The concept of the "It" toy has been going on for decades — every holiday season, there's some sort of sleigh-bells-induced mania that results in everyone deciding it's this doll or this video game that every child needs to have. But have you ever wondered where the most popular holiday toys of the past have ended up? Spoiler: It involves eBay.
To jog our memories about the more materialistic holiday must-haves of yesteryear, online deals and discounts site Ebates has released an infographic detailing all of the hottest toys from the past three decades — and boy, is it a trip down memory lane. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers? Game Boys? Beanie Babies? We all asked for those goodies, right? And tons of received them, too.
Actually, who am I kidding? My parents were very anti-commercialism and I never actually was given any of these things, except for a Beanie Baby that I immediately de-tagged, thus ruining any potential value. But I definitely wanted some of them. Then again, I also wanted the Peter Pollywog Patrol Frog, despite the facts that a) I had no idea what it actually was, and b) it was a purely fictional hot commodity. But I can't be the only one who saw that scene in Miracle on 34th Street (the 1994 one) and desperately wanted one, right?
With Thanksgiving so close I can taste it (and all the naps that follow), the only logical next step is to prepare myself for the blizzard of wrapping paper and fake snow that is the holiday season. I was interested in taking things a step further than Ebates' infographic does and headed on over to everyone's favorite online auction site, eBay, to see where some of those former holiday toy all-stars may have ended up. Let's re-visit some of our favorite gifts of yore, shall we? Scroll down to check out the full infographic!
1. Game Boy (1989)
I was not allowed to play video games growing up, so few things inspired more jealousy than seeing my friends with Game Boys. Originally released in 1989, these were the first hand-held game consoles that really took off, selling 1.1 million units, in addition to over 2 million game cartridges, in their first season.
Nowadays, these bad boys can go for around $100 on eBay, a price which rarely includes the game cartridges. You know, the things that you need to actually play anything on the Game Boy? Man, you kids have it easy now.
2. Tickle Me Elmo (1996)
Ohhhh boy, I remember these. Even though I was only 6 years old when the Elmo craze hit, I have distinct memories of being like, "Ugh, those are for babies." And thank the lord I did, because the sound of Elmo laughing for literally hours on end is one of the more grating experiences you will ever have (and you're talking to a lifelong Sesame Street fan).
The entire 1 million unit stock of these dolls sold out by the end of 1996, and things got violent between desperate parents. Actually, though. It came to blows. And that is the beauty of eBay, crazy parents: you can take all your aggression out by bidding on these $120 demon dolls. No hitting necessary!
3. Furby (1998)
I cannot understand why these nightmare-inducing little troll things became the thing everyone was obsessed with in 1998. Maybe fear of Y2K was rotting peoples' brains and they were like, "Oh yeah, all I want for Christmas is this spooky furball with a beak and giant eyes that follow me wherever I go. Yes, I know that $35 is the already too-high selling price but you know what? I'm willing to pay $300. Yep. $300. Let's go." Because, like, that actually happened. And even though it's rare to see $300 Furbies anymore, they're still regularly going for $70 to $100 on eBay.
4. Razor Scooter (2000)
New year, new Millenium, new obnoxious way for children to speed around and terrorize the neighborhood. Razor scooters were everywhere, and those TV ads were everything. Kids were jumping off stuff! They were screeching to a halt! They were doing tricks! It all looked so easy! All I needed was the scooter!
...and a lot of Band-Aids, because these things were dinky and very, very easy to fall off of. Originally released by Sharper Image, these scooters are, understandably, difficult to find in their original 2000 form. But you can buy the Sharper Image catalogue that sold them for like $15.00! So there's that!
Check out the full infographic below:
Images: Tomislav Mavrovic/Flickr; dealsalert, vintagelove021, lizzrose, thejumpingfrog/eBay; Ebates/Visualistan
