Geoffrey's Magical Place - 25 Years of Toys
Print this Page
So here it is - the definitive list of every toy that was hot for each of the last 25 years. Everyone at Geoffrey House has got soooooo excited about their old toys that I have convinced them all to write down their memories so we could share them with you.
There is loads more to talk about on my Facebook fan page - visit it now and join in the discussion! A good place to start is the 'Top Toy' discussion - Go there and tell me what your favourite toy was from when you were a kid - Maybe it will be one of these...
| 1985 | Transformers, Robots in Disguise Optimus Prime. The vehicles that switched from vehicle to robot and back again were in huge demand |
 |
| 1986 | Football Stickers Just 10p per pack. For school kids old enough to enjoy their own team. The year of the World Cup – and Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal – sparked a nationwide playground sticker craze |
 |
| 1987 | Sylvanian Families The cute little animal families came with hundreds of accessories – everything from houses to clothes and even table ornaments. |
 |
| 1988 | Ghostbusters Proton Pack. Kids everywhere wanted a replica ‘proton pack’ to capture spooks. |
 |
| 1989 | Batman Batmobile Batmania swept the UK with the launch of Tim Burton’s Batman movie |
 |
| 1990 | Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles The ‘heroes in a half-shell’ (Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo and Raphael) came kung fu kicking their way out of the sewers of New York and into the hearts of UK youngsters. |
 |
| 1991 | Nintendo GameBoy Nintendo launched the pocket-sized computer game in the UK to a rapturous reception. |
 |
| 1992 | Thunderbirds Tracy Island Thunderbirds was reborn and dads treated their kids to the famous ‘Tracy Island’ causing queues galore at Christmas |
 |
| 1993 | Barbie Ever popular, the beautiful and perfect Barbie was a huge favourite for girls in '93 |
 |
| 1994 | Power Rangers Figures The launch of Power Rangers caused worldwide demand with their ‘GO GO Power Rangers theme tune. |
 |
| 1995 | POGS A new craze swept the school playgrounds and were a sensational success. These little ‘milk caps’ were meant to be collected – and flipped like outsize tiddlywinks |
 |
| 1996 | Toy Story Buzz Lightyear The Pixar movie opened in the UK setting a new standard for animation and making an overnight sensation of Buzz Lightyear. |
 |
| 1997 | Tamagotchi The new playground craze as virtual pets came over from Japan. The egg shaped virtual pet sold over 40 million pieces in 1997. Created massive queues at stores as Toys "R" Us made overnight deliveries to cope with demand. |
 |
| 1998 | Furby, the Interactive Pet Furby, the Interactive Pet from Bandai launched in late October and became the big Christmas toy |
 |
| 1999 | Who wants to be a Millionaire? Chris Tarrant’s popular TV quiz got the nation guessing and a new board game and interactive game flew off the shelves. |
 |
| 2000 | Teksta the Robotic Pet Teksta became a popular interactive pet – his artificial intelligence responded to light, sound, touch and infra-red. |
 |
| 2001 | Bob the Builder Loved by all, Bob and his pals, Scoop, Muck and Dizzy were on all pre-schoolers’ wish lists. |
 |
| 2002 | Bratz Dolls Bratz, the dolls with a ‘passion for fashion’ arrived in town, putting Barbie’s nose out of joint. |
 |
| 2003 | Beyblades A new Japanese phenomena - Beyblades, the battling spinning tops took UK playgrounds by storm and became a hit for Christmas. |
 |
| 2004 | Robosapien The radio control robot with NASA technology was in big demand with last minute deliveries being made to Toys "R" Us stores. |
 |
| 2005 | Tamagotchi Tamagotchi was relaunched as the new playground craze. |
|
| 2006 | Doctor Who Mask Doctor Who stormed into the UK market with a huge range of toys from the new series, the new generation Doctor Who fans were born. |
 |
| 2007 | In the Night Garden Iggle Piggle Newcomer Iggle Piggle from In the Night Garden was loved by little ones. Nintendo Wii still in huge demand. |
 |
| 2008 | Ben 10 Watch and High School Musical Both reached popularity stakes in the toy section and filled shopping baskets across the UK. |
 |
| 2009 | What will it be this year? Visit my fan page and post photos of what you think will be big for your kids this year! |
Here they are in all their glory - the people behind the scenes - the ones that help make sure there really are 'toys in their millions all under one roof!' I thought you might like to know what toys some of Team 'Geoffrey' played with when they were little...
There are more people to meet on my fan page - all with stories to tell of their childhood toys - go and meet them!
3d Dave |
Duck Hunt on NES I loved playing this game. The real skill was getting as far back from the TV as you could with the bright orange Nintendo Zapper which was attached by cable, and still hitting the ducks. I remember I was the first one to get this amongst my mates and they all used to invite themselves to my house to play it – I couldn’t get rid of them most of the time! I hated that dog though! That annoying Mutley-like giggle when the duck got away! |
 |
 'MC' |
Subbuteo Need I say anymore... |
 |
 Deely Bopper |
My Baby Talks I remember seeing the advert for this in the mid 80’s and being amazed by a doll that talked and played and responded to you just like a real baby. She would tell you when she was tired or thirsty and would always want you to play peekaboo, if you didn’t respond to her she went to sleep. I used to take her everywhere with me, much to my Mum’s frustration – it used to cost a fortune in batteries to keep her running! |
 |
 Goose |
Dolls House I didn't have any….I just used to get an orange and a lump of coal in my stocking if I was lucky. Lol. Just kidding… I reckon I would have been about 5 when one eagerly anticipated Christmas morning my brother and I came downstairs to see what Father Christmas left for us….I got an amazing dolls house, I still have a great picture of me with a look of shock and awe on my face. |
 |
'Ocky |
Sinclair ZX Spectrum I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened my present on Christmas morning to see a ZX Spectrum! We spent hour after hour trying to beat one another's score on The Wall. Frogger, Manic Miner, Harrier Attack, Horace & the Spiders, Jetpac, Atic Atac, all games that were swapped in the playground I miss those simple games, the distinctive feel of those rubber buttons, the electronic noises of loading a new game on tape if I told my son I am sure he wouldn't believe me. Tape?! |
 |
 One-Eye-Jedi |
Chopper, by RALEIGH I rode it almost everyday in one of best summers of the 1980's. The bike belonged to my older brother, but he had gone off it and dumped it in our garage. I found the bike buried under a load of junk, dusted it down and took it out for a ride. I only fell off a few times, sustaining minor cuts and grazes, nothing too serious. My brother reclaimed the bike at the end of the summer. Good memories. |
 |
