As parents of kids born after the year 2000, chances are that we have all repeatedly heard requests for the latest digital tablet, gaming console or smart phone. Yes, these are the kinds of toys that our kids like to play with these days, and they couldn’t be any more different from the playthings that we had cherished when we were young.

 

When we were kids back in the 1980s and 1990s, we did have our share of video games – it was already the start of the technological era, after all. If you didn’t mind a bit of violence, you were probably a fan of Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter or Tekken. If you preferred sporty games, there was NBA Live or Madden NFL. For the more eclectic gamer, there are hordes of other choices like The Legend of Zelda, Duck Hunt, Contra, Castlevania, Where in the World Is Carmen San Diego, SimCity, and who could forget the classic Mario Bros., Pacman and Tetris?

 

But even if we did love our video games, our playtime was not restricted to sitting on the floor in front of a television, pushing buttons until our eyes water and our thumbs get sore. Instead, our childhood memories of toys included a plethora of items that we could use for entertainment, both indoors and outdoors.

 

Just like today, a lot of action figure toys back then were inspired by popular cartoon shows, like the Care Bears, He-Man, Ghostbusters, the Smurfs, Rainbow Brite and the G.I. Joes. Quite interestingly, we also had a few toys that became such huge hits among kids that they paved the way for new television shows, like the Pound Puppies, the Cabbage Patch Kids, Fluppy Dogs and yes, the ultimate toys for girls, Barbie. Even the multimillion dollar franchise Transformers today, which includes 3 recent hit movies and a 1980s series with a massive following, actually originated from the toys that played with when we were kids. Who would have known?

 

Of course, for any child of the 80s or 90s, whether you are a boy or a girl, a trip down memory lane would not be complete without mentioning the undisputed best toy of the decade – the Rubik’s Cube. For some people, this toy did nothing more than to create a throbbing headache, but for majority of kids, it did provide hours of entertainment, and perhaps also some mental development as a bonus. Only a small percentage of the population was actually able to solve the puzzle completely without assistance but this didn’t matter – the toy was still a huge success in terms of providing entertainment, as well as in generating income for the retailers and manufacturers.

 

Many toys of our childhood required physical exertion, which is why many of us were actually perfectly fit and healthy back then. There were the classic bicycles, roller skates and hula hoops, all of which kept us having fun outdoors for hours at a time. Of course, these toys are still very much in circulation today. What our kids may no longer be familiar with are our other awesome outdoor toys like the Pogo Balls, the Skip-It, and Super Soakers!

 

Let’s face it. No matter what kinds of toys come out in the market these days, we will never understand why our kids prefer those high-tech gadgets to the wonderful toys that we had in our childhood. But then, our kids may also not understand what we love so much about our childhood toys. It would definitely be great if our kids get to play with our childhood toys so that they can experience the kind of fun that we had back then.