During the 20th and early 21st centuries, toy manufacturers created a wide range of plastic, metal, and electronic toys to draw the interest of children--and their parents. As the Christmases passed, an ever-changing flow of toys ended up getting wrapped and placed under the tree. Some have become obscure over the years, lost to hazy memories of childhood, but some are still recognizable today. This article provides a guide to some of the fad toys, from the 1950s to the present day, and how some have managed to stand the test of time.
After World War II: Early Fad Toys
What was one of the first fad toys to become popular in the post-World War II baby boom, when toy companies were on the lookout to make money off America’s massive child population and parents were in search of new gifts? “Everyone knows, it’s Slinky, opens a new window!” The Slinky was actually born of America’s World War II military effort. In 1943, Naval engineer Richard James was attempting to create a machine that would prevent damage to naval equipment in rough waters.
The machine used many special springs, and, at one point, Richard dropped, opens a new window one of the springs off a shelf. To his shock, the coiled spring did not collapse on impact, but slid forward, its momentum carrying it. Richard was amazed and wanted to develop a spring with even more mobility that could actually “walk” a good distance if dropped. Richard’s wife Betty became impressed with the toy’s potential, after noticing how much neighborhood children seemed to enjoy the early versions, and dubbed it the “Slinky” after the sound it made. The Slinky was an immediate sales success after its debut in a Gimbel’s, opens a new window department store in Philadelphia in 1945.
The Slinky was so simple, yet so much fun, that it was difficult for children born after its invention to imagine a world without it. It was Betty James, once skeptical of the Slinky, who would go on to manage production of it as a toy for decades, creating the Hollidaysburg, opens a new window, Pennsylvania plant still in use now.
The Slinky’s popularity was so great that other toymakers found ways to make use of it. Toy inventor Helen Herrick Malsed invented the Slinky Dog, opens a new window and Slinky Train, opens a new window pull-toys in 1957, which both used a Slinky to connect two halves of a plastic pull-toy. Slinky Train became less popular over the years and ceased to be manufactured, but Slinky Dog had a massive revival when Toy Story, opens a new window was released in 1995 and remains popular to this day. A plastic Slinky was invented in 1976, opens a new window by Donald James Reum. Like the original Slinky, it was an accidental invention; it was made from leftover plastic created during the manufacture of a spiral water hose. Betty successfully marketed the plastic Slinky as a safer alternative to the original (its plastic body meant no risk near electrical outlets), and it is still beloved by children and families today.
Unlike the Slinky, Mr. Potato Head has seen many changes over the years. Brooklyn inventor George Lerner first came up with the concept for what he called “Funny Face Man” in 1949, opens a new window. The concept of movable plastic face parts that could be stuck onto potatoes or other vegetables proved a very difficult sell to toymakers, and Lerner was unable to get a production deal for 2 years. In late 1951, opens a new window, he was finally able to work out a deal with the Hassenfield brothers (who went on to found Hasbro), and Mr. Potato Head went into production the following year. Early Potato Head kits came with only a piece of styrofoam in addition to the face pieces; the kits were designed to be used with actual fruits and vegetables. Mr. Potato Head was the first toy advertised, opens a new window on television, and TV ad campaigns lodged the toy firmly in the brains of Baby Boomers and Gen Xers. In 1964, opens a new window, the now-familiar plastic potato was introduced and the once-sharp face pieces were dulled so they would only fit the plastic potato. Mr. Potato Head and his wife have remained popular since, to the point that it seemed odd to some that only Mr. Potato Head appeared in Toy Story. Mrs. Potato Head debuted in Toy Story 2, opens a new window and has appeared in every entry since then.
As the 50s and 60s progressed, tin toys, opens a new window, which had been mainstays of childhood before the time of the Baby Boomers, declined greatly in popularity. The rising cost of metal and popularity of plastic made many types of metal toys a rarity. But one type of metal toy–1:64 scale metal cars–defied the odds and exploded in popularity. The first small diecasts appeared in the UK, created by John Williams Odell, opens a new window through his company, Lesney Products. First sold in 1952, Matchbox cars were cheap to manufacture because they were “small enough to fit in a matchbox” and made from zinc alloys (zamak, opens a new window). The little cars became wildly popular in the UK and outsold their main rival, the larger scale Dinky Toys, opens a new window cars. They were even able to expand to the US market, but faced a fierce new rival when Hot Wheels, opens a new window debuted in 1968. Created by Mattel co-founder Elliott Handler and rooted in a California hot-rod aesthetic, Hot Wheels quickly became the most successful die-cast car brand. It introduced low-friction wheels and designs focused on speed for model tracks.
Many Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars became sought after by collectors over the years. One of the most valuable Hot Wheels is the Beach Bomb, opens a new window, a Volkswagen bus with surfboards that was only released in the 1969 wave. This model was infamous because the surfboards were originally loaded into the back rather than the sides, and the few “rear loader” units that were released can now go for over $100,000, opens a new window!
The durable nature of zinc alloys means that plenty of vintage Matchbox, opens a new window and Hot Wheels, opens a new window cars have survived and gained value far beyond their original costs. Collecting die-cast cars became a popular hobby over the years and fueled the rivalry between Matchbox and Hot Wheels. Even though Mattel and Hot Wheels won the battle and bought the rights to the Matchbox, opens a new window name in 1997, the brand continued. In a rare happy ending for two competing toylines, the market was big enough for both brands, and Hot Wheels and Matchbox coexist on the shelves today.
Adventures in Plastic
The period from the late 50s through the early 1980s saw many different types of plastic toys introduced. One of the biggest impacts of plastic was the changes it brought to doll manufacturing. Antique dolls were made from a variety of materials over the years, from wood, opens a new window to wax to porcelain. Through the first half of the 20th century, composite dolls, opens a new window, which were made from glue mixed with sawdust, were the majority of mass-produced dolls. Only in the 1950s did dolls made from PVC plastic, opens a new window take over the market.
The story of Barbie, the first mass-manufactured PVC doll, began in 1945, opens a new window. Ruth Handler was inspired to create the doll after noticing her daughter playing with paper dolls and began to wonder how her daughter envisioned her own future. Barbie first appeared at the New York Toy Fair on March 9, 1959, opens a new window. Reflecting Handler’s belief that a doll should represent a girl’s vision of her future self rather than a baby or child figure, Barbie took on a wide variety of appearances and careers over the years.
Astronaut Barbie was first released in 1965, decades before the first female astronaut in real life, Sally Ride, opens a new window. Barbie’s run at Mattel outlasted Ruth Handler, who was ousted from her position in 1974, opens a new window after falsifying financial reports. Barbie got her first Corvette in 1976, opens a new window and was associated with the car forever afterward. She became a corporate executive for the first time in 1985, ran for President for the first time in 1992, and was adapted into dozens, opens a new window of animated films starting in 2001. In 2023, a live-action Barbie, opens a new window film was released, which was a both a tribute and a parody of Barbie’s role in pop culture.
Unlike the earlier duel between Hot Wheels and Matchbox, the “Robot Wars” of the 1980s only ended well for one brand. Tonka struck first when it released the GoBots in 1983. They were a Bandai-developed line, originally called “Machine Robo” in Japan. They had been released under various other names in Western countries, but had failed to expand to the US. Tonka knew that its commercial foe, Hasbro, was interested in importing transforming robot toys from Japan, so it bought the U.S. release rights to the Machine Robo line. It came up with a defined backstory for the figures, dividing them into good and evil factions, and gave brief character descriptions on the packaging. The characters were named GoBots, opens a new window, and a Hanna-Barbera series was created as “advertainment” to help sell kids on the characters.
Hasbro had its own robot line, the Transformers, ready by 1984. The Transformers line was spawned from two robot toylines by Takara: Micro Change, opens a new window and Diaclone, opens a new window. The Transformers branding changed the figures greatly from the Japanese originals. Figures originally conceived as mecha piloted by humans were turned into robots with distinct personalities, stickers branding the robots as good or evil were added, and the packaging came with extensive biographies and character descriptions. A cartoon, opens a new window produced by Marvel debuted in syndication in 1984, the year the toyline first appeared, to further speed sales.
The GoBots withered in popularity from the Transformers' onslaught and ceased production in 1987, opens a new window. Transformers remained popular long after the GoBots slipped into obscurity, remaining in the public eye long enough to get a live-action film in 2007, opens a new window. Though the GoBots were bought out, opens a new window by Hasbro and are now considered part of the Transformers universe, the original figures cannot be reissued because Bandai still owns the rights to their designs.
Toys of the Digital Age
From the late 90s onward, toys have increasingly incorporated electronics and robotics into their designs. One of the earliest toy robots to become available was Tiger Electronics’ Furby, opens a new window, which debuted in 1998. Furbys were fuzzy-bodied robots that had motors for simple articulation of their eyes and ears. They became an attractive Christmas present for parents because of their simplicity, opens a new window. Furbys had no off switch and no need of interaction to stay “alive,” like a video game. They could simply be bought, have batteries inside them, and provide fun interaction for kids whenever they had some off time. Unlike a pet, ownership of a Furby was easy for even the most absent-minded child, and they never made a mess. All these perks came with a few unusual behaviors that some found unnerving, however…
The “simple” design of a Furby was precision calculated for maximum cuteness. The voice pitch of a Furby was deliberately high-pitched, opens a new window to seem like a baby animal or childlike voice. Furbys would start speaking by babbling in Furbish, but would gradually “learn” the speech of whatever area they were sold in and speak mainly in English (or whatever the nation’s main language was) after a predetermined time. Because Furbys gradually changed how they spoke, some intelligence agencies thought they had recording equipment and were being used as spy tools, and Furbys were even banned at the NSA, opens a new window headquarters in 1999, until Tiger explained the behaviors were pre-programmed. Though the original Furby eventually lost popularity and ceased production in 2002, newer versions of Furby have been made over the years, and the 2023 version remains available in 2025.
Although Furby required very little to stay “alive,” another electronic pet made intensive user interaction a part of the experience. The first Tamagotchi, opens a new window appeared in Japan in 1996 and was released in the U.S. the following year. A small, egg-shaped device with an LCD screen, a Tamagotchi was compact enough to put on a keychain and carry everywhere. And, doing so was actually necessary to succeed in the toy’s metagame. Unlike most video games, a Tamagotchi could not be paused, opens a new window once the creature’s virtual life began, and the toy would beep whenever the creature required care. The three small buttons were required to care for the creature and make sure it matured, opens a new window into a good form. Although the original Tamagotchi fad was short-lived and ended in 1998, opens a new window, Bandai successfully revived the toy in 2004 and produces many versions today, including licensed versions for Star Wars and Jurassic World.
The stories of how fad toys were invented and marketed linger on in the popular imagination, returning through the light of nostalgia each holiday season. Your library has a massive collection of DVDs, which includes many of the movies and TV series released over time to promote these toys. Take a trip down memory lane at any of your library’s branches.
Learn about the histories of some favorite toys with these selections.
And, be sure to check out the books on making your own toys, opens a new window from your library’s collection!
Guides on how to make your toys for a holiday gift! Also includes some guides to classic toys from decades past.
