9 Toys From The Year 1991

The year was 1991. The Cold War Came to an end, Pam Am filed for bankruptcy, Operation Desert Storm began, the Giants beat the Bills in Super Bowl XXV, Space Shuttle Columbia carried the Spacelab Life Sciences 1 module into orbit, Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested, the Soviet Union dissolved, and the Super Nintendo Entertainment system made it’s debut. After spending just over a decade on this earth, what was I doing in 1991? Probably playing with a lot of toys.

Now, let’s take a quick, nostalgic trip down early 90s memory lane. Here are nine toys to take you back to 1991. Let’s begin!

1. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Technodrome

I was never lucky enough to have the Technodrome, but man did it make an appearance an a handful of my Christmas/birthday lists. The thing was huge and expensive. I’m pretty sure I spent hours pretending my mom’s green Tupperware bowl was Krang and Shredder’s mobile fortress. Next best thing, right?

2. WWF Wrestling Buddies

Before it was known as the WWE (but after it was known as the CWC and the WWWF), the World Wrestling Federation had become a staple of pop culture entertainment. I was not a fan of wrestling, but I still knew about some of the big names they promoted, and I’m pretty sure everyone at least knew someone who had a few of the stuffed toys around their house.

3. Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Game Cartridges

1991 was a big year for video games. The NES released games such as The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants, Skate or Die, Battletoads, Smash TV, and Tecmo Super Bowl. (But games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Super Mario 2, Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, and Star Tropics were surging in popularity.

4. Super Nintendo (SNES)

1991 was also the year that many of us moved beyond 8-bit with the release of the SNES. Who amongst us was grade school age that did not spend hours playing Super Mario World and F-Zero?

5. Swamp Thing Playset

Swamp Thing’s short-lived TV series in the early 90s and a corresponding toy line that I ‘ooo’ed” “awe-ed” at was a definite hit, although I think the pieces might have been left over from the Star Wars Dagobah Swamp with some new paint on them.

6. Crimp N’ Curl Cabbage Patch Kids

Cabbage Patch kids were all the rage in the 80s, even leading to Black Friday brawls (See: Cabbage Patch Kids Riots). Their popularity continued into the 90s with added features and accessories, like hair that you could crimp. What could have been better for dolls than hair that felt like your younger sibling spilled something sticky on it and never washed it out?

7. GI Joe Vehicle Tent

Tents were cool in 1991. Well, at least the TV told us they were cool. I can’t count how many of my friends has one of these G.I. Joe Vehicle Play Tents. The noxious vinyl was formed to look like an armored personnel carrier complete with an inflatable turret and a steering wheel. Yo Joe!

8. My Pal 2 Robot

Comparing the My Pal 2 to modern robots it not fair, this was cutting edge in 1991. It was awkward, it was cute, you could play games with it, and it was voice activated and responded to over 70 sounds. That being said, it never seemed to work like it was supposed to. At least not for me.

9. The Pirates of Dark Water Playset

Another underrated cartoon and toy line called the Pirates of Dark Water came out in 1991, but only lasted two seasons. The show premiered on Fox Kids as a five-part mini-series and was then altered and converted to a series that started up later in the year with none other than Frank Welker voicing Niddler! (Is there anything Frank Welker can’t do?) With the series, came the toys that filled store shelves in time for Christmas that year.

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There you have it. Certainly not all the toys that were popular or released in 1991, but at least a few to get your nostalgia flowing. What was one of YOUR favorite toys from that year? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook/Instagram.

Other stuff you might like:

The toys of 1990 [Podcast]

The Toys That Made Us [Podcast]