THROUGH THOSE MAKO EYES : THROWBACK - A look at my picks of classic "90's Kids" toys!

Ah the 90's! If you were born before 1995 it's likely you'll have memories of the mid to late 90's and enjoying the last years of your childhood in the early 2000's! I have so many vivid memories of the toys I owned around that time period and although I sadly no longer own any of these awesome toys, I thought it would be cool to have a look back on my favourites!

I was born in 1991 and my memories date back to when I took my first steps. I was obsessed with Playdays (my nan's sister made me a hanging decoration model of Peggy Patch) and Tots TV as well as redesigning VHS and CD covers.

I was never one for fake baby dolls - I had a child's vanity dressing table and a large collection of cuddly toys that were all cats. I also had one of those life sized "Alice" dolls who I used to pretend was a student in one of my classes I'd "pretend" teach - roleplay, I think we've all been there as a child! Through the years I collected a large variety of toys, some you may have owned yourself or have heard of. Before I show you some old toys, I thought I'd let you know that I didn't have internet access or more than five TV channels till I was 15, I also didn't have a Gameboy like a lot of kids at the time but I DID have a PS1 by the age of 10!

DISCLAIMER: I would just like to add that these pictures are NOT mine unless otherwise stated and were all found from a Google Image search, I do not in any way own these images and are solely used for entertainment purposes and nothing more.

Lets start with Polly Pockets! I had so many of these and I remember playing with them before I had my first Barbie! Obviously, Polly Pockets contain very small parts including the little characters in them so, I don't recommend anyone gives these to babies! Polly Pockets were locket cases that would open up into something special, whether that would be a house or a theme park!

Jewel Polly Pocket

I definitely had this luxury bubble bath Polly Pocket! I remember admiring all the details and wishing I could have a bathroom like this in the future!

Polly Pocket teamed up with Disney to re-create some of their magical worlds, like this Pocahantus (above and below) one for example!

I also remember having a Sleeping Beauty Polly Pocket and these are complete with a handle so you could wear it as a bag!

Snow White was my favourite Disney movie for a while so it was only natural I owned this special Polly Pocket cottage! The house opened up so you could explore inside and create your own stories! :)

I don't know many 90's children that DIDN'T own this - a wonderful light up Cinderella castle, another from Polly Pocket that opens up and looked awesome in the dark! You even got a sparkly carriage with it! I had this stored on my shelf for many years as it also makes wonderful bedroom decoration.

Now onto Barbie dolls! I had SO MANY of these dolls so I will only show you my selected favourites! Below you can see a collection of shiny tailed mermaids - I had the blonde one. I remember being able to remove the tail but as you can probably imagine, bath time was always fun with these!

Below are pictures of the "Barbie Rapunzel" - I went absolutely crazy for this toy and I still remember asking my mum for it and being completely delighted when she did indeed purchase it for me! I spent a lot of time playing with this doll and admiring the dress patterns and details!

Below you can see the infamous Strawberry Barbie - many of you might remember the strawberry scented dress and the free lipbalm (I can't find a pic of it) that came with it. This Barbie was an Avon special edition which explains why that lipbalm smelt and tasted so good! Yes I did end up eating the lipbalm, no it wasn't edible and I don't recommend it but I can't say I regret it, haha! I got this because during a "show and tell" session in primary school, one of the girls in my glass introduced us to it and the rest is history; this is a classic I won't forget in a hurry!

Since watching the first ever Toy Story movie, I always wanted a Bo Peep doll - maybe not the delicate porcelain collectable, a plastic doll will do! I searched high and low in toy stores with no success till we visited Paris,France many years ago. We took a ferry to our destination and all I remember is one of the station stop stores selling the Bo Peep doll so of course I had it and now I know how hard it is to get hold of without paying a hefty price, I wish I wasn't forced to get rid of it!

Last but not least, the Ariel doll - not strictly from the Barbie range but nevertheless, a firm favourite of mine! I had about 3 Ariel dolls in total and one's tail would change from turquoise to a bright green in the water!

A modern 2000's Ariel Doll

Glitter Kaleidoscope wands! I had quite a few of these - their original purpose was for use through a kaleidoscope for entertainment purposes but they are also used for calming purposes and are said to be helpful for those with sensory issues - upon doing research I found a lot of these are now known as "Sensory Sticks." I first came across a very large one of these in Nursery which became hours of fun for me and a lot less hassle for the staff! I've loved wands ever since and I still have some! I have 2 Wiccan wands, Severus Snape and Hermione Granger (Harry Potter) replicas and 2 Sailor Moon Collectables including a miniature rod and standard size crescent moon stick.

Mcdonalds toys - I remember collecting a LOT of Disney figurines from Mcdonalds Happy Meals! I remember my nan requesting a Snow White figure that wasn't available for that particular week but I got it anyway!

I also collected Beanie Babies but my favourite was this Black cat!

Pokemon cards - who DIDN'T have them? They were a HUGE trend back when I was in year 4 and so many lunch breaks were filled with swapping, laughter and joy over these cards! I don't know many who actually bothered to play the trading game but it was interesting to collect species that could evolve such as Meowth and the Persian! I also collected unofficial cards available from newsagents - I preferred them as it was easier to build your "shiny" collection that way. Yes you were seen as some sort of Pokemon God if you had accumulated enough shinys! I sadly do not have any anymore as I was asked to give them to the neighbor's little boy!

Classics

A shiny Pokemon Card

I was one of those annoying kids who HAD to have every kind of gel pen before everyone else. I had an absolutely HUGE collection and I was extremely smug about it - putting these gems into your pencil case made going back to school more fun! Stationary really mattered if you were a 90's kid and yes you were seen as something special if you had any! I collected Signo Scents and the Zedbra "Sniff Itz" range - I still have two of those pens today in vanilla and orange! I also had a lot of pastel multicoloured pens in my collection!

The Loveable bears! I saw them advertised in a magazine and was instantly drawn to them! I have no idea why as I wasn't a cuddly bear person but I loved anything scented and sure enough I ended up with two of them in peach and strawberry! The bears were electronic and spoke to you if they required a feed from their scented bottle as well as make rather embarrassing suckle noises.

The bears were re-released as "love2love" bears several years ago but they were sadly discontinued and it's extremely difficult to get your hands on one.