#87 - The Top Selling Holiday Toys of the 1990s, spanning 1990-1999!

Thank you so very much for tuning in to the Pop Culture Retrospective Podcast. This show is dedicated to the memory of my big sister Rebecca, a fan of all things pop-culture, particularly of the people, places, and things that defined the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s.  Welcome aboard this pop culture time machine, I'm Amy Lewis. This is episode #87 - the top holiday toys of the 1990s for each year from 1990-1999.  If you have been a long time listener of the show, then you may remember that we did a similar show around this time last year, but that covered the years spanning from 1980-1989. By the end of this episode, you will know which toyline refused to be sold in chain stores, which daytime talk show host created some toy seeking chaos and which item on this list has led to injuries and in some cases, even deaths.  So, grab your stocking, your holiday pajamas and some hot cocoa, here we go! 

1990 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Toy Commercial Compilation (1988-2018)

• This isn’t the first time the TMNT have appeared on a holiday best seller list.  They also were a top holiday toy in the late 1980s.
• The action figures came to fruition when a businessman  and licensing agent named Mark Friedman approached the two creators of TMNT and offered them a deal to create toys and a television series.
• They made the foursome obsessed with pizza, and replaced their potty mouths with catchphrases like “Cowabunga” and “Turtle Power!”  They also made the story’s villains - Shredder and the Foot Clan less aggressive and more absent-minded.  Further, the turtles were also given their own color scheme which was displayed on a mask as well as elbow and knee pads.  The hope was that by focusing on colors, people wouldn’t focus on their weapons as much.  They also softened the intensity of the turtles and gave them personalities. The hope was to make them more appealing to not only young children, but also their parents.  
  • Leonardo was given a blue mask with blue accents.  He was looked at as sort of the leader of the group, part of that may have had to do with the fact that he was the oldest.  He is very committed and dedicated to the study of martial arts.  His weapon is a sword. 
  • Michelangelo was given orange accents.  He is the light-hearted, addicted to pizza member of the group. He’s a bit immature compared to the other turtles, but he means well.  He likes to read comic books and his weapon is nunchucks.
  • Raphael was given a red mask and accents.  He is a very serious fighter and loyal brother to the other turtles.  
  • He can be irritable and short-tempered at times. His weapon is a pair of sais which are essentially small swords with 3 sharp points on each.  
  • Donatello has a purple mask and accents.  He is the inventor and creative genius of the group. He is not as quick to fight as others.  His weapon is a bo- which is a large wooden stick.

• Tune into episode #50 for more info

1991 - Super Nintendo Kmart Super Nintendo Commercial 1991

• Also referred to as Super NES
• Developed by the Nintendo Company of course
• Was released in Japan in 1990 and then the US in 1991
• This version was improved over the original Nintendo by having enhanced graphics and sound.  The system could display 2D graphics and even 3D graphics, though on a more limited basis.
• There were only 3 games available when Super NES was released:  Super Mario World, Pilot Wings, and F-Zero.
• Sold almost 50 million units before it was discontinued in 2003.  And if you owned a Super NES for any period of time then you may remember that over time, the console often turned a shade of yellow.  This was due to the choice that Nintendo made regarding the type of plastic they used to make the consoles.

Learn more about Nintendo on episode #5 of the PCRP.

1992 - Talkboy  Tiger Deluxe Talkboy | Television Commercial | 1994 | Home Alone 2

• A tape cassette voice recorder and player based off of the device Kevin MCallister had in Home Alone 2 - lost in New York
• The device allowed kids to record their voices and either speed it up or slow it down.  In the movie Kevin uses the device to check into a hotel, order food, etc.
• You could also play cassette tapes out loud - I remember dubbing the Little Mermaid Soundtrack onto a tape and bringing it to school to listen to in the hallway while doing school work

1993 -  Sega Genesis  Genesis does what Nintendon't!

• Was released in the US in 1989
• Named after a book in the bible, a first of it’s kind - sort of meant that there was going to be a new age of video games
• In 1991, Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog which ended up being a huge hit - people starting buying the Sega Genesis system just so they could play the game
• The price of the console was dropped by about $10 in the early 1990s which motivated even more people to purchase Sega Genesis.  
• At the end of 1993, Sega Genesis dominated the home video game market with 60% market share.  This came after several years of what was dubbed the console wars between Sega and the Nintendo company.

1994 - Power Rangers  Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Toy Commercials

• Was a television show about a colorful group of superheroes that first aired in 1993

An excerpt from the NY times dated December 5, 1994 describes the power rangers and their rise to fame.

Welcome to December, holiday shopping, mistletoe and the nation's second annual Mighty Morphin Power Rangers shortage.

What, another case of missing Morphins?

It was not supposed be this way. After all, the manufacturer cranked up 11 additional factories and says it is shipping 10 times the number of Power Rangers toys that it did last Christmas. Then, the toys were so scarce that parents actually camped overnight outside stores to buy whatever they could get.

This year there are plenty of Power Rangers accessories, goodies like wristwatches, clothes and lunch boxes, but there also are spot shortages of some Power Rangers characters.

On Friday, for example, Macy's at Herald Square and the F.A.O. Schwarz store on Fifth Avenue were sold out of the scarcest of the Rangers figures, the white and pink ones. The Toys "R" Us stores in the New York City suburbs said the sought-after figures they had were selling quickly and new shipments would "blow out of the store," as one toy buyer said, when they arrived.

In little more than a year, the Power Rangers' share of the market for action figures has jumped to 40 percent, from 4 percent, and sales of the product line are approaching $1 billion for the year. By comparison, sales of Cabbage Patch dolls were $550 million in their best year, while Teen-Age Mutant Ninja Turtles topped out at $450 million.

Now, desperate to avoid disappointing their children on Christmas morning, some parents are driving to out-of-the-way toy stores that have managed, word has it, to obtain a cache of Power Rangers. Some have offered as much as $100 to clerks in toy stores to put aside hard-to-get Rangers. Others like Rosemary Biagioni, a mother of two boys in Tuckahoe, N.Y., is phoning stores every day, in search of three new Power Rangers toys.”

So, needless to say, the Power Rangers were incredibly popular!

1995 - Beanie Babies 1997 - McDonald's - Teenie Beanie Babies Commercial 

• Beanie Babies were created by Ty Warner who started his toy company, Ty, in the early to mid 1980s
• His business started out of his home in Oak Brook, IL
• Beanie Babies were first introduced in 1993.  At first, they were a collection of various little bears, in several colors, that were soft to the touch and filled with bean-like plastic pellets which made it easy to display the bears and position them sitting up.  Warner made some critical decisions which drove up demand early on.  First, he refused to sell the Beanie Babies in chain stores like Toys R Us and Walmart.  He also retired certain Beanie Babies with no notice, also driving up demand.  He would often hint at retirements on the Ty website.  This led to a market of rare Beanie Babies which drove up demand.

Check out episode #54 to learn even more about Beanie Babies and it’s bizarre creator, Ty Warner.

1996 - Tickle Me Elmo  Tickle Me Elmo ad 1996

• Created by Tyco Toys
• Was a plush Elmo doll that could talk and laugh and would vibrate when tickled
• Wasn’t a bit hit at first until the toy appeared on the Rosie O’Donnell daytime talk show and the Tickle Me Elmo Craze began!  Sales went from around 70 million to almost 350 million because of the toy being showcased on the show.
• People went to great lengths to acquire this toy.  A Walmart employee in Canada was trampled by customers who just had to have this toy.  Some parents were so desperate to get the elmo doll that they paid upwards of $1,000 for an item that retailed for $29.99.

1997 - Tamagotchi  Tamagotchi Original Commercial 1997

• Small, keychain sized electronic device that first appeared in the United States in May of 1997
• Inspiration came from an advertisement where a little boy was not able to bring his pet turtle on vacation which was noticed by a toy executive.  It struck a chord with him because he owned a lot of pets at the time.  So, in an area of Tokyo he brought up his idea of a virtual pet to his company an thus Tamagotchi was born.
• It allowed people who owned these devices to have a virtual pet
• On the packing it said:

• Tamagatchi was a huge hit the day they hit store shelves in the US. The toys were so popular that they often sold out in stores and scammers would swoop them up and sell them for an inflated price.
• The average life span of a well-cared for Tamagatchi was 12 days.  Consumers really seemed to like the idea of having a robot-like creature to take care of.  The popularity of electronic toys like Tamagatchi likely led to the development of the next item on our list. 

1998 - Furby  Furby Commercial (30-second variant, 1998)

• created in 1998 by Tiger Electronics, which was owned by Hasbro
• took over a year and a half to create due to the toys ability to move its eyes, open and close its beak and talk.  
• Furbies looked eerily similar to Gremlins, which were in a movie from the 1980s.
• When a furby was first purchased, it spoke “furbish” which was essentially gibberish.  As the owner of the furby spent more time with the toy, it would gradually start speaking more and more English.
• Originally they were sold for about $35 dollars and as demand increased, the price went to over $100. 1.8 million units were sold in 1998 and 14 million sold in 1999.  In total over 40 million furbies were sold during their peak in popularity.
• Alex - told me how she got a furby one year for Christmas, I imagine it was probably around this time.  She opened up the box while she was sitting on her inflatable chair from Limited Too and screamed with delight and enthusiasm when she realized she was now the proud owner of the coveted Furby.  

Tune in to episode #54 to learn more about Furbies

1999 - Pokemon  Pokemon toys commercial (1999)

• Pokemon started in 1996 as a Gameboy game and the rest is history
• Pokemon roughly translated in Japanese is “Pocket Monster”
• The premise of pokemon is that a pokemon is a furry creature with magical powers that lives alongside humans.  At first there were just over 100 different species of Pokemon but now there are well over 1,000.
• The Pokemon craze lasted until about 2002 but is still popular today
• The game was popular enough that it was eventually made into a television series, an extensive toy line, trading cards, books, and even movies.  And let us know forget the Pokemon Go app or smart phone game.  If you are not familiar with Pokemon Go, I found a good description of the game on TomsGuide.com, the site says quote:  “Pokémon Go uses GPS coordinates as your in-game character walks around a real-world map according to your physical location. Once you're done setting up your character, you will see yourself on a map, surrounded by some Pokémon.”
  • In case you didn’t know, a lot of people have actually died because of Pokemon go, there have been countless accidents and acts of violence surrounding this game.  There is a website called https://pokemongodeathtracker.com/ and it has a timeline of all of the alleged deaths and accidents associated with the game.  So far the site suggests there have been 24 deaths and 62 injuries.  Apparently fights have broken out over disagreements while playing the game, an elderly woman was hit by a driver who was playing the game, etc. I mean, forget the Grandma got run over by a reindeer, this holiday season it’s Grandma got run over by someone who needs to get a life. 
  • Don’t get me wrong, grief is certainly no joke.  If you’ve been listening to this show for any length of time then you know that this show is a result of some profound grief I have been dealing with since the passing of my sister in 2019.  However, I have always used humor as a coping skill so I have to find the humor in sad things.  When I read about the Pokemon Go deaths, I couldn’t help but imagine a conversation happening in my head between that elderly woman’s daughter and the rest of the extended family.  “Guess what, Grandma is dead.  She was run over by some A$$hole who was playing pokemon go.  He flattened her like a pancake.  

The 90s were a crazy, crazy time!

I hope you have enjoyed this look back on the top selling toys of the 1990s, spanning each year of this memorable decade.  This show is intentionally being released on my sister’s birthday.  She would have been 43 this year so as you can imagine, as much as December is an exciting month for me with the holidays and my family, there will always be a part of me that is missing, especially this time of year.  I will never get to reminisce about my childhood with my sister with her again, but re-living these memories has been incredibly therapeutic.  Thank you for tuning in to the show this year.  Thank you to the listeners and the guests who have been on the show.  Thank you to my family and friends for their support.  I’ll be off for a few weeks but I have some exciting things to share coming up.  UTBKBAHOTYM.

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