20 Epic Nineties Toys Every Boy Once Owned

By on November 6th, 2017

The Nineties were rad. It was a decade of globalization and technological advances that the world had never seen before. The speed at which technology was advancing was getting quicker exponentially, eventually leading to the turn of the century, in 2000.

One of the main reasons for the speed in which technology was improving can be traced back to 1990, when the World Wide Web made its’ debut. That was the end of society as we knew it, and the beginning of virtual reality. When the internet first started to be used, it was slow and there was very little to enjoy. But once it started to grow, and the costs associated with it dropped, so did the number of users. All of this and we still had not even heard about the Pentium Processor, which debuted in 1993. After that, things got crazy in 1995 with the introduction of Voice over IP, and three years later, Google started, followed by the iMac’s 1998 launch and Blackberry’s first mobile device in 1999.

As technology got better, so did the toys. Action Figures were still a popular selling toy but it no longer dominated the toy market for boys. Toys had to step up their game on a yearly basis because technology was booming and kids were getting bored easily. No longer were kids enjoying games like Pong or Missile Command on their outdated Atari video game consoles. Boys wanted better graphics, better sound, and an overall better gameplay experience.

How about we take a quick trip back in time and rediscover some of the greatest ’90s toys just about every boy had growing up. Enjoy.

20) Tyco Rebound

  • Year: 1990
  • Brand: Tyco
  • Current Value: $50
  • The Tyco Rebound 4×4 was a remote-controlled vehicle, which wasn’t a new invention in the 90’s. However, it was a twist on the existing RC cars by allowing the users to drive on either side of the vehicle. It could run up walls and flip over, nothing could stop it.

19) Where’s Waldo?

  • Year: Early 90’s
  • Author: Martin Hanford
  • Long before the internet ruined everything for kids, we were actually forced into looking at physical books for entertainment and the “Where’s Waldo?” series was more than just a time waster, it was a learning experience. It taught kids how to solve a problem on their own without losing their cool. How many times have you tried to find Waldo but just couldn’t? Did you throw the book or simply put it down?

18) Street Sharks

  • Year: 1993
  • Brand: Mattel
  • Most Valuable Item (Value): NOS Shark Force Jet and Hammerhead, New in Box ($50)
  • The Street Sharks was more than just a series of action figures, it was a cartoon series that became popular because of its’ original content. Who else had sharks with legs, dressed in pants, that were weight-lifting beasts?

17) K’Nex

  • Year: 1992
  • Brand: K’Nex Industries, INC
  • Most Valuable Item (Value): Grandfather Clock ($1,000)
  • Between Legos and the classic erector sets, the market for building block toys was cornered until K’Nex came out in the 90’s and helped to destroy the idea of an erector set, almost completely erasing it from the market. It also hurt itself by allowing Legos a chance to improve over time and eventually own the market share.

16) Creepy Crawlers Bugmaker

  • Year: 1992
  • Brand: ToyMax
  • Most Valuable Item (Value):
  • Creepy Crawlers came out in the mid-60’s and slowly started to decline in sales until they disappeared in the late 70’s. However, ToyMax brought the entire Creepy Crawlers toy line back in 1992 with the latest addition to the series, a bugmaker. It was the male version of an easy bake oven.

15) Crocodile Mile

  • Year: 1991
  • Brand: Marchon
  • Most Valuable Item (Value): Original, New in Box ($50)
  • Kids today have no clue about the 90’s and how ground-breaking toys like Crocodile Mile were back then. It added a twist to the standard slip and slide that came out around the same time.

14) Yak Bak

  • Year: 1994
  • Brand: Yes!
  • Most Valuable Item (Value): Original, New in Box, ($40)
  • After Home Alone 2 introduced us to the Talkboy voice recorder, the entire idea was turned into a much needed toy, for all kids. The Yak Bak was a simple recording device that kids used to get a phrase or two from their friends, parents, or siblings, and then played it back to them, usually, in the most annoying fashion.

13) Mighty Max

  • Year: 1992
  • Brand: Bluebird Toys
  • Most Valuable Item (Value): Cyber Skull ($175)
  • After the success of the Micro Machines throughout the 80’s, it did not take very long before action figures would be turned into mini versions too. Mighty Max was the first and most popular throughout the 90’s that continues to have value today.

12) Don’t Wake Daddy

  • Year: 1992
  • Brand: Parker Bros.
  • The key to a successful board game in the 90’s was more than just the game style or game play, it was the jingles that went along with the commercials. Don’t Wake Daddy had one of the all time greatest songs to go along with the surprisingly successful board game that we all played 20 years ago.

11) Vortex Aero Howler

  • Year: 1993
  • Brand: Nerf
  • John Elway in the 90’s is the equivalent of Peyton Manning in the 00’s. He was widely considered the best QB in the NFL for much of his career thanks to his toughness and incredible arm strength. So when Nerf used him to showcase the new Vortex football, it helped to turn this into one of their most successful toys to date.

10) Floam

  • Year: 1994
  • Brand: Nickelodeon
  • In true 90’s fashion, floam was nothing more than a new toy for all to play with that made little sense yet still had the ability to be exciting and fun to play with. Floam was almost like having sand that did not stick to you or separate itself.

9) Sony Discman

  • Year: 1998
  • Brand: Sony
  • The game-changing moment in music was the moment Sony released a portable CD player for all to enjoy. It was the first time high quality sound, digital sound, was taken out and about. It broke ground that would lift the rest of the technological world on its’ hind legsl

8) Gak

  • Year: 1992
  • Brand: Nickelodeon
  • The Nickelodeon takeover from the 90’s provided us with more than just television shows and nightly reminders of the past. It was also a massive line of products from the shows and cartoons we all watched.

7) Talkboy

  • Year: 1992
  • Brand: Tiger Electronics
  • Most Valuable Item (Value): Original, New in Box ($400)
  • Home Alone 2: Lost in New York was a great movie from the 90’s that continues to remain among the greatest Christmas movies of all time. The one thing everyone remembers from the movie is still the Talkboy he used to record and playback voides

6) Power Rangers

  • Year: 1993
  • Brand: Ban Dai
  • Most Valuable Item (Value): 14-Karat Gold Megazord ($2,500)
  • Following the success of all of the many action figure sets from the previous decade, the Power Rangers show came out and was super cheesy yet still something worth watching.

5) Super Soaker

  • Year: 1990
  • Brand: Hasbro
  • The 90’s had plenty of rad toys and cool guy stuff for kids to play with including the Super Soaker weapons, which seemed to have gotten bigger and cooler each and every year. The original ones really began selling out during the 90’s when kids were looking for ways to recreate the games they were all playing on their home consoles.

4) Beanie Babies

  • Year: 1991
  • Brand: Ty Inc
  • Most Valuable Item (Value): Princess Diana, New w/ Tags ($25,000)
  • Beanie Baby’s became so valuable that they were nearly impossible to find certain ones and still are today. But the value was a perceived one that ended up being more about the market value than the rarity. For some odd reason, certain Beanie Baby’s were being valued much higher than they should have been because of the listing prices being asked for them on eBay.

3) Buzz Lightyear

  • Year: 1995
  • Brand: Thinkway
  • Most Valuable Item (Value): 1st Edition Buzz Lightyear, New in Box ($500)
  • When Disney’s Pixar released Toy Story in 1995, they had no idea how popular it was going to end up becoming. Now, in 2017, they are currently working on the fourth film and are building an entire section of Hollywood Studios, in Disney World, dedicated to Toy Story. It all started with the infamous Buzz Lightyear action figure that was one of the main characters in the movie.

2) Pokemon Trading Cards

  • Year: 1996
  • Brand: Media Factory
  • Most Valuable Item (Value): Pikachu Illustrator, PSA 9 ($55,000)
  • Now that Pokemon are popular again, it is the right time to mention that Pokemon arrived on the scene in the mid-90’s, right at the time of the video game explosion. It was the perfect timing for Pokemon cards too as the trading card industry was exploding. It was also a way for kids who had no care for sports to also get involved in trading cards.

1) Pogs

  • Year: 1991
  • Brand: Various Companies
  • Most Valuable Item (Value): Complete No Fear Set ($75)
  • If you have no clue what a Pog is, just move along, this one isn’t for you. But for the rest of us, the 95% of American kids that played with Pogs in the 90’s, this is a walk down memory lane. Schoolyards were filled with kids playing Pogs throughout the 90’s and it continued until schools started putting an axe to the game.