Mental Floss

Watch an Hour of Toy Commercials From the ’90s

Betty Spaghetty ... know that you were loved.

Ellen Gutoskey|
An Hour Collection of 1990's Toy and Game TV Commercials
An Hour Collection of 1990's Toy and Game TV Commercials | Retro Commercials 1990s

Remember Magna Doodle and Doodle Bear? Remember Lite-Brite? Remember Floam? If you’re a ’90s kid, you probably do—but maybe you haven’t thought about them in a few decades.  

The YouTube Channel Retro Commercials 1990s lives up to its name by posting retro commercials from the 1990s. (If you’re of a certain age, take as much time as you need to process that the ’90s are now considered retro. Some of us are still recovering from last year’s news that American Girl’s latest “historical” dolls have stories set in 1999.) The video above is an hour-long compilation sourced from various other channels; you can see the full list of contributors here. 

Anyone of toy-playing age during that decade is in for quite the nostalgia trip, no matter what products you and your friends were enjoying at the time. There are commercials for plenty of games, many of which involve animals in strange situations: e.g. Crocodile Dentist, Pickin’ Chickens, Chicken Limbo, and Elefun. You’ve got your Nerf crossbows and your Super Soakers, your Game Boys and your Hot Wheels. 

Betty Spaghetty is there, naturally, as is Furby and some Sky Dancers (not together). A few notable teen TV stars even show up to promote Koosh Lings: Boy Meets World’s Danielle Fishel, Full House’s Jodie Sweetin, and The Secret World of Alex Mack’s Larisa Oleynik. Barbies abound, from Rappin’ Rockin’ Barbie to Western Fun Barbie, not to mention the Barbie Dreamhouse and the Barbie Porsche (with headlights and fun stickers!). And no ’90s commercial compilation is complete without Bop-It, Skip-It, and Easy-Bake Oven.

Overall, the video is a really entertaining reminder of all the fun stuff you didn’t realize you forgot about.

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