It was a rainy day and we were bored, so my daughter and I decided to tackle the long postponed chore of cleaning out her “little girl” storage from the room she occupied for her first 19 years. As we worked our way through the boxes of memories it occurred to me that I had recently been seeing several of her favorite toys in the local vintage shops. To satisfy my curiosity I ran a few things online and to my surprise some of them are now highly collectible. See if you remember these 1990s toys.
Polly Pockets were tiny little dolls that lived in a case that closely resembled a compact. Designed by Chris Wiggs in 1983 for daughter Kate, they were first released to the public in 1989. Bluebird Toys of England manufactured the tiny dolls until 1998 when Mattel took over production. Many of ours ended up going through the washing machine and a couple were eaten by the dog, but if you still have some around you might want to check their date of issue as select pre-1998 sets are now bringing $400-$600 on eBay.
It was Christmas 1998 and the one thing that Santa HAD to bring was a Furby. We had scoured the shelves of every toy store in town only to find that there was not a Furby to be had. Toys-r-Us ordered one for us and finally on the morning of December 24th it came in. We rushed to the store where we waited in line with over 100 other parents to pick up this furry little “owl-like” creature that walked and talked. From its launch that holiday season Hasbro would sell 1.8 million of the creatures by the end of the year and 14 million in 1999. The original Furby spoke its own unique language but was programmed, over time, to speak phrases in English. An updated Emoto-Tronic Furby with voice recognition and facial expressions was release in 2005 and for Christmas 2012 a second updated issue had LCD eyes and a mobile app. Over its years of production the Furby’s speaking capabilities were translated into 24 languages.
In 1981 Elena Kucharik painted a series of multi-colored teddy bears that were feature on greeting cards from American Greetings. Two years later the Care Bears were turned into plush stuffed animals, a series of books and eventually they headlined their own TV show (1985-1988) and starred in three feature films (1985-1987). The 10 original bears; Bedtime Bear, Birthday Bear, Cheer Bear, Friend Bear, Funshine Bear, Grumpy Bear, Love-A-Lot Bear and Lucky Bear are of great interest to collectors who will pay several hundred dollars for those in mint condition..
In 1995 Martel cashed in on the popularity of the Disney leading ladies with a group of 5 different 7” dolls, each containing a base for mounting in which there was bottle of fragrance. The Perfume Princess Collection included; Snow White, Belle (from Beauty and the Beast), Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Jasmine (from Aladdin). Perfume Princess were also sold separately, but it is the 5 piece gift set that is the most difficult to find in unopened/unused condition and will often bring as much as $100.
When our daughter was given a group of “Skydancers” on her eighth birthday I told my husband they were an accident waiting to happen. I called that one right as a year later they were recalled for after nearly 300 injuries were reported. For those of you who missed them, a Skydancer was a fairy doll mounted on a pedestal from which they could be launched into flight. They were dainty and beautiful and they could put your eye out! Galoob/Hasbro allowed the dolls to be returned for a refund, but if you held on to yours they can be worth some money. Watch for those in still in the box that were “Made in Japan” are currently fetching $150-$200 each.
Linda Kennett is a professional liquidation consultant specializing in down-sizing for seniors and may be reached at 317-258-7835 or lkennett@indy.rr.com
