With the holidays approaching, so is our shopping. And while it can be hectic, it’s nowhere near as chaotic as it was in the ’90s. This decade was the era of store brawls over toys like Tickle Me Elmo (which isn’t on this list because that one needs no introduction!). More flexible Black Friday dates weren’t a thing yet; you had to be there on that day, and you had thousands lined up with you. Today, we’re going to look at 26 toys every ‘90s kid wanted for Christmas. So get ready to take a trip down memory lane to a time when toys, not screens, still dominated every kid’s playtime.
#1: Tamagotchi
Tamagotchis were released in 1996 in Japan before making it to the US a year later. They were a hit, with over 40 million sales in spring 1998. The name comes from two Japanese words: tamago, or “egg,” and uotchi, or “watch.” These were keychain gadgets that had a digital pet on them. You could feed it, play with it, and it could tell time.
Many kids had fun with it until they got bored, and then the poor pet died. And even though it was just pixels, you felt like a monster before resetting and neglecting the next pet. These toys are still around and have crossovers with many Japanese characters, like Hello Kitty, One Piece, and Pokemon.