Get Nostalgic by Copping These Childhood Toys for Christmas

Before fashion, streetwear, music, sports and relationships, we had toys. We at HYPEBEAST have come up with a Christmas gift guide your inner child will certainly appreciate — especially if you grew up during the 1990s and 2000. These weren’t just playthings that children had to pass time; kids fought, worked hard and were even bullied for these toys. It was a social, political and economic matter as owning these had the power to determine one’s coolness factor in elementary school. The struggle in obtaining one of these was real — remember the times spent begging your parent to buy you one, sneaking them into school to show them off to your friends, and getting them confiscated by your teachers? Fortunately, those days are over. As adults we can purchase these toys for nostalgia’s sake without getting intercepted by opposition nor having to drain our wallets dry.

In celebration of the simpler days of life, we’ve gathered 10 of biggest fads from the 1990s and 2000s for you to revisit. Get nostalgic by copping these toys this holiday season.

Pokémon

Type: Collectible card game
Company: Creatures Inc., Media Factory 1996–2013, The Pokémon Company (2013-present) [Japan]; Creatures Inc., Wizards of the Coast (Hasbro) (1998-2003), The Pokémon Company International (2003–present) [US]
Availability: 1995-present (Peak: 1997-2000, 2016)

Pokémon is by far the biggest media franchise out of all of these listed fads, especially after the boost it received with Niantic’s Pokémon Go. It is the second-most successful video game-based media franchise in the world, behind Nintendo’s Mario franchise. A consortium between Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures, the franchise is created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1995. The concept of the Pokémon universe was inspired by Satoshi’s childhood hobby of insect collecting. The series spawned video games, trading card games, television shows, film, comic books and toys. “Pokémon” is the portmanteau of the Japanese brand Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター Poketto Monsutā). The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a collectible card game that allows you to battle in a similar manner to the video games. The game was published in North America by Wizards of the Coast in 1999; cumulative video game sales have reached more than 280 million copies

Purchase the original Pokémon trading cards here.

Digimon

Type: Trading card game
Company: Bandai
Availability: 1997-present (Peak: 1999-2001)

Digimon was produced as a series of virtual pets similar to that of Tamagotchi or Giga Pet toys. They are “monsters” that live in a “Digital World,” which is a parallel universe ignited from Earth’s various communication networks. Digimon are raised by humans called “Digidestined” or “Tamers,” who link up and fight evil Digimon and humans. Many early Digimon were based on dinosaurs and although earlier creatures were cute and docile-looking, they later took on a stronger, harder-edge aesthetic. In 1999, the franchise picked up traction with its first anime, Digimon Adventure, as well as a video game, Digimon World. On top of a trading card game, the Digimon virtual pet toy was extremely popular. Unlike the Tamagotchi, it was raised for boys; owners begin with a Baby Digimon then train, evolve, nurture it and battle with it.

Purchase the original Digimon trading cards here.

Beyblade

Type: Spinning top
Company: Takara Tomy (Japan), Hasbro (US)
Availability: 2000–present (Peak: 2002-2004)

Beyblades were a successful line of spinning toys originally developed by Takara Tomy based of of the popular manga and anime series of the same name. The device is spun by a launcher with a ripcord, and are ejected to a plastic arena to “battle” each other. Many tactics and skills can be utilized to deploy the top, and the last top to remain spinning is the winner. The toys are inspired by “Beigoma,” the traditional spinning top and is influenced by Battling Tops, a board game developed by Ideal Toy Company in 1968. The manga/anime plot revolves around a boy named Tyson (Takao Kinomiya) who meets Max Tate, Ray Kon and Kai Hiwatari. They became a team called the Bladebreakers and get into battle with different teams and join various tournaments. From 2000 to 2005, the toy was one of the most popular toy lines in the world.

Purchase the original Beyblades here.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Type: Trading card game
Company: Konami (1998−present) [Japan], Upper Deck Company (2002−2008), Konami (2008−present) [US]
Availability: 1996-present (Peak: 2000-2004)

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a series following the story of a boy named Yugi Mutou. Written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi, Mutou solves the ancient Millennium Puzzle and discovers an alter-ego within himself. The alter-ego is actually the spirit of a nameless Pharaoh from ancient Egyptian times who had lost his memories. Its original anime, titled Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, aired from 2000 and 2004. Accompanied is a trading card game based off of the manga/anime’s Duel Monsters, where players uses cards to “duel” each other — the collectible card battle game is developed and published by Konami. It is billed the top selling trading card game in the world by Guinness World Records in 2009 since its inception in 1998, having sold over 22 billion cards internationally (the number has been updated to 25 billion cards as of 2011).

Purchase the original Yu-Gi-Oh! cards here.

BIONICLE

Type: Construction toy
Company: The Lego Group
Availability: 2001–2010, 2015–2016 (Peak: 2001-2003)

BIONICLE was the most successful line of construction toys of Lego’s Technic series. Technic was the Lego Group’s biggest-selling properties and was a major force in saving the company from its financial crisis in the late ’90s (Slizers, Throwbots and RoboRiders). Technics incorporative “ball-and-socket” systems to create free joint movement and BIONICLE expanded upon that concept greatly. Despite short-lived, Throwbots and RoboRiders were popular and prompted Lego to create a new series with an original storyline. BIONICLE is a portmanteau of the words “biological chronicle.” The plot is set in a science fantasy universe predating recorded history featuring sentient beings such as the Toa and Matoran. Tribes are based off of six elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Stone and Ice; other elements are later added as the story went on.

Purchase the original BIONICLEs here.

Beanie Babies

Type: Stuffed animal
Company: Ty Inc.
Availability: 1993–1999, 2000–present (Peak: 1996-1998)

Beanie Babies were released by Ty Inc. (fka Ty Warner Inc.) in 1993 and are stuffed with plastic pellets (beans) as opposed to traditional stuffing. They are deliberately under stuffed to make the toys look realistic. The original lineup Legs the Frog, Squealer the Pig, Spot the Dog, Flash the Dolphin, Splash the Whale, Chocolate the Moose, Patti the Platypus, Brownie the Bear and Pinchers the Lobster. Up until 1996, sales were slow and many stores refused to purchase the toys in bundles. Popularity began increasing in Chicago before growing into a national, then international, fad. Teenie Beanies, a mini spin-off of the original line, were included in McDonald’s Happy Meals in celebration of the meal’s 17th anniversary. At the end of 1999 Ty, Inc. stopped producing the toy, but due to an immense demand, they restarted producing the product in 2000.

Purchase the original Beanie Babies here.

Tamagotchi

Type: Handheld digital pet
Company: Bandai
Availability: 1996-1998, 2004-present (Peak: 1996-1998)

The Tamagotchi is a keychain-sized virtual pet game created by Akihiro Yokoi of WiZ and Aki Maita of Bandai in Japan in 1995. Tamagotchis are a petite alien species that placed an egg on Earth to check out what life was like, and the player’s job is to raise and nurture the egg into a fully grown creature. Better, more attentive care will result in a creature that is happier, smarter, healthier and more independent. Poor care can make a pet die, although it also dies of old age. The game was originally designed for teenage girls to give them an idea of what it would be like to take care of children. The name is a portmanteau of the Japanese word tamago (たまご), meaning “egg,” and the English word “watch.” Over 76 million Tamagotchis have been sold worldwide as of 2010. There are nearly 50 versions of Tamagotchi released since the toys inception, some of which are only released in Japan.

Purchase the original Tamagotchis here.

Furby

Type: Electronic robotic toy
Company: Tiger Electronics (1998-2002), Hasbro (2005-2007, 2012-present)
Availability: 1998–2002, 2005–2007, 2012–present (Peak: 1998-2000)

Furbies are hamster/owl-like creatures invented by David Hampton and are the first successful attempt at a domestic toy robot. David and Caleb Chung spent nine months desiging the toy and an addition nine more months creating the Furby. Over 40 million Furbies were sold in the three years of its original run. The toy was ideal for parents who weren’t ready to adopt real pets; Furbies satisfied children who had the desire to take care of living creatures. It is programmed to speak Furbish when it starts out, but will start using English words in place of Furbish over time of nurturing. Furbies are able to talk with one another via an infrared port between their eyes. They originally retailed for about $35 USD and were a commercial hit. During the Christmas period of 1998, some of these toys had the resale price of $100 and more.

Purchase original Furbys here.

Pogs

Type: Milk caps
Company: World Pog Federation
Availability: 1990s (Peak: Mid-1990s)

Milk caps is a game that became popular amongst kids during the early-mid 1990s, and the most popular brand were Pogs. The name, which is owned by the World Alex Federation, originate from a brand of juice called POG. Children played the game with POG bottle caps before its commercialization. Originating in Hawaii in the ’20s, the game was influenced by Menko, a Japanese card game that existed since the 1600s. Blossom Galbiso, a teacher at Waialua Elementary School in Oahu, Hawaii, introduced the game to her students by teaching math by incorporating milk caps in 1991. A year later, STANPAC Inc., the Canadian packaging company responsible for manufacturing the milk caps distributed by Haleakala Dairy on Maui, began printing millions of milk caps every week and the game eventually spread all over North America. By 1993, it became a worldwide phenomenon and were even included in McDonald’s Happy Meals. Tazos were a popular alternative in the UK and Australia.

Purchase the original Pogs here.

Gogo’s Crazy Bones

Type: Collectible figurine
Company: Magic Box Int. (Spain), PPI Worldwide Group (North America)
Availability: 1996 (Peak: 1998-2000)

Gogo’s Crazy Bones, formerly known simply as Crazy Bones, is based off of a kid’s game popular in Ancient Greece and Rome called Astragal, where children played a similar game using the knucklebones of sheep. They were small plastic figures that featured different faces, names, themes and personalities. After seeing the success of Barcelona-based GoGos in Spain, Peter Gantner launched Crazy Bones in the U.S. He founded Toy Craze in December 1997 with his brother David and businessman Scott Harris. It became a fad in the late ’90s after a marketing campaign targeted towards children was launched by a joint venture between Canadians Wayne Fromm and Eric Segal of All 4 Fun Consumer Products Ltd. Free packs of the bones were distributed or were included in other products like cereal and Happy Meals. Thirty-one and a half million packages of Crazy Bones were sold from 1998-2000, making it one of the biggest nationwide fads at the time.

Purchase the original Gogo’s Crazy Bones here.