What toy's capture the 80's

[MegoNinja]

Yeah we had that thread "What toy's capture the 70's" so I thought it was time for an 80's one.
The following lines of toys I believe capture the soul of the 80's:

-He-man and the Masters of the Universe (real lame now but at the time were the greatest toys ever!)
-GI Joe (3 3/4" )
-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (late eighties but still eighties right?)
-Voltron (hated the cartoon but the giant robot made from lions was very lovable)
-Thundercats
-Transformers (g1 [g2?])
-Kenner Super Powers
-She-ra
-A-team (6 1/2" and 3 3/4")
-Real Ghostbusters.

For now that's all I can think of, feel free to add to that list. Let's get some childhood memories thrown around.

[RG]

-He-man and the Masters of the Universe (real lame now but at the time were the greatest toys ever!)

He-Man is not lame lol Well after the 3rd series it was ... but the first two years and part of the 3rd are some cool stuff.

He-Man is a true 80's icon, but they over did him, it seemed Mattel wouldn't let the line die and I remember finding figures from '85/86 still on the pegs into the early 90's So the burnout kids had to go through with He-Man, hurts the overall line in the icon of the 80's or I would put it in the top spot since every kid loved He-Man even little girls liked him so much they made She-Ra

For the one true iconic 80's line I'd have to with GI Joe. and Storm Shadow V1 really had the true 80's feel ... since Ninjas were so huge in the 80's.

Transformers would be right up there also.

[MegoNinja]

yeah when I said lame I was really referring to the absolute milking of the line, I still love my skeletor and trap-jaw figures but mattel totally ruined the line by adding what like, 600 characters.
crazy.

[Bionic Joe]

Kinda asking the wrong person here as i grew up in the 70's and was chasing girls in the 80's but the toys my nephews had all over my sisters house were HE-MAN/ TMNT/ STAR WARS

[toys2cool]

you forgot Jem and the holograms and I guess the LJN WWF collection was big

[Bo8a_Fett]

As I was moving out of the toys and into the ladies and music in the 80's the only iconic toy I remember was the Rubic's cube...I mean everyone had one over here..or knew someone that had one.

[jwyblejr]

I would put G.I. Joe way at the top of any list. It seems they were the ones driving the patriotic band wagon back in the 80s.

[RG]

you forgot Jem and the holograms and I guess the LJN WWF collection was big

I never had any Jem items so I forget about her line in topics like this, but I remember she was a big deal back in the day.

would you stop bringing up those hard rubber LJN guys ... Oh the pain lol

[MegoNinja]

yes, wrestling figures would be on the list indeed, I remember having my LJN hulk hogan for years until one day I sold it to a friend for $2, I still regret that to this day.

As for the Rubic's Cube Bo8a, they would be on the list but I think they are an icon of the 80's more than they are a iconic toy of the 80's you know what I mean? Still though, they are great, I have never managed to finish one of those damn things, I just end up ripping the plastic pieces off and reassembling it so it looks like I solved it and can show off to every one.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I'd hafta go with "GI Joe: A Real American Hero" too; since the military and terrorist themes were pretty topical back in the day.

I think you've got to consider "Cabbage Patch Kids" as well. Ugly, bloated.... sounds like the 80's. Plus; they were the ORIGINAL "Tickle Me Elmo-Gotta have it-Step on you to GET it" toy. ALSO very 80's....

Don C.

[MegoNinja]

My Little Pony, I think that was pretty eighties, my sister had tubs of those things that I used to mount my action figures on.

[Donkey Hoatie]

Making Me Blue

Smurfs, baby. Smurfs. Plus, I think you have to throw Atari out there. The 80s were when home video games really became popular and mainstream (Pong in the 70s aside, of course). Then again, I don't know if you'd classify video games as "toys" per se.

[MegoNinja]

Smurfs, baby. Smurfs. Plus, I think you have to throw Atari out there. The 80s were when home video games really became popular and mainstream (Pong in the 70s aside, of course). Then again, I don't know if you'd classify video games as "toys" per se.

We brought up the Atari in the 70's thread and decided it was more of a 70's thing, but I have to agree that 80's was a time full of technogeeks, especially when it came to things like the Commodore 64. I would say Atari is both 80's and 70's.

[Adam West]

I'm in the same genre that I was done for the most part with toys by the time the 80's came around.

My mom used to be a daycare provider and I distinctly remember He-Man, TMNT, Transformers, the Smaller G.I. Joes but I didn't really pay much attention to them.

Around the early 80's we received our first Mattel Intellivision set and I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. I can still remember going to Sears and trying out a display model and thinking "These are the best graphics I have ever seen! Nothing will ever get better than this."

My parents broke down and bought us one. I don't know if people realize how expensive these consoles were but I'm pretty sure even in the '80's an Intellivision was probably close to $300 when it first came out and games were in the $40-$50 range which was a lot of money. I have a hard time choking down the same prices for today's consoles but I think we treated our gaming system with much more care than my kids treat our systems. It was a major ordeal to purchase a new game so we had to choose wisely.

My younger brother was a major video game fanatic (he still is) and always figured out little computer glitches in games so that you could never beat him in Football or any other sports games because he always figured out some little bug that made it impossible to defend plays in Football for example that he could run over and over again.

[megomaniac]

Toy line that captures the nostalgia of the 80's for me: He-Man. My cousins and I played with those guys for hours.
Toy line that captures the FEEL of the 80's: Jem and the Holograms. Hands down. That's all I recall of the 80's: Hair, clothes, and music and Jem and the gang capture every bit of that beautifully.