considered one of the greatest animated films ever.
In 1997, the yo-yo, one of the earliest toys, had
a revival. The simple classic yo-yos reappeared,
but now there were also new aircraft aluminum yo-
yos with centrifugal clutches and light-emitting
diodes.
First appearing in 1959, Barbie dolls thrived dur-
ing the decade. In 1990, the award-winning Bob
Mackie Gold Barbie, with over five thousand golden
sequins and beads, was introduced. The Dolls of the
World series expanded to include Nigerian, Brazil-
ian, Native American, Kenyan, and Chinese Barbies,
among others. Many Barbie dolls made their debut,
including Air Force, Navy, 1920’s Flapper, Gibson
Girl, Rapunzel, Harley-Davidson, and Marilyn Mon-
roe Barbies. In 1999, Collector Edition and Gala Edi-
tion Fortieth Anniversary Barbie dolls were re-
leased.
A notable variation on the traditional stuffed ani-
mal was Ty, Inc.’s Beanie Babies, which were first re-
leased in 1993 and sold only in small stores for ap-
proximately $5 each. These understuffed animals,
which had tags with their names and birth dates,
started a collecting frenzy. As certain designs were
discontinued, they were sold at increasingly inflated
prices. By 1996, over 100 million had been sold, and
in 1997, McDonald’s issued over 100 million minia-
ture Teenie Beanies with its Happy Meals.
Originally a game played with juice or milk bottle
caps in Hawaii, Pogs was a popular game of school-
children during the first half of the 1990’s. This sim-
ple game required only laminated disks (milk caps)
called Pogs and a slammer to turn the disks. Pro-
duced in hundreds of designs, such as favorite car-
toon characters, Pogs were the leading toy collect-
ible of 1995.
Many classic board games continued to sell well
and new editions were published during the decade.
They includedMonopoly(1933),Scrabble(1938),Risk
(1959),Life(1960), andTrivial Pursuit(1979).
Virtual Pets and Electronic Toys Virtual or digital
pets were introduced during the 1990’s. These arti-
ficial animal companions were digital simulations
of real animals or fantasy animals that existed only
in the hardware. They required the owners to feed,
groom, train, and nurture them. In 1995, video
game developer PF Magic released the first virtual
pet, Dogz, followed by the appearance of Katz in
- Meanwhile in Japan in 1996, the Bandai com-
pany released its Tamagotchi digital pet, housed in
a small egg-shaped computer with an attached key
chain and three buttons for selecting or perform-
ing activities such as feeding or playing with the pet.
The pet was displayed on a tiny liquid-crystal
screen, and the egg would beep when the pet
needed attention. The owner would then push a
button to provide food or medicine, to play, or to
clean. If uncared for, the pet would die. Introduced
in the United States in 1998, the Tamagotchi was an
immediate success. In 1997, Tiger Electronics in-
troduced Giga Pets, a series of pets including Digi-
tal Doggie, Compu Kitty, Micro Chimp, Baby T-Rex,
and Virtual Alien.
Tyco’s Tickle Me Elmo was the must-have chil-
dren’s toy of the 1996 holiday season. Based on the
Sesame Street character, this bright red, interactive
stuffed toy giggled, wiggled, vibrated, talked, or
laughed hysterically when squeezed or tickled. Al-
though about a million units had been shipped,
stores sold out of them immediately. Demand was so
high that they were often sold to the highest bidder
on online auctions, where the original retail price of
$30 was inflated to as much as $1,500.
The must-have toy of the 1998 holiday season was
Tiger Electronics’ Furby, an interactive, furry robot
with six built-in sensors and its own spoken lan-
guage. In response to being tickled or petted,
turned right-side up or inverted, and changes in
light and darkness, Furby could respond by wiggling
its ears, opening and closing its eyes, and speaking
with a vocabulary of 200 words and sounds in En-
glish or “Furbish.” After its debut in October, sup-
plies could not keep up with demand, and the $30
suggested retail price was inflated to $200 and
higher at online auctions.
In 1998, the Teletubbies from Playskool and Eden
were best sellers. These toys were based on charac-
ters from the television showTeletubbies, which was
first released in Great Britain on the British Broad-
casting Corporation (BBC) in 1997, and then aired
on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the
United States beginning in 1998. Intended for tod-
dlers, the show also became popular with college stu-
dents. The four Teletubbies were cuddly aliens
named Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, and Po. Each
Teletubby had an antenna, and television clips of
real children appeared on their tummies. The plush
Teletubby toys could play songs, talk, and respond to
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