Old School Toys & Gadgets

XBox 360s. iPods. Talking dolls. Remote-controlled cars/trucks/helicopters. Laptops. iPhone. Tablet.

These are only a few of what kids today know about. These are the toys, gadgets and accessories they’ve bragged about having or dreamed of owning. Honestly, every single modernized toy or gadget of today is extremely incredible. With technology advancing at such a rate, it’ll be no surprise if in just a few years we’ll have robots in every single home in the world.

But sometimes it’s not enough to placate anybody. Sometimes, people like when things used to be so much simpler or even fun. Board games of back then are still somewhat popular today. Portable gaming systems back then are just modernized for better use. Even stuffed animals or dolls had a reboot in the world we know today.

For my kids, they love playing on computers, their XBox 360s, tablets and watching HD television. But they also enjoy the perks of simple games, toys and outdoor fun. I’m entirely old school, having quite a few of my 80s and 90s childhood still intact and in my possession.

Many of you are probably wondering, what were things like way back when. What did you play with or use? How did you have fun without tablets, laptops, or iPhones? Well, there were many experiences in games and gadgets I’ve had, but there were a whole lot more popular merchandise than what I owned.

Check out what old school fun your parents or older siblings might have owned or experienced:

Tamogatchis – If you wanted a pet, but your parents wouldn’t allow a real one, chances are they gave you this cute gadget in which you can “raise” and “bring up” a lil’ cutie of your own digitally. It can eat, sleep and of course have their potty accidents. These are actually still around today, but a bit more modernized.

Mall Madness – “Attention Shoppers! There is a sale at…” This was a fun game that was played a lot by myself and my older siblings. It taught us a bit about how to spend money wisely, move efficiently and make sure that store you love has a decent sale. The only thing I didn’t enjoy is when I was the one who had to piece it together while my sisters asked “How’s it coming along? I wanna shop!” Okay, you try piecing together a two story board game, right?

Doodle Bears – If you’re a kid who enjoyed drawing or writing, these little doodle buddies were a total must-have! When they first came out, kids went in a tizzy just wanting to get one, sharing the fun doodles they created. The best part? You could put it in the wash and start all over again!

American Girl Dolls – These dolls were quite a popular must-have for young girls back then when first starting out. Not only were they beautifully crafted, but each one came with a story all their own. Whether telling a story from the past to modern day, they definitely helped a child work their imagination. I absolutely loved them!

Dear Diary – The first ever electronic diary where your secrets are totally safe. Small and portable, it gave others like myself easy access to write down thoughts, dreams or feelings wherever necessary.

Fashion Plates/Fashion Faces – Young fashionistas found these plates the best help in bringing out imaginative fashions. You could choose which head, face, hair, top, bottoms and shoes. Place them together and color/trace away! I had a set myself when I was younger and created pretty strange combinations. Unfortunately, my designs didn’t start a trend, but yours can!

Furbies – The original fur-babies. No chance of owning a real pet gave you a chance to own one of these. Their eyes moved, they were furry, talked in Furbish language and were a bit strange to some people. But even if you didn’t understand what they were saying, these guys were still a lovable bunch.

Easy Bake Oven – All created for the young bakers of today! These awesome ovens came with recipes and lots of the ingredients to create things like little cakes, cookies, muffins and more. However, it wasn’t my forte though a lot did come out edible. At least if my parents did try to eat them.

Skip-It! – The ultimate skipper! A child of the 90s like me owned at least one and it was totally fun! It easily went on to your ankle and you just needed to move your leg back and forth to begin spinning it around. Almost like a jump rope, you jump over the skip it and would count how many times it went around. Many kids liked trying to break each other’s records seeing how many times they could jump. It was fun and a great way to exercise!

Gameboy – The Gameboy came from Nintendo, one of the first portable gaming devices created. Many popular games you could play included Tetris, Kirby, Mario, Pokemon and more. They were a definite must-have when going on long trips cause, come on, kids do get bored pretty quickly.

Talk Boy – It was a fun device that could record and playback. It was something I used to play jokes on people sometimes or get my siblings in trouble. Though I highly recommend only pranking on those with a good sense of humor. Anyone else and you might get grounded…like I did.

Nintendo – A gaming system you had quite a bit of trouble gaming with. If you’ve never had to blow in a cartridge just to get it to work right, you didn’t own one of these. Lots of popular games like TMNT, Zelda, Super Mario, Duck Hunt, Yoshi and others were played and made way for the newer and modern games holding the same names today.

Pogs – This game’s origin was possibly created around the 1920s, but reintroduced during the early 90s. It was an easy game which players played for keeps. Using circular, cardboard discs with popular images, you had slammers (heavy pieces) thrown down on a stack of pogs. After scattering, the player keeps those facing up and face-down ones automatically get restacked allowing the other player a turn. When they’re all gone, the one with the most pogs wins. So, who wants to play?

Portable CD Players – Ah, the portable music player. Whoever created these made usually quiet parents become loud parents. Earbuds placed in ears, music up loud and you can’t hear a thing. Not sure if any parents regretted buying these for their children, but being able to listen to your favorite music as you walked down the street or in the car was heavenly.

So what do you think? A lot of what you’ve learned about here are still around today, but with a bit of a twist maybe a turn or a tweak. Why don’t you tell us what old school experience you’d like to learn more about! Hey, maybe I’ll even give you some more ideas down the road!