Hmm, today was another good day! WordPress ends the day at 7PM my time, which is kinda irritating, but from 7PM yesterday to 7PM today (it’s currently 7:39), I got 74 views, and have had six since then, so that’s pretty damn good! Thank you all once again.
Anyway, enough about that. This is another post written without prior planning, so I’m not sure how this one’ll turn out either. I’m gonna try to keep it short. Because…well, I don’t feel like writing a 1500-word diatribe about toys at the moment, haha. But we’ll see.
JoshC suggested that I write about Pound Puppies. I did indeed have a Pound Puppy as a kid, and I even found a little tan one at a thrift store a couple years ago.
However, I had more of the other merchandise than I did of the actual plushies, including this read-along book and tape set that I loved to death for some reason. If I remember correctly, it was based on the characters from the cartoon show and was about the wonders of reading books or something like that.
Another Pound Puppies item in my collection was a tape full of doggy Christmas songs, complete with really cheesy barking and whatnot, which was also listened to many, many times. Kids are so indiscriminate when it comes to entertainment.
I also had a couple of knockoff Pound Puppies that I loved just as much, but I don’t remember what they were called. There’s a picture of me with them, and if I wasn’t such a lazy bitch I’d scan it in. Hey, you’re lucky you’re gettin’ two posts in one day!
DC suggested Popples. Unfortunately…I ain’t got much to say about Popples because I never had one. They’re…interesting. Apparently, they were created by the same people responsible for Care Bears. I think if I had to choose between the two, I’d take Care Bears. But if I found a Popple in a thrift store, I’d probably buy it.
Hmm, more toys…
Ah, The Get Along Gang. This franchise was a vague, early memory for me, since the show ended when I was about two years old. Once in the early 90s, I was at a thrift store with my mother and found one of the toys. Even at that young age, I wanted to buy that toy because it was from the 80s. Didn’t get a chance to though.
I can’t agree with the themes of this show, though. It encourages conformity and I kinda don’t think that’s necessarily a good thing to teach kids. Conforming is fine in some situations, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with getting along with others, but you’ve got to have a mind and identity of your own.
Strawberry Shortcake! I only had one of the dolls, but I loved it. I also seem to remember having a big, “baby” version of her, but maybe I just dreamed that. Not sure. Here’s a commercial for it, featuring Heather O’Rourke, AKA Carol Anne from Poltergeist.
Strawberry Shortcake has been revived since the 80s, but now she looks like this:
Maybe I’m just an old fogey, but I hate that new design. For one thing, it doesn’t look timeless like the old one. It looks…well, frankly it looks 90s! The big hat, the jacket tied around the waist, the striped top– I don’t know about anybody else, but that looks ridiculously mid-90s to me. It’ll certainly be dated in a few years. Not that that really matters, I guess, but meh. I think they should’ve just left well enough alone.
Okay, well, after searching around some more, it looks like they changed the design again, and it’s better, but I still prefer the old ones. Maybe I just don’t like my toys looking “hip” or something. Also, most of the old characters are gone. And Huckleberry Pie looks ridiculously generic. Check it out if you’re bored enough.
And after doing even MORE Googling, I found this, YET ANOTHER re-launch for Strawberry, this time by Hasbro. I like the character design better, as it’s more reminiscent of the 80s design. But I’m sure the animated show isn’t going to be to my liking– which is fine, because I’m not a four-year-old growing up in 2008. I’m just rambling.
Okay, I think that’s enough for now. Any thoughts?
ETA: Oh yeah, NJ has a new look! I was sick of looking at the blue, so I picked something where I could customize the colors. I decided to go with an orangey-browny thing, because that reminds me of the 80s. Unfortunately, this layout doesn’t support a custom header, so the NJ logo I made is retired for now. Still, I’m happy with the colors. What do you guys think?
July 16, 2008
Annette
Nostalgia Junkie 
7 responses to “Nostalgiathon #4: Random Thoughts on a Few 80s Toys”
Dan
July 16th, 2008 at 22:49
You know I don’t really know how to tactfully comment on Strawberry Shortcake, Pound Puppies, Popples or The Getalong Gang without sounding like a creepy old man. So instead I’ll just say I like the new colors/layout it fits your style!
DC
July 17th, 2008 at 06:26
I never had Strawberry Shorcake toys and I think I had one pound puppy. But I had that Moose from the Getalong Gang. He was awesome! I wish I still had him, but I think he was one of the things that gone thrown away. 😦
As for the Popples, of course I still have a few since I mentioned it. I just liked that they tucked into themselves and you had a ball plush. They’re was even a cartoon I used to watch. 🙂
Billy
July 17th, 2008 at 08:19
Jumpin’ Jesus, Popples! This is the first time I have heard that name in probably 20 years. Maybe more. Thanks for the trip!
JoshC
July 17th, 2008 at 10:48
I had the pound puppy on the far left in that photo, he had a little flap of material(skin?) over his eyes that you could fold down to make him look angry, and now that I’m older and wiser I realize that’s sort of wrong.
I don’t like the Strawberry Shortcake redesign either, you’re right, very 90’s, Berry 90’s in fact!
HI-YO!!!
I dig the new colours, Im thinking about doing a redesign for mine too, everyone else is doing it!(damn you get along gang!)
starwenn
July 17th, 2008 at 22:34
I had a Pound Puppy, a gray one named Buster. I miss him. He was one of the things that vanished in the 90s when Mom decided she couldn’t save every toy my sisters and I ever owned. I now own a gray Pound Purrie (cat version) I named Erica I found in a thrift shop (named for the manager of the shop and a friend of mine).
I’m not bothered by the Strawberry Shortcake revival. The cartoons are fun, and really, she looks more like a semi-realistic little girl than the original did (though I have fond memories of the original, too – I had one of the rag dolls). I’m not so sure about the re-re-launching, though. While I agree that it’s high-time to refreshen Strawberry unless they want to give her another decade-long hiatus and the new design is kind of cute, I think they’re aiming for the wrong audience. “Strawberry” is just a tad too saccharine for the “Hannah Montana” crowd.
I had a Popple – he was bright green. I have no idea what happened to him.
My family actually taped the first half of a “Get Along Gang” special that ran occasionally on syndication through the late 80s. We never had any of the toys, but we did have about three or four picture books. The “conformity” aspect didn’t bother me as a kid. I didn’t see it as “conformity” – I saw it as a bunch of kids working together. I don’t know how well I’d take it today. This particular 80s franchise seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth.
Anonymous
March 21st, 2010 at 23:37
44rr
Cecil T. Westervelt
July 13th, 2010 at 10:42
Holy Canoli! I used to have a couple popples. Yes I am a man(straight and married no less) , I just loved the damned little things. Shortcake up there has always freaked me out though, like she reminded me of that leprechaun thing in the movies.
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