20 Most Popular Toys Of The 90’s (& Why They Were Awesome)

The 1990s might have had some terrible fashion crazes and music, but we certainly had some incredible games, gadgets, and iconic 90s toys. Collectibles were the key to playground success; we were obsessed with hoarding and trying to protect our stash from other players in tense games of chance.

From foil-packed wonders picked up from newsagents to some of the most popular Christmas toys our little minds went crazy for, this list will take you for a trip down memory lane, and then over to eBay where you can see just how crazy the prices have become.

Some of these toys now have modern remakes which is great, so keep an eye out for them if you don’t want to break the bank, we also have a dedicated video showcasing my personal best 90’s toys from my own collection!

1. Tamagotchi 

• Release Date: 1996 (Japan) & 1997 (USA)
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): 91,000,000+
• Original Price: $14.99 – $19.99
• Where To Buy Original: eBay
• Where To Buy Modern Remake: Amazon

First up on our list is the Tamagotchi. If you were a kid in the late nineties and didn’t have a Tamagotchi, then it’s safe to say that you really missed out. These miniature digital pets were completely addictive and were the first thing on my mind as I rushed through the door from school.

Keeping my little, black and white, pixelated character alive seemed like a matter of life or death. In a way, I suppose it was for the digital dude or dudette inside.

You would think that with the introduction of smartphones, Tamagotchi’s would be redundant. But you can still buy one of these tiny eggs today, and they don’t look like they’ve strayed too far from the original 90s design!

In 2024 a new easter egg was found inside an original Tamagotchi, showcasing a super rare variant which you can hatch from an egg resembling Mothra from Godzilla. How crazy is that, a 26 year old easter egg that’s only just been discovered.

This just shows you how intricate this game is on the inside, even if it looks like you just feed a potato and clean up it’s poop ever couple of hours. The history behind the Tamagotchi is incredible and advise anyone to watch our video or read our article should you want to know more!

2. Nintendo 64 

• Release Date: 1996
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): 32,930,000+
• Original Price: $199.99
• Where To Buy Original: eBay

This was my first games console and one of the best toys on the planet; the Nintendo 64. If you were lucky enough to have a Nintendo 64 as a kid back then, you were probably the coolest kid in the classroom, if not the county.

The N64 was Nintendo’s fifth generation of gaming console and has gone on to produce some of the most loved characters in gaming history, alongside some of the best retro video games ever made (voted by our readers).

This retro gaming system was released with three cartridge games: Super Mario 64, Pilot Wings 64, and Saikyō Habu Shōgi (exclusive to Japan). Other classic Nintendo 64 games include Golden Eye, Mario Party, The Legend of Zelda and Donkey Kong 64. You can check out our list of N64 Games for more classic titles!

It sold over 30,000,00 units worldwide and still sells well today on marketplaces because of the sheer nostalgia it brand to gamers. Many gamers are wanting Nintendo to re-launch it in a mini console version, but we can only wait and hope.

3. Pokemon Cards 

• Release Date: 1996
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): 11,900,000,000+ (including modern sets)
• Original Price: $3.99
• Where To Buy Original: eBay
• Where To Buy Modern Sets: Amazon & Pokemon

The Pokemon Trading Card Game was first published in 1996 and was the best trading card game amongst the ranks of other popular playground toys. Pokemon was already popular thanks to the Game Boy and Game Boy Color and, by introducing Pokemon Cards, Pokemon could be enjoyed in the school playground.

Whoever won the game got to keep the cards, making it highly competitive. Even if you didn’t play the game, trading cards with friends was popular with some special or rare cards having a higher trading value than others. 

People still buy, collect, and trade these amazing cards today, with new artwork and a whole host of other Pokemon doing the rounds.

4. Power Rangers

• Release Date: 1993
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): 1,000,000+
• Original Price: $9.99 – $29.99
• Where To Buy Original: eBay
• Where To Buy Modern Sets: Amazon

Power Rangers first aired on television in 1993 and features a group of teenagers who transform into superheroes, ready to take on any villain that Rita Repulsa sends their way.

The popularity of the show led to Power Rangers figurines arriving in every home. There were a total of 12 Power Ranger dolls released- the five Power Rangers themselves and seven villains.

The Power Rangers came in red, pink, black, yellow, and blue, and who can forget the swords, Zords and costume accessories too!

5. Buzz Lightyear 

• Release Date: 1995
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): 35,000,000 (Since 1995)
• Original Price: $44.99
• Where To Buy Original: eBay
• Where To Buy Modern Sets: Amazon

Buzz Lightyear first featured in the 1995 original Toy Story Film and is one of the most loved characters of all time The Buzz Lightyear figure was almost identical to the characters in the movie and said some of his most loved phrases such as “To Infinity, And Beyond!”. A classic and a must-have 90s toy.

It sold like crazy while the movie came out, likely because many kids thought that it would actually come to life! That aside it was jam packed with modern technology such as noises, ejecting wings and the original voiceover too!

It was versatile and fairly big too making it feel like a sturdy gift for any child wanting to bash it about the garden or park with their friends. Originally Disney made far more Woody toys than Buzz Lightyear expecting Woody to sell more, but it made the market demand for Buzz go through the roof.

Now there are plenty of high quality remakes to please that inner child in you that received Woody instead of Buzz.

6. Furby

• Release Date: 1998
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): 40,000,000 (between 1998 – 2001)
• Original Price: $35
• Where To Buy Original: eBay
• Where To Buy Modern Sets: Amazon

The Furby is one of the most iconic toys of all time and was extremely popular after its release in 1998.

These robotic furry toys were so popular that the suppliers couldn’t keep up with the demand and, over the 1998 Christmas period, the Furby resale market skyrocketed. While the Furby retailed at $35 in stores, the resale value was over $100 and cases of fraudulent Furby sales, where the Furby was never delivered, were common.

We can see why these furry creatures were so popular!

The creatures appeared to learn English over time as they were programmed to speak less and less Furby language as they ‘grew’. They could also move their eyes and mouth and lift themselves off the ground, all groundbreaking features for a 90s toy.

7. PlayStation

• Release Date: 1994
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): 102,000,000
• Original Price: $199
• Where To Buy Original: eBay
• Where To Buy Modern Sets: Amazon

The PlayStation kickstarted Sony’s gaming career and made them an insanely popular household name. I remember the choice between PS1 or N64 back when I was a kid, and while I was always a Nintendoid, the PS1 trounced it in sales.

Selling over 102 million consoles in its lifetime, the PS1 and some of the console’s greatest games still sum up the 90s perfectly. Spyro the Dragon, Tekken, Tomb Raider; they all send me hurtling back in an instant.

Some of you reading this might not even remember having a controller on a wire or the hushed whispers when someone announced that they had just got their PlayStation chipped at the local second-hand games store. Those were the days!

8. Walkers Tazos

• Release Date: 1994
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): 10,000,000+
• Original Price: Free In Crisp Packets
• Where To Buy Original: eBay

Remember the days when you could get freebies from packets of crisps? Walkers Tazos were epic collectibles that resembled Pogs, boasting popular faces from the Looney Tunes back catalogue.

You were a serious collector if you had the binder that they went into, which I did. I even collected the Star Wars Tazos too (as you can see from the photo above!). Walkers had a small time of launching lots of Tazo’s in their crisps featuring a handful of well known pop culture franchises at the time.

9. Game Boy Color

• Release Date: 1998
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): 118,000,000 (inc all Game Boy variants)
• Original Price: $89.95
• Where To Buy Original: eBay
• Where To Buy Modern Remake: Analogue Pocket & ModRetro Chromatic

Of course, this list wouldn’t be complete without the Game Boy Color. The Game Boy Color was brought out at the tail end of the 90s, landing in late 1998 and following its predecessor, the Game Boy. The release of the Game Boy Color was very exciting as it meant that you could finally play handheld games on a coloured screen!

Pokemon in colour; what more could you possibly want? This brought old and new games to life in a new way. Thousands of developers saw the sheer popularity of this device and jumped on the band wagon opening up so many impressive and innovative games for the device, some cartridges even had Rumble Paks to add vibrations too!

The GBC also had an abundance of accessories to choose from too, allowing kids and adults to pimp their Game Boy anyway they please.

The Game Boy and Game Boy Color sold a whopping 118.69 million units combined, making it the third best-selling system of all time, and these consoles are still sought after among retro game players today! Check out our top game picks for the Game Boy here! here!

10. Transformers

• Release Date: 1989/1990
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): 500,000+
• Original Price: $4.99
• Where To Buy Original: eBay

Tiny toys with all the power of the transformers, the Transformers took the world by storm in the 1990s, not only because they were bad-ass but because they were really affordable too, similar to that of the Micro Machines.

These micro warriors packed a punch but were much smaller than the traditional Transformers models. You couldn’t stick Optimus Prime in your pocket before heading around to your mates house, but these little guys were seriously portable!

Little bots to complement the main force – it’s all about the supporting fighters when you go into battle! They were popular at school too, allowing kids to battle and trade their favourites with friends. Although at times they were prone to breaking, they were also semi-easy to fix too.

11. Pokemon Marbles

• Release Date: 1999
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): N/A
• Original Price: $6.99
• Where To Buy Original: eBay

Pokemon Marbles were highly collectible back in the day, with Series 1 allowing you to collect up to 50 Pokemon in marble form, if you were lucky enough you could also find “holo” marble too that are shiny in nature and are much rarer.

From #001 to #050, these things not only felt great to collect but were also a lot of fun to play with. They came packaged in classic 90’s slice-proof packaging that usually involved losing a finger to get inside.

These were popular with trading card fans, and it also came in a collectible pouch that featured a handful of Pokemon. Obviously, you could trade these, but you could also collect carrying cases for your marbles that feature Pokemon on too.

I personally still collect Pokemon Marbles to this day and even went as far as buying the incredible marble display case that is basically a giant Pokeball that slides out into different levels.

These levels could be pulled apart with spinning sections at the top and bottom allowing you to easily organise your marbles. Not only were there Pokemon on the marbles a few featured trainers too, including Ash, Misty and Brock.

I believe these are the most underrated Pokemon products out there, they are just so much fun, and collectors are always after the “master set” which is the whole collection in holo form.

12. Pokemon Topps Cards

• Release Date: 1999
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): 5,000,000+
• Original Price: $3.99
• Where To Buy Original: eBay

Pokemon Topps cards were very much like the original trading card game, but some of the rarest Topps cards bearing our favourite Pokemon actually have scenes from the original movies instead of individual Pokemon.

Unlike Wizards of the Coast and Nintendo who developed the TCG, a company called Topps made these collectible cards, and they were a huge success. They featured rares, holo cards, movie scenes and more, making them unique and different to the TCG, but somewhat impossible to “play” with.

The series 1 set included a total of 90 cards, 76 of which were standard as well as 13 character cards. Each card in the set has a normal edition, as well as two different foil editions, both silver and rainbow. Back in the day, these cards were sold as a pack of 7 sealed in an awesome foil pack, just like the trading cards.

13. Super Nintendo Entertainment System

• Release Date: 1991
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): 5,000,000+
• Original Price: $199
• Where To Buy Original: eBay
• Where To Buy New Remake: Amazon

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is no stranger here at Retro Dodo. It’s one of our favourite ever consoles and takes pride of place at R.D Towers along with many of the SNES games that have inspired devs and players the world over.

It doesn’t matter whether you prefer Mario Paint or Mario Kart, this console had something for everyone. Like the NES, it received a resurgence in popularity amongst younger gamers thanks to the SNES Classic Edition and the previously Unreleased Star Fox 2 title.

Donkey Kong Country remains one of the greatest games of the 90s for me. I still remember taking turns to play this with my cousin and endlessly replaying the minecart levels. Good times!

14. Nintendo Gaming Wristwatches

• Release Date: 1989-1992
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): 250,000+
• Original Price: N/A
• Where To Buy Original: eBay

People might get super excited about the latest Apple watch these days, but gaming watches were must-have 90s toys back in the day. From Zelda to Donkey Kong to Super Mario, Nintendo released a who bunch and they were actually pretty good!

From 1989 until the late 90s, a company called Nelsonic Industries had a license from Nintendo to produce gaming watches featuring some of Nintendo’s most famous characters. As well as telling the time, wearers could play Mario, Zelda, Star Fox, or Donkey Kong games while at work or in class.

They weren’t exactly groundbreaking, but they looked cool and killed time between meetings or made coffee breaks more interesting. Critics actually said that they looked pretty stylish too!

We took a tour around a secret retro games shop on our YouTube channel and the owner shows us his Nintendo watch collection if that interests you, he even has a rare SEGA watch as well!

15. Talkboy and Talkgirl 

• Release Date: 1992 – 1999
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): “Hundreds of thousands”
• Original Price: $29.99
• Where To Buy Original: eBay

The Talk Boy and Talk Girl were two of the more cutting-edge toys on the market back in the 1990s and first appeared as a non-working prop in the very first Home Alone film.

A working version of the TalkBoy which featured a handheld cassette player and recorder with microphone was released on November 20 1992, the same day the second Home Alone Film debuted. Later, a pink version was released to appeal to the female market.

16. Tiger Handheld Computers

• Release Date: 1994 – 2000
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): 600,000+
• Original Price: $19.99
• Where To Buy Original: eBay
• Where To Buy Modern Remake: Amazon

Tiger Handheld Computers got me into handheld gaming when I was younger. They made tonnes of these stand-alone handheld devices, turning popular films into games and sometimes even porting existing game franchises such as Street Fighter into their arsenal.

These handhelds featured a static image on the back screen and digital characters that would move around in front of them.

Tiger went on to create gaming watches of a similar nature, but the handhelds were the best thing since sliced bread as far as I was concerned. I had Aladdin, Toy Story, Power Rangers, Batman, and Sonic 3D Blast which you can see above more. Looking on eBay now, I wish that I had kept them all!

17. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

• Release Date: 1988 – Now
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): Millions
• Original Price: $4.99 – $29.99
• Where To Buy Original: eBay
• Where To Buy Modern Remake: Amazon

Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo ruled the 90s. Whether on lunchboxes or the TV, these heroes in a half shell were some of the most popular characters around and the toys were one of the best selling products for the franchise.

Of course, watching the TV show and playing the TMNT games wasn’t enough. Fans had to play along with their figurines at the same time, acting out moves and kicking Shredder’s but along with the on-screen turtle team.

I’ve got the theme tune stuck in my head now after writing this. And now you do too, don’t you? The toys came in many different shapes and sizes, as small as micro machines to as big as Action Men, meaning they came in a varied prices too opening the market to all demographics.

My faovurites are the ones that come in the classic figurine boxes with accessories and moveable limbs. It allowed me as a child to rein-act scenes from the cartoons and attack my younger brother with its weapons! Even to this day TMNT toys are still being released, they’re incredibly popular for good reason.

18. Scalextric

• Release Date: 1957 – Now
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): Millions
• Original Price: $19.99 -$99+
• Where To Buy Original: eBay

One of the most famous racing toys of all time, Scalextric was a must-have toy in pretty much every house through the 1990s, and it came in many different forms including many gaming, TV show and movie franchises.

These pieces of track and the cars that raced on them took over the carpets in most of my friends homes. If it wasn’t LEGO you were standing on, it was a Scalextric car.

Different scaled tracks for different scaled cars, with multiple sets to collect. It’s an expensive business getting into Scalextric, but it’s definitely a key item for 90s collectors to have in their toy box… or trophy shelf.

19. Micro Machines

• Release Date: 1986 – Now
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): Millions
• Original Price: $4.99 -$49.99
• Where To Buy Original: eBay
• Where To Buy New Remakes: Amazon

Micro Machines were one of my favourite 90s toys as a kid, they were extremely collectible, durable and featured a bunch of awesome tracks and accessories that blew my little 8 year old mind.

I personally still have and remember vividly the Stunt City set which was a large lorry that could convert into a whole city with jumps, a multistory car parks and a handful of collectible cars. You could literally fold it up and take it to a friends house or to the park.

Micro Machines were popular for selling a multi-pack of cars for cheap so that kids could use the vehicles on their own, perhaps using books as a racecourse etc. As the franchise got popular Hasbro decided to launch bigger more expensive accessories alongside incredible video games to keep customers in their eco-system.

Micro Machines are still going to this day, thankfully!

20. Star Wars Figurines

• Release Date: 1978 – Now
• Quantity Sold (Estimated): Tens Of Millions
• Original Price: $1.97 – $24.99
• Where To Buy Original: eBay
• Where To Buy New Remakes: Amazon

Star Wars has always been incredibly popular, but it went to a whole new level when Star Wars Episode 1 launched, and alongside that Hasbro took advantage of the hype and launched a wide selection of new figurines and toys that made its way into every child’s collection.

Well known characters such as R2D2, Obi Wan Kenobi and the legendary Jar Jar Binks was a part of the set and typically came with a bunch of accessories too, from lightsabers to weapons to clothes.

It was the toy to grab in the 90’s and you’d often find the park and playgrounds littered with them, only the true nerds would keep them in their boxes, and those nerds are now laughing to the bank!