4 Children's Crazes That Took The 90's By Storm

90's children had it all. After all it was the decade that brought Friends into our living rooms, put Take That and Oasis in the charts, and to top it all off sweets were half the price they are today. It truly was a great decade to grow up and listed below are a few of the crazes that captured the imagination of children (and adults) around the world.

Pogs

Peak Year: 1993
Pogs were the dominant force on school playgrounds across the globe in the early 90's. The game found its name courtesy of POG, a brand of juice drink whose bottle tops were commonly used to play the game before it became a commercial success. Each player took turns to use their "slammer" to scatter the Pogs, keeping any that land face up. The winner was the player who ended up with the most Pogs. Wonderfully simple, although only the bravest children would play for "keeps".

Interesting Fact: The 90's revival of the game began in Hawaii, where it had been played as early as the 1920s.

Tamagotchi

Peak Year: 1997
Tamagotchis were virtual pets that needed to be looked after by their owner. They had to be fed, played with, put to bed, all the demands of looking after a real pet were covered. Children weren't the only ones who went crazy for Tamagotchis, as they proved to be worryingly popular with adults.

Interesting Fact: In 2010 it was recorded that over 76 million Tamagotchis had been sold across the world.

Beanie Babies

Peak Year: 1998
Beanie Babies first appeared in 1993, and by 1995 they were already extremely popular collectible items. This was achieved in no small by Ty's policy of retiring the stuffed animals, keeping them rare in a market where demand was high. In fact this collectible craze went so far that in 1998 many of the collection were selling at one thousand times their initial retail value. How much this was down to demand from children alone is debatable to say the least.
Interesting Fact: Based on the Revenue created by this toy alone Ty created an empire worth more than $6 billion.

Pokemon

Peak Year: 1999
"Gotta catch 'em all!" Pikachu and the gang are still enjoying global fame today, but the glory years for Pokemon came in the late 90's. Originally created for the Gameboy, Pokemon sparked a successful television series and several feature films, but the biggest element of the "craze" was the trading card game. It was released in 1998, and the object of the game was to beat the opposing Pokemon, by getting the highest score. By 1999, the rarest packs could cost as much as $375.

Interesting Fact: The "Pikachu Illustrator" is the most expensive Pokemon card in the world. Only 6 exist, each with an estimated value of $20,000!

David James researches and writes about retro trivia and entertainment for the quirky Christmas gifts retailer Find Me A Gift.