Top Ten Childhood Toys

With Christmas always seemingly just around the corner (doesn't time speed up as you get older?) and all the new, high-tech toys of today being plastered all over the TV, Internet and magazines, it got me thinking about the things I used to love as a child. Now, I'm not THAT old, so my childhood wasn't all that long ago... but things have definitely changed since I was a kid. I didn't have a phone or computer to play with until I was in my teenage years, and the closest thing I had to any of those was an electronic, talking diary.

In order to create this lens, I took a short trip down memory lane and created a list of the top ten toys from my childhood. This is just my opinion, and definitely not an official ranking of how popular these items were.

Image used under the Creative Commons license via JMazzolaa on Flickr

Pokemon cards were THE ultimate collectors item for kids when I was growing up. I had hundreds of them. They filled display folders, empty biscuit boxes, and whatever else I could find to stash them! I had some pretty rare ones which I think, if I'd kept, would probably be worth some money some day! I didn't know they still existed until I did a quick search online. I didn't even battle with them often, I just liked to collect!

I was never much of a Barbie or Sindy girl. Though I did have a couple of Barbies during my child hood, I much preferred bigger dolls that I could cuddle at night, at Cabbage Patch Kids were absolutely perfect for it! They were cute, plush, and they became my best friends.

I was never really a "girly girl" growing up. In fact, I was quite the tomboy! I did, however, have a little love of Polly Pocket. My grandma bought me my first for Christmas one year and we became inseparable. I used to always lose the pieces, though. They were so little! Polly Pocket has evolved over the years, and the franchise is no longer just the little flip-open toy that I used to have!

I've always been a lover of animals and the Littlest Pet Shop toys were some of my favorites when I was growing up. I loved collecting them and arranging them. They were the cutest little things! I recently found that these little pets are still being manufactured, though the newer toys have bigger heads. There are over 1,000 different pets in existence!

It seems that the Furby is making a come-back this year, but I remember when they first came out. They were incredible for their time... little animals that learned to speak! I was amazed when I first got my Furby, but it soon got annoying when it wouldn't shut up at night! I loved these little gremlins so much, however, that I'm considering buying one of the new ones for myself!

I loved these little goo aliens in their eggs. There were rumors that they had babies if you stuck their backs together (they had little flat bits), so my friends and I always used to try it. It never worked, of course!

Bop It was a great game to play at parties, or any other social gathering. It was so much fun to play with friends when trying to kill time. I was pretty good at it (and found out a couple of years ago that I still am!) and couldn't get enough of the twisting, pulling, bopping action!

Taking care of my Tamagotchi pets always made me feel responsible as a youngster. Though it was electronic, is was MY pet, and my duty to make sure it was fed and played with. Unfortunately, I wasn't such a great pet owner and had a tendency to get bored with them, abandon them and move on to new ones. My favorites were always dogs!

Pogs provided endless hours of fun for me, my friends and my cousins when we were younger. We collected them and used to have mini-tournaments at the weekends to kill time. I was always excited when I got new Slammers to show off, especially the thick ones that meant I was sure to win! (or not)

Beanie Babies were my ultimate favorite. I loved collecting them, and used to get a new one every couple of weeks. I had so many of them when I was a kid, but as I grew older they magically disappeared (I kept them all at my Grandma's house... she got rid of them). A few years ago, however, I rediscovered my love for Beanie Babies and I now have thirty or so piled away in my closet.