It feels like yesterday! The anxiety of the night before Christmas, not being able to sleep. So much excitement built up that you wake up at five AM, just to race downstairs to stare at your pile of presents that Santa Claus brought you.
Knowing it will still be hours until you open, but you shake the presents, feel the weight, and give your best guess on which item on your list was selected. Growing up in the ’90s was a prime time for toys! So grab your Toys ‘R Us and KB Toys catalogs and let’s visit the Ghost of Christmas Past.
5 Unforgettable Christmas Gifts from the ’90s
Creepy Crawlers
Do you remember the dope*** commercial for these things? In just a few minutes, you can fill a tray with goo, stick it in your bug oven, and, almost instantly, you have a little creepy buddy. Scorpions, worms, spiders, and a bunch of other creatures that you can freak out your sister with? Sign me up!
Little girls had their Easy Bake Ovens to teach them to be little housewives; the boy equivalent was becoming Frankenstein and cooking up bugs, insects, and monsters to freak out the girls in their lives (No Diddy).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Action Figures
Action figures, in general, were probably at an all-time high in the ’90s. Before I had a roster full of Attitude Era wrestlers action figures, the TMNT ruled most bedrooms. The “Heroes in a Halfshell” had plenty of merchandise following their two blockbuster movies.
Whether it was just having the four turtles, Splinter, Shredder, and Casey Jones, or splurging on the party van, pizza thrower, blimp, or the whole sewer setup, TMNT was flying off the shelf. With the turtles facing plenty of action figure competition, including Biker Mice from Mars, Leonardo and the gang had plenty of toys for the Christmas list.
Furby
The original Alexa, the Furby. I’m just kidding, but do you happen to remember these things? The friend who ended up being banned in 1999 by the U.S. National Security Agency. The Furby was designed to record, repeat, and learn. Fits into today with AI. Anyway, my only experience was when my friend’s Furby started talking on its own, so we threw it against the wall, and it malfunctioned. You had to have been there to feel the craze.
Razor Scooters
One of the means of ’90s transportation for kids was the Razor Scooter. You were lucky to have Santa bring you one for Christmas. The newest wave of the skateboard or roller blades, the foldable scooter, was not only light but also easy to store. The Razor could fit in a backpack and was popping up at skate parks everywhere. I’ll stick to my bike, but damn, those scooters were popular!
Playstation/Nintendo 64
It was Christmas of 1996, every 8 to 12-year-old was gifted either a PlayStation or an N64! For weeks, I walked around singing “All I want for Christmas is my PlayStation.” Has a ring to it, doesn’t it? Since I wasn’t allowed to have many friends over at once, PS1 was perfect for me. Otherwise, the 64 was the perfect console for a group of friends.
Mario Party, WCW Revenge, WWF No Mercy, Perfect Dark, and Super Smash Bros. sculpted me into the s***-talking son of a gun I am now. The boys spent hours, from childhood through the teenage years, picking up the joysticks. If you didn’t win, you gave up your controller, so that’s how I became a 64 Bit Legend!
Final Thoughts
Every generation thinks that they had the best childhood. Growing up in the 1990s, we truly did have it great. With limited screens and no social media, the memories we made with our friends were perfect. The day after Christmas, seeing all the things your friends got and spending hours with new toys was the best. Is it still like that? I wonder. It seems like we had something special back then, and the Christmas spirit was a little higher.
