Weird shit from an 80s childhood

[CandidFruit]

Reading through the retro sweets thread reminded me of some other random stuff from growing up in the early 80s.

Who else remembers the garbage pail kids? (I mean, Cabbage patch kids was bad enough!)
Now that is some seriously weird shit!

Mind you, I bet anything if you have the full set, you’ll probably be able to pay off your mortgage 😂

Anyone remember the Speak & Spell electronic gadget?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speak_%26_Spell_(toy)

And the ‘Simon Says’ game.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_(game)

Anyone rember this plastic octopuses 🐙 sticky yellow toy that you could throw at the wall and it would stick or like walk backwards

Also the metal half round circular ring of springs that would walk down each steps

I had The Citadel of Chaos.

I remember a Ghastly Ashley covered in acne; I was planning on showing it to my best friend Ashley as I thought it would amuse her too, but my mum made me throw it away in case Ashley took in the wrong way and got upset!

You can still buy realistic candy cigarettes in Japan, by the way. They give them as prizes in this littel retro theme park near me!

Garbage Pail Kids were wild! I remember collecting those stickers, and some of them were just so bizarre. It's funny how things from our childhood can be worth a lot now. Who would've thought that those little cards could potentially pay off a mortgage? The 80s were definitely a different time for toys and collectibles.

Yes! They cost a pound if I remember correctly? They were strange!

❤Penny sweets that actually cost a penny, or sometimes half a penny! Loved the sherbet flying saucers made out of rice paper. Poor newsagent had to count them all up every time.

And I had such a great collection of novelty erasers, VERY important that they were never used. No idea what happened to them...

Pedal pushers! Bought a pink pair from Etam in Watford and wore them with my fluffy batwing jumper and elasticated slip on shoes to the roller disco at the leisure centre (probably alternated weekly with my jumpsuit)...
Smelly rainbow rubbers, exciting stationary, Top of the Pops and the charts on radio. Never missed it and used to record songs with my single deck tape recorder next to the radio so you'd have background house noise (shouting, hoovering etc) along with shit quality music!
My sister and I got a girls world for Christmas one year. We were so excited!
Took her up to the bedroom, came down for Christmas dinner and a few hours later went up to play with her...
Our older brothers had hacked all her hair off and drawn a moustache, beard and glasses on her face. Wouldn't come off.
Mum was absolutely livid, we were crying and they were soon pretty sorry.
She stayed in the cupboard for a while looking like something out of a prison camp, until Nana knitted her a bobble hat and she looked like a birdwatcher. Went in the bin soon after.
Also had a Pierot poster and Smash Hits was my favoured read. Had a Spandau poster next to the bed because I had the teenage hots for Gary Kemp.

Slinky! Used to get tangled in about 30 seconds!

I have used the country dancing tapes as a teacher- they were still going in the late 90s. They were actually useful in real life- I went to a wedding once, with a ceilidh, and already knew some of the dances because of those tapes!! They were from BBC schools.

@KitKatChunki Yes, the skip it- with the counter! I got mine in 90/91 I think rather than 80s and it felt like all the girls in class got them for our birthdays. There was a big hoohah about them breaking your ankles if you got hit on the flying ball thing, so I think they got banned in the playground 😁

My mum was the ‘computer lady’ at my primary school and she would wheel this massive BBC computer down the hall on a big trolley to the classrooms. In the holidays we’d be allowed to borrow it and bring it home. My dad would buy reams of computer paper with strips down the sides that you’d tear off (they fed the paper through the printer) and I used to ‘collect’ them and do crafts with them! We’d play the only children’s game available on this machine, I think it was called Pob, you’d type pob can… and an instruction eg, pob can Walk, pob can sleep etc…. But the best was Pob can Pop- and the thing would explode. Or Pob can swear and it would say No I can’t (in text, obvs)

it is truly mind blowing how advanced our IT has become from those days. My watch is a more sophisticated computer than that thing.

Didn’t they come with a stick of bubble gum that was really hard to chew?

@CandidFruit Have to show you my T shirt!

Oh my god the creepy Pierrot bed spread😱 id forgotten it ever existed 😂

My girls world had permanent felt tip eyebrows sadly. I had to make sure I gave her some lush looking brows to hide the pen. ( similar to the young 'uns these days)

Also a Sindy and Pippa doll , and a doll where you could lengthen her hair by pulling it from.the top of her head like a long pony tail, then wind it back in.

The Beano, Dandy, Jackie, Twinkle, Bunty magazines.

The Wimpy restaurant, with knickerbocker glories and cola floats, no McD's!

And emu arm puppets.

Does anyone remember Keepers? I had Sheldon the turtle.

Keepers, Keepers, what’s inside those Keepers?

@Dita73 no effing waaaay! That is so cool 😂
Please wear that today and see how many people get it! 😆

I spotted bath oil pearls in a chemist in Germany last week!

Now let’s talk Athena posters! No 80s childhood/teenage bedroom was complete without one of these bad boys.
Question is, which one graced your walls?

I had this one…

DH of course had the tennis girl one.

Good grief, we are such cliches 🤣

I had a Sindy House - there was a hob that made real sizzling noises and a hostess trolley! But the best thing was her yellow buggy which was way better than Action Man's car and we used to do stunts in the garden on. I coveted but never got the play doh hairdressers' house.

Also remember the crazy books - why were we all obsessed with Flowers in the Attic? Also Riders and Clan of the Cave Bear!

Those were a step up from Sweet Valley High.

Kids weekly magazines delivered to you each week: Twinkle, Jackie, Girl, My Guy.

Books: Nancy Drew, some kind of thriller series with dark covers and shiny foil titles, Babysitters Club.

Toys: Major Morgan (a blue chunky box-like major with cards that showed you which buttons to press to play a tune), Charmkins (little charms shaped like people - I had the baby in the pink basket), Strawberry Shortcake dolls (Mint Tulip, Raspberry Tart, Lemon Meringue, Lem & Ada, Sour Grapes, Blueberry Muffin, Crepe Suzette, Orange Blossom - they all had different smells), Sindy (with her big plastic horse, Dapple, and chunky yellow car).

TV: Mysterious Cities of Gold, Rub A Dub (that later became Wackaday), 80 Days Around The World, Ulysses, Flintstones, Captain Caveman, Hong Kong Phooey, Getalong Gang, Racoons on Ice, Press Gang, Children’s Ward, Jossie’s Giants, Byker Grove, Finger Mouse, Chorton and the Wheelies, The Flumps, Grandad, Johnny Briggs.