"Wow, do you remember that?"
These are the toys of our childhood
© Getty Images
It may not have been organic, hand-cuddled or educational, but it still triggers dreamy, nostalgic memories: the toys of the 80s and 90s. Bets ?!
Every Friday, Marijke Amado sent us through the magic ball. Instead of a Playstation we played Sagaland while Grandpa smoked one after the other. In the schoolyards, rubber twists were the thing and painted pencil cases were the hit. So who doesn't fondly remember their childhood between Rubik's Cube, Gameboy and Co? Do you remember back then?
1. Monchhichi
Loved dearly, because simply super cute: My Monchhichi. The thumb-sucking cuddly toy from Japan was already absolutely hip in the 70s and 80s, but it also faithfully accompanied me through one or the other crisis of my childish self in the 90s. I still don't know what a monchhichi is supposed to be, but the memory I associate with the monkey-like figure is at least as cuddly as its fur.
2. Polly Pocket
Just playing with her wasn't enough for me. I would have loved to be a Polly myself and live in a pocket. Everything was always so colorful and she always had ice cream or a pool or both and more. What kind of a terrific life is that, please? And the fact that you could take the squeaky miniature world with you everywhere was of course an extra plus.
3. Keypers animals
My best friend had an armada of Keypers animals. I found them all great and so mysterious, because in them you could hide and lock away all the little treasures that you had. We felt mysterious. And I was jealous too, because my parents refused to buy me one.
4. The trolls
We all had or? The strange trolls with a wild punk frize in the most colorful colors. And although they weren't really pretty, they were somehow loved dearly, the imperfect trolls.
5. Pacifier chains
Looking back, I'm still ashamed of this trend: pacifiers! On chains, on rucksacks, pigtail holders, shoes – everywhere. But why only? Freud would possibly attest deficits in acting out our oral phase, but either way we found it to be incredibly casual.
6. Tamagotchi
One of my absolute highlights: Tamagotchis. Quasi the counterpart to today's smartphones. At least we certainly drove our teachers crazy with our "pets" one time or another. But it doesn't help, if the chick was hungry, it just had to be fed. Priorities were set very clearly.
7. Diddl mice
No sooner had the pacifiers disappeared from the backpacks than the Diddle mice took over and dangled from the zippers of the low-slung Eastpak backpacks. But not only there: Diddle was available in various sizes. The most popular was probably the usual cuddle format and then came the postcards, mugs, key rings … Well, it wasn't. Seldom has a cuddly toy triggered such a hype as this mouse with the completely oversized shoes.
8. Furby
Today Furby actually scares me a little. If you were to equip the strangely speaking cuddly toy with a miniature ax, it would be a potential candidate for the next trash horror film. We thought Furby was pretty cute back then. Even if he could only utter a few words, you had to play with him all the time, he wanted to be fed somehow and only gave peace when you banished him to a dark corner.
9. Barbie
Barbie, Ken, Skipper and Co. – The pink world around the plastic doll with the unrealistic body dimensions was incredibly popular. Dress, undress, style: Barbie went through everything. Fortunately, Barbie is now not only available in the unrealistic super skinny version, but also in other body shapes, skin colors and different professions and occupations.
10. Ü-egg figures
Shake until your joints hurt! After all, the Happy Hippps, dwarfs, penguins and co. Were in great demand and got their place of honor in incomparably ugly case in not a few households.
11. My Little Pony
The colorful ponies with the funky names still exist and millions of children still love them. However, they look a little different today than they did 33 years ago. Nonetheless, we found Paradieschen, liquorice, cuddles and flowers at least as great back then.
12. Wurliwurm – the magic worm
In the 1970 / 80s they had absolute cult status in the toy scene. Even today you can buy the Wurliwurm in different colors and let it perform one or the other trick.
13. Stair runner
The thing and a lava lamp were pure relaxation for me. I let the stair runner slide back and forth in my hands in an endless loop and stared next to the lava lamp. Recreation and digital detox beyond compare.
14. Game of Life
Once a classic, always a classic. The board game with dice game elements, in which a résumé from high school to retirement is played through in different stations, whereby it depends on the individual decisions of each player with regard to career, family and financing. The goal is to have as much capital as possible by the end of the game. So actually like in real life.
15. Bouncy ball
The bouncy balls really went off. Was available in a thousand colors and later also in various shapes. In addition, it was of course a lot more fun than the ergonomic version that we have in the office today.