The Coolest Toys of the '90s

Did you sense the electronic shift in games and toys in this decade? Many classic toys got a 'modern' update to them, like stuffed animals, action figures, and even the classic ball.

Board Games

The game Battleship has been around since the 1940s, but one of the best versions of Battleship was made in the 90's. Made by Milton-Bradley, this version consisted of a board with notches cut into the playing board. These grids were numbered on the sides, and the goal of each player was to guess the other players battleship coordinates. The board was also sectioned off in the middle to prevent players from looking at the other side of the board. There was also an electronic talking Battleship, but I have always liked the basic version.

Electronic Games

In this decade, Tiger electronics flourished with their hand held electronic games. They were pretty basic, consisting of a small LCD screen, electronic sounds, a directional pad, and two additional buttons. The hand held games also had a start button, select button, and an on/off button. Watch batteries or double A batteries were used to power these little hand held games. When I was a youngster in the '90s, Tiger electronic games were everywhere. Kids use to sneak them into school, and even on to school buses for field trips.

A key-chain sized digital pet toy called Tamagotchi was released in the late '90s. Made by Bandai, these little guys were quite popular with the elementary and junior high kids. This was a chance to take care of a 'pet' without any of the mess a real pet would make. An owner of a Tamagotchi could play with their pet, clean up after their pet, check up on it and even interact with other Tamagotchis by connecting it to another one. A Tamgotchi could even starve, get sick, and die if not taken care of frequently! Such a level of interaction on a digital level was a new thing in the 90's. I use to have one, but got bored of it quickly because the screen had no color, and all my Tamagotchi did all day was sleep.

Action Figures

Batman action figures in the '90s made by Kenner, were brightly colored and had plenty of weapons and accessories. And the superheroes had capes! Unlike the other companies who mainly focused on making good guys, Kenner's Batman action figures had plenty of bad guys. Of course they also made the standard play sets, but Kenner also offered the Bat-mobile, and the Bat-wing. There were so many Batman action figures released in this decade, that it was almost impossible to get bored.

Spawn action figures, made by McFarlane toys, were well known in the '90s as the first action figures with great attention to detail. And not just in the clothing, but in facial expressions, and weapons as well. One drawback of all the detail was that it got in the way of the articulated joints, so the posing the figures was very limited. The high level of detail made such an impact on the toy industry that at least half of the action figures made today have much more detail on them. This has been the biggest improvement to action figures in the last 50 years.

I really can't forget about The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, made by Playmates! Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello all had really cool action figures of themselves and had quite a few play sets. Each Turtle had many weapons like katanas, nun-chucks, sais, and bo-staffs. Out of the many action figures made in the 90s, the Turtles were very unique and quite posable.

Classic toys with a twist

The basic ball is a common popular toy the world over. We use one in basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, golf, football, tennis-even rugby. Ertl created a new type of ball to play with in 1996, called the Bumble Ball. It's about the size of a soft ball, painted a bright color with bright color knobs all over it. Batteries powered the Bumble Ball, and when turned on, would cause it to bounce and dance on the floor. Toddlers loved this toy. It was something smaller than them, and they could chase after it on the floor. Dogs even loved to chase after it and bite the Bumble Ball as well.

When the Furby was released for the 1998, it created an instant sensation. Made by Tiger electronics, they sold millions upon millions of these furry creatures. A Furby was basically a hamster-like robotic toy, which could move its eyes and mouth. The Furby could also speak 'Furbish' and through regular interaction could 'learn' English. This was one of the first widely available robotic toys on the market. I remember a few of my friends that had some Furbys and I did not like them at all. I just figured that they were some creepy looking toys that were popular at the time. Now I hear that they are worth a lot of money, especially the original Furbys. Back in the day, people use to trade them, sell them for a higher price, and people even got scammed out of a lot of money just for a Furby!

Whether it was a hot day outside or you just want to get wet, a Super Soaker was the perfect toy. Made by Laramie in the early '90s, the Super Soaker made significant improvements to the classic water gun. A regular water gun is usually clear, fits in one hand, and has a little stopper at the top to hold the water in. A trigger on the gun needed repeated squeezing to release a small stream of water. You also had to be relatively close to the person that you were aiming for. The Super Soaker changed all that. Most of the Super Soaker water guns had to be held in two hands. This already gave you the potential to hold more water. They also had a pump built in to the water guns to pressurize the water. This increased water soaking distance by at least three times. And Super Soakers lasted a lot longer than the cheaply made, clear, one-handed water gun. The pool has never been the same since. Some of my buddies filled their water guns with cold water, and it was quite shock to get soaked with that! There were so many ways to modify these water guns, although I highly recommend against it. I use to have a large Super Soaker, and replaced my water reservoir with a 2 liter plastic soda bottle. It held so much more water! Ahh, the good times I had. I think I'm going to buy some new ones....