Toys and Pop Culture from the 1980s By Susana Aguilar

The 80s had a very distinct personalitu to its pop culture phenomena,It was in the 80s that we saw the first mass explosion of hysteria for new toys,with the 1983 winter shortage of Cabbage Patch Dolls. One of the biggest pop culture crazes of its times,the individual named and crafted cabbage patch dolls join the ranks of the dolls of each decade, reflecting the eternal power of the doll.

Trivial Pursuit,a response to few decades of mass information and the development of world wide pop culture, also appered in 1983 and remainds today as an after dinner favorite to show off all that jeopardy worthy information you keep locked away.

Flash foward a few years ,and the electronic toy age kicks into gear with the introduction of hundreds of new toys that could talk n move, about and imitate favorite cartoon characters.


The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hit it big at the end of the decade, unleashing a blitzkierg of marketing on the nation, and other 80s favorites followed with shows like Transformeres or He-Man. The action figure craze started by GLJones in the 60s exploded.