If Someone Had These Items They Were Definitely Cool In The 80s

By Tom Pearson 1 week ago

Atari 2600



Image Source: Reddit

The Atari 2600 is the grandfather of all games consoles. Without this console, who knows, we might still be heading to the arcade to play video games! If you had the Atari 2600 in the 1980's, chances are you had loads of friends who came round to play on it!

Big League Chew



Image Source: Reddit

If like most kids in the 1980's you thought smoking was cool, then Big League Chew was definitely something that you picked up from the corner shop. With the taste and look of bubblegum, but the texture of chewing tobacco, this was one for the cool kids.

Cabbage Patch Dolls



Image Source: Reddit

Although these cabbage patch kids are objectively quite creepy, they were on the top of everyone's Christmas list in the 1980's. If the dolls creepy appearance wasn't enough to put you off, they actually came with paper adoption certificates too! Crazy!

Chuck E Cheese Party



Image Source: Reddit

A birthday party in the 1980's was always a special occasion, and the epitome of the 1980's birthday was held at Chuck E Cheese. From cheap and pretty naff slices of pizza, to animatronic robots performing horrendous and spooky songs, Chuck E Cheese had it all.

Disney Channel Magazine



Image Source: Family Minded

Before the days of the Disney channel on cable television, we were left with the Disney channel magazine. Although this may sounds like a pretty rough state of affairs, the Disney channel magazine was the highlight of our week and always well anticipated.

Fisher Price Cassette Player



Image Source: Reddit

The Fisher Price cassette player was so uncool it was actually super cool. Everyone mocked these tiny cassette players at first, but after a baptism by fire the little bomb box showed its worth. Everyone had to have one of these, and the sales figures reflect just that.

Garbage Pail Kids



Image Source: Reddit

Combining the collectible nature of baseball cards and that gross sense of humor that all kids had back in the 80's, Garbage Pail kids were the cards you had to have in your collection. The gross designs just seemed to appeal to us, and parents hated them!

Jelly Shoes



Image Source: Reddit

Jelly shoes are a bit of a love hate fashion item. Some people still swear by them even today, but in the 80's every girl had a pair of these bad boys. Comparing what style you managed to get your hands on with friends was definitely a high point in our summers.

Leg Warmers



Image Source: Reddit

A woolly pair of leg warmers just screams 1980! This was a time when at home fitness was at its peak, and along with a number of other fitness tat, leg warmers quickly took over and left the market. Thank god this is a trend that died back in the 1980's.

Air Jordan's



Image Source: Reddit

Michael Jordan is arguably one of the best basketball players to have ever lived. When Jordan and Nike combined forces to unveil the first pair of Air Jordan's, everyone had to grab a pair. They have stood the test of time and are still just as popular.

Pogo Ball



Image Source: Reddit

Even the mere thought of a Pogo Ball just rolls my ankles. How these dangerous toys were even allowed to hit the shelves is beyond me, but in the 80's everyone wanted to at least try one. Unlike the commercial promised, you could never get that much height on one...

Members Only Jacket



Image Source: Reddit

Only the coolest of the cool kids had a members only jacket, mainly because no one knew where to buy them from! These jackets really were the in item of clothing and everyone wanted to get their hands on one just in time for the new school term to start.

Merlin



Image Source: Reddit

At first glance the Merlin looks like an early try at a genuinely mobile phone. However, it turns out that the great minds and scientists at NASA decided to put rockets on hold and figure out a new way for all us 1980's kids to play tic tac toe on the move!

Mini China Sets



Image Source: Family Minded

This is another weird trend that seemed to sweep the world, why did everyone insist on getting themselves a tiny little china tea set. Many of the people that owned these had grown out of playing with dolls, but they were so cute everyone wanted one!

Mr Potato Head



Image Source: Reddit

Mr Potato Head rose to fame not only in the 1980's, but also in the hit Pixar film Toy Story. Mr Potato Head lived in every bedroom in the 80's, and was everything to us from the perfect dress up companion to science experiment volunteer. Good on ya Mr Potato Head!

Nerds Cereal



Image Source: Family Minded

Nerds cereal seemed to be the most sugary sweet cereal ever produced. Everyone bragged about having this for breakfast, when in actual fact it was pretty overwhelming. There is no way this much sugar in the morning can be good for you or your teeth!

Pencil Hugger



Image Source: Family Minded

Pencil huggers were such a waste of money, but everyone in every class had to have one. At one stage, even the teachers in school gave these out as prizes. Pencil huggers were available with all of our favorite characters and you needed one for every pen and pencil.

Roller Skates



Image Source: Family Minded

Roller skates have to be one of the most 80's modes of transport available. The 80's is when the roller skate restaurant really had a rise back to fame and became prominent again since its drop off in the 50's. As a result, everyone wanted a pair of these.

Rubik's Cube



Image Source: Reddit

The Rubik's cube is yet another toy that took the world by storm in the 80's and has continued to stick around ever since. This was a common stocking filler and we all spent hours and hours trying our hardest to make the cube right again... before just peeling and re-sticking the stickers!

Scratch And Sniff Stickers



Image Source: Reddit

Scratch and sniff stickers seemed to be everywhere, from school text books to lunch boxes. Who can resist giving one of these stickers a smell, even now I can't walk past a sheet of these without having a go and trying to figure out what scent it is meant to be.

Shrinky Dinks



Image Source: Family Minded

Before endless television channels and games consoles, one of the most fun things we had to do in your spare time was make your own key rings. Thanks to Shrinky Dinks you could make all the key chains your heart desired and chances are you still have some knocking around.

Ski Wear



Image Source: Family Minded

Ski wear in stupid colors? Check. Wearing ski wear in stupid colors even when you weren't skiing or had no plans to go skiing? Also check. I have no idea why this was such a trend in the 80's, but the fashion police should have put a stop to this as soon as it began.

Slap Bracelets



Image Source: Reddit

A slap bracelet was literally just a piece of measuring tape with a sleeve of soft rubber around the outside. I challenge anyone to resist grabbing one of these and slapping it round your wrist as hard as you can. These must have been a nightmare for our teachers to listen to all day!

Spirograph



Image Source: Reddit

The Spirograph was essentially a set of gears that you stuck a pen or pencil into to make intricate patterns and designs. The patterns all began to look the same after a while, and we ended up with hundred of pieces of paper with essentially the same design on them!

Strawberry Shortcake Vitamins



Image Source: Family Minded

These were genuinely just multivitamins, but because they were strawberry shortcake brand multivitamins we all begged our parents to buy these for us whenever they went grocery shopping. Did they actually do anything, probably not, but it never stopped us.

Walkman



Image Source: Reddit

The Walkman was Sony's answer to portable music, and without this invention we probably would never have ended up with the iPod, iPhone or music streaming services. We have a lot to thank the people at Sony and the Walkman for, it helped paved the way!

Trapper Keeper



Image Source: Reddit

A trapper keeper was just a binder really, but when we were kids in the 80's we all wanted one of these to keep our important notes in. Maybe it was the fact that they made us feel grown up, but every kid carried one of these under their arm like a fancy businessman.

Swatch



Image Source: Reddit

Everyone's first watch had to have been a Swatch. The Swatch was a rubber watch which was relatively cheap to buy and came in a multitude of colors, and we all wanted our own for Christmas. I know I had one when I was a kid, what a great Christmas present!

Teddy Ruxpin



Image Source: Reddit

Teddy Ruxpin was actually a big hit in the 80's, and there was a time when we didn't consider his dead eyes or creepy walk scary at all. Looking back at this toy, it really was super weird and I don't know why we were all so obsessed by him and his odd face.

Puffy Paints



Image Source: Reddit

Everyone wanted to design their own t-shirts, and thanks to puffy paints you could let you inner Picasso shine. These paints looked like normal paint but dried with a kind of 3D affect. Everyone wanted their own set, and if you didn't have any you had to beg your friends to use theirs!