Today, I’m taking trip down to memory lane to talk about my favorite toys when I was a kid. The first toy that I thought of instantly that I used to play with a lot was my Barney doll. Don’t judge but I was a complete Barney fanatic growing up. I watched every episode of Barney and Friends on TV and had so much Barney memorabilia in my room. Barney bed sheets, towels, clothes, shoes and even a Barney piggy bank. It’s crazy to think about because the earlies memory I have is that I used to sit on the couch with my Barney doll while watching the show. Of course, my parents thought this was cute and took tons of pictures when that happened. Favorite isn’t the right term to describe my love for the Barney doll, I was obsessed. My lovely parents even took me to a live, on stage show of Barney. Talk about a kid’s dream come true. Needless to say, the Barney doll and the rest of the memorabilia that I had was my favorite.
Other toys that I had was the collection of characters from the movie Toy Story. Toy Story is probably the Disney movie I still enjoy today, heck, all Disney movies are incredible. This movie, though, is different because when Toy Story came out, I was relatively around Andy’s age. When the 3rd movie came out, Andy was heading to college and my group of friends and I were headed to college too. So, I liked that line of symmetry between me and the movies. Growing up, I had the Woody and Buzz Lightyear action figures. I also had a slinky toy, Rex the dinosaur and a Mr. Potato Head. I tried to collect all the characters but I think those were all I could find when I was 7-8. I played with those toys on a daily basis and I have Disney to thank for!
Not only Barney was an obsession but Power Rangers was too. In my elementary days, I played with so many Power Rangers toys. I had the morphers, toy weapons and some action figures too. Every time there was a new season, I would beg my parents to buy the signature morpher and weapons. I just ahd to have it. Sometimes, when the show was on, I would imaginary fight the bad guys with my toy sword and such. Looking back at it, the Power Ranger shows had such cheesy story lines and ok actors/actresses. However, I just thought the Power Rangers were so cool and just wanted to be a part of it. Of course, I dressed up as a Power Ranger for Halloween because I had to.
Another obsession I had was Pokémon and Yu-gi-oh cards. They weren’t really toys but more of a collector’s item. I believe that you aren’t a 90’s kid unless you had at least some Pokémon cards in your back pocket. I had a ton and my friends and I would play against each other and trade cards and have fun. I still have some original Pokémon cards today because I know they’ll be worth a lot someday! I was more into Yu-gi-oh cards than Pokémon, for a couple reasons. The format of the game was a little better, the cards looked pretty sweet and the show was better too. Now, I had SO many cards when I was growing up. I had two full binders of cards plus a mini treasure chest filled with cards. I had multiple decks to duel with too. Every birthday, Christmas and special occasion I would ask for Yu-gi-oh cards or money so I could buy them. The yu-gi-oh hyped died down when I was in high school. After my friends and I stopped playing, I sold all of my cards to nearest card shop and got a nice handful of cash for it too.
There you have it. Barney, Power Rangers, Toy Story, and Yu-gi-oh cards was my joy growing up. I played with other things too. I had a few Star Wars lightsabers, miscellaneous action figures and sketch pads. I used to draw and color a lot too when I was young. So, I had a few family members give some art supplies so I could draw anything I wanted. I rarely draw these days, that’s behind me. What were your favorite toys growing up?