk about sex toys…….
<3
Monopoly is my favorite.
My Tamagotchi. My cousin gave me the first version and I thought it was so cool! They are the most boring thing ever but even now when I see a new one’s come out I buy it and have to play with it!
Also my Beanie Babies & Legos/Duplos. Me and my sister would build houses out of our Duplos for our BB’s!
I didn’t see any tiddly winks here. What about tiddly winks. Or the Snufalufagus; a stuffed animal that came out in the 80′s and went away as suddenly as it appeared. I gave mine away. It’s probaby worth something now. Or what about the dart gun. The kind that you could shoot and it stuck on the t.v. or your grandma’s forehead. I always wanted an erector set; the metal one that first came out but I never got one. I had my tinker toys, Lincoln Logs, and Lego though. Jacks was a good game to play with my sis. How about pic-up sticks. Marbles was the best, even for outdoors. Is the tether ball considered a toy? So many toys!!! America’s the best place in the world.
I was a tomboy so I like a lot of boy toys like ThunderCats, He-Man, and Transformer action figures, swords and guns. The only thing girly that I like was Cabbage Patch Kids. I love those ugly dolls. I also love the original Nintendo. Nintendo was the hit video game in the 80′s, not Atari.
When I was little I played with Strawberry Shortcake (the original, not the cartoonish one of present day) and Rainbow Brite the most. I also enjoyed Cabbage Patch dolls, but by the time my mom could afford to actually buy the real dolls instead of making them with the heads they sold (does anyone else remember that?) I had almost grown out of them. Barbies were OK, when I had friends to play with. It’s better to make up stories with someone else instead of by yourself. But my all time favorite things when I was growing up were books. I read the entire series by Ann M. Martin of The Baby Sitters Club. I think I spent every red cent of my allowance on books until I was old enough to pay attention to boys!
@http://images.craigslist.org/3p93o43l85O65R85Sd99pb2e099d550181e7b.jpg
i have to say that (still to this day) my favorite toy was the Lego. i still have about 2200 Lego pieces, and not to mention bionicle. they are the meaning of limitless fun. oh and im 20 now lol.
..Three word answer: ( It ruins Christmas) having it represented this early
Dolls for the girls and chemistry sets for the boys..
Monopoly has always been the best game ever, I think I first played it when I was 7 and it’s still going strong. :p
I saw christmas decorations in september… it’s way too early and not sure the trick is going to work as far as spending in this economy, but I don’t mind it too much. I LOVE THE CHRISTMAS SEASON!
Christmas is a big thing in our tradition. Its the birth of Jesus Christ the Savior, so why not celebrate and prepare of it early enough. It is expected that when the ber months comes in decorations, toys and other gift items are abundant in all shopping malls as well as in the market and streets. My favorite then, when i was a kid is the Barbie doll. i made my Barbie a Mama Mary costume then, and won in the dress up your barbie contest in the malls.
What about Lego’s? Lego’s are classic!
My favorite toy was nitendo
My personal all-time favorite was the Verdibird. A toy helicopter that flies around in a tethered circle. I spent countless hours with that thing.
Some other favorites were…
Hot Wheels Cars – originals that merely slid down those orange tracks.
Hot Wheels Sizzlers that ran on the “fat track”.
Any kind of electric train – Lionel or Tyco.
GI Joes were pretty cool. All sorts of neat things you could do with them.
In recent years, the Air Hogs Aero Ace allowed me to get in touch with my inner child. If you’re a man, age 8 to 88, you will enjoy an Air Hogs Aero Ace remote controlled electric airplane.
I loved Teddy Ruxpin! Oh and Popples! Every girl I knew had one of those. And Rainbow Bright.
WOW… A LOT of toys I had forgotten about! First I have to agree about the Atari. I didn’t get my Atari until almost 1980, so for me Atari was the the 80′s. This was MY first video game and I sat up many many many nights all night long playing. At least during summer break.
As a young child, I had the View Master, Hot Wheels & Match Box cars, ect… G.I.Joe was ONE doll then. Not a Army as it is now. He didn’t do anything. Didn’t have the Kung-Fu grip… It was a doll for boys. He had a full beard and mustache, and it was one of my favorites for many years. Hot Wheels and Match Box cars were a favorite until I was a teenager and so were they for my friends next door. We played for hours in the dirt making roads, highways, restaurants and stores. Now that I have children myself, I once again get the chance to play with them and I see the same excitement and use of imagination in their eyes.
I guess the “toy” that most take for granite is the bicycle. I had one until it was stolen and I had a car by then and didn’t replace it until about 3 years ago. Of course it has a seat for my 2 year old on the back of it now and we don’t see just how fast and how far we can lean around the turn now. >:O)
My record player made for children that I got for Christmas when I was 4 years old was always in use for about 10 years. (It still works, but put away) THEN I really got into music and a new stereo was needed… (I still have that too and it still works for the most part. Just doesn’t sound like the newer ones) >:O)
So Bicycle, G.I.Joe, Cars and my Record Player would have to be my all time favorite.
no matter the size no, matter the price, no matter the item, the most played with toy of all time is the box they come in
my fav child hood toys wer my little ponys, barbies, lego, tonka toys and beanie babies
I possibly think that I was obsessed with Barbies. I had about 100 of them, with dream houses and cars and the whole kit and kaboodle. Those days were absolutely amazing. I love being a child.
I like cookies.
Always a great toy is and always will be a simple ball
I work in retail. Products for upcoming Holidays come to us two to three months before the Holiday and refill as needed up until the actual Holiday. This is for those people who preplan, want to stock up, want to buy on sale, or for those who ship what they buy. It is October, and I have already set my Christmas display. I am going to start receiving Valentines soon.
I do my Christmas shopping now….I do not like shopping with crowds, shopping in bad weather or finding that what I want is already gone.
Ah, the toys of my youth…
My sister and I had a large collection of Beanie Babies that we played with, not collected. And we loved our Barbies…loved to bury them and cut off their hair and paint their faces and smash their fingers and split open their legs and pull out their bones. Yes, fun times.
We also enjoyed Legos very much.
I agree. I hate Christmas desperation which is what early sales are all about. By the way, I saw a PBS show once on the history of toys, and they said the most famous toy of all time is the -stick-. Yep. A plain ol tree branch. lol
I loved Barbie Dolls, Playdoh, and Classic American Girl dolls.
My mom used to get so mad at me cuz I’d get the dough into little places in the cracks.
I remember a game I used to play; Extreme Barbies. My friends and I did whatever we could to wreck them (of course they were clearance ones though; ‘rents never spent good money on dolls I was gonna destroy, lol).
But, the American Girl dolls I treated just the opposite. They were favories, I hardly let any one touch the two that I had (and still have somewhere). Their eyes opened and closed and had several outfits and my brother made a bed out of wood for them for me once. Those dolls were special and the Barbies were disposiable.
Ah – good times.
The playdoh though. I had a cardboard fulled with them! (The miniture ones were great stocking stuffers apprantly). Although I’d get so mad when I found a can or two of my favorite stuff was dried out.
Lol; those were my favorite 3 toys I had in my childhood. Good times, good times.
in the 70′s
Schwinn stingray bicycles with banana seats an “chopper motorcycle” handlebars
spirographs
water wiggles
hot wheels were huge
erector set
lite brite
Well I guess I would have to say when I was about 8 till about 12 I used to love my battle dome game I used to play it with my older sister or my cousins it was fun…
My sister loves firbes and beanie babies she still bys them from garage sales and what not and she in her 20s.
wow my favorite toys were ummmmmmmmmmmmmm the only thing i can remeber was mytoy phone
My red Mickey Mouse record player (wish I still had that!) – it was shaped like a silhouette of Mickey Mouse, ears and all – and one record my father bought me called “Omicron and the Sputnick” (wish I still had that too!).
My Chatty Cathy (I do still have her, but she needs a doll hospital badly due to repeated attacks from my brother).
My hula hoop – one day my dad came home from work with five hula hoops, one for each of us kids, each a different size and color – mine was blue and was the biggest because I was the oldest
A really cool “modern” (this was around the mid-sixties) dollhouse I got when I was a bit older that let you do your own interior design – it had just frames for walls and you could slide different cardboard panels in and out to change the wallpaper – the furniture was all modular pieces you could put together in different ways.
I never got a Lite Brite of my own, but I loved to play with them when I was babysitting in high school.
And last but definitely not least, from the time I was a fairly young child and still today at 55, I remain entranced by Colorforms – even the “reusable sticker” books they have now, although they don’t have the smell and feel of the real thing.
Have to go with a remote control car. Those were always excellent Christmas gifts.
I’m much older than the usual crowd due to the answers given. My favorite toys were my Red Ryder BB gun, my self-made coaster,My Roadmaster bike, marbles,Monopoly, kites,football,self-made stilts,PickUpSticks,Tricycle.(this was the first).
I’d say my Transformers Optimus Prime. Not only was he awesome, Prime was just fun to transform.
I remember getting a Chrissy doll for Christmas one year. She had auburn hair and it would pull out from the top of her head and you could make it short or long. I also remember getting a saucer type sled that we played all winter with. Now days we never have a big enough snow to even go sleigh riding. I really miss getting those big snows. We would be off school for weeks.
I remember when pharmor was still in business and took down all the Halloween decorations weeks before Halloween and put up Christmas decorations. Irritated me so bad I literally stopped going back. Oddly enough it went out of business the next year and thought it was fitting.
In the 70s:
Rub-A-Dub Dolly and lite brite
Well i loved barbie dolls
and those hairstyling heads.. those were the best
i still love rubix cubes and other puzzles
i loved the teletubbies when i was a kid and they were so popular my parents had to try for weeks to get me all four dolls in the end, i was one of the only children in my county to have then all and i still do! lol
So, what, there’s no such thing as Halloween or Thanksgiving anymore? Oh, wait, I guess there isn’t, unless we start giving out Halloween/Thanksgiving gifts. Which I wouldn’t complain about, but whatever. : P (And Halloween rules as Best Holiday EVER!)
My favourite toys… legos. Without a freaking doubt. XDDD
hey! whats the health benefits for meats,beans,and nuts ???????????
dose anybody remember these toys they were kind of like rock em sock em robots but they were like differnt kind of fighters and they sat on a base that you held and you had to turn the nob for them to move i have been trying to find the name of them for so long
The best gift I gave my fun-loving kid is the radio flyer. It’s very safe to use and I feel secure when they ride it. The people who designed the radio flyer really kept the child’s safety in their mind while creating it. I love the fact that the seat can be adjusted so that the tricycle can “grow” with him. He love’s it so much and so do I.
If you have a chance, come and visit me back