Any of you that watched the TV3 Toyshow on Friday will have seen their segment of showing some 80’s toys to todays kids! Their reactions and faces were priceless! It got me thinking about all the toys I loved as a kid at Christmas! It’s amazing the fads that come and go over the years and when I see any of the toys I have mentioned below, they all bring back really happy memories – which I think is the magic of Christmas! I was an 80’s child so apologies to any of you younger readers who have never heard of some of them! 🙂

Fashion Wheel

Stella McCartney wannabe eat your heart out! I loved this so much! I spend hours and hours colouring in 80’s style skirts and blouses.

Fashion Plates

Very similar to Fashion Wheel above, but the downside was you were bound to lose most of the plates!

Caroline’s Home

I had no idea at the time, but this late 70’s Dolls House caused quite a stir for a few years! One Christmas they were the most sought after girl’s toy and were like gold dust! I am very lucky to still have this exact dollhouse still in my Mum’s attic. It gave me years of enjoyment and hope to pass it onto my little girl.

Sindy Doll

Sindy is no more but was known back then as the more affordable version of Barbie. I had quite a lot of Sindy dolls, and most of them were sold with dark hair as opposed to the generic blonde Barbie.

Stick-on Earrings

Stick on jewellery was huge! All I remember is that they never stuck on for more than ten minutes. And they were sometimes stuck onto your dog’s / cat’s ears too!

Cabbage Patch Doll

Although the Cabbage Doll has been re-launched, the original caused such hype back then. You received a Birth Certificate which everyone had framed above their bed.

Rainbow Brite Dolls

Apparently these dolls were huge but I just remember them just for their wooly hair. The rights were bought out by Hallmark who now use their template for the “Strawberry Shortcake” greeting cards.

Keypers

When I got these little guys on Christmas Day I was ecstatic! They had a little key to open their shell to hide stuff away. They should SO make a comeback!

Care Bears

They came with the slogan “Care a Lot” and had a heap of merchandise to boot. I remember buying Care Bear chocolate bars and a backpack too.

Ala Carte Kitchen

My Mam was telling me about the pure pandemonium when these were out. If you didn’t have an Ala Carte kitchen, you were sure to have a friend or cousin who did.

Fisher Price Tape Player

The first tape player that I owned. The novelty of recording your own voice was out of this world. It also came with a mic so you could walk around the house being uber cool!

Petite Post Office

I loved this little set. My friends and I had endless hours of fun counting out our plastic money and posting our letters.

Petite Typewriter

I remember the ads for this on TV which were to the tune of Dolly Partons “Working 9 to 5”. You felt very grown up if you had one of these! Pity reams of plain paper were so hard to get then, I had to use copy paper!

Trolls

I think I kept Hallmark in business for a good 2 years! There were all different themed trolls that you could collect and they cost a small fortune! It was great to get one of these at Christmas to add to your collection.

Snoopy Sno Cone Machine

I remember bating ice cubes into the top of this! There was a handle at the back that you turned to create crushed ice and poured a concoction of syrups over it to make a slush drink. I am pretty sure whatever was in those syrups would be banned today!

And to the board games!

Ker-plunk!

This is still around today but I remember my Mam finding those plastic sticks all over the house for months after Christmas Day.

Operation

I think different parts of the body were worth different amounts of money. All I remember is the funny bone and the buzzing red flashing nose.

Girltalk

A board game invented for “teens”. You never wanted your Dad to walk in when you were playing this, just when you were about to say which boy you fancied!

Spirograph

Also still available today, this gave hours of enjoyment, but if you had no pencil sharpener you were kinda fecked. Stubby pencils were no friend of Spirograph!

Perfection

You had to match up all the shapes whilst against the clock. A bit like todays “The Cube” gameshow – without the money or Philip Scholield egging you on.

A Christmas Annual

We were always guaranteed to get a Christmas Annual. I actually remember this exact one floating around my house for a few years. Other popular ones were “Bunty’ and “Jackie”

And my first taste of computer gaming?? Atari!

Later on after I was past the Santa stage, I got an Atari games system. The concept of playing games on your telly was out of this world! Many a day was spent playing Centipede – the equivalent of Snake on the old Nokia phones.

 

So there you have it. My 80’s Christmas nostalgia all rolled up into one post. Do you remember any of these? If you do, please let me know in the comments so I don’t feel old and alone!!

Much love x