Christmas Presents from the Past

Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays. As a child Christmas is even more fun. I remember not being able to sleep because I was trying to hear Santa Clause. Never did hear him. I finally figured out Santa wasn't real when my mom started getting lazy and wrapped the gifts from my parents with the same wrapping paper from Santa.

A couple of my friends were talkiing about the toys we wanted as a kid.

Here are some fun toys of my childhood.

DREAM PHONE GAME

One of 24 incredible boys really likes you. Now you just have to find out who by calling his friends for clues!

Play a boy's photo card and call his number on the electronic touch-tone phone! Listen to a clue about your secret admirer's clothes, sports, foods, or special hangouts. Then search the gameboard to identify who he is and who he isn't.

Calls are private unless someone plays a Speakerphone card - then everyone hears that clue! If it's a Share a Secret card, just you and one friend listen together!

To guess who your secret admirer is, make a special call to that boy. If you hear him say, "You're right! I really like you!", you win the game!

The game changes every time you play. Boys give different clues and the secret admirer changes too!

 

DREAM PHONE COMMERCIAL

GIRL TALK GAME

This game was first sold in 1988. This is basically a turth or dare game. I will never forget playing this with my friends during sleepovers.  Now I look at this game differently because this game plays on insecurities. You are punished when you didn't do the dare or the truth by putting a zit sticker on your face.  It basically saying to make fun of people who have acne. However, it is just a game. 

GIRL TALK COMMERCIAL

GUESS WHO? GAME

This is one of my favorite games. Sadly, I don't have this game anymore.  I still think as an adult it is a fun game.  It sort of like the game Battleship. 

GUESS WHO? GAME COMMERCIAL

SIMON SAYS GAME

Simon is a memory skill electronic game.  I played for hours because I wanted to keep pushing myself because each time you get the pattern correct it gets harder and harder. If you have dementia I would not suggest this game. 

SIMON SAYS GAME COMMERCIAL

TITANIC BOARD GAME

Titanic game became extremely popular when Titanic with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet came out in the movie theater. I still have my game. It is a fun game to play with people. 

SKIP IT GAME

When I was in elementary school I remember our school have a bunch of these to check out for recess.  You put this on your ankle and it spun around in a 360 degree rotation while you continusouly skipped. It counts the number of skips so we always had skipping competitions. 

SKIP IT GAME COMMERCIAL

POGS 

How to play POGs, you need a slammer. A slammer is a plastic or metal POG. 

Each player creates a stack of their POGs, with the image side face-up. The first player throws the slammer at their opponent's stack of POGS< with the goal of sending them flying. The ones taht land face-up go that player, and the rest goes back in the stack. Then the next player goes. At the end of the game, whoever has the most POGs wins. If you're playing for keeps, that may mean that the loser goes home empty. 

POG craze actually began in Hawaii, where a teacher had children play the game using cardboard milk bottle caps because it was a fun way to help with math.  POG stands for passion fruit, orange and guava, and was originally the brand of Hawaiian tropical drink.  

I never played the game I just traded with people and collected them. I still have all my POGs. I would love to see this come back. 

POG GAME COMMERCIAL

NINTENDO GAMING SYSTEM

Who doesn't remember Nitendo gaming system? My favorite games were Super Mario Brothers and Super Mario Racing game. I still own it and all my games I had. 

GAME BOY

I was so excited to get this for Christmas because now I could play all my favorite games I played using the Nitendo Game System but in a system I can take anywhere. 

TALKING NANO BABY

It first came out around 1997. It took me a year to get one of these because they were so popular. People were buying them for $500. My parents couldn't afford to do that so I had to be patient. My frist one was a Tamagotchi dinasour one until I could get the Nano Baby and Talking Nano Baby or Cat. Later I also got a Sabrina the Teenage Witch Salem Giga Pet. 

These taught kids responsibility. You had to make sure they were fed, played with and teaching it right or wrong. Parents who don't want pets these are the best toys ever. 

I remember schools started to not let us bring them to class because they were a distraction and they went off all the time. It was okay when they first came out because not many kids had them, but once they were able to get them pretty much everyone in my classes had one or more. 

I still have all of mine. 

FURBY 

In 1998 they took the technology of pocket pets into a bigger creepy pet. The classic Furby can with one another via an ingrared port located between their eyes. They first speak entirely "Furbish", a language with short words, simple syllables, and various other sounds. They will speak less and less Furbish and more and more English as they "grow". 

I got one for my birthday in 6th grade.  2 years later I got a baby Furby. 

Here is a creepy story. My first Furby started to wake up in the middle of the night and not shut up so I took out the batteries. Well, the Furby kept going off without batteries. I still have my Furbys but they are in my attic. 

DEAR DIARY

Dear Diary is basically a journal, planner, calculator, contact information.  Sadly, I didn't keep this because I would have loved to read what I wrote in it.

EASY BAKE OVEN

My mom had an Easy Bake Oven as a kid so she bought me one too. It was a lot of fun, but I now look at it as a waste of money because the baking mixes cost alot for what it makes and they don't have gluten-free options. 

BARBIE 

SPICE GIRL DOLLS

Spice Girls rule!! I had Ginger and Baby Spice dolls 

 AMERICAN GIRL DOLLS

I will never forget Christmas morning opening up a American Girl Doll.  I remember telling my mom I really wanted Felicity or Samantha.  Sadly Samantha is retired and at this time you can't get them unless you go onto eBay. I still have mine and in its orginal box and clothing.  My mom always made sure I took good care of my toys. 

 BEANIE BABIES

 Beanie Babies mania was insane. People were beating each other up to get certain Beanie Babies especially the bears. I had a friend who spent $300 on the Princes Diana bear.  Sadly, a lot of them are only worth $1.00-$10.00.

PILLOW PEOPLE

The Pillow People were plush, square-headed dolls released in 1986.  They had stuffed arms, stuffed legs, and had names like Mr. Sandman, Pillow Fighter, Punky Pillow, Mr. Thunderclap, Sweet Dreams, Rock-a-bye Baby, and Big Footsteps.

MY LITTLE PONY

My LIttle Pony launched in 1982 and ran till 1992 and to 1995 globally.  There were 150 million pnies sold in the 1980s. In 1997 it had a rival, but sadly they proved to be unpopular and was discontinuted in 1999. In 2003, the brand had a popular rivial which closely resembeled the original toy line. 

POLLY POCKETS

Polly Pockets hit the stores in 1989. They were plastic cases that opened to form a dollhouse with doll figurines were less than an inch tall.  I had a lot of them.  Now Polly Pockets are a lot bigger. Do kids today eat them because I don't remember the tiny size to be a problem?  

This was a few of my favorite toys I loved when I was child. What was your favorite toy(s) as a child?