Retro Toys from the 1980s

Cabbage Patch Kids

• WIth doughy faces, close-set eyes and somewhat dim facial expressions, Cabbage Patch Kids became a pop-culture fad and the most successful doll to launch during the 1980s. Created by sculptor Xavier Roberts, who would exhibit his hand-made dolls at art exhibits and craft shows, the dolls were "adopted" by buyers, who were given birth certificates and adoption documents for their dolls. The gimmick took off with children, and the dolls became so popular that demand far surpassed the initial supply. During one Christmas season, news accounts chronicled violence breaking out among parents desperate to buy a store's last doll, leading to some retailers holding lotteries to determine who would be allowed to buy one.

Transformers

• Transformers were vehicles, including cars, trucks, airplanes and others, with movable pieces that could be shifted to turn the vehicle into a toy robot. The first toys arrived on store shelves in 1984, inspiring several animated TV series and, more recently, a big-budget feature-film franchise. A big part of Transformers' massive success was the toys' TV ads, which informed children that Transformers were "robots in disguise." More than 30 years after their initial introduction, Transformers remain a popular fixture on toy store shelves.

My Little Pony

• For young girls during the 1980s, few toys were as beloved as My Little Pony, a small toy horse with a mane and tail made of synthetic hair that could be brushed, styled or tied up with bows or ribbons. Based on an existing toy called My Pretty Pony, My Little Pony was introduced in 1981 as a 10-inch-high doll made of hard plastic. The toy's manufacturer, Hasbro, has re-released and redesigned the toy several times since then.

Rubik's Cube

• Originally introduced in 1974 as the "Magic Cube," the brain-teasing Rubik's Cube (as it was eventually renamed) became a fad in the 1980s that surpassed the infamous Pet Rock of the previous decade. In design, the Rubik's Cube is a simple, four-sided box, with each side a different color that contains nine like-colored squares. After "mixing up" the cube, the user's challenge is to twist and turn the box so that each side is of a uniform color, a deceptively difficult task that proved both addictive and frustrating. More than 100 million Rubik's Cubes, including numerous brands of unofficial knock-offs, were sold between 1980 and 1982.