Pop Culture Fads of the 90s: Toys

Toys! Remember the 90s? Remember fads? Then you are going to love this post! We're playing the 'remember when' game and you are our first contestant. See if you remember these fads, bonus points if you use to or still own (I don't judge, at least not to your face) some of these toys.

Pogs

Pogs is a game that was popular from the early to late 1990s. The word "pog" also refers to the discs used to play the game. The name originates from POG, a brand of juice made from passionfruit, orange and guava; the use of the POG bottle caps to play the game pre-dated the game's commercialization. The game of pogs originated in Hawaii in the 1920s or 1930s, and returned to popularity when the World POG Federation and the Canada Games Company reintroduced them to the public in the 1990s.

The game can be played by two or more players. Each has their own collection of pogs and a slammer (a heavier game piece). Before the game, players decide whether to play 'for keeps', or not. 'For keeps' implies that the players keep the POGs that they win, and forfeit those that have been won by other players. Finally, the game can begin as followed:
The players each contribute an equal number of pogs to build a stack with the pieces facing down, which will be used during the game. The players take turns throwing their slammer down onto the top of the stack, causing it to spring up and the POGs to scatter.
Often, a special juke is used by the defender to prevent the slammer from overturning more pogs. Jukes include screaming, taunting the opponent, waving hands, slapping, or other distracting moves.
Each player keeps any POGs that land 'face up' after their throw

This was suggested by simply the shout POGS!! It brings joy to hearts everywhere I guess. I don't remember how I learned about Pogs and I don't know where I got them, but I had a lot. Any one like to share their experience with Pogs, I am interested?

Skip-It

Amanda Smith: "Skip-It was pretty entertaining!"

Yes, yes it was. Skipping for hours upon hours over a ball tied to a rope attatched to your foot. Wow those marketers really got us on that one. But admit it, you had a Skip-It, I had a Skip-It, we all had Skip-It. At least until you did it in the house and broke something, then it "mysteriously" disappeared.

Beanie Babies

The original nine Beanie Babies launched in 1993 were Legs the Frog, Squealer the Pig, Spot the Dog, Flash the Dolphin, Splash the Whale, Chocolate the Moose, Patti the Platypus, Brownie the Bear (later renamed "Cubbie") and Punchers the Lobster (later renamed "Pinchers"). The line became a phenomenon in the late 90s when Beanie Babies became both a fad and a collectible. Ty decided to stop making Beanies in 1999, however, consumer demand made Ty Warner change his mind. He continues to run Ty Inc. and design new Beanie Babies to this day.

I never really got into the Beanie Baby fad too much simply because my mother refused to buy me a million stuffed animals. But I knew girls who would get every single one of them as soon as they came out until it completely took over their room (you know who I'm talking about). I still have a few, mostly rodents for some reason. The wonderful ability to make any animal look super cute. Honestly, I don't know anyone who didn't have at least one. If you are one of these people, please let it be known to the world, for you are a very special person.

When I watch Clean House on the Style Network, I still see people who think these stuffed animals are worth something. Only in your hearts.

Furbies

A Furby (plural Furbys or Furbies, according to Tiger. Co.) is an electronic toy, more specifically, a robot, made by Tiger Electronics which went through a period of being a "must-have" toy following its launch in the holiday season of 1998, with continual sales until 2000. Furby sold 1.8 million units in 1998, 14 million units in 1999, and altogether in its three years of original production, Furby sold over 40 million units, and its speaking capabilities were translated into 24 languages. Furbys were the first successful attempt to produce and sell a domestically-aimed robot. A newly purchased Furby starts out speaking entirely Furbish, the unique language that all Furbys use, but are programmed to speak less Furbish as they learn more English. The more English they learn, the more they "grow", thus placing them under the autonomous robot category.

Furbies always creeped me out! Still to this day creep me out! And when Kristen submitted me this idea even she said she was creeped out. It's a cool idea, but why in the heck did they have to make it so creepy? I am so glad these aren't popular any more.

Giga Pets/Tamagotchi

Giga Pets are a series of virtual pets. They were first created and released in 1997. The first Giga Pets included the Bit Critter, Compu Kitty, Digital Doggie, and Micro Chimp. Baby T-Rex and Virtual Alien were added shortly after, with Komputer Koala and Floppy Frog following. The latter of which became a rare collector's item, and is widely regarded as the best Giga Pet ever made. Floppy Frogs have been known to be sold on eBay for up to 28 dollars. When Tiger Electronics decided to release a new line of pets, they called them Giga Friends. These included such pets as the Salem the Cat giga pet, Looney Tunes, Giga Farm, and various Star Wars characters, among others.

The Tamagotchi is a handheld digital pet created in 1996. The Tamagotchi is housed in a small and simple egg-shaped computer. Three buttons (A, B, and C) allow the user to select and perform an activity, including:
Feeding the Tamagotchi a piece of food or a snack.
Playing games with the Tamagotchi.
Cleaning up a Tamagotchi's waste.
Checking its age, discipline, hunger, happiness and other statistics.
Connecting with other friends

Thanks to Kelsey Parker for suggesting Gigipets! "Ireally liked Gigapets. I had a cat that I was pretty attached to and then they banned them in school and poor kitty died."

Rachel Radwanski: "Omg, Gigapets remind me of Tamagotchi! Similar, but not the same thing. I remember having a neon green and pink tamagachi."

Ruth Cornell: "Tamagotchi had the chocolate chip poop that steamed."

I had a 101 Dalmations Gigapet. Oh the good times we had.

-PCF

Yellow is from Wikipedia