Did anyone on here notice that there wasn’t as many great TV shows, movies, toys, and books for children in the late 80s as there were before then?

Let me show you what I’m talking about:

1980-1983: “Strawberry Shortcake”, Mattel “Slime”, The “Star Wars” movies, “The Muppets Show”, “Pac-Man”, “Ms Pac-Man”, “E.T.”, Fruit Roll Ups, Modern “Barbie” (including the new ethnic ones), Intellivision, Atari, Fashion Plates, Atari 2600, Rubik’s Cube, Simon, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” toys, “Dukes of Hazzard” toys, “Popeye” movie, “Annie” movie, “Power Wheel”, “Slip N Slide”, “Silver Spoons”, “Diff’rent Strokes”, “Cabbage Patch Kids”, Thriller jackets, Penny Racers, Kangaroos, “The A-Team” memorabilia, “Knight Rider” memorabilia, “Masters of the Universe”, “The Smurfs”, Wacky Wall Walker, Smokey Bear PSAs, “Family Ties”, “Richie Rich”, “Superman 2”, “Scooby Doo”, “Clash of the Titans” toys, “Tron”, BMX bikes, “Superfriends”, Freezy Freakies, “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero”, “Fraggle Rock”, Trapper Keeper, “Reading Rainbow”, “Mr Wizard’s World”, Chia Pets, Trivial Pursuit

1984-1986: “Punky Brewster”, “Webster”, “Transformers”, “Voltron”, Casio Calculator watches, “Glow Worms”, “My Little Pony”, “Care Bears”, “Rainbow Brite”, “Jem”, “Thundercats”, “Snorks”, “The Goonies”, “Gremlins”, “Small Wonder”, “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure”, “Pee Wee’s Playhouse”, Scratch and Sniff stickers, “Garbage Pail Kids”, “Madballs”, Day Glo colored shirts, “Pound Puppies”, New Coke, “Air Jordans”, “ALF”, Swatch, Mets hats (‘86 World Series), “The Cosby Show”, “Top Gun” shirts, “Run DMC” shirts, Nintendo Entertainment System (NA release), “Double Dare”, “227”, “Mr Belvedere”, Unicorn show at Ringling Bros. Circus, LA Gear sneakers, Monster Trucks, Wrestlemania, Teddy Ruxpin, Sour Patch Kids candy, My Buddy Playskool dolls, “Short Circuit”, “Head of the Class”, “Three Amigos”, “Growing Pains”, “Who’s the Boss?”, “The California Raisins”, “Avoid the Noid”, “Charles in Charge”, “MacGuyver”, “Ghostbusters” shirts, Janet Jackson’s Control, “Where’s the Beef?”, “Miami Vice” look, Jenga, “Lucas”

1987-1989: Bolo ties, “Full House”, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, Micro Machines, Colored Converse high top sneakers, Acid wash denim, biker shorts, Crash Test Dummies PSAs, “Harry and the Hendersons”, “Win, Lose, or Draw!”, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”, “My Two Dads”, “Max Headroom”, Teddy Grahams, New Kids on the Block, “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”, “Batman”, Gameboy, Milli Vanilli, Paula Abdul, “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, “The Little Mermaid”, Stuck-On You Garfield dolls, Rock N Roll Flowers, “Family Matters”, “Saved by the Bell”, Where’s Waldo, “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”, Choose Your Own Adventure books


Did things mellow out towards the end of the 1980s? What happened? Please discuss everything here.

Did anyone on here notice that there wasn’t as many great TV shows, movies, toys, and books for children in the late 80s as there were before then?

Let me show you what I’m talking about:

1980-1983: “Strawberry Shortcake”, Mattel “Slime”, The “Star Wars” movies, “The Muppets Show”, “Pac-Man”, “Ms Pac-Man”, “E.T.”, Fruit Roll Ups, Modern “Barbie” (including the new ethnic ones), Intellivision, Atari, Fashion Plates, Atari 2600, Rubik’s Cube, Simon, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” toys, “Dukes of Hazzard” toys, “Popeye” movie, “Annie” movie, “Power Wheel”, “Slip N Slide”, “Silver Spoons”, “Diff’rent Strokes”, “Cabbage Patch Kids”, Thriller jackets, Penny Racers, Kangaroos, “The A-Team” memorabilia, “Knight Rider” memorabilia, “Masters of the Universe”, “The Smurfs”, Wacky Wall Walker, Smokey Bear PSAs, “Family Ties”, “Richie Rich”, “Superman 2”, “Scooby Doo”, “Clash of the Titans” toys, “Tron”, BMX bikes, “Superfriends”, Freezy Freakies, “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero”, “Fraggle Rock”, Trapper Keeper, “Reading Rainbow”, “Mr Wizard’s World”, Chia Pets, Trivial Pursuit

1984-1986: “Punky Brewster”, “Webster”, “Transformers”, “Voltron”, Casio Calculator watches, “Glow Worms”, “My Little Pony”, “Care Bears”, “Rainbow Brite”, “Jem”, “Thundercats”, “Snorks”, “The Goonies”, “Gremlins”, “Small Wonder”, “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure”, “Pee Wee’s Playhouse”, Scratch and Sniff stickers, “Garbage Pail Kids”, “Madballs”, Day Glo colored shirts, “Pound Puppies”, New Coke, “Air Jordans”, “ALF”, Swatch, Mets hats (‘86 World Series), “The Cosby Show”, “Top Gun” shirts, “Run DMC” shirts, Nintendo Entertainment System (NA release), “Double Dare”, “227”, “Mr Belvedere”, Unicorn show at Ringling Bros. Circus, LA Gear sneakers, Monster Trucks, Wrestlemania, Teddy Ruxpin, Sour Patch Kids candy, My Buddy Playskool dolls, “Short Circuit”, “Head of the Class”, “Three Amigos”, “Growing Pains”, “Who’s the Boss?”, “The California Raisins”, “Avoid the Noid”, “Charles in Charge”, “MacGuyver”, “Ghostbusters” shirts, Janet Jackson’s Control, “Where’s the Beef?”, “Miami Vice” look, Jenga, “Lucas”

1987-1989: Bolo ties, “Full House”, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, Micro Machines, Colored Converse high top sneakers, Acid wash denim, biker shorts, Crash Test Dummies PSAs, “Harry and the Hendersons”, “Win, Lose, or Draw!”, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”, “My Two Dads”, “Max Headroom”, Teddy Grahams, New Kids on the Block, “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”, “Batman”, Gameboy, Milli Vanilli, Paula Abdul, “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, “The Little Mermaid”, Stuck-On You Garfield dolls, Rock N Roll Flowers, “Family Matters”, “Saved by the Bell”, Where’s Waldo, “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”, Choose Your Own Adventure books


Did things mellow out towards the end of the 1980s? What happened? Please discuss everything here.


You missed DuckTales, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Pocket Rockers, the Girl Talk board game, Oliver & Company, Beetlejuice, Hey Dude, Finder's Keepers, Fun House, the Karate Kid cartoon, the Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Captain N and the Game Master, Colecto Jamball, Scribble Stix, and of course the numerous NES classics released during that time: The first two Zelda games, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, the first two Mega Man games, Tetris, Ninja Gaiden, Contra, the first two Castlevania games, the original Final Fantasy game, and much more! I'd say the entire decade was pretty well balanced in terms of stuff for kids. The '90s was almost as good, but the '00s and especially this decade haven't been as remarkable, and Fortnight is no Pokemon!

You missed DuckTales, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Pocket Rockers, the Girl Talk board game, Oliver & Company, Beetlejuice, Hey Dude, Finder's Keepers, Fun House, the Karate Kid cartoon, the Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Captain N and the Game Master, Colecto Jamball, Scribble Stix, and of course the numerous NES classics released during that time: The first two Zelda games, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, the first two Mega Man games, Tetris, Ninja Gaiden, Contra, the first two Castlevania games, the original Final Fantasy game, and much more! I'd say the entire decade was pretty well balanced in terms of stuff for kids. The '90s was almost as good, but the '00s and especially this decade haven't been as remarkable, and Fortnight is no Pokemon!


I meant the stuff important to pop culture. “Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out”, “The Legend of Zelda”, and “Tetris” are under the category of NES and Gameboy for me. I left out “Polly Pocket”, Afrocentric accessories, and fanny packs. Anyway you look at it, the late 80s did not give us as much as the eras before it did.