Nostalgic toys we played with as kids—there are a few that come to your mind too, right?
From those that are still popular and on the market to ones you hardly see anymore, there are all kinds of toys.
Some might not come to mind right away, but the moment you see them, you’ll think, “This! I used to play with this all the time!!” and be instantly transported back to childhood.
In this article, we’ll introduce a wide range of nostalgic toys across different eras.
See if your favorite toy makes an appearance.
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Nostalgic toys that were popular in childhood (1–10)
Tamagotchi
When it comes to nostalgic toys, Tamagotchi is almost guaranteed to come up! Being able to raise a Tamagotchi on a palm-sized device was revolutionary, and ever since the original model was released, new series have kept coming out one after another.
That’s why it’s probably a nostalgic toy for a wide range of generations.
By the way, I’m sure many of us have had the experience of coming back from school to find our Tamagotchi covered in poop and dead…
Game Boy Pocket Camera
It’s a camera released in 1998 that connects to the Game Boy.
Nowadays, cameras are built into smartphones and game consoles, but being able to take photos with a cartridge that had a camera lens was pretty revolutionary at the time, wasn’t it? What’s more, you could even print the photos with a separately sold printer! Even today, Nintendo lets you create avatar-like characters to play with, but it turns out you could do things like that back then, too!
Choro-Q
When it comes to miniature cars, Takara Tomy’s Tomica is famous, but we can’t forget Choro-Q either! While Tomica faithfully replicates real vehicles, Choro-Q’s charm lies in its adorable silhouette with slightly exaggerated proportions.
The built-in wind-up pullback action makes them cute as they run, and I bet many people tried to make them do wheelies by wedging a 10-yen coin in the back of the car body.
Battle Pencil
Battle pencils featuring Dragon Quest monsters.
Each face of the hexagonal pencil had a special move written on it, and you’d roll the pencil to determine the outcome of the battle.
Some were rare, and if you had one of those glittering, shiny pencils, you were the hero of the class! There are probably quite a few people who thought it was too precious to sharpen and just stored it in the closet as is.
B-Daman
B-Daman, a toy that became popular as a spinoff from Bomberman released for the Famicom, featured a chibi, two-heads-tall character that you’d load with a marble in its belly and then fire.
On either side of the muzzle were parts called “hold parts,” and by adjusting how firmly you pressed them with your hands, you could curve shots left or right or fire faster shots.
You could aim at targets and play in various ways.
Besides the chibi model, there was also a larger version that could shoot marbles in rapid succession by turning a handle, right?
Water game
It’s that thing with lots of rings inside a water-filled container.
When you press the attached button, it creates a current in the water and the rings shoot up.
The goal is to hook the rings onto the pegs inside the container.
There were various series, from slightly larger ones to smaller, handy-sized versions, right? It’s extremely simple, but I think many of us played it obsessively as kids.
Kids Computer PICO
It was one of the educational toys released by Sega from 1993 to 2005.
Since commercials were frequently aired during children’s programs, I imagine many people back then wanted it badly.
The touch pen, the picture-book-style software, and the ability to connect to a TV were all really appealing.
In fact, it’s said to have been developed by repurposing the design of Sega’s Mega Drive game console.