STUDIO: Hi there and welcome to ‘You Know
you’re a 90’s Kid’ – The show that relives the good times of your youth and
reunites you with some of the best loved toys of the 90’s!
To kick us off, we got something that can
only be described as small, scary and just plain ugly! This strange fad of the
90’s had people buying in their thousands. So what was it about these weird
little creatures that had us kids hooked? At number 10, it’s none other than
the bizarre Troll Dolls!
VOICEOVER: Originally made in the 1950’s,
troll dolls became an instant hit with kids. However, the fad quickly died out
and it wasn’t until the early 1990’s that we once again saw the popularity of
these little creatures hit an all time high. In addition to the dolls,
manufacturers also made troll key rings, jewellery and clothing.
INTERVIEWS AND FOUND FOOTAGE
Coming up next we’ve got something that the
90s girls went mad for! They were less than 1 inch tall, made of plastic and
lived in tiny little houses big enough to fit in your pocket. You’ve guessed
it... Polly Pocket is at number 9!
VOICEOVER: Distributed in the early 1990’s,
Polly Pocket stole the hearts of many kids around the world. Originally sold by
Bluebird Toys in the UK, Polly Pocket was hugely popular from 1990 all the way
up until 1998 when Mattel took over the toy, changing its appearance to a much
taller doll. Polly represented the confident,
cool, popular blonde girl who loves having fun, adventures, and most
importantly, friends.
INTERVIEWS AND FOUND FOOTAGE
STUDIO: Next up is the massively popular
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Originally starting out as a comic book and then
leading on to a television show, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were a team of 4
anthropomorphic turtles who fought crime from their home in the storm sewers of
New York City.
VOICEOVER: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
action figures, vehicles, costumes and accessories were produced in their
thousands, becoming one of the most successful merchandising franchises of the
decade. It brought in millions across the globe.
INTERVIEWS AND FOUND FOOTAGE
STUDIO: Do you remember the hours you spent
looking after that little digital pet that needed your constant care and
attention? The Tamagotchi, first invented in 1996 was a global phenomenon,
selling in its millions. For those of you that don’t know, the Tamagotchi was a
small hand held virtual pet simulation game for kids. Since their invention,
over 76 million Tamagotchis have been sold worldwide.
VOICEOVER: The concept of Tamagotchi was simple – your virtual pet
is a small alien species that hatched on earth to see what life is like on our
planet. The characters are colourful, simplistic creatures based on animals,
objects and people. It is the player’s job to raise the egg into an adult
creature. The more you care for your creature, the smarter and happier it
becomes.
INTERVIEWS AND FOUND FOOTAGE
STUDIO:
Number 6 on our list is a game that was inspirited by bottle caps – Pogs. Pogs
were small round pieces of decorated cardboard that players would collect in
order to compete against their components. The aim of the game was for each
player to build a stack of pogs and then use the ‘slammer’ to hit the stack and
make the pogs scatter. Each player keeps any pogs that land face-up after their
throw. The player with the most pogs at the end is named the winner!
VOICEOVER: Inspired
by a Hawaiian game which consisted of bottle caps rather than cardboard, Pogs
returned to popularity when the World POG Federation and the Canada Games
Company reintroduced them to the public in the 1990s. The pog fad soared, and
peaked in the mid 1990s before rapidly fading out. Pogs were so popular with
children they quickly became banned from schools, as teachers felt the pogs
represented a form of gambling.
INTERVIEWS
AND FOUND FOOTAGE
STUDIO: We’re
halfway through our countdown now and at number 5 we have the infamous Power
Rangers! Catapulting onto our screens in
August 1993, Power Rangers were a team of 5 teenagers who were trained to morph
into Rangers with special powers in order to defeat evil forces that threatened
humanity.
VOICEOVER:
This popular TV show inspired the making of numerous action figures and other
Power Rangers merchandise. Action Figures came in all the colours of the shows
characters and were complete with Zords – their special crime-fighting
machines.
INTERVIEWS AND FOUND FOOTAGE
STUDIO: At number 4 it’s the revolutionary Gameboy from Nintendo! This
hand-held video game device was first released in Europe in September 1990. It
was the first of its kind in the Gameboy line of hand held consoles. As one of
the worlds’s best selling game systems, the Gameboy and its successor the
Gameboy Colour sold over 118.69 million units worldwide.
VOICEOVER: Gameboy was originally sold in a bundle with the popular puzzle
game, Tetris. The aim of the game was to rotate falling shapes in order to fit
them in to a horizontal line with no gaps. Other popular games included Baseball,
Tennis and Super Mario Land.
INTERVIEWS AND FOUND FOOTAGE
STUDIO: We’re about to enter the top 3 toys of 90’s, as voted for by none
other than us 90’s kids! At number 3, it’s the cute, fury, and incredibly
annoying Furbies. The Furby was the first ever successful attempt at creating a
domestically-aimed robot. This small electronic creature that resembled a cross
between a hamster and an owl became a must-have toy in the 90’s.
VOICEOVER: This popular toy sold over 40 million units and was available in
24 languages. Furbies started out speaking the fictional language of ‘Furbish.’
The more you played with your Furby, the better its English would become. The
idea was to create a toy that resembled the process of learning English.
INTERVIEWS AND FOUND FOOTAGE
STUDIO: At number 2, we have the incredibly popular and massively
collectable Beanie Babies. These stuffed animals were filled with plastic
pellets rather than conventional stuffing, hence the name ‘Beanie Baby.’ Made
by toy manufacturer, TY INC in 1993, Beanie Babies flew off the shelves and
became one of the most collected items of the decade.
VOICEOVER: TY Warner, the founder of TY INC came up with many marketing strategies
in order to sell these popular cuddly toys. Personification was one way in
which he did this. Every Beanie Baby had a Ty tag with a unique name, a
background story to include a birthday, and a poem. This increased the
product's appeal by adding a personal connection with the buyer. It was no
longer just a stuffed animal.
INTERVIEWS AND FOUND FOOTAGE
STUDIO: So, we’ve seen everything from
Troll Dolls to Polly Pocket, from Tamagotchis to Power Rangers but now it’s time
to reveal number 1 of our top ten most popular 90’s toys! It’s one of the most
successful media franchises in the world. It’s none other than Pokémon!
VOICEOVER: From video games to anime to
trading cards and toys, Japanese media franchise, Pokémon, is one of the world’s
most successful toy merchandisers. Originally starting out as a video game for Nintendo
in 1996, the concept of Pokémon, in
both the video games and the general fictional world, stems from the hobby of insect
collecting. Players of the games are designated as Pokémon Trainers. The aim of
the game is to collect all the available Pokémon species and to train them to
compete against teams owned by other trainers. The ultimate aim is to become
the Pokémon Master! These themes of collecting, training, and battling are
present in almost every version of the Pokémon franchise, including the video
games, the anime and manga series, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
INTERVIEWS AND FOUND FOOTAGE
STUDIO:
So that’s it! We’ve brought back the nostalgic 90’s to you in this top ten
countdown of your favourite kids toys! Join me next time, on ‘You Know you’re A
90’s Kid’ when we’ll be reliving some of the greatest 90’s musical hits of your
youth! Thanks for watching!
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