Doomed to grow up in the 80's?  Well, it wasn't so bad as far as I'm concerned.  The 1980's Review is a review of things that influenced my life.  This isn't a listing of the most popular 80's cultural icons, just a listing of things that I remember fondly.

Likes:  Give the 80's an A+ for originality.  That's something I will always respect.  I fell in love with all the wonderful and fantastic toys and movies from this era.  Also, computers fascinated me from the beginning; I remember the Computer Lab at school and playing all those games on the BIG floppy disks. I also fell in love with VIDEO GAMES in the 1980's; I start drooling just thinking about it. 

Dislikes:  Some of the fashion was out there and back.  I'm not going to tread on what other people like, but it's just not me, now.  *throws her green hair dye in the garbage*  I don't even want to talk about my hair in the 80's. The clothing colors are also way to bright for my liking.  X_X  Still, I liked them then.  There are an array of fashion that you probably couldn't pay me to put back on my body:  high topped shoes, jelly shoes (though then new clog jellies are still appealing), ripped jeans, puffy painted stuff, spandex, slap bracelets, Madonna gloves, and the list goes on.  Some of the music I could care less about, too.

Music:  I didn't listen to a lot of 80's music until near ending the decade.  I listen to it now more than I did then.  The most influential song of the 80's for me was "99 Luft Balloons" by Nena.  The German version was loosely translated into an English version ("99 Red Balloons") as well, which most people remember.  It lost some of the political meaning through the translation but it was catchy for most people. 

The areas that influenced my life the most were: 
 ::Toys::  ::Video Games:: ::Movies:: ::Television:: ::Commercials:: ::Miscellaneous::

 

::Toys::

Most Influential Toy:  My Little Pony
Disliked: Barbie and most dolly dolls in general.

My Beloved Toys:

My Little Pony  ::My Little Pony was the most memorable toy that I owned. I lined them up everyday and made the babies go to school (to the Nursery, U. S. didn't have a pony school).  I even made them little books from paper, freaky, huh?::

She-ra, Princess of Power  ::See PinkPlastic.net for an excellent Princess of Power Guide; I was a She-ra freak as a child.  I thought I was She-ra for a couple of years.::

Shimmers  ::When Shimmers came out in 1986 (the only year of release), I had three of the five sets.  A lot of people didn't like them then but are more interested now.::

Fashion Star Fillies  ::I loved these, very simply put, because I love fantasy horses.::

Jem  ::Jem was the perfect example of rock glam 80's style.  Honestly, Jem is still fashion-able cool to me today.  I loved the dolls, which were the only dolls I ever liked.  They blow Barbie out of the hemisphere.::

Rainbow Brite  ::Rainbow Brite always fascinated me too.  The plushy dolls were some of my favorites.  All the pretty colors. *drools*::

Great Comprehensive 80s Toy Sites:

PinkPlastic.net
::Eliza's site covers many, many toy lines.  Most of the action figure toys like She-ra and Golden Girl, Jem, and various small toy lines::  

Starluck's 80's Nostalgia Page
::Starluck's page covers many of the items that Eliza's doesn't plus info on other things like Unico and Labyrinth::

My 80's Toy Page
::Just a small page that showcases various 80's toys.::

 


My Beloved Toys (Continued...smaller toy lines):

Cutie Club  ::I loved these as a child, you may or may not remember them.  Thanks to Anime for use of the below photograph::

Rose Petal Place  ::I was a fairly big Rose Petal fan in the 80's, all those sweet smelling dolls.

C. U. T. I. E. S. 
::See PinkPlastic.net
 for an excellent guide.  I had many of these things.  It's amazing how amused I was by colored plastic figurines.::

Herself the Elf   ::See Starluck's Nostalgia Page for an excellent guide.  I had several of these as a child.::

Sweet Secrets ::Sweet Secret were the coolest things in the 80's, for me at least.  They could change into necklaces.::

 

 

 

Fairy Tails Birds  ::I had a few of these when I was younger, has the Hasbro toy signature look.::

Strawberry Shortcake  ::I collect a few SSC items back in the day.  I also had a SSC record that I played incessantly.

Whisper the Winged Unicorn ::Book series, one plush item.  Very great 80's children's book series with beautiful illustrations.::


 

 

 

 

::Video Games::

Most Memorable Game::  The Adventures of Link
Disliked:  I am very picky about the games I play, I do not like most shooter games and sport type games.  I only like games that require a massive amount of thinking to play.

::8-Bit Nintendo Showcase::
::Click the above link to see:  
Listing of NES games by date, Nintendo cereal, and screen shots of my favorite games.::

Nintendo rocks my world.  I feel in love with video games when Nintendo was released in late 1985.  Atari was around too, but Nintendo was my first gaming platform.  I am still a Nintendo fan, having nearly all of the consoles available.  I like other consoles as well, but Nintendo was the big one, that got me interested in video games.

Do you remember Arcade games?  I don't see them nearly as much anymore.  However, I remember the classics like Pac Mac, Donkey Kong and Gattaca.  The 80's was definitely the magic era of the arcade game.

Favorite NES games, in the 80's:  Legend of Zelda (screen still pictured right) and Adventures of Link, Final Fantasy I, II and III, Mount of Olympus, Dragon Warrior I, II, III, Mario (all of them), various others.  I like skill and RPG games, I always have. 

I am an avid gamer and still a complete Zelda nut.  I still play older console games (like NES and SNES) as well as the new gaming consoles like GameCube.  I have a Game Boy Advance, which I am very fond of, playing here and there while I'm doing other things.  

 

 

 

::Movies::

Most Influential Movie:  Labyrinth

"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered."

This movie reached me closer to the heart than any other movie any the 80's.  It was a Jim Henson masterpiece that I still enjoy today.

Synopsis:  Sarah is left home alone by her parents and has to baby-sit her little brother, Toby. The baby will not stop crying and Sarah tells him a story to silence him.  She accidentally conjures the Goblin King, Jareth, who steals the child and brings him to his castle in the middle the Labyrinth. Sarah has to rescue him before midnight or the Goblin King will change the child into a goblin.  She meets some curious friends along the way and falls into various predicaments.  Will she be able to defeat Jareth?

 

 

I honestly didn't watch a lot of Movies, so the list is short.  Here are a few influential movies.  Many movies I actually watched after the 1980's.  I'm mostly a fantasy and science fiction fan (that's pretty obvious).

Legend The Last Unicorn Never Ending Story     E. T. Star Wars

 

 

 

 

 

::Television::

Likes:  All cartoons, I think that's apparent from the list below.

The 80's was all about the cartoons and there was a ton of them.  The animation wasn't as smoothly done as it is due to the way the cells were done.  However, the 80's smack of animation is original and unique, unlike many "copycat" cartoons today.  Go to 80's Cartoon Central to check out your favorite cartoons.

 

  • He-man and She-ra ::pictured right is Orko; I was fascinated with both series as a child::

  • Smurfs  ::Smurfs was another all-time favorite, I wished I had a cartoon channel that will pick this one up::

  • Captain N:  Game Master  ::produced by Nintendo this game related cartoon was one of my all time favorites.::

  • Super Mario's Super Show  ::Another Nintendo classic::

  • Pac Man  ::Another video game related show that I loved.::

  • Fraggle Rock  ::Fraggles were the greatest things around, I loved them::

  • Gummi Bears ::The Gummi Bears series was awesome *sings the theme song*::

  • Paw Paws  ::A cartoon about the Paw Paws bears::

  • Scooby Doo ::The original series is older, but I watched it in the 80's all the time.::

  • Thundercats

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

  • Star Trek:  The Next Generation (late 80's-early 90's)  ::This didn't actually get started good until the early 90's, however I always remember it with my childhood::

  • Transformers

  • Voltron

  • Alvin and the Chipmunks

  • Beetlejuice

  • Any Hannah Barbara stuff

  • Flintstones

  • Jetsons

  • Get Along Gang

  • Grimm's Fairy Tails

  • Jem  ::Truly outrageous::

  • Camp Candy

  • Garfield

  • Dragon's Lair

  • Space Ghost

  • Tom and Jerry

  • Strawberry Shortcake

  • Wildfire

  • Unico  ::See Starluck's Nostalgic homepage (toys section) for more info::

  • Yogi the Bear

  • Wuzzles  ::five friend that are a mix two different animals::

  • David the Gnome

  • Might Mouse

  • Pink Panther

  • Shirt Tales

  • Monchichis

  • Poochie  ::Poochie toys were also made::

  • Rose Petal Place

  • Popeye

  • Q-bert

  • Popples

  • Snorks

  • Winnie the Pooh

  • Noozles

  • Duck Tails

  • Dungeons and Dragons

  • My Little Pony

  • Charlie Brown and Snoopy

  • Count Duckula

  • Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers

  • C. O. P. S.

  • Dinosaucers

  • Care Bears

  • Heathcliff

  • Rainbow Brite

  • Ghostbusters

  • Fat Albert

 

 

::Commercials::

I threw this in as a sort of fun category.  I can't say that commercials truly influenced my life, but I can sing the jingles to many of them.  The commercial section was inspired by Starluck.   Here are a few popular 80's commercial slogans, all coined in the 1980's.


Here is the Noid, a Dominos pizza campaign base in the 80's.

  • Beef Commission
    "Where's the Beef?"
  • Bell (phone company)
    "Reach out and touch someone."
  • Carefree (gum)
    "Feelin' good about yourself...feelin' Care Free!"
  • Chef Boyardee (pasta)
    *singing* "I want hot stuff!"
  • Chuck E. Cheese (pizza place)
    "You can smile America."
  • Close-up (tooth paste)
    "Want love? Get Close-Up"
  • Dominos (pizza)
    "Avoid the Noid."
  • Dial (soap)
    "Aren't you glad you use Dial? Don't you wish everyone did?"
  • Diet Coke (cola)
    "Just for the taste of it!"
  • Dr. Pepper (cola)
    "Be a pepper"
  • Fire Safety Commission
    Smokey the Bear says, "Only you can prevent forest fires!"
  • Frosted Flakes (cereal)
    "Show 'em you're a tiger."
  • Gatorade (sports drink)
    "Gatorade is Thirst-Aid."
  • G. E. (light bulbs)
    "We bring good things to life."
  • Greyhound (bus)
    "Go Greyhound and leave the driving to us."
  • Hellmann's (Mayonnaise)
    "Bring out the Hellmann's...and bring out the best."
  • Hershey's (chocolate bar)
    "Hershey's is...the Great American Chocolate Bar!"
  • Hostess (snack cakes)
    "Great taste to go!"
  • Juicy Fruit (gum)
    "The taste is gonna move you!"
  • Kentucky Fried Chicken
    "We do chicken right!"
  • Kraft (cheese)
    "America spells cheese K-R-A-F-T."
  • Lee (jeans)
    "The brand that fits."
  • Life (cereal)
    "Mikey likes it."
  • McDonald's (Fast food)
    "Good time...great taste"
  • Milk
    "Milk's got more!" and "Milk's got kick!"
  • Oreo (cookies)
    "It's a creamy licking chocolate sensation"
  • Pop Tarts (sugary breakfast food)
    "They're moving their feet to the Pop Tarts beat."
  • Raisin Bran (cereal)
    "Two scoops," campaign.
  • Sprite (cola)
    "I like the Sprite in you!"
  • Sure (deodorant)
    "Raise your hand if you're Sure!"
  • Toy 'r Us
    "I wanna to be a Toys 'R Us kid!"
  • Tootsie Pop (lollipop)
    "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?"
  • Tropicana (orange juice)
    "Squeeze me a glass of Tropicana!"
  • Twix (candy bar)
    "Keep on movin'...with Twix.

 

 

 

::Miscellaneous::

Do you remember?

Rubik's Cube?  These are still around today, but were extremely 80's.  If you could do this one, people thought you were a god.

When Dungeons and Dragons was a huge phenomenon?

Those charm bracelets with tons of clunky charms?  and buttons and badges on your jackets?

Legwarmers and headbands?

Madonna and Michael Jackson were the most popular singers?

eBay never existed? and you didn't get up in the morning and check your email?

Catch phrases like "As if," "Bogus," "Don't have a cow," "Duh," "To the max," and my personal favorite, "Cool Beans?"


Those weird 80's rock videos and when MTV had some strange commercials? 

Plastic clothing was hip with everyone?

Break Dancing, the Moonwalk, Roger Rabbit, and Egyptian moves (inspired by "Walk like an Egyptian"?

Movies like Teen Wolf, the Breakfast Club, and Weird Science?

You could sit and watch Saturday morning cartoons all morning long?

 

 

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