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Subject: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: quirky_cat_girl on 09/28/06 at 8:44 am

Do you all remember some of the popular toys that would come out at Christmas....and would literally be the cause of mobs of brutal shoppers?  I remember when I was younger and "Cabbage Patch Kids" dolls came out....OMG, you would have thought that they were giving away free money. I heard stories about people actually being trampled over, punched, and other forms of physical abuse...just in order for one shopper to obtain a doll over another shopper.  I didn't get a Cabbage Patch Doll the first season that they came out, mainly because they were sold out EVERYWHERE...you couldn't find one in stock at all.  I just waited awhile...and ended up getting a few of them when the big phase wore off a bit.

Can you think of any other times when a certain toy was SO popular that it caused a sort of trauma?

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: whistledog on 09/28/06 at 8:49 am

I remember Rambo Action Figures were flying off the shelves.  If I remember, there was a Rambo cartoon called "Rambo: The Force of Freedom" that was popular with kids, and featured less violence than that of the films.  All the kids were just screaming to have the action figures.  I never had one myself, but always wanted one

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: Marty McFly on 09/28/06 at 9:00 am

Furbys. ;D

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: quirky_cat_girl on 09/28/06 at 9:02 am


Furbys. ;D



I never understood why those things were so popular...but then again, how can Elmo be that popular either? It seems like every Christmastime...they end up coming out with a different kind of Elmo doll. ::)

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: quirky_cat_girl on 09/28/06 at 9:04 am

Ohhh...another popular trend (and this one wasn't even during the Christmas season)....were the "Garbage Pail Kids" trading cards. OMG....they became SO popular when I was in elementary school....you couldn't find them anywhere!!  Then there was always the spoiled kid who would come into class with the entire collection of cards, organized in a binder....geez ::)  I did end up collecting a bunch of them, only to have them thrown away by my parents, after they realized how gross they really were. ;D  However, I did end up buying a collection of them a few years ago from someone on Ebay....brings back so many memories! ;)

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: Davester on 09/28/06 at 10:55 am


Do you all remember some of the popular toys that would come out at Christmas....and would literally be the cause of mobs of brutal shoppers?  I remember when I was younger and "Cabbage Patch Kids" dolls came out....OMG, you would have thought that they were giving away free money. I heard stories about people actually being trampled over, punched, and other forms of physical abuse...just in order for one shopper to obtain a doll over another shopper.  I didn't get a Cabbage Patch Doll the first season that they came out, mainly because they were sold out EVERYWHERE...you couldn't find one in stock at all.  I just waited awhile...and ended up getting a few of them when the big phase wore off a bit.



  I figured the Cabbage Patch Kid craze was pretty much year round, and especially when a new doll was introduced...

 

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: robby76 on 09/28/06 at 11:18 am


I remember Rambo Action Figures were flying off the shelves.


When I read the first post for some weird reason I thought of Rambo too, and then I saw your post! I got one Rambo action figure for Christmas. He was the best! The thing is I only ever got him out of the figures, so he was always a bit lonely.

The cartoon I LOVED!!! It's out on dvd now with 4 eps on each release.

Christmas 1985...

http://www.toysheik.com/images/Rambo.jpg

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: karen on 09/28/06 at 11:19 am

I thought this was going to be about frisbees and other beach toys!

In terms of Christmas present crazes one I remember was for Thunderbirds stuff, in particular Tracy Island

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: robby76 on 09/28/06 at 11:22 am

And on a Cabbage Patch note, Punky Brewster even did an episode of the craze that swept the world but on Punky they were called Butter Lettuce Babies for obvious legal reasons.

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: CatwomanofV on 09/28/06 at 12:16 pm


And on a Cabbage Patch note, Punky Brewster even did an episode of the craze that swept the world but on Punky they were called Butter Lettuce Babies for obvious legal reasons.



General Hospital did the same thing with the Power Rangers craze. They used to call them "Power Strangers".  ;D ;D ;D




Cat

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: Suicidal Blonde on 09/28/06 at 1:52 pm

Weren't Power Rangers another action figure that people lined up for?

Nevermind, just read Cats post  :D

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: MaxwellSmart on 09/28/06 at 9:38 pm


When I read the first post for some weird reason I thought of Rambo too, and then I saw your post! I got one Rambo action figure for Christmas. He was the best! The thing is I only ever got him out of the figures, so he was always a bit lonely.

The cartoon I LOVED!!! It's out on dvd now with 4 eps on each release.

Christmas 1985...



To everybody's surprise, Stallone objected to the Rambo line of war toys and refused to endorse them.  It's true!


   I figured the Cabbage Patch Kid craze was pretty much year round, and especially when a new doll was introduced...


Competion so fierce among consumers there was mayhem at K-Mart!

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: Sister Morphine on 09/28/06 at 9:41 pm


Do you all remember some of the popular toys that would come out at Christmas....and would literally be the cause of mobs of brutal shoppers?  I remember when I was younger and "Cabbage Patch Kids" dolls came out....OMG, you would have thought that they were giving away free money. I heard stories about people actually being trampled over, punched, and other forms of physical abuse...just in order for one shopper to obtain a doll over another shopper.  I didn't get a Cabbage Patch Doll the first season that they came out, mainly because they were sold out EVERYWHERE...you couldn't find one in stock at all.  I just waited awhile...and ended up getting a few of them when the big phase wore off a bit.

Can you think of any other times when a certain toy was SO popular that it caused a sort of trauma?



I didn't get a Cabbage Patch doll the first season they came out; my dad stood in line at a Toys R Us for 15 hours just to get in the store, only to find out that they were sold out by the time he got there.  He joked that it was the last time he'd stand in line at a store for a toy.  I didn't get them until they came back around again, right around the time my sister was born in 1987.  After that, I had about 5 of them, I think.  That was the only real "toy craze" to happen when I was of the age to get use out of the toy.  I do remember when the Furbys and the Tickle Me Elmos and the Talking Wishbones were popular, but by then, I was too old for them and so was my sister. 

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: DJ Midas on 09/28/06 at 11:35 pm

In the 80's the Pac-Man cartridge for the Atari 2600 was a hot item when it was first released.  It was hard to find in stores as it sold out pretty quick.  It was hot alright...a hot piece of crap.  The designers did such a rush job in order to get it into stores ASAP.  Part of the reason for the Video Game Crash of 1983.

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: wsmith4 on 09/29/06 at 7:09 am


In the 80's the Pac-Man cartridge for the Atari 2600 was a hot item when it was first released.  It was hard to find in stores as it sold out pretty quick.  It was hot alright...a hot piece of crap.  The designers did such a rush job in order to get it into stores ASAP.  Part of the reason for the Video Game Crash of 1983.



but what about Boulder Dash?  how do you explain that?

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: whistledog on 09/29/06 at 7:18 am


When I read the first post for some weird reason I thought of Rambo too, and then I saw your post! I got one Rambo action figure for Christmas. He was the best! The thing is I only ever got him out of the figures, so he was always a bit lonely.

The cartoon I LOVED!!! It's out on dvd now with 4 eps on each release.

Christmas 1985...

http://www.toysheik.com/images/Rambo.jpg


Now there's a blast from the past.  If i could go back in time, I'd buy the complete Rambo action figure set 8)

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: Abix on 09/29/06 at 11:08 am

My Buddy Dolls
Pound Puppies
Nintendo Game Boys (these were more in the 90's I guess)
here in the twin cities they had "Santa Bears"  that were available through Daytons (aka Marshall Fields, aka Macy's now)
Smurf Dolls
Minature video arcade games (Pac Man, Frogger, Donkey Kong, etc)
Teddy Ruxpin
Barbie with the super long hair.. (I forget her name)
Rubik's Cubes
Simon
Walkman

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: spaceace on 09/30/06 at 8:36 pm

I can remember wanting E.T. stuff. (I still have those damn bedsheets)  I remember the Cabbage Patch Kid craze.  (People were acually getting injured in stores)  Rubixcube.

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: Wiffle on 10/04/06 at 10:18 am

I wonder if the kids ever appreciate the toy as much as the parents think they should after all the efforts to get it before everyone else.

This new tickle me elmo, while it might be cute, how much time until it is thrown on the floor. It just does the same thing over and over. It gets old.

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: quirky_cat_girl on 10/04/06 at 12:32 pm


I wonder if the kids ever appreciate the toy as much as the parents think they should after all the efforts to get it before everyone else.

This new tickle me elmo, while it might be cute, how much time until it is thrown on the floor. It just does the same thing over and over. It gets old.



that's a really good point. As anything...something is much more appreciated if earned by yourself (that's what I always thought). When I would save up my allowance and THEN buy the thing I was wanting...it meant so much more to me.  You are right...most of these toys probably get thrown aside while the Christmas season is still fresh in everyone's mind.

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: Wiffle on 10/04/06 at 2:01 pm

Some parents go out and brawl for the latest fad toy, and the little kid ends up enjoying the box more than the toy.

Whenever I see people posting questions like "what to get for 2 year old birthday" (and yes I frequent a forum with questions like that), I think "empty shoe box" but I don't say that of course.  ;D

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: quirky_cat_girl on 10/04/06 at 3:57 pm


Some parents go out and brawl for the latest fad toy, and the little kid ends up enjoying the box more than the toy.

Whenever I see people posting questions like "what to get for 2 year old birthday" (and yes I frequent a forum with questions like that), I think "empty shoe box" but I don't say that of course.  ;D


that's very true. I also hate whenever parents go out and buy EVERYTHING that has to do with one current fad. For example...my sister-in-law bought EVERYTHING Dora the Explorer for her (very spoiled) daughter....now we all know that the Dora phase for her will probably not last very long (she's already talking a lot about Dragon Tales)...and before the whole Dora thing was the Elmo thing....this girl has so much stuff..there's hardly any place for HER in her own room. ::)

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: MaxwellSmart on 10/04/06 at 8:56 pm

Elmo was for a later generation Sesame Streeters.  I didn't have an Elmo.  I had an Ernie.  Whatever happened to Ernie?  I liked Ernie.  He went away in late childhood.  I know not where.  I guess he felt neglected.  Sorry Ernie, wherever you are!
:\'(

Kenner got a heluva lot of mileage out of their Star Wars line.  They kept introducing bigger, flashier, more expensive (oh, yes, dear parents, more expensive...muuahahhaha!) toy lines.  I remember my stepbrother wanted the big Empire Strikes Back AT-AT model (remember the snow walkers from the Hoth scene?)  Anyway, that boy seemed to think it was the Comstock lode.  My stepmother didn't want to get him one...even for xmas!  I remember her grousing to my father about it,
"Fifty-two dollars for a piece of plastic it cost half a cent to make!"
"Well," my father replied, "It certainly didn't cost half a cent to market!"
Both had a point, but my stepbrother never got his AT-AT!
Of course today it costs $52.00 for a f**king plastic Slinky, not even a proper metal one, but in the long-past days of 1982, $52.00 was a considerable sum for any toy!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/14/nono.gif

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: Tam on 10/05/06 at 12:43 am

My sister keeps calling and calling to see if I have found:
The Littlest Pet Shop pony and the Hamster Digital Pet!
Had the hardest time finding them thats for sure!

I remember when Big Wheels came out and everyone went nuts to try and get one!

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: karen on 10/05/06 at 3:38 am




Kenner got a heluva lot of mileage out of their Star Wars line.  They kept introducing bigger, flashier, more expensive (oh, yes, dear parents, more expensive...muuahahhaha!) toy lines.  I remember my stepbrother wanted the big Empire Strikes Back AT-AT model (remember the snow walkers from the Hoth scene?) 


There's one complete with box for sale in a local charity shop.  D'ya want me to buy it?

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: gemini on 10/05/06 at 4:24 pm


that's very true. I also hate whenever parents go out and buy EVERYTHING that has to do with one current fad. For example...my sister-in-law bought EVERYTHING Dora the Explorer for her (very spoiled) daughter....now we all know that the Dora phase for her will probably not last very long (she's already talking a lot about Dragon Tales)...and before the whole Dora thing was the Elmo thing....this girl has so much stuff..there's hardly any place for HER in her own room. ::)

My daughter went through that with the New Kids On The Block stuff. Sheets, lunchbox, dolls, etc.... of course I was the one buying the crap, so . . . . .  :-[

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: quirky_cat_girl on 10/05/06 at 7:22 pm


My daughter went through that with the New Kids On The Block stuff. Sheets, lunchbox, dolls, etc.... of course I was the one buying the crap, so . . . . .  :-[



oh me too! I don't think there was anything that I didn't have regarding them! :D

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: gemini on 10/05/06 at 7:26 pm



oh me too! I don't think there was anything that I didn't have regarding them! :D

Me and another mother took our girls to go see them. Oh my god, it was torture! The little screaming girls was like no noise I've ever heard in my life!  :o

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: quirky_cat_girl on 10/05/06 at 7:27 pm


Me and another mother took our girls to go see them. Oh my god, it was torture! The little screaming girls was like no noise I've ever heard in my life!  :o


ya know...I never could get tickets to their concerts..everytime I would try they would always be sold out...like THAT day they went on sale! ;D :D

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: gemini on 10/05/06 at 7:29 pm


ya know...I never could get tickets to their concerts..everytime I would try they would always be sold out...like THAT day they went on sale! ;D :D

They were a hot commodity, that's for sure!

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: quirky_cat_girl on 10/05/06 at 7:30 pm


They were a hot commodity, that's for sure!



oh heck ya!  I remember wanting to marry Joe McIntyre, and not knowing what I would do if that wish wouldn't come true!  :D ;D

Subject: Re: Holiday Toy Crazes

Written By: gemini on 10/05/06 at 7:36 pm



oh heck ya!  I remember wanting to marry Joe McIntyre, and not knowing what I would do if that wish wouldn't come true!  :D ;D

;D  ;D  :D  Sounds familiar!!!

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