This a list of the “it” gift for each year in the 1990’s.  These were the gifts that every kid had to have and every parent had to buy.  If you were on either side of the gift giving through these years this list should appear familiar.

1990 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Action Figures

Although first released in 1988, Playmates Toys expanded on their TMNT action figures idea in 1990 with the release of the Wacky Action series.  This took the original characters from the turtle universe and mixed them with themed costumes, such as Don, the Undercover Turtle and Leo, the Sewer Samurai.

This new twist on the series created a Christmas craze and every kid had to have one.  By the time the Holiday season hit Playmates had created a ton of spin-off turtle action figures thus to assure there would be no lack of options for shopping parents.  A creative spin on the action figure franchise puts Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the top of the list for Christmas 1990.

1991 - Pogs

Pogs was a game that involved collecting little cardboard circles that had various pictures on them. You would then also have a ’slammer’ which was shaped the same, but thicker and heavier - often made of plastic or metal - and you would slam it down against a stack of pogs. You and your opponent would each contribute pogs to the pile and you kept the ones you could turn face up.

The year 1991 had the kids wanting pogs, fending for pogs, and consequently getting pogs banned from schools (the schools cited similarities to gambling). Probably the best thing to come from 1991’s Christmas pog bananza was children around the country got to see their grandparents in their favorite comic and toy shops buying pieces of cardboard and having no idea what the world had come to.

1992 - Barney Dolls

Barney pretty much owned 1992. And it is no surprise that a doll of his likeness took the cake for the most popular Christmas gift that year.

And looking back on 1992, don’t you feel kind of bad for Barney? Sure he had the hit toy of the year, but remember all the parody and ridicule he had to endure? It really is a shame when a giant purple dinosaur can’t make an honest living without the world laughing at him.

At any rate, if you were a parent of a small child in 1992, I am deeply sorry for reminding you that this was your life back then, moving on…

1993 - Mortal Kombat

We made it this far without a video game on the list but in 1993 Mortal Kombat came home. It was released on both the Genesis and Super Nintendo, much to parent’s delight.

The game had spent the previous year creating one of the biggest buzzes in arcade games ever. It was only a matter of time before it was ported to home systems. Upon console release the blood was removed from the game, but the ability to unlock it was included for the Genesis version.

Times had changed in 1993 and an electronic device was able to grab the top spot for the ‘it’ toy of the year.

1994 - Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Action Figures

Much like the Ninja Turtles had captured the hearts of children a few years earlier, it was the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ turn. The Power Rangers had a humble beginning as a live action monster fighting show with ties to Japan. Parents watched it and were confused, but kids loved it.

When the Christmas season arrived in 1994 Bandai made a smart move to create action figures of the popular characters from the television show. Their insight paid off and they took the top spot for the ‘it’ toy of 1994.

1995 - Beanie Babies

Ty Inc. founded by Ty Warner started a marketing campaign in 1995 that happened to have a product attached to it, Beanie Babies. They were sold in small communities, had an easy to swallow price tag, and were just so cute!

At the height of the 1995 Christmas season not only were parents stacking beanie babies under the Christmas tree, but kids were saving their allowance to buy beanie babies for their parents.

In the tradition of Cabbage Patch Kids, Pet Rocks, and the Slap Wrist Bracelet, you got us again Mr. Marketing Man. But just like everything else - you can probably hock those stuffed things for a nice profit on eBay.

1996 - Tickle Me Elmo

Tickle Me Elmo was the ultimate 90’s ‘it’ Christmas toy. This guy was so bad he took over an episode of The Rosie O’Donnel Show, got a bunch of people trampled, and giggled throughout the whole thing.

It’s hard to even associate Elmo with Sesame Street, but much like Will Smith was once the Fresh Prince - Elmo was once the slow puppet on S Street. But you have to hand it to him, he almost made the US forget that Christmas was the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

And not to be a one hit wonder in 2006 the TMX was released (Tickle Me X?). The product was of course a hit that shopping season - but Elmo will forever be remembered as the other King of Christmas 1996.

1997 - Tamagotchi

Tamagotchi was a key chain that made you feed it. Children, who have always been fascinated with pretending to raise a child with dolls took it to the next level with this electronic pet simulator - and they didn’t seem to mind that it was shaped like an egg with a 24×24 pixel resolution.

The Tamagotchi lived a fantastic life as the best friend of many a children during the Christmas season of 1997. But much like the pog fad, this little gadget soon met with criticism (so it goes with quick celebrity I guess) and the Tamagotchi was banned from schools across the country. Not to mention having to tend to a little gizmo every minute of the day made it hard for parents to get kids to do their homework. Soon after the 1997 holiday season Tamagotchi was left to the foreign markets.

1998 - Furby
And just when parents were happy to have their kids back out came the Furby, who spoke…Furbish. This was the 1990’s version of Teddy Ruxpin, but he didn’t help put kids to bed by reading them a bed night story - Furby demanded attention.

Much like the previous entry Furby needed to bed fed, he needed to be talked to, and after a hard night of drinking he needed his rest. Yet, some say he had intelligence (children say crazy things), and if you spent enough time with him he would start to pick up on his surroundings, and language - calling his master ‘momma’ and other short phrases.

Tiger, the makers of Furby has successfully combined every popular Christmas toy - a stuffed animal video game that needed to be nurtured like a baby.

1999 - Pokémon
Pokémon was a series of video games that came out for the Nintendo Gameboy. The gameplay was similar to the popular Zelda series, but involved collecting a wide assortment of Pokémon. These were creatures that helped you fight bad guys and basically drove kids crazy.

Not to be content with video games Pokémon spun off into a cartoon show and countless promotional images. For Christmas 1999 Pokémon had taken over. And why not? This was a perfect gift for kids of all ages and was immensely addictive.

Well that is our list. We had fun researching and writing it, we hope you had fun reading it. We hope that you are able to take what you have learned here and assess the qualities in these ‘it’ toys and determine what you should be buying this year. But then again, if not - we suggest gift certificates. Happy shopping!

Photo credits:
NinjaTurles.com, Wikipedia, Amazon, Game Trailers, Time After Time Toys, and USA Today