7 Toys From The Year 1998

Furbys are an electronic friend released by Tiger Electronics Inc/Hasbro. It was the ‘must-have’ toy of the year. More than 40-million Furby have been sold, and it’s creepy speech has been translated into 24 languages. Innovative? Yes. Adorable? Yes. Nightmare fuel? Absolutely.

With the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace on the Horizon, Kenner was not shy at all about trying to cash in with action figures. But the ‘expanded universe’ figures, the episode I sneak peek characters, and the lack of real detail made for some pretty lackluster toys, from what I can remember.

In 1998, yo-yos were cool. For a brief stint, yo-yo tricks were the talk of the town, and everyone wished they had skills with a Pro Yo 2 Hyper Yo-Yo. These things came in 36 different combinations of translucent colors, six combinations of solid colors, and six combinations of glow-in-the-dark colors. Three of the acknowledged world records for yo-yos with fixed axles as listed by the American Yo-Yo Association (Yes, that’s a thing) were held by the ProYo.

Mummies Alive is one of those underrated cartoon series that came and went without a lot of fanfare, but the cartoon had a toy-line released by Kenner in 1997 and 1998 that was pretty slick. Mummy super-heroes? Sure, why not.

1997 gave us Batman and Robin (With George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chris O’Donnell, Uma Thurman, and Alicia Silverstone) which meant to toys from the movie flowed into 1998. Complete with random costume additions, vehicles that had no place being the in Bat-universe, and super-cringe commercials.

Tamagotchi claimed to be ‘the world’s first virtual pet’ and was first released by Bandai in 1996, and they were still all over the place in 1998. In fact, they are still around (my 9-year-old is begging for one) and have sold over 82 million units. I don’t get them now. I didn’t get them then. But people love their Tamagotchis.

Spice up your life! The first set of Spice Girls dolls by Galoob was the “Girl Power” series that they rushed to release in December 1997, and in 1998, they were the second best-selling toy of the year.