Niki's Favorite Girl Toys of the 80s

5.  Rainbow Brite- Hallmark Cards created the Rainbow Brite characters in 1983 and an animated television series started the following year.  In this story, a girl Wisp, is taken to the Colorless World where she must find the Sphere of Light.  She befriends Twink and Starlite, a white horse with rainbow hair. Wisp rescues the seven Color Kids and finds the Color Belt, which she uses to bring color to the land.  Upon defeating the King of Shadows an unknown force renames Wisp Rainbow Brite. She and the Color Kids live in Rainbow Land and are in charge of all the colors on Earth.  Mattel produced dolls and other merchandise for these characters in the 1980s.

4.  My Little Pony-  My Little Ponies were first produced by Hasbro in 1983.  Many sets of ponies were released over the years such as Rainbow Ponies, So-Soft Ponies, Twinkle Eyed Ponies, and Baby Ponies.  An animated series even ran from 1986 to 1987.  The first generation of My Little Ponies were sold in the U.S until 1992.  Several other generations of ponies have been released by Hasbro including generation 4 which is the current line being produced today. 

 

3.  Care Bears- As a child, I was the owner of Cheer Bear.  If you look at the bear today (Yes I still have it), it is evident just how much I played with and loved this toy.  The Care Bears characters were created by American Greetings in 1981 for use on greeting cards.  Kenner turned the Care Bears into plush bears beginning in 1983.  In the 80s, the Care Bears appeared in many television specials, movies, and their own animated TV series.  Each Care Bear comes in a different color with a design on its belly that represents its personality. There are also "Care Bear Cousins", a lion, rabbit, penguin, and raccoon. 

2.  She-Ra-  The She-Ra TV show was created in hopes of appealing to young girls like He-Man did to boys.  She-Ra is the alter ego of Princess Adora and the twin sister of He-Man.   Mattel began production of a toy line, allowing sisters and brothers to play together and fight evil “for the honor of” and “by the power of Grayskull.”  Many of the She-Ra figures feature cloth skirts or capes and real hair.  Although I only ever saw a few episodes of the show, I inherited many of the Generation 1 She-Ra figures from my neighbors.  I loved that these "little Barbies" as I called them came with weapons to fight evil!

1.  Cabbage Patch Kids-  When I was young, I had 2 Cabbage Patch Kids and they were my favorite dolls.  With soft bodies, they were the perfect size to dress up in old baby clothes and carry around everywhere.  Cabbage Patch Kids are one of the longest-running doll franchises in America.  The dolls were mass produced from 1982 to 1989 by the toy manufacturer Coleco.  At the height of their popularity, fights often broke out among parents vying to secure these must have dolls for their child's Christmas presents.  In 1988, Hasbro took over production of the dolls as Coleco went bankrupt.  Over the years rights to Cabbage Patch dolls changed hands several more times, but the dolls are still in production today. 

Honorable Mention:

 know this isn't a doll or action figure, but it still was one of my favorite toys growing up.

Fashion Plates- Fashion plates provided hours of entertainment for me when I was a kid.  In the 1980s, Tomy Toys manufactured a toy to inspire the fashion designer in all young girls.  The idea behind fashion plates is that you line up 3 plastic rectangles featuring raised-up outlines of a head, middle, and legs of a model with different hair styles and outfits.  You then put a piece of paper on top and rub a black crayon over the top of the plates.  When you're finished simply add color and you have become a world class designer.