The 1970s were pretty groovy, and the decade saw the invention of a lot of cool toys. Throughout the '70s, kids had a plethora of exciting toys and games to choose from, and they spent endless hours entertaining themselves with the hottest releases. As part of our Parade Rewind series, we were interested to find out which popular 1970s toys every kid wanted in that decade. So we consulted someone who knows the ins and outs of the industry.
Similar to other decades, the '70s produced many playthings that are still popular today. While their packaging and design might have improved slightly over the years, one thing has remained the same: the public's enduring love for these classic toys.
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"As two working parents became the norm, young Gen-Xers became 'latchkey kids.'They had much more freedom because of this, and they were more likely to haveunstructured after-school time," he tells Parade.
The decade also saw the evolution of plastics and manufacturing, plus the introduction of "technologies from the nascent home computer sector" that found their way into toys, per Byrne.
Several notable toys were invented in the '70s, including Stretch Armstrong, Strawberry Shortcake dolls, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Baby Alive and others.
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25 Popular Toys Every Kid Wanted in the 1970s
1. Stretch Armstrong
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"The idea was that Stretch, who had a latex body filled with a kind of corn syrup gelatin concoction, could stretch to four times his size. Cue the kids doing everything they could to test that out," Byrne states.
Following the success of the toy, other items were introduced to the line, including X-Ray Stretch, one of Byrne's personal favorites.
2. Atari 2600
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"The Atari 2600 was the first major video game platform to transform home gaming," Byrne explains. "Building on the popularity of Pong and other console games, Atari brought the fun home and diminished the constant stream of quarters into a machine."
"It was the cartridges that gave the console its versatility, and it would transform play for many," he says.
3. Strawberry Shortcake
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"Strawberry and her fruity-scented friends were an antidote to what felt dangerous in the culture at the time," he shares. "She would kick off a huge move in that direction in the 1980s when lines like Care Bears would be introduced."
4. Dungeons & Dragons
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"It started with 2,000 sets of cards and dungeon master booklets released by TSR, and by 1977 had a huge following, mostly among teens and older kids," Byrne explains. "It was one of the first games that really appealed to the older set, and it was always about narrative and group play. It’s steadily grown since then, and, along with Magic: The Gathering, has helped drive the current craze for cards of all kinds."
5. Wizzers
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"When Mattel combined tops and gyroscopes, the result was Wizzers, a top that could do amazing tricks," he shares. "Mattel got rid of the traditional string that activated tops and developed a rubber tip that let the top be friction-activated as kids would rev it up on a surface. The result was a top that could do tricks."
"Thanks to a great commercial and word of mouth, Wizzers became a bit of a fad and a playground staple as kids tried to do more outrageous tricks," he states.
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6. Hungry Hungry Hippos
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"Playing it was about slapping a lever to get your hippo character to collect marbles from an integrated tray," Byrne shares. "The noise, action and a dramatic TV commercial made it a hit, and over the years it’s become a metaphor for chaotic, random and crazed consumption, which is why it still stays alive in the culture. Though, of course, it’s still made as a game. Part of the appeal was always the noise, the chaos and the frenetic competition."
7. Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle
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The stand that came with the toy motorcycle had a crank on it to get the wheel spinning. Then, the toy would fly and race through any obstacles you set up.
"Ideal hadn’t anticipated how popular this was going to be, and the toy was in short supply for the holiday season that year. It is easily one of the most remembered toys of the era," he says.
8. Uno
(c) by Cristóbal Alvarado Minic / Getty Images
"What the now-famous game had was great design and the ability to do things like matchcolors and numbers, reverse directions, force players to have to draw more cards andmore," Byrne explains.
"Part of the fun of the game was always the reverses based on chance and the way other players would try to gang up on the player who had Uno to stop them from winning," he says.
9. Shrinky Dinks
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"Essentially, these were sheets of thin plastic that could be drawn on and cut into different shapes. When heated in the oven, the pieces would shrink to approximately one-third of their original size and become thicker. The hard plastic pieces were used as decoration for a variety of things," he explains.
Byrne says Shrinky Dinks—which are still sold today—are an example of how "creative ingenuity by a couple of individuals created a classic."
10. Baby Alive
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Following the success of Betsy Wetsy in the '30s, Baby Alive made her debut in the '70s.
Baby Alive is still made in various styles today.
11. 'Star Wars' figurines
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"There was so much demand for toys that first season that Bernie Loomis, who ran Kenner at the time, came up with the idea to sell what were essentially IOUs," Byrne explains.
"It was a brilliant marketing strategy, and because it was a time when a movie could stay in theaters for months, kids went back again and again," he shares. "Star Wars would transform licensing and toy design—and reset equations for movies and movie franchises."
12. 'The Six Million Dollar Man' action figurines
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The toy expert says kids particularly loved the doll's creepy bionic eye and a skin-colored sleeve that kids could roll up to see where the wires were.
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13. Othello
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"It had been refined and reintroduced in Japan in the early 1970s before making its way to the U.S and the world," he shares.
"When as many discs are placed on the board as possible, the winner is the one with the most discs of their color showing," Byrne explains.
The toy expert says the appeal of the game was its "inherent simplicity" and the challenge of thinking "several moves ahead."
14. Weebles
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"The large egg-like figures decorated as characters were notable because little kids could play with them as figures, but they would never fall over. They’re really perfect for kids as they are developing fine motor skills. Hasbro introduced a whole line of playsets and characters and added licenses like Winnie the Pooh," Byrne says. "They disappeared for a while, but Playskool has brought them back. The figures are more dimensional and character-like than the original eggs, but the play is still the same."
15. Hoppity Hop
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"Kids would sit astride the top, hold onto the handle and literally bounce around," he shares.
16. Clackers
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Clackers were also known as Ker-Bangers and had their root in "hunting implements."
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17. Beautiful Crissy
A variation of the Crissy doll, this was Swirla Curler version (Dec. 1, 1973).Kevin John Berry/Fairfax Media via Getty Images
"The way it worked was that there was a knob on the back of the doll that let kids make the hair longer or shorter, essentially winding it up inside the body and then letting it go longer," he explains. "Since hair play is one of the classic play patterns of dolls, this was a sensation in the early 1970s. Thanks to the success, Crissy got a cousin and friends."
18. SSP Racers
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"Like Wizzers, the gyroscope was at the heart of the toy. The plastic body was built around a large, central, rubber-like wheel," Bryne tells Parade. "The wheel had a kind of sprocket on the side, and kids used a T-handled ripcord to get the wheel spinning. When placed on the floor, the car would speed off."
"The car was impossible to control once it got going, but that didn’t matter. It was all about speed, racing and setting up obstacles," he goes on to say. "I think it was the level of power that this toy put in the hands of kids—and the speed of the racers—that made this such a hit."
19. 'The Oregon Trail'
A later version of 'The Oregon Trail' video game, which debuted in 1971.Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images
"The idea was that by playing the simulation, school kids would learn about what life was like on the frontier in the 19th century," he explains. "There were all kinds of things that happened based on real accounts of the time, and the goal was to reach Oregon or die, often in a grisly manner, trying."
The game debuted in 1971, five years or so before personal computers was invented, per The Fast Company.
20. Pong
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"To modern eyes, it looks very rudimentary. Players turn knobs to try to bounce a pixel across the screen to an opponent. It’s easy to forget 54 years later how much of a breakthrough that was," he says.
Later on, the game would inspire other titles like Centipede, Space Invaders and more.
21. Sit ‘n’ Spin
Jill Lehmann Photography/ Getty Images
"It was basically a turntable with a handle on a pillar on top," he explains. "Players would sit on the platform and propel themselves around by pushing on the handle and spin themselves around. It was a huge hit for Playskool, and it’s still made. Because it sat on the ground, even if kids spun off, they’d just tumble onto the floor."
22. Magna Doodle
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The toy came with an acrylic board with honeycomb-shaped cells and metalshavings.
"Kids used a magnetic wand to bring the filings up through a membrane under the acrylic sheet, where they stayed until kids slid the handle to drop the shavings back below the membrane," he shares. "It was often considered the next major drawing toy after Etch A Sketch, but the stylus made drawing much easier."
23. Nerf Balls
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More indoor throwing items, including footballs and flying discs, were introduced over time with more sophisticated materials.
"The magic of indoor dodgeball (or whatever kids could come up with) has kept Nerf sales flying ever since," he says.
24. The Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine
Paras Griffin/Getty Images
Here's how it worked: You put an ice cube in the top of Snoopy’s doghouse, turned the crank and it dispensed shaved ice into a cup.
"Kids loved it, but honestly, it didn’t work all that well. Grinding the ice could be problematic. That never mattered to kids, though, and today it’s one of the most beloved, nostalgicmemories of the period," he says.
25. Simon
Frederic Lewis/Archive Photos/Getty Images
"It was relatively simple to play, had a great commercial and was targeted to older players.Following the light-up color patterns as the game sped up became a test of humanresponses," he says.
"Ironically, even with the chip-driven challenge, the gameplay wasn’t much different than many parlor games of the 19th century since you had to follow a pattern and try to remember it," he shares. "The difference was that people were playing against a machine while they played against each other."
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Christopher Byrne, aka The Toy Guy, is a toy analyst, researcher and consultant.Hence then, the article about 25 popular toys every kid wanted in the 1970s was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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