I was a child of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and I still miss the toys from that era. Teddy Ruxpin, Speak 'n Spell, L'il Miss Magic Makeup, and countless others helped me fill up so many long, rainy afternoons when I couldn't play outside. I actually ran across some of my old things the other day, and decided to compile a list of my top 10 favorite childhood toys.
Barbies were my number one top favorite. I'll confess, I played with my Barbie dolls until I was something like 13 or 14. But let me explain: I put together long, drawn out, soap opera story lines for my Barbies, all centered around my big dollhouse and the Peach Pit from my 90210 Barbies. I always preferred Midge over Barbie herself and letting a doll fall in love with my Joey McIntyre doll was the highest honor. My mom often played with me but she didn't do the roles right, so she was in charge of hair and wardrobe.
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2 Legos
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Legos were easily my second favorite, and I often mixed them with a motley crew of wooden blocks. The best part was when my dad would get down in the floor and build majestic Lego mansions with me, except we always ran out of windows and the special shingle blocks for roofs.
Cabbage Patch dolls are weird and strange and a little ugly, but I liked them anyway. This had a lot to do with the fact that my PawPaw gave me my very first Cabbage Patch Kid, a little premie baby. Come to think of it, what's up with giving little girls tiny premature baby dolls? Still, I loved mine. The ones with silky hair were my favorite.
I loved She-Ra more than anything! I had She-Ra/Adora, I had all of her friends, I had her enemies, and I had her horse, Swift Wind/Spirit. I dug on these girls so hard. I didn't like Bow so much, I thought he was ugly, but I had him as well.
I still don't understand my preoccupation with My Little Ponies, but I still loved them all. Strangely, I also had the My Little Pony Beauty Shop. I was never sure why the ponies needed a beauty salon, the curlers that came with it were awful and never worked, and I could never get my ponies to sit in the beauty chair properly. This was eventually confiscated for my Barbies to use, but the Ponies were just as happy playing in the bathtub with me.
He-Man without She-Ra? Surely you jest. I had to have He-Man to keep the family complete. Plus, Skeletor's castle was at one point the most awesome thing I had ever seen. I got my uncle's when my grandma deemed him too old for it. He hated me for months, but whatever, He-Man, She-Ra, and crew threw awesome parties.
7 Bouncy Balls
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This was a very strange habit of mine. You know the little dime or quarter machines when you pop in your money and get those small little bouncy balls? I had a collection. I had like fifty of them. They had names and personalities and we had a play-date with each other every night during my bath time.
A lot of my friends had one or both of these toys, but they all got creeped out after the first Child's Play. Not me. As an only child, Kid Sister and My Buddy were extremely important to me. I dressed them both in my old baby clothes – lucky for My Buddy, I was a tomboy at least half the time. The three of us had tea parties together frequently, and I used to insist on taking them swimming with me.
I was all over the Transformers long before Shia LeBouf and Megan Fox made them super cool. Bumblebee was my very favorite, just ahead of Optimus Prime. They frequently engaged in battles for Lego castles, fighting against various He-Man minions.
I had a strange fascination with Popples. They were cute as all get out, plus you could turn them into little balls! Wow! Actually, the primary reason they rank on my list is because, as I got older, they made great hiding places for all my secret kid things.
There are times I still wish I could play with my Barbies. I still have a veritable ton of them. Most everything else was given away over time, but the really important things – like my favorite teddy bear – are still alive and well. Do you still have your most special childhood toy?
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Photo Credit: Kevinhink
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