Nostalgic toys

Toys that will Unlock Memories

Back in the day was a time of big hair, bigger glasses, and even bigger toys. Think back to the Tamagotchi or the Furby—they were huge hits. They may have been silly little things, but they were so much more than that. The toys from the 90s had a lot going for them: they were collectable, they were great for play, and they were often used in pop culture references (like in movies and TV shows). But what made these toys so popular? What do you remember about your favorite toy from those days? Let’s revisit the past and look at all-time classics:

Tamagotchi

First released in 1996, the toy was designed to simulate the experience of caring for a pet—The pet lived inside a digital egg until you hatched it by pressing a button on the front of the egg. Then you had to take care of your new companion by feeding it, playing with it, cleaning up after it, etc. If you didn’t take care of your pet properly, it would die!

Furbies

If you grew up in the late ‘90s, you probably remember the first time you saw one of these robotic teddy bears in your McDonalds Happy Meal. They were everywhere! You’d see them on TV shows, in commercials, and even in stores like Walmart and Toys R Us. Some say Furbies are actually meant to be Mogwai’s from the 80’s classic “Gremlins.” So whatever you do don’t feed your Furby past midnight!

Game Boy Color

The Game boy Color was the third version of Nintendo’s handheld gaming device, and it was released in 1998. The previous versions were the original Game boy and the Game boy Pocket. which began with the original Game boy in 1989 and ended with the Advance SP in 2003.

The Game boy Color had some pretty cool colors available when it first came out: red, blue, green, yellow and clear. But now there are a lot more colors available and they still run on 2 AA batteries.

The Talkboy & Talkgirl

The Talkboy and Talkgirl were portable cassette recorders that let you record and play back audio from anywhere. It was first released in 1992, and gained popularity after appearing in Home Alone 2. The device was used for prank calls and recording lectures, If you didnt have one more than likely someone you knew growing up did. Recently the Talkboy and Talkgirl have become increasingly popular again for its nostalgic value.

The ViewMaster My Secret Diary

A view master is a toy that lets you see the world in miniature. It uses cardboard discs with images on them, and you can turn the wheel to advance to different images.

The first view masters were invented in 1939, and they were originally used for military training. The idea was that soldiers could use the view master to learn about new places before they had to go there for real. Nowadays, we use them just for fun—but there’s still a lot of nostalgia around them because they remind us of when we were kids and how much we used to love looking at all those little landscapes and worlds. If you were a girl in the 90’s, you probably had a My Secret Diary toy. It was a simple little box with a lock and key, but it came with stickers, diary pages and even a pen for writing down your secrets. It was the perfect way to keep all your deepest, darkest feelings hidden from prying eyes.

If you had sisters they probably owned a diary and would decorate it with stickers, or write pages about their crushes and even their bff’s. My Secret Diary was even used to keep track of your favorite songs or TV shows. Hopefully, these beloved toys will make a comeback.