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Toys of the eighties

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Entertaining Toys of the Eighties

Now Gotta Have It: Iconic Toys of Past Decades moon walks into the 1980s. How many children’s shows from the decade can you name? How about popular 1980s children’s toys? See a trend here?! The answers are the same! Hasbro, Mattel, and Playmates capitalized on the success of popular cartoons or vice versa, drove toy sales by bankrolling new shows. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles introduced us to a new language—“cowabunga and “totally tubular”—while Masters of the Universe gave us the power. Rainbow Brite infused the world with color and Care Bears wore their emotions on their stomachs.

It wasn’t the first time, and it is probably safe to say that it won’t be the last time, a toy took over the nation’s attention; Cabbage Patch Kids were all the rage for Christmas 1983. So much so that a series of violent customer outbursts at stores across the United States came to be called the “Cabbage Patch riots.” To avoid the situation, some retailers opted to sell the dolls in a lottery system, while one individual opted to fly to London to get his daughter the coveted doll.

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