The Most Popular Christmas Toys by Year Are Instant Nostalgia

What was your favorite toy as a child? It was probably the next big thing when you were young, so your parents thought it was the best. If you still remember it fondly, you might be looking for one to give to your child today.

▬Contents of this video▬
00:00 - Intro
00:15 - 1950’s
02:44 - 1960’s
04:55 - 1970’s
06:46 - 1980’s
09:03 - Outro

The 50s were a time when staple toys that almost anyone can recognize today were invented. Think of water balloons, hula hoops, and Legos. Others included Barbie, Mr. Potato Head, and Play-Doh. It was an experimental time, but the experiments paid off. The 60s were a time when children could release their creativity with toys such as their Etch-a-Sketch, Lite-Brite, and Easy-Bake Oven. They were also when the gender divide in toys became more strict. Girls played with Barbies and boys played with G.I. Joe.

The 70s was a great time for action-figure-lovers. They could play with classics such as Star Wars and Strech Armstrong. The Atari 2600, one of the first in-home video game consoles, also came onto the scene. Simon used similar technology to create a fun, interactive toy. The 80s brought one of the first massive toy crazes with Cabbage Patch Kids. Parents would fight each other over the hand-crafted dolls. Other popular dolls included Teddy Ruxbin and My Little Pony. The Game Boy made portable video games available to a mainstream audience.

The 90s brought another phenomenon with Tickle Me Elmo. Beanie Babies seemed like a valuable collector’s item at the time but died like a flash in a pan. Everyone was too busy tending to their Tamagotchi, and Pokemon was just beginning its meteoric rise. Like and subscribe to Facts Verse for more on the history of the biggest pop culture items of all time. Watch our video to learn why the most popular Christmas toys by year are instant nostalgia.

The Most Popular Christmas Toys by Year Are Instant Nostalgia

[villain]

I was born in 1968 and I remember every single one mentioned in this video. I either owned one or played with it at a friend or relative's home or saw the commercials on TV. The one that brings back memories is the Shrinky Dinks. Me my brother and sister were at our cousins house making Shrinky Dinks back in 1973. I was 5 😊

[harryartinian]

What about Slinky? It was a massive seller!

[thisisme]

That's one awesome vid, Facts Verse! Thanks for the trip down memory lane...my favorites were: Etch A Sketch, Silly Puty and we can't forget Mr. Potato Head!

[kimmieandrews]

My oldest daughter loved her Teddy Ruxpin. I wish I still had it. I'm sure it's worth a lot of money.

[pegschwalbach]

Thing Maker and Incredible Edibles were alot of fun.

[rss]

Just the smell of Play-Doh will take you back.

[iamme]

My favorite was the Easy Bake Oven. As a boy, I took a lot of teasing. Today, the teasing has changed to compliments and clamoring from customers to obtain my services as a personal chef and caterer.

[Imagodfollower]

The essay bake oven & teddy rubskins was my favorite

[ricksegal]

Had all the ones of the 50's and 60's. You left out the Smurfs.

[rainerpierre]

Barbie & friends dolls from any decade.

[brhull]

I think you meant colorforms. Chloroforms would have been a really different toy!

[matthewwriter]

4:30 Nerf is an acronym, not an angiogram. An angiogram is when you take the letters and rearrange them to make a new word.
6:50 The 1980s.

[davidmcmahon]

I was never skilled enough to make the Hula Hoop work for me. 😞

[allan]

Tim what was your favorite Christmas toy?

[davidsincere]

I remember troll dolls from the sixties!

[allan]

You mean these aren't "holiday" toys?

[elizabeththomas]

I got the weebles wobble… HATED THEM!! They didn’t even look like a doll!!! Also got those stupid wooden dawl family with painted heads much like Lego men. Except again no body! My sister had a thumblina doll I wasn’t allowed to touch! My other sister had the Robertson family with house.. I wasn’t allowed to touch. My brother got a car race set & a garage.
She still has a piano that plays pop goes the weasel… I had a view finder that had 3 different disks… all boring after the first look .. best toy…. Lego that came with windows doors wheels & roof with square platform to assemble the house on. Next, 2 decks of cards.. so many games. Then my bontempi organ.. cheap but at least I could play some songs on it..
had a holly hobby doll had no idea what she was about as we didn’t have cable tv.
My daughters one time got Annette & the puppet..again they had no idea who they were & never played with them… I did play with the holly hobby … only because I had nothing else! Her hair sucked!! She was too young of a toy for me. So I only played with it & brought it with me so my mom wouldn’t feel bad about buying me something under my age group because it was in her budget..
I hated christmas!!! By the time I got to play with our Barbie’s & toys they were all wore out! Arm or Legs off, they were a mess! I did get an Atari with river raid… loved that game.