Remember When: Toys

Joe Mietus, Staff Writer

Beyblades

Remember battling your friends with colorful spinning toys? These spinning-top toys first debuted in 1999. Along with the toy came an animated show that gave a storyline to the toys and made them more popular. Over time the toy went through three variations. The original was the first and it was the most basic being made of almost all plastic. The second variation was metal and the third variation was a mix and on impact it would purposely launch the top off like in the show. The third variation also used a different launcher which made it easier to spin.

 

Tech Deck

Remember setting up mini ramps or finding objects in your house in order to do tricks on a little skateboard? The tech deck came out in 1997 and quickly became very popular. Tech decks are fingerboards which are little skateboards that you control with your fingers. These were made out of plastic and sometimes came with ramps or rails. Tech Deck is still a company but they have drastically slowed down production recently as popularity has dropped.

 

Hot Wheels

Remember pushing around a little toy car around your house? Hot wheels originally came out in 1968 in order to compete with the matchbox cars. However, Hot Wheels quickly took over and bought  matchbox. They started with making small versions of real cars and modifying the body. Then they decided to make their own unique cars which were designed in-house. Over the years kids have played with these cars but it seems that in the present more adults collect these toy cars with Hot Wheels releasing cars and display cases aiming at the collectors market.

 

Super Soakers

Remember being outside in the heat spraying water at your friends? Super Soaker was started by Lonnie Johnson who was a NASA engineer. He got the idea while doing an experiment for a new refrigeration system. The toy first hit the shelves in 1991 and it took over the water gun market. Over the years super soakers have evolved from a pump action to being fully motorized. The Super Soaker is popular with younger kids especially when it is hot outside and they are still in business but just not as popular.

 

WWE action figures

Remember making a bunch of little men fight? WWE is a popular wrestling event which was very popular in the early and mid 2000s. In 1990 Hasbro started making action figures of the WWE wrestlers. These toys were very popular with young boys who would just trash the toys around. They also sold many types of different arenas which closely resembled the ones used in real life. These toys have sold well due the popularity of the event which is why it is no surprise they are still being made.