80s Toys, Gadgets, Magazines and other "stuff" from the 1980's
Paul Daniels Magic Set
The Paul Daniels Magic Show was a popular TV series throughout the 1980's, and almost every child wanted one of his toy magic sets so they could learn to become a magician, too!
On 1st January 2012, Paul Daniels lost his left index finger &
tip of his ring finger in an accident with a circular saw whilst building
props for his act - Now that's magic!
Spinning Top
The spinning top isn't a 70s or 80s phenomenon, of course. They've been around for donkey's years. But they were still popular when I was a toddler back in the early 70s. To make it work you would simply pump the handle to make the toy spin faster and faster which would then makes it hum louder and louder. I'm sure I remember flashing coloured lights on the one I had, too. As with many toys back in the day, they were made of metal and pretty sturdy.
During the 70s and 80s, National Benzole petrol stations in the UK were the only place to get hold of a Smurf figurine. If I remember correctly, they were either given away in promotions or could be bought in the forecourt shop. I remember collecting about a dozen of them and distinctly remember Papa Smurf, Drummer Smurf and Brainy Smurf, but there were dozens available, as well as a smurf house and village for those kids with wealthy parents! These figures have now become collectable items - now what did I do with them?
Released in 1978, believe it or not this was #1 in 16 countries! My parents didn't buy me this song, but I did have the follow-up single Dippety Day, which I remember was on the Decca record label.
Video: 80s Fever Toys
Toys and Games from the 80s
Bigtrak
Created in 1979, Bigtrak was a six-wheeled tank
(kind of) with a front-mounted blue photon beam headlamp, and a keypad on top.
The toy could remember up to 16 commands which it then executed in
sequence. I never owned a Bigtrak but envied those kids who did!
If you managed to get through the 70s and 80s without purchasing a Sodastream then you must have been living on Mars! Well, actually my parents never bought one, but some of my friends had one. People went crazy for this gadget that made different flavoured fizzy drinks in the comfort of your own home.
The Sodastream included a carbon dioxide cylinder and reusable beverage bottles (suitable for pressurising). You filled the bottle with water, threaded it onto the machine, and with a button push,
compressed CO2 from the cylinder is injected, creating the fizzy soda! Then you would add a flavoured syrup and hey presto, you're very own fizzy pop! After a while people cottoned on to the fact that it was far quicker to simply go down to the shops and buy it ready-made!
Now That's What I Call Music Albums
Exclusive to Amazon!
Now That's What I Call The 80s MP3 Album
The first Now album is still the best one in my opinion! I used to get these on cassette for my birthday and at Christmas, although I had moved on to vinyl by the time we had reached number 7.
It's hard to believe that they're still going strong. What number are we up to now? 80 or something? I don't recognise any of the tunes on the latest ones, but the charts don't really mean very much any more do they? Now back in the 80s you knew just about every tune on a Now album. Those were the days!
"Frankie Say Relax" T-Shirt
Just about everyone had a "Frankie Say Relax" T-shirt in 1984. Some imitations had the logo "Frankie Says Relax", but as Frankie were a band (not a single person) the cool choice was the official "Frankie Say" T-shirt. In fact, there were numerous other T-shirts that followed such as "Frankie Say War, Hide Yourself" but these were never quite as successful.
The most amusing T-shirt of the 80s was the unofficial "I don't give two sh*ts what Frankie Says" one.
Smash Hits Magazine
Smash Hits was a hugely successful pop music mag aimed at young teenagers and children. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly
for most of that time.
The magazine was never aimed at the older, more serious music fan, and was seen as "a bit of a joke" by other music magazines and their readers.
Smash Hits helped to launch the career of Neil Tennant, who was an assistant editor before he left to launch Pet Shop Boys with Chris Lowe - what a wise move that turned out to be!
The name survives today as a brand for a related spin-off
digital TV channel, radio station and website
which have survived the demise of the printed magazine.
Raleigh Chopper
The Chopper was an iconic kid's bicycle
manufactured and marketed in the 1970s by Raleigh.
Of course, many of us still used (or stored) the bike well into the 80's.
Its unique design is fondly remembered by many who grew up in the 1970's, and you were not considered "cool" unless you owned one! For me, orange was probably the coolest colour.
Airfix
Who remembers glueing their fingers together trying to construct an Airfix model?
I don't think I ever completed one of these as I just wasn't patient enough, although I had a friend who had several aeroplanes that he had completed, and he even painted them - geek!
Founded in 1939, Airfix was owned by Humbrol from 1986 until Humbrol's financial collapse on 31 August 2006. As of 2007, Airfix is currently owned by Hornby.
Airfix models still seem to be very popular if the Amazon website is anything to go by - click the link below to take a look;
This was more 70s than 80s, but many kids were still using them in the 80s, of course. As with many of the 70s and 80s toys, they're really back in fashion and still available to buy. I bought one for my friend's young boy (Sam) and he adores it!
I actually had a yellow kangaroo hopper for some reason, but I've never seen them in any toy shops since the 70s, not in the UK anyway.
Instant Camera
The Polaroid instant camera was first launched in the 1960's, but became popular during the 70s and 80s. I always remember the excitement of taking my first polaroid picture and watching it develop before my eyes!
Of course, professional photographers wouldn't go near the things as the colour wasn't as "real" as in 35mm pictures, and you didn't get any negatives that could be enlarged. But for everyone else, this magical camera was a dream come true!
Sadly, with the rise of the digital camera, the instant camera became redundant and in 2008 Polaroid ceased producing them.
Hand-Held Space Invaders Game
There
were no Nintendo DS's around in the eighties. The first hand-held games
to appear played just one game! That game was Space Invaders. I had
a very early model that had only green invaders, although the flying
saucer that flew across the top of the screen was red, I think.
Some
bright-spark at school decided that you could add colour by sticking
different coloured sweet-wrappers over the screen - those were the days!
Cabbage Patch Dolls
Today we have the more beautiful Pussycat Dolls, but Cabbage Patch Dolls - what
ugly things they were! A bit like Marmite, you either loved or
hated 'em. So what were they exactly?
They were incredibly ugly dolls (that looked like they had trapped wind) for kids to
play with and each one was unique, with it's own
hairstyle, clothes and facial features. They even came with an adoption
certificate. Over 50 million were sold World-wide.
Action Man
Action Man was a toy doll for boys, although no young lad was going to admit that it was a doll, of course! Many a happy hour was
spent in the 70's playing with my Action Man and all of his accessories.
He was actually launched in
Britain in 1966 by Palitoy as a licensed copy of Hasbro's American
"moveable fighting man" G.I. Joe. Action Man was
originally produced and sold in the UK from 1966 until 1984 (Palitoy
also offered sub-licenses to various toy manufacturers in various
markets).
I
remember having one of the first models that came with "gripping hands",
"eagle eyes" and fuzzy blonde hair. The 1960's and early 70's models
had plastic hair and non-moveable eyes and hands.
You
could also purchase many vehicles and accessories including a tank,
jeep, personnel carrier, along with various outfits. I had a diver's
outfit with mine!
Action Man was re-launched between 1993 and 2006, but without a military theme.
Dial Telephone
Yes, believe it or not, you had to actually stick your finger in the hole (careful!) and dial each number that you required! There used to be a real little bell inside the phone, rather than a digital beep or music which you get today when it rings.
Push button phones were also becoming more available in the early 80's, but only posh people had these as BT gave you a free dial phone!
A Trim Phone
Viewmaster
I actually had one of these in the 70's, but they were still going strong in the 80's, too. The pictures came on a card disc and were rather like the negatives you used to get with your photos using a 35mm camera. The Viewmaster magnified each image and when you looked through the viewer you could see TV-sized images. You would just push the lever on the left to flick through to the next image. The only theme I remember viewing was African wildlife, but I'm pretty sure I had more than just one card disc to view!
The Cor!! Comic Annual
The Cor Annual ran from
1972 to 1986. Forget all the other presents, this was what I really
wanted! Remember these characters; Gus Gorilla, The Gasworks Gang,
Tomboy, Tricky Dicky, Football Madd, Ivor Lott and Tony Broke. To see
all of the covers click this link; linkhttp://www.tonystrading.co.uk/galleries/annuals/cor.htm
Etch-A-Sketch
This toy was pretty fascinating to me as a child. The idea was that you could draw what you wanted on the "magic" screen using the two white knobs and then erase it by shaking it up and down.
The main drawback was that it was virtually impossible to draw a circle or a curve - they always had a jagged look, although this hasn't stopped people from creating some amazing artwork. The other problem was that your nastly little brother would shake the darn thing before you had finished your masterpiece!
Digital Watches were extremely popular in the eighties. If you didn't own a Casio, then you weren't worth knowing!
The
first watch I had was a Texas Instruments watch (a Christmas present)
with a luminous background. It was quite basic compared to the Casio's,
but seemed more sturdy and had a luminous green background. I should have kept it as is was quite unique and
would probably be worth a fortune today!
in
either '83 or '84 I owned a Casio calculator watch. These had only just
come on to the market and really seemed amazing at the time! Like
today's mobile phones, watches were becoming more and more sophistacted.
They were packed with features you didn't actually need - you could
actually play space invaders on some models!
Video Recorder (VCR)
Video
recorders were just starting to become affordable and, therefore, popular household items in the
early 80s. During the late 70s there were two formats battling it out
for supremacy - VHS and Betamax.
Although
the Betamax format was superior to VHS, the limited one hour recording
tapes - compared to 4 hours for VHS - probably helped kill off the
format. The VHS was crowned the winner and quickly dominated the
marketplace.
The
early VCR's were big and bulky, but pretty solid. Many had big metal
switches and wooden fascias. It cost around £600 for a cheap model, and
JVC were one of the market leaders.
I
was at Comprehensive School from 1979 to 1984, and had the pleasure of
seeing a whole range of different models being shipped between each
classroom for different lessons.
We
didn't have a video recorder at home until the mid eighties. Our first
model was an Amstrad which featured half-speed recording. This
effectively turned a 4 hour tape into an 8 hour tape, although the
picture quality was reduced. Also, anything taped at half-speed was
incompatible with other standard machines.
Prices
of VCR's quickly dropped throughout the 80s. A new machine could set
you back close to £1000 in 1980, but by the end of the decade you could
obtain one for less than £300.
Perhaps the most famous eighties celebrity to wear a mullet was Pat Sharpe, who hosted several kids TV shows.
The
mullet is a hideous hairstyle that is short at the front, top, and
sides, butlong in the back. The hairstyle was popular throughout much of
the eighties.
Mullets
have been worn by both women and men. Don't confuse the mullet with the
rat-tail, though, which consists of a long, narrow "tail" of hair
growing from the back of the head.
The
ill-conceived C5 was a bit of a disaster for its inventor Sir Clive
Sinclair. Launched on January 10th 1985, the battery-powered Sinclair C5
could be driven without a driving licence, as it's top-speed was under
15 mph. Despite being sold for just £399, due to much ridicule by the
press only 12,000 vehicles were ever sold.
The spinning top isn't a 70s or 80s phenomenon, of course. They've been around for donkey's years. But they were still popular when I was a toddler back in the early 70s. To make it work you would simply pump the handle to make the toy spin faster and faster which would then makes it hum louder and louder. I'm sure I remember flashing coloured lights on the one I had, too. As with many toys back in the day, they were made of metal and pretty sturdy. 
Today we have the more beautiful Pussycat Dolls, but Cabbage Patch Dolls - 
The
ill-conceived C5 was a bit of a disaster for its inventor Sir Clive
Sinclair. Launched on January 10th 1985, the battery-powered Sinclair C5
could be driven without a driving licence, as it's top-speed was under
15 mph. Despite being sold for just £399, due to much ridicule by the
press only 12,000 vehicles were ever sold. 
