Retro Toys that You Can Still Buy and Play Today

There have been hundreds of toys that were produced and sold during the past decades like the 70s, 80s, and 90s. However, only a few are considered to be the most popular and memorable due to the quality of the toys or just their simple features and mechanics. Fortunately, if you once played with these popular toys from the past when you were a kid, some of them are still available today for purchase. To know more, here is a list of retro toys that you can still buy and play today.

Rubik’s Cube

The Rubik’s Cube is arguably a timeless toy, as no matter what decade it is, the toy will continue to be popular because of how fun it is to play. The Rubik’s Cube was invented by a sculptor and professor of architecture named Ernő Rubik, who initially created the cube as a way to teach his students how individual parts can move independently while the entire structure is still intact and won’t fall apart. Rubik realized that he created a puzzle when he jumbled up the positions of each piece of the cube and struggled to put them back in their original place. The Rubik’s Cube was officially released in 1980.

Here are three popular variants of the Rubik’s Cube that you can buy online:

Cabbage Patch Kids

Cabbage Patch Kids are cute cloth dolls that were first introduced by Coleco Industries (a company known for their ColecoVision gaming console) in 1982. These cloth dolls were inspired by the Little People, a line of soft sculptured dolls that were designed and sold by Xavier Roberts, who was also the creator of the Cabbage Patch Kids. However, the name of the doll was coined by Roger L. Schlaifer, a licensing agent that acquired exclusive worldwide licensing rights for the Cabbage Patch Kids in 1982.

Fortunately, you can still buy the classic or original version of the Cabbage Patch Kids. Here are two dolls that would certainly appeal to you:

Glo Worm

The Glo Worm is a peculiar-looking stuffed toy that was designed by Playskool, a toy company that is currently a subsidiary of Hasbro, one of the biggest toy companies in the world. The Glo Worm is known for its soft worm-like body and cute face that is made of plastic. The Glo Worm was introduced in 1982, and in the years following its initial release, there have been several variants of the Glo Worm that were produced by Playskool, including the Musical Glo Worm, the Glo Snail, and the Glo Grannybug. There were even a series of storybooks that were published and featured Glo Worm characters.

Check out these three Glo Worms products if you are interested in purchasing a Glo Worm as a gift or for your collection:

Jenga

Today, one of the most popular games that people of almost any age play is Jenga. Jenga is a game that involves a rectangular block from a tower that consists of 54 blocks stacked on top of each other. The mechanics of the game involve getting a block without toppling or destroying the tower, and each player will have an opportunity to get one block for each of their turns. Jenga was invented by Leslie Scott, the co-founder of a board game company called Oxford Games. According to Scott, Jenga was inspired by a game that her family played when she was a child, and this game had players using children’s wooden building blocks.

Pound Puppies

Pound Puppies is another line of stuffed toys that was introduced in the 1980s by Tonka, a toy company that was more popular for producing toy trucks. Pound Puppies were created by toy designer Mike Bowling in 1984. The first batch of Pound Puppies was sold by Irwin Toy (a Canadian distributor of toys) in Toronto, Canada. Tonka would later get the license for Pound Puppies. The toy line was discontinued in 2002, although it was revived in 2014 by another toy company called Funrise. These Pound Puppies are popular because of their softness and the included “adoption certificate” for each puppy.

Here are three adorable Pound Puppies stuffed toys that you can purchase online:

Care Bears

Care Bears are a line of multi-colored stuffed toys that were created by artist Elena Kucharik in 1981 as characters that appeared in greeting cards designed and produced by American Greetings, one of the most popular greeting card companies besides Hallmark. These Care Bears characters would become quite popular in the early 80s, and because of their popularity, American Greetings licensed the brand so that a toy company would be able to produce Care Bears stuffed toys.

If you want to get your hands on Care Bears toys, here are three that you can buy:

UNO

UNO is a card game that was invented in 1971 by a barber named Merle Robbins. The objective of Uno is for players to continue putting down cards until they are down to their last card. Once they are already at their last card, the player would need to shout “Uno!” first before anybody else does, or else he or she will need to draw a card. Whoever puts down all of their cards wins the game. There are many more mechanics involved in UNO, although you will have a better understanding of them once you actually play the game.

Here are three great variants of UNO that you should definitely check out:

My Little Pony

One of the best toy lines or toy franchises that never really lost its popularity is My Little Pony, which was designed and created by toy designers Bonnie Zacherle, Steve D’Aguanno, and Charles Muenchinger in 1981 and is currently produced by Hasbro. My Little Pony features colorful miniature pony figures that have manes and a unique symbol near their stomachs. The symbols or marks that appear near the stomachs of each colorful pony are often called “cutie marks.” Because of how many magical ponies there are in My Little Pony, kids and teens that are fans of the brand (and the TV show produced to promote the toys) would collect as many as they can.

Check out these three retro-designed My Little Pony toys:

Power Wheels

Power Wheels is a brand of toy cars that are battery-powered and are large enough to be ridden on by toddlers and small kids ages one to seven years old. The first batch of ride-on toy cars were created by Peg Perego, an Italian company founded in 1949 that produced toys for children. The “Power Wheels” name was coined by another toy company called Kransco, who created the said brand in 1986. In just four years, Kransco was able to sell more than 4 million Power Wheels vehicles, with sales reaching 1 million units a year. Kransco’s Power Wheels brand was acquired by Mattel in 1994. Mattel then placed the said brand to their Fisher-Price Subsidiary.

Take a look at these three Power Wheels toy cars if you are planning on buying one soon:

Koosh Ball

The Koosh ball is a weird-looking toy ball that is made from rubber strands or filaments that have ends that are connected to a steel-bound core. This toy ball was invented and patented by toy designer Scott H. Stillinger in 1987 and was first produced by toy company OddzOn Products. The Koosh ball brand would later be purchased by Hasbro. This toy ball can come in different sizes and colors, and the most common Koosh balls would usually have about 2,000 natural rubber filaments or strands. While Koosh balls are generally used for simply throwing and passing to other players, they can also be used for tennis exercises or as a stress ball.

If you are interested in buying and trying out a Koosh ball, here are three products you should see:

So, these are all the retro toys that are still available for purchase today. There are some of these retro toys that have been revamped or improved so that they will look better and last longer, but there are also a few that are faithful to the original design. Take a look at the links we provided above if you want to purchase these retro toys.