Has anyone noticed that a bunch of the classic toy lines from back in the 80s seem to be making a comeback now? Transformers, Masters of the Universe and Ninja Turtles have all been reincarnated as new versions in the past few years, and while I was walking through the kid's section of a department store recently, I noticed that My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears have  been revived as well(though I'm not sure if Care Bears ever went away):

http://www.hasbro.com/mylittlepony/
http://www.strawberryshortcake.com/
http://www.care-bears.com/CareBears/html/index.html

I think part of the reason for the comeback might be that now the kids from the 80s are all grown up, a lot of them are the ones working for toy companies and making the decisions about what new products should be sold.

Also, now that kids from the 80s are grown up, they're starting to have kids of their own, and when they go shopping for their kids, they're more likely to notice the toys and characters that they themselves grew up with. A 28 year old mom or dad today was an 8 year old boy or girl twenty years ago, and probably remembers playing with Transformers and Strawberry Shortcake then.

I've gotta say it kind of depresses me to think that people my age are having kids. It makes me realize I'm getting old.  :(

Oh well, guess it's inevitable. I'll just have to learn to deal with it...

about 3 years ago, I bought a rubik's cube!    8)    Not sure if it's making a comeback though.

Add to it Cabbage Patch Kids.

http://www.cabbagepatchkids.com/

I'm all for it, kids need some innocence in their lives

Good things never go away. ;) Too many of the toys from the present are violent. Why not go back in time to when youth was innocent and creative.

Agreed, although the originals were a million times better, especially Transformers. They need to do commemorative re-issues of the original Ninja Turtles toys though like they did with He-man & Transformers. The old Ninja Turtles toys looked waaaaaay better & not to mention the old cartoon & theme song was so much more fun & better than the new one. Have you heard the new theme song at the start of the new Ninja Turtles cartoon, pffffft it sucks donkey dick. Not to mention Apil O'neil is drawn all trendy like one of those Brats Fashion Diva toys with the bellbottoms etc *cringe* she looks nothing like a reporter & looks too young to be a reporter. At least in the original they exagerated the stereo types a bit to ephasise what each character is & their role etc. & where the hell are Bebop & Rocksteady. I loved those 2 & always loved fighting them in the arcade game. I remember in 1989 a current affair program here in Australia did a story on how parents were kicking up a stink about how the Ninja Turtles arcade game was too voilent & i remember thinking what bullsh!t. Only 5 or 6 years later Mortal Kombat was released aswell. I remember though when that current affair story about the Turtles arcade game was on in my aunty & uncle were over & it only put wind in their sails. I was just thinking ohhhh here we go. So i turned around to them & said, how would you know you've never even sat down & watched one episode & your just basing your opinion on what you hear & what every other adult who is the same as you says about it. Then i explained how they barely ever even use their weapons unless it was for slicing pizza or something like that & i pulled out an episode i had taped off TV back then & showed them how Leonardo only used his sword to cut a peice of wire fence & then wrapped the footsoldiers in the bit of wire fenced he'd cut. They were so wrong & they knew it. :) Damn that arcade game kicked serious a** though, still never get enough of it & love playing it on my Mame 32 arcade emulator. Even have a custom built usb arcade joystick with real arcade machine bottons & stick used from a actual arcade macine. It's totally nuts. Anyway i'm getting off the topic now. Yeah there is a massive revival & so there should. The 80s never ended in my mind & continue to live on.   

I seen He-man stuff out on the shelves recently.

Some of the old school NES games made their way to the game boy world, such as Super Mario Bros/Legend of Zelda.

Cool idea, but still not the same as having an actual Nintendo with all the actual game cartridges & the original controllers. Also it's so much better to be able to play them on a big TV screen instead of a tiny little screen. I Still own a Nintendo & i bought a Gameboy Advance a few years ago & sometimes on certain angles or if there's too much light in the room you can't see the screen properly & it goes all dark.
They've also released stuff like all the Sonic The Hedgehog on one game disc as a Sonic Collection for PS2. They've done it so that some of the games a unaccessable untill you finnish others that are available which unlocks the unavailable ones. Also Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 - Battle Nexus the second game based on the new cartoon series allows you to unlock the original Ninja Turtles arcade game. It's on PS2 aswell. It's great for people who can't be bothered with or aren't aware of the arcade emulators. Then you've got the Activision Anthology etc etc etc. But yeah lots of stuff from the 80s & early 90s in terms of video games is being brought back & repackaged in just another form & that period is when games were at their best. 

I wasn't into Nintendo or Game Boy or even owned either of them for that matter.  I consider those 90's stuff.  Back in 1998, a former co-worker of mine still owned an Atari 2600 and somehow this came up in our day to day conversation. I borrowed it for one week. I LOVED it. My older brother and I played against each other, and had a blast. This brought back memories of us growing up in the 80's playing Atari. Me being younger, always still complaining about the joystick not being able to move my airplane in combat. It was the 3 small jet fighter vs 1 big bomber (me). I always lose against him. I can still hear him laughing now, while I still complain.  >:(    Some things never change. We always had fun playing Atari, but at my expense.

I mentioned this in the "cartoons" thread... I class alot of late 80's stuff as 90's as most continued in popularity throughout the 90's. I played Tetris on Gameboy and that was about the extent of my game.

I love seeing all the toys from our era comeback.  I'm not overly fond of Strawberry Shortcake's new look though.
I liked the 80's doll better. 

I really liked the Fisher Price sets...I would collect the furniture pieces are make houses from boxes....

Good things never go away. ;) Too many of the toys from the present are violent. Why not go back in time to when youth was innocent and creative.


Well, I don't really think you can say that all the toys from the 80s were not violent. When you look at cartoons like Transformers, GI Joe, and Ninja Turtles, you have to admit that they were pretty rough and brutal.

Not to mention Apil O'neil is drawn all trendy like one of those Brats Fashion Diva toys with the bellbottoms etc *cringe* she looks nothing like a reporter & looks too young to be a reporter.


In the new Ninja Turtles cartoon, April O'Neil isn't supposed to be a reporter anymore. They made her into an office clerk, or secretary, or something. And they made her a bit younger, too. She was 28 in the original, and she's 20 or 21 in the new one.

Well, I don't really think you can say that all the toys from the 80s were not violent. When you look at cartoons like Transformers, GI Joe, and Ninja Turtles, you have to admit that they were pretty rough and brutal.

Ninja Turtles wasn't violent LOL i can't believe people still say that in this day & age, it makes me laugh. The old one wasn't violent anyway. They never even used their weapons except for maybe in the 2 pilot episodes. After that it was toned down & they were too busy being baffoons. Watch the episodes of the old cartoon if you can get the DVD & you'll see what i mean. Transformers wasn't voilent or brutal either. Manga cartoons on the other hand are brutal & violent. Who ever says Ninja Turtles & Transformers is violent or brutal is soft LOL. I can't speak for GI Joe though because i never realy got into it so i don't remember it all that well.

In the new Ninja Turtles cartoon, April O'Neil isn't supposed to be a reporter anymore. They made her into an office clerk, or secretary, or something. And they made her a bit younger, too. She was 28 in the original, and she's 20 or 21 in the new one.

That's besides the point the new one still sucks. New age garb, like all the other revamps of old cartoons. Can't beat the original, the original is always the best & a remake has never been an improvement from what i've seen. Just a cheap imitation of an old & successful concept.

Transformers wasn't voilent or brutal either. Manga cartoons on the other hand are brutal & violent. Who ever says Ninja Turtles & Transformers is violent or brutal is soft LOL.

I have to disagree here. Transformers had quite violent fight scenes. Remember in the movie when the Decepticons boarded the Autobot space ship and killed everyone on board? And what about the fight scene between Optimus Prime and Megatron in the movie? It was rather brutal, and both of them got killed.

Yes but they are robots not people. You have to remember what context it's in here. Besides i'm into a lot of violent stuff & The Transformers doesn't even come close. There's a difference between action & violence. Also the movie had a lot more action & the regular episodes were pretty tame in comparison, usually consting of problem solving over shooting or fighting & when there were battles in the regular series you hardly ever saw anyone get hit. Geez i hope you're not that strict on your kids about the whole violence issue.

Yes but they are robots not people. You have to remember what context it's in here. Besides i'm into a lot of violent stuff & The Transformers doesn't even come close. There's a difference between action & violence. Also the movie had a lot more action & the regular episodes were pretty tame in comparison, usually consting of problem solving over shooting or fighting & when there were battles in the regular series you hardly ever saw anyone get hit. Geez i hope you're not that strict on your kids about the whole violence issue.



I was pretty horrified by so many of the Autobots getting killed when the space ship was boarded. Ironhide was one of my favourite characters! And the scene with Optimus Prime on his deathbed was pretty heart wrenching also. I know quite a few guys who say they cried when Optimus died!

I was pretty horrified by so many of the Autobots getting killed when the space ship was boarded. Ironhide was one of my favourite characters! And the scene with Optimus Prime on his deathbed was pretty heart wrenching also. I know quite a few guys who say they cried when Optimus died!

Oh yeah i'm generally a bit of a hard a** & i hadn't seen the Transformers movie since the 80s up untill about 3 years ago & i can tell you i got a lump in my throat & i could feel my eyes water up. I mean i know he's only a cartoon character but after growing up with these you begin to feel like they are a part of one's life & a kind of attatchment to them. Don't get me wrong i love the Decepticons. They have great & interesting characters, but Transformers is not Transformers without Optimus Prime. He's the ultimate leader/hereo character. If only our real leaders were even half as good as him.

Pound puppys came back out.

Soooo many 80's toys have made a comeback! It is because they know the coolest toys were made in the 80's.  ;)

Teddy Ruxpin is back!

www.teddyruxpin.com

www.backpacktoys.com

the new strawberry shortcakes suck....they're so boring looking.

Popples are back!

www.playmatestoys.com/html/corporate/pressreleases/Popples_Oct_ToyFair_2006.pdf

I have two original Popples myself.

He-Man made a comeback, and now with the Transformers movie, the Transformers toys are as popular now as they were in the 80s 8)

I have two original Popples myself.



so do i. i got it at a garage sale. it's the orange one named puzzle.

i wonder if they're gonna do a jem & the holograms remake?

Don't know.

I've kept quite a few of my original 80's toys, like my Cabbage Patch Kids, Popples, Care Bears, Barbies, JEM dolls, and Rainbow Brite. I think it's great to see a lot of these toys making a comeback over the past few years, but they will never EVER compare to the originals. I still think the 80's had the best toys ever!  :D

"Robot Chicken" featured 80s toys  :D

Too bad Sunscreen (Transformer) is now a port a potty  :P

i'm happy for alot of the remakes. i like to collect the transformers and gi joe stuff.