#TBT '90s Christmas Toys

6 Toy Crazes that dominated Christmas in the 1990’s

Every holiday season, there’s always that one must-have toy. Average customers have been known to wait in line for hours, pay massive amounts of money and even physically fight in toy-store aisles during Black Friday sales just to get their hands on the year’s hottest toy. What will the next toy craze will be?

Power Rangers

Debuting in 1993, the Power Rangers franchise has netted 26 seasons of television and 3 theatrical films. This helped launch the Fox Kids programming block of the 1990s, during which it catapulted into popular culture along with a line of action figures and other toys by Bandai.

Tickle Me Elmo

During the 1996 holiday season Elmo reigned supreme. Limited supply gave way to massive markups, violent confrontations, and $350 million in profits for toy manufacturer Tyco. Since that mania a decade and a half ago, Tickle Me Elmo remains the standard for products' must-have status. And there's still a few things a company can learn from the genius marketing behind the frenzy.

The Tamagotchi

An import from Japan, the Tamagotchi became one of the biggest global fads of the 90’s with 40 million sold by 1999 based on data reports from Bandai toys.

Furby

Furby was the best-selling toy of the late 90s with 1.8 million sold in 1998 and a staggering 14 million sold in 1999.

Video games

With 4 competing consoles video games became a must-have in 1999. Ultimately, Sony and Nintendo would go on to dominate the market.

Pokemon

Created in 1995, Pokemon is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. To date, the franchise has earned over $90 billion in revenue.

Brut.