Photo from Inverse
 Power Rangers
“ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING RELATED TO POWER RANGERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. I’m referring to the first few seasons of Power Rangers in the 90s!!)” – Gilbert Q.
Photo from Yogakids
Hoberman Sphere
“The Hoberman Sphere was my first toy to be honest. As a child of a newbie OFW back then, we didn’t have much and toys were seen as luxury rather than instruments of creative expression. Imagine my amazement when I was given that colorful toy during one Christmas day. As a nerd, I was amazed at how this tiny contraption was able to expand to a bigger size. I examined every bit of it from screws to joints just to know how this colorful toy expands. It might or might not be the reason why I became interested in Science and Technology.” – Jonathan A.
Photo from JoeBattlelines.com
G.I. Joe Figures
“I always bought my toys in Green Hills after school at Nova Fontana and Best Toys. guess it was a typical guy thing because, you know soldiers, action movie recreation and all the violent ideas we get from tv and movies are displaced there. Also the thrill of buying a new toy, especially the expensive ones which I later learn are collectible and may have a resale value of 1k-3k and up. But as a kid you don’t think of that, you want to play and enjoy what you have. Something that was emphasized in Toy Story 2, what is a toy when its just displayed and not played with. I guess imagination and just being a child are really what I cherish cause they are all innocent, even if they seem violent. I see it as a way to relieve anger issues and frustrations when you’re young, and maybe meet friends on the way.” – Shaquille S.
Photo from Planet Retro
Toy Soldiers
“I loved to play pretend. In that very context, I always imagined that I was a spectator with no great military might. I spent days and days just creating the perfect battle scenes. These tiny green army men helped me understand how wars work, solely not independent from The Art of War and the philosophies of war. I love those guys. I say it in the present tense as I still have them at this time and age.” – Byrd P.
“I always try to imagine and create situations where war is always happening but then again I’m just playing with mere plastic toys.” – Tyron V.
Photo from Action Figure Insider
Care Bears
“When I got my first Care Bear (Cheer Bear), I always wanted to bring her everywhere with me. I brought it everywhere with me to the point that she got dirty and had to be hand washed, and shrunk. I got a new bear named Wish Bear (the teal one), I would pretend that they’re sisters and I would be their mom/caregiver/doctor or whatever!” – Nina M.
Photo from Ron’s Rescued Treasures
Polly Pocket
“Every Christmas I would get those toys. I even had the video games on PS2. LOL. I attempted to dress and act like them too!” – Kating E.
“My sister used to have the original Polly Pocket, you know the really tiny ones. Since we weren’t allowed to bring toys to school, I just had the doll and her extra clothes in my pocket all the time. One day when I got home from school, as I was removing all the stuff from my pockets, I realized that some shoes were missing. I frantically retraced my steps around the house to see if I had dropped it somewhere. The process of trying to find it was so frustrating ‘cuz it was so small. Luckily, I was able to find it naman!” – Bianca T.
Photo from Toys R Us
Tickle Me Elmo
“It was the most memorable toy I’ve ever had actually. Pag out of town si dad for work, lagi ako magt-throw ng tantrums to the point na makakabasag ako ng gamit ganon haha. He didn’t know how to calm me down so he bought me a Tickle Me Elmo so that I can remember him daw. When I asked him why, he told me “I know you miss daddy’s tickles, anak.” – Hans B.
Photo from Toys R Us
Teddy Bear
“I was a given away child. I grew up under the care of relatives because my parents were very poor. I was not allowed to go out and play with other kids. I also did not have any toy and days were spent cleaning the house and helping my lola wash clothes. One day my uncle came home holding a brown paper bag. He gave the bag to me and when I opened it I was so happy to find a toy. I asked what it’s called and my uncle said,” It is a Teddy Bear.” I named my toy Teddy and we became friends. She knows everything about me. We laughed and cried together. From then on I never felt bad not being able to go out to play with other children as long as I have Teddy with me.” – Heidi C.
Photo from Toys R Us
Kiddy D.I.Y’s
” These were like mini science experiments/arts and crafts projects that would cost 200-300 pesos (lol i don’t know if it is still the same). When I was around 6 or 7, I saw this “Paint Your Own Tea Set” and begged my mom to buy me one. She eventually bought it and sent this chubby little kid home with the biggest smile on her face. Up until now that I’m 21, I go to Toys R Us just to look at the new toys and play Lego. Toys R Us is one of the things that makes going to the mall fun and worthwhile.” – Ana M.
 
Tamagotchi
“My first ever Tamagotchi was baby blue and speckled with light pink dots. I received it after what seemed like an eternity of begging for it—my parents rarely bought me toys, preferring books instead—and I was ecstatic when my parents surprised me with my very own. I brought it to school the next day, despite the newly-imposed rule against bringing the little gadgets. I had to figure out how to mute the toy, and I would periodically check on my little Tamagotchi baby in between classes or during recess and lunch. For the time that I had it, it was the highlight of my day: seeing my little baby grow and evolve into its next iteration, cleaning up the adorable little poop icons that piled up beside it, feeding it new food, and seeing it learn new skills. I remember I would even connect my Tamagotchi to the online virtual world so could get more money or more skill points! Eventually, though, as with all toys, I grew out of the Tamagotchi craze and it was left sitting on a shelf, untouched, momentarily forgotten. I actually came across it last year as I was cleaning up and sorting away the clutter around my room. For a minute, I considered buying batteries for it and playing again, for old time’s sake. I don’t’ think I ended up doing it though, and I’m sure it’s still somewhere on one of my shelves—a baby blue glimmer of my childhood.” – Dana M.
“Tamagotchi was the 1st “gadget” I got from my parents. I asked them to buy it for me since it was a bandwagoner back then. I had a fun time using it cause I get to socialize with my classmates. I even remember a teacher when I was in grade 3 who confiscated all the Tamagotchi she sees from the students at the general assembly because it wasn’t allowed in our school.” – Diana R.
Photo from Skool Days
Pound Puppies & Poochi
“When I was little I used to be obsessed with dogs (I still am) and I wanted to own more dogs than I already had at the time. To compromise, I was bought poo-chi robots to simulate having even more dogs. I treated them like real dogs and brought them wherever I went!” – Kayla T.
Littlest Pet Shop
Photo from Amazon
“I’d collect literally every collectible pet and it has always been one of the toys I’d check out first at the toy store. I’ve always loved pets, specifically dogs, so I’m very sentimental with my LPS toys.” – Erica V.
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Photo from BT.com
Furby
“My Furby doll was actually Shelby, the shell kind. She was violet. It was an advanced toy at that time, she was so interactive! I loved her so much. A great feature pa is how they slowly learn to talk–like babies developing into toddlers. Starting from nonsensical sounds to full on sentences. Soon, she learned to sing and it was cute at first. Until she was singing all. the. time. It started to become a bit annoying. One night I was already in bed but couldn’t sleep cos she kept singing–I kept her in the closet but I could still hear her. That was it. I took out her batteries after that and that was the end of our sweet love affair. Lol!” – Nicole V.
Photo from The Antiques Almanac
Monopoly
“I remember me and my cousins playing Monopoly every Christmas Eve while waiting for Noche Buena. Since we were so into it, we asked our parents to buy us the Philippine Version of it, so we can actually “buy” the places we’re familiar with. It became our instant go to board game because it actually makes Math more fun!” – Danah P.
Photo from Popular Mechanics
Water Toys
“Toys that could increase the “fun” in the water like floaters and water squirters were also my favorite because I would spend hours in the pool when I was younger so, I needed those toys to amuse myself while beating the heat.” – Frances E.
Photo from NY Daily News
Bratz
“I loooooved being immersed in the Bratz section because they usually had a whole wall, top to bottom shelf, just of Brats and all their characters and accessories! My favorite was having a birthday and just receiving everything Bratz: backpack, toy car, more girls, extra clothes and accessories. And I spent the whole afternoon playing on my own.” – Rachel T.
“I always played them with my sister and my neighbor up until I was grade 5! I liked making new clothes for my bratz too like a mini fashion show for the dolls!” – Cat F.
“My “nanay” sent me a Bratz doll the one na parang head lang where you can braid the hair and put makeup on. I remember I even get scared kapag nagigising ako kasi I put the Bratz head in my bed. Haha!” – Nikki S.
Photo from Groupon
Pokemon Cards
“Every week I look forward to buying those Pokemon cards, yung “booster pack”. 12 pieces lang laman ‘nun, haha!”” – James S.
Photo from ClarizzaTomaCruz.com
Teks, Holen and Pogs
“Just the thrill of getting them at the market when i accompany my mother while she’s doing her shopping. playing on the streets. laro kasi yang teks, betting or digging holes sa putikan para sa jolen. something na hindi na common for kids these days. it’s something not really expensive pero it brought joy when i was growing up.” – Mark L.
Photo from Neogaf
GameBoy
“So every month, my dad would personally bring me to toys r us just so I could pick out a new game boy game. This is probably one of the things I looked forward to the most when I was a kid. I remember buying Pokémon emerald, sapphire and ruby three months in a row, lol!” – Monica L.“I had a Gameboy Advance SP. I played it so much every summer vacation.” – Luigi L.
Photo from Jackie Lebovitz
Bop It
“Oooh! I remember when I always brought it to the rink. It was our after-training thing in addition to hide and seek! Really just the bonding experience of it made it fun. But it got more fun when we started being competitive to get the high score. (Competitive pala, hahahaha). As a kid, the most disappointing thing was pushing/pulling the wrong thing a couple of points away from that, or pag na-low batt na, hahaha!” – Bea L.
Photo from DH Gate
Beyblade
“Hmm basta ang naalala ko lang, pag ‘playtime’ sa school namin every friday, yung mga girls ang dala nila puro dolls tas ako kasama ko boys nakikipagaway kasi ayaw ako pahiramin nung arena for the beyblade.” – Kristin G.
Photo from Archie Zapanta
Japanese Robots
“I was born in 1976. Those were the days when Japanese Robots were introduced worldwide on TV. I didn’t have siblings to play with, so the robots mainly occupied most of my time playing them. I even go to bed them. My imagination was so wild every time I played with the robots for our living room was the whole playground and my creative juices poured out pretending that I’m in another world whenever I played.” – Archie Z.
Photo from Pinterest
Paper Dolls
“I keep my dolls in plastic folders and keep the paper dresses as neat as possible. I hate it when I see folds or creases in them!” – Nancy V.
Photo from Pinterest
Spinning Tops
“Challenging kasi sya matutunan at pag natutunan mo, sobra fulfilling tapos payabangan pa kami ng mga kalaro ko, pagandahan ng pagkalalagay ng design sa tuktok at habang umiikot sya kahit sabay sabay kami naglalaro alam namin kung ano yung samin dahil sa design sa tuktok. Ang way kasi ng paglalaro nya, magddraw kami ng circle gamit ang chalk, tapos, dun kami magpapaikot and may ibang trumpo na nandun, tapos pag yung trumpo mo lumabas sa margin na yun, makokonyatan ang trumpo.” – Theresa P.
Photo from Pinterest
Baby All Gone
“I remember how I’d enjoy smelling Baby All Gone’s cherry food and wonder where the disappearing milk went.” – Hannah N.
Share with us your favorite toy/s in the comments below!
Disclaimer: WheninManila.com wishes to give credit to the respective owners of the photos indicated in this article.
