fads - Retroland

Yo-Yo

Few toys have as long and storied a history as the illustrious yo-yo. It’s been around so long, and in so many iterations, that it has rightly earned the moniker of toy-legend. The simple combination of wood or plastic and string has stood the test of time since the ancient era, and remains one of the world’s most beloved toys.

Slap Bracelets

5 Comments

If you grew up in the 80s and 90s, there’s no point in denying you had one. Bringing out the masochist in each of us, the slap bracelet made it okay to hit yourself with something, all in the name of fashion. Let's take a look back and see what all the fuss was about.

Click Clacks / Clackers / Kerbangers

19 Comments

It's a shame that the very thing that makes a toy attractive is the one thing you can't advertise: the danger factor. If the makers of lawn darts had been allowed to write on the packaging, "The toy that could kill you if you use it wrong!" then nearly every kid in the world would be begging for a set. So it was with the simple, seemingly harmless 70's toy called Click Clacks (or, depending on where you grew up, Knockers, Knocker Bockers, Clackers, Ka-Bangers, Knicker Knackers, etc.). Had they worked only as the toymakers intended-as a noisy little twist on paddleball games-then Click Clacks might now be collecting dust in the Hall of Forgotten Toys. But no, these little spheres had a grander destiny: the much cooler Hall of Dangerous Toys.

Cabbage Patch Kids

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1983 was a rather memorable year, one that saw the introduction of Swatches, the Chicken McNugget and Hooters. But for parents, it might be best remembered as the year when getting your child what they wanted most for Christmas meant enduring the inconvenience of long lines and a mob-like atmosphere. Yes, friends – this was the year of the Cabbage Patch Kid frenzy, perhaps one the craziest holiday seasons on record.

M.U.S.C.L.E.

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Comparatively speaking, the wrestling warriors of the World Wrestling Federation were a rather tame and normal bunch compared to a small arm of rubbery beasts known simply as M.U.S.C.L.E. (Millions of Unusual Small Creatures Lurking Everywhere). Adorned with such odd features as fins, snakeheads, horns, fur and teacup shaped heads, these little guys made a big splash on the toy market, one that continues to this day.

Care Bears

Pound Puppies

4 Comments

You can’t really blame someone employed as an assembly line worker from letting their mind wander on occasion - thinking that there must be a better way to make a buck. Such was the case with a man named Mike Bowling. He couldn’t help but notice that Cabbage Patch Kids were about the hottest collectable ever to hit the market and decided that if people liked collecting dolls, maybe they would have an even bigger soft spot in their heart for man’s best friend. His curiosity led to a line of plush canine critters called Pound Puppies - and his little Rovers would rescue him from the auto assembly line forever.

Koosh Ball

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Anyone who has ever been a child – yes, that includes you – is no stranger to the terror of playing catch. Some hard substance stitched up in animal skin blazing toward your face. Never mind that in most cases the fear was easy to eventually overcome, it was no fun to face it the first time, especially with pre-adolescent motor skills. Enter the Koosh Ball...

Beanie Babies

3 Comments

Perhaps the old saying, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” is best demonstrated by the frenzy that erupted around a little group of critters known simply as Beanie Babies, some of the most coveted and collectible little creatures to hit store shelves since the Great Cabbage Patch Epidemic.

Wacky Wall Walkers

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In the 80s, it wasn’t an uncommon sight to see a rubber octopus slowly make its way down a wall - a slimy and slithering slinky of sorts. The critter retained its hold, thanks to its remarkably sticky eight legs which adhered when thrown, then methodically walked towards the ground under the merciless forces of gravity. The Wacky Wall Walker would become a toy fad that gripped the entire nation like no other, to the astounding tune of a quarter of a billion of the wiggly beasts being sold in a few short years.