The fact that these awesome toys faded into obscurity is a travesty. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most iconic trinkets and knick-knacks that haven’t had as much staying power as they deserve.
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00:00 Hey Furby!
00:02 Dance Party!
00:03 Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the most iconic trinkets
00:10 and knickknacks that haven't had as much staying power as they deserve.
00:15 Skip it, skip it, skipping and screaming and a bop to bop.
00:21 Number 10, Pogs.
00:23 Simplicity was the key here.
00:25 These are pogs!
00:26 They're mouth caps!
00:27 They're pogs!
00:28 It's a game, you stack em and then you whack em.
00:31 You stack cardboard milk caps, slam them into the air and hope your side lands face up.
00:37 It was so simple, in fact, that it practically took playgrounds by storm in the 90s.
00:43 This is a pog milk cap invasion!
00:45 And in the weather.
00:47 While the game had existed in some form for over a century, the World Pog Federation and
00:54 Genius marketing push made it a mainstream hit.
00:58 For a few years at least.
01:00 Haven't you heard that pog is a game?
01:02 Everybody knows it'll drive you insane!
01:06 The original Korean version appeared in Netflix's viral sensation Squid Game and Pog itself
01:12 helped spawn the famous emote Pog Champ.
01:15 But it still wasn't enough to keep kids playing the game long term.
01:20 Despite Pog's undeniable legacy, it's clearly a fad that's well past its prime.
01:26 9.
01:27 Moon Shoes
01:28 How's that saying go?
01:29 Shoot for the moon because even if you miss you'll land among the stars?
01:34 Well, despite it being in the name, Moon Shoes never ever made it that far.
01:39 It's not for a lack of trying though.
01:41 If you grew up in the 90s or 2000s, you either had these or wanted to.
01:46 They were literally trampolines for your feet.
01:51 What's not to love?
01:53 Plus the commercials were everywhere, especially on Nickelodeon.
01:57 And yet, for some reason, these hot toys couldn't bounce their way to long-lasting relevance.
02:03 After a few years on shelves, people just stopped talking about Moon Shoes and the brand's
02:14 been collecting dust ever since.
02:17 8.
02:18 Micronauts
02:19 Nowadays, you couldn't buy most of these toys even if you wanted to.
02:26 Despite building up some worthwhile name recognition in the 70s, manufacturer Migo couldn't sustain
02:33 Micronauts.
02:34 They discontinued the line in 1980 and two years later, the entire company went under.
02:40 Two decades after that, Palisades toys swooped in to save the brand from its early grave.
02:51 But after a rough launch and rougher sales, they soon went the same way as their toy-making
02:57 predecessor.
02:58 The last anyone seen from Micronauts is a Legacy set released in 2016.
03:08 Obviously, they'd rather appeal to fans they have than make new ones.
03:13 After everything Micronauts has been through, we can't blame them.
03:18 7.
03:19 Pound Puppies
03:20 American toy producer Tonka let these dogs out in 1980 and quickly adopted more cash
03:26 than they knew what to do with.
03:31 By 1985, Pound Puppies had racked in more than $300 million in sales.
03:40 But by 2002, all that fortune had dried up.
03:43 The pet toy simply couldn't evolve fast enough for the ever-growing market and soon became
03:49 a has-been instead of a trailblazer.
03:52 To be fair, 2002 was a rough year for pet-themed toys on the whole.
03:57 For example, the techno-based Poochies didn't make it to 2003 either.
04:02 Pound Puppies was later relaunched with modest success, but it still ain't far from the
04:07 toy's popularity in the 80s.
04:11 6.
04:13 Tamagotchi
04:21 In the decades since, no toy has ever captured the debilitating stress of raising a pet quite
04:27 like the Tamagotchi.
04:28 After all, these virtual companions ate, pooped, slept, and most terrifying of all, died.
04:50 Altogether this was the rare game that appealed to everyone.
04:55 But with that demand came a whole lot of competition.
05:05 These days, smartphones and video games have pretty much rendered the Tamagotchi obsolete,
05:11 and they have the low sales to prove it.
05:13 For what it's worth, new Tamagotchis still come out on a semi-regular basis, but it's
05:18 obvious this toy isn't what it used to be, and no amount of celebrity endorsements can
05:24 convince us otherwise.
05:26 5.
05:28 Talkboy
05:31 One of the hottest toys in the 90s didn't actually originate from a toy factory.
05:35 It came from a movie, Home Alone 2, Lost in New York to be specific.
05:49 The Talkboy was essentially just a cassette player with a few vocal modifiers on top,
05:54 but thanks to a big screen push by Kevin McAllister, it went down as one of the best-selling toys
06:00 of the decade.
06:01 Unfortunately, that's also when it's good fortune ended.
06:09 The internet gave kids a million other places to get their voice changing fix, sending the
06:14 Talkboy to a quick death end in 1999.
06:27 Unless Home Alone 2 gets a remake, odds are the Talkboy has recorded its last message.
06:33 4.
06:34 Hitclips
06:35 Back before iPods, smartphones, and Spotify, there was Hitclips.
06:39 Like its name implies, it was a portable speaker of sorts that clipped onto your backpack for
06:52 music on the go.
06:54 But instead of an 8-track tape like the old school pocket rockers, Hitclips used proprietary
06:59 song cartridges.
07:00 Oh, and they only played 60 seconds at a time too.
07:05 Yeah, in hindsight, it wasn't very glamorous, but in the early 2000s, it was a must-have
07:11 for jam sessions in between classes.
07:14 Still, given the boon of portable smart devices, it's really no surprise that neither Hitclips
07:19 or pocket rockers made it very far.
07:22 If any kid still uses these today, it's purely for the irony.
07:26 3.
07:27 Skip It
07:28 In a nutshell, a Skip It is just a ball with some string attached.
07:32 And yet, that didn't stop it from becoming the cul-de-sac resident ankle bruiser for
07:37 generations.
07:47 The intuitive gameplay kept Skip It on store shelves well into the 2000s, but there's
07:53 only so many times you can jump over a spinning ball.
07:59 Eventually, sales dropped, and then dropped some more, and then dropped again.
08:04 Soon enough, the toy quietly bowed out of the mainstream altogether.
08:11 Ironically, the similar title Bop It is facing the same issue.
08:19 It's not quite as far gone as the Skip It, but either way, the fact of the matter is
08:24 that kids just aren't buying these toys like they used to.
08:28 2.
08:29 Sky Dancers
08:30 With faith, trust, and a whole lot of catchy commercials, Sky Dancers spun their way to
08:35 the top of every 90s kid's Christmas list.
08:41 But don't go rushing to the store for one.
08:43 There's a very good reason these spinning dolls fell off.
08:47 As some kids learned the hard way, the Sky Dancers' wings weren't just pretty, they
08:52 were dangerous.
08:53 Especially when they spun into the faces of unsuspecting children.
09:00 After over 100 reported injuries, the first line of Sky Dancers had to be recalled entirely.
09:09 They tried to twirl their way back into kids' good graces in 2004, but they failed to catch
09:15 on.
09:16 In history, that might be for the best.
09:35 1.
09:36 Furbies
09:37 It's hard to explain why Furbies were so popular.
09:40 Maybe it was the cuddly design, maybe it was that it could talk, or maybe it just came
09:44 out at the right place at the right time.
09:51 Whatever the reason, Furbies broke into pop culture like few toys ever have.
09:56 We're talking millions of units sold within the first few years alone.
10:00 So it's even more surprising to see how little staying power they had.
10:06 Furbies are still being made today, and with plenty of worthwhile updates too.
10:11 But for some reason, the hype has long since come and gone.
10:15 There's a chance Furbies get a second win, but until that happens, these toys are more
10:20 like collector's items.
10:25 Did these toys ring any bells for you?
10:28 Be sure to let us know in the comments down below!
10:38 Thanks for watching!
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