Batang ‘90s : Part I – Childhood Toys

1990 is my birth year and by the time it started and moved towards the first 2 years of 2000, the years that held most of my happy childhood memories were brought to pass. As far as my memory is concerned, I was able to recall those significant objects that become symbolic of my juvenility days. I am quite grateful that I was allowed to enjoy my childhood and was left to become a kid and act just like most of the kids in our neighborhood were given the privilege to. Although there were moments when my mother would always make us help on the household jobs and on our owned small selling business, she wasn’t really that strict on allowing us to get dirty and play outside. And even if we aren’t that rich, we still received fair accumulation of toys to enjoy.

So as part of my project ‘90s posts, I’ll start with enumerating my top favorite ‘90s TOYS. Some of these had now become obsolete while others were recreated. And I’m sure most of the pictures below are very familiar to you too, well, unless you aren’t a mighty ninety’s kid. Hehehe. Here we go.

1. Mattel Dolls

These used to be one of McDonald’s happy meal collections of mini Barbies. I remember I got three; two of them looked exactly the same as the picture here. It became trendy to young girls around years ’96 and ’97. I would bathe them, made them beds from folded handkerchiefs, cut their hair and even brought them with me to church every Sunday mass.

2. Brick Game

Who wouldn’t remember these, for Christ’s sake? This puzzle game is also popularly known as Tetris but uses tiny gray blocks instead. It’s quite addictive and served as a very good past time for bored kids and teenagers when PSPs and Nintendos were still unaffordable. It was later on refurbished from bulky handheld gadgets into cellular phones replicas that will make you looked like you’re texting when in reality you’re just busy filling the blocks. And hey, I could still remember that familiar tone it makes whenever the lines are cleared and every time you leveled up.

3. Old School Gameboys

Thanks to my father who bought us one when he was abroad. This became handy when I learned how to play it and when I got addicted playing the Tamagotchi-like game , I forgot the name, where I get to take care of an alien pet that looked more like an onion with a face , nurture it until it lays egg and die and so forth. Gameboys before are still set with tapes to be inserted in the back unlike today when Gameboys are being made with built in memories.

4. Play-Doh

Play-Dohs are the same with Clays but probably safer than Clays I think. And I remember it is softer and malleable than most normal clays were. It’s a great medium to get creative back then, when my sister and cousins and I would mold something fun out of it, mostly food forms, so we’ll have some pseudo foods to use during our play house sessions. I guess Play-Dohs are still well appreciated by kids ‘til now.

5. Rainbow Slinkys

Having to toss this non-complex spiral creation with my hands was just enough bustle to keep me entertained whenever I don’t feel like joining in to outdoor vigor. My slinky doesn’t last for days, though. It becomes all tangled up soon after I’m bought with a new one.

6. Troll Dolls

I can’t remember exactly why trolls became so “in” as toys. They looked cute at the same time creepy. I was able to collect some, those kinds with no gems stuck on their bellies.

7. Marbles / Jolens

Geez. Remember those days when you get to compete against your play mates on who have collected the most number of Jolens? There are lots of ways to play marbles and one of them was to aim and shoot it into a dirt hole, rocking it like billiard and golf balls. I remember I was so fascinated with the colorful insides of a marble, wondered how it’s made, and if I’ll ever get to retrieve the ribbon like something inside these crystal balls if I break them, but turned out, they are just colored ball glasses. Jolens aren’t extinct yet but how we used to play it on our own before, even us girls, made us truly remember the days.

8. Polly Pockets

This is the only toy item in this list that I didn’t get the chance to own but the toy I consider as one of my favorite toy ever. My childhood best friend named Maricar would let me play her beautiful sets of polly pockets every time I went to stay at their house to play. I just adore its miniature cute details, the mini objects forming a mini salon, mini spa, mini mall, mini resort, and you get to manipulate these tiny people around it. I enjoyed it so much, well actually, I got crazy with it!! Hehe.

9. Anime Cards/Teks

In bisaya terminology we call these small cards, “teks” while the act of playing it was commonly called “apir apir”. Nyahaha. These cards usually held the faces of the famous cartoon characters from those popular afternoon TV shows before (Dragon Ball Z, Flame of Recca, Pokemon etc.). I’m guilty playing this with my boy cousin. I don’t really collect cards, I would only gather a few and play it with my cousin then I get to own more if I win. Playing it was just simply placing the card faced up in your palm, then using the same hand with the card sticking to it , you’re supposed to give your rival a strong high five. Whoever gets their card lying on the ground faced up, he wins more cards from the other.

10. Paperdolls

For us little pinoy girls, (us commoners. Hehe) not getting the chance to own or play paper dolls was a childhood not completely lived. Unlike today, when the cost of a peso could still buy us something decent, it was pure joy to go to a street vendor or a mini store to pay only one peso for one - if you’re luckier, more paper doll sets. My best friend Mimie and I used to be so “into it” that we didn’t really care if we should be getting junk foods instead. We see to it that we had that latest Sailormoon , the Jessie and James or the Power puff girls set then we’d go on through the summer collecting, dressing up our cardboard dolls and playing them up ‘til we’re sick of it.

11. Plastic Balloon

The famous plastic balloons formed from those cheap colorful pastes packed with that tiny tube stick. I was feeling proud with myself every time I created big clear balloons , loved popping it up with holes so I can blow more air into it, until it bulges and pops away. Sounds gross, but I sometimes thought of chewing it like a bubblegum coz it tastes good. Hehe.

12. Jackstone

Although I sucked a little with this kind of game, it’s my favorite indoor play. The bouncing of the ball and the satisfaction you get for scooping up the entire “stars” would give you a goody feeling. My sister used to be the pro on this while I’d only make it up to picking one and then two stars.