We asked 100 people to describe their favorite childhood toy and why they loved it. Their answers are below for you to enjoy. We hope it makes you look back to your childhood and reminisce about some happy times spent playing with a favorite toy.

Best nostalgic toys

1.) Among all my childhood toys, I like my red teddy bear the most. It was gifted to me by my uncle from Singapore. I used to sleep with this teddy every night.
2.) As a child, I really loved sharks and cars, and my mother got both me as a gift. I spent so much time playing with them despite being a small cheap $1 toy because I thought it was so amazing. I still have it to this day.
3.) Baby Henry was an old raggedy white dog, that I use to carry around with me from preschool to bed. I can not remember exactly when I was given Baby Henry; but, it has been in my family for years (making it a family heirloom). I think my favorite memory with Baby Henry is that whenever I was scared, he was there by my side to protect me. It was a “monster in the closet” type of moment, and he was my knight in shining armor ready to fight for me. I still have Baby Henry and he has been passed down to my two-year-old daughter who loves him as much as I do.
4.) Barbie dolls were always the most fun for me. I would spend hours with my various Barbies.
5.) Barbie is still a favorite choice for me and my kids to play with to this day.
6.) Cabbage Patch Kids!. What I liked most about that doll was that you could style the doll hair in any way you wanted to. My favorite memory with that doll was when I would get scared in the dark as a kid and I would hold the doll close to me every night for comfort, and after a while, I wasn’t scared of the dark anymore.
7.) Dawn was the name of my favorite toy. She was tiny with long brown hair and a nice assortment of clothes. I would always play dress up with her and I felt she was better than Barbie.

8.) Furby. I liked that it was a small electronic toy that sang to me whenever I pet his head. My favorite memory of my Furby was all the tricks that it could do, like say its name when I tickled him and the way it would dance when it heard music playing.
9.) He had grey fur and wore a shirt that said “ABC” on the front. I wish I could remember his name.
10.) Horus, my stuffed falcon. I still have the little guy, too. I got him as my annual souvenir from the Smithsonian one summer. Stuffed falcons are not exactly common stuffed animals, unlike bears and kittens and puppies. I always loved him because he is so unusual. He’s gone to Europe with me and all over the USA, including several cross-country moves. He’s also been to many a concert with me, tucked into my backpack under the souvenir CDs and shirts. The one time I did NOT take him with me when I left town, I blew out a tire along I-10. I took this as a sign. So any time I leave the city limits, I make sure he’s in my bag.
11.) I didn’t have a favorite toy because my generation didn’t have a lot of option about it, but I remember a small bicycle that my sister had, and enjoyed a lot with it because I rode it every afternoon around my neighborhood. I had a lot of fun with it.
12.) I grew up poor and Christmas were often gifts of need and not wants. However, this one Christmas I got a Lite Bright. I loved my Lite Bright because I was able to make anything I wanted. My Lite Bright let me be as creative as I wanted to be. I also learned how to use graph paper to make any design I wanted. I loved turning in on when I went to bed and looking at the design that I created.
13.) I had a Barbie Jeep when I was about 8. I loved putting my Barbies in it and driving them around. My favorite memory with them involves my brother and his G. I. Joe airplane. We were very mischievous children, and after we found a box of matches one day, our curiosity got the best of us. We were playing together and decided to use the matches to catch his airplane on fire and make it crash into my Barbie Jeep. When they both had flames and were melting, we just shoved them in the closet and went and got the mop bucket full of water. Our closet was scorched, the carpet was burned and we both lost our favorite toy that day, but it is a memory that will forever be in our minds.
14.) I had a stuffed tiger when I was young. I kept in high on the shelf so my siblings couldn’t reach it, and only took it down to play with. I have a photo of me when I was about 4 years old “reading” a story to my stuffed tiger.
15.) I had Barbies growing up. Four boxes full. I spent hours combing their hair. Dressing them up. Staging them. I believe I had every Barbie that came out from 1985 to 1995.
16.) Legos! I had the chance to be creative and build something. I remember having so much fun with Legos.
17.) I like the diversity of games you could play. I loved to play Pokemon Blue, it felt so real, collecting the pokemon and discovering places.
18.) Laser Tag. I liked that you could get a larger group of friends together and play laser tag around the neighborhood. Or you could be in your house and play with one friend or a sibling or parent.
19.) (I realize that this is an unoriginal name) but Doggie was a glove puppet dog that I had between the ages of two and five. I remember him as being a bit moth-eaten but I loved him anyway. He was brown and white and I remember at the age of three or four I was photographed with him. I still have that photo :).
20.) I received a doll for Christmas. This doll “ate” cookies. They would go into her mouth and come out of her back. I liked her because as a little girl, I felt like a real mommy feeding my baby. My sister also had received the same doll for Christmas. The dolls came with flat, plastic “cookies” and they were vanilla and chocolate.
21.) I received a little baking oven that really could bake things for Christmas, I made little cookies, and cupcakes for my family. Everybody really enjoyed eating my yummy little creations. It made me feel so happy to be able to give the cookies and muffins that I had made to the members of my family.
22.) A science kit. I was one of those kids that loved taking things apart to see how they work. My parents loved this toy as much as I did because it fulfilled my need and saved their appliances. It had over 150 different projects that you could build, with really great instructions that explained what each part did. My favorites were the lie detector project, and the AM radio project.
23.) Popcorn popper. I would push that toy outside in my driveway when I was a child for hours non-stop. My parents told me I was the only kid that they knew of to wear the wheels off of it!.
24.) I’m not sure what my favorite childhood toy was. Maybe my Optimus Prime toy, I guess. I grew up idolizing him on the Transformers cartoon due to his evenhanded approach to all things and I like to think that having that toy gave me a little bit of that nature to keep by my side at all times.

25.) I’m now 46 and had the box during the 80’s that was always fun, but sometimes frustrating. Fact that it is like a puzzle is the main reason I like it. Also that since it’s somewhat small you can take it anywhere and it helps to keep busy when waiting for long time periods. It’s also a “silent” type of thing that doesn’t annoy others as noisy toys do.
26.) I’m going to say my favorite toy as a kid was my electric motorcycle. I was the only kid on the street with one.
27.) It was a big construction set with so many pieces, I could build anything. I remember playing with that set for hours at a time, and over several years.
28.) It was a robot toy dog. It was my father’s gift to my brother and me from Japan. I remember that it knew how to talk and how to do some simple tricks. It was one of my very first technological toys that I ever owned. It was my favorite because it made my brother and me spend more time together. We were really poor back then, so we really loved and appreciated it.
29.) It was an Ironman action figure. I carried it around everywhere and enjoyed every moment of it.
30.) It was an awesome toy, I used to play in the living area of our house, it hit the wall and turns automatically with superb lights, it’s funny to control the car using a remote. It was so exciting.
31.) Lionel Train set. I love trains and there was just something about building a Lionel Train setup with all the accessories. All the parts were high quality and fit together perfectly and it was very easy to use, even for a child. I totally see why this toy and company has stayed around as long as it has with the amount of joy and endless possibilities this toy offers.
32.) My childhood toys were the Transformers toys. My favorite was Megatron. I love how it transforms itself into different vehicles like ships, aircraft, tanks, etc.
33.) My dollhouse was the absolute best childhood toy! It never became old to rearrange the furniture and play with the toy family who lived there. This was such a timeless toy that I enjoyed for years!.
34.) My favorite childhood toy was my Lone Ranger doll and his horse Silver. I loved watching the TV show The Lone Ranger so much and I would reenact scenes from the show with my doll and horse. I still remember almost every episode and these toys reminded me so much of the show.
35.) My favorite childhood toy is my Sweety doll which was made by my mother. It is a cloth doll like a puppet. I shared all my emotions with my doll.
36.) My favorite childhood toy was a Barbie, she was a Doctor Barbie and I loved her so much. I liked that she had long blonde hair and a doctor coat and really cute shoes. We had so many memories together but my favorite memory was when I took her to a real doctor’s appointment and my doctor told me that she really liked my Barbie and I felt like the most special person because a real doctor told me she like MY Barbie. I felt so happy the whole rest of the day even though I didn’t feel well. Barbie went with me everywhere and I will always remember her.
37.) My favorite childhood toy was a Barbie. I loved my barbie because I could dress her up in lots of different outfits and brush her hair. I also had cool accessories like a mansion and a car and dog to go with her. I used my imagination and created whole worlds for my barbie.
38.) My favorite childhood toy was a Tamagotchi. I really liked this toy because I had always wanted a pet, and this was one way I could have a pet and take care of it. I also liked the games that I could play with my Tamagotchi.
39.) My favorite childhood toy was an airplane (not big). The best part about it was its pilot had blue dress and I always thought of myself as a pilot and enjoyed it so much. My favorite memory is that it was quite tough but one day my elder brother opened it with a screwdriver and after that, it never worked.
40.) My favorite childhood toy was an EasyBake Oven. It was my favorite because it actually baked mini cakes. My favorite memory was making my first chocolate cake in it and it actually tasted really good!
41.) My favorite childhood toy was my GameBoy. It was my favorite because I know my parents sacrificed themselves to buy it for my birthday and I always cherished that.
42.) My favorite childhood toy was my Pokemon cards. I loved these cards because there were all different kinds and it was a thrill to try to collect them all. I have good memories of taking these cards on the playground and trading them with my friends.
43.) My favorite childhood toy was probably a Firestorm action figure from Kenner’s Super Hero line. It was a look and character that I really enjoyed. I think my favorite memory was using him to defeat Superman in a one-on-one match!.
44.) My favorite childhood toy was the Ghostbusters playhouse. It was a 2 foot or so tall plastic house that was used to play with action figures in. It had several features like a spinning “fireman” pole and an opening garage door.
45.) My favorite childhood toy was this space playset. It was plastic, almost like a dollhouse, but it was of a space station on a planet. It came with a few different astronaut figures, and a couple of alien figures. The set had a spaceship for the aliens and some vehicles for the astronauts. I loved playing with it because I loved space, and I loved playing with little figures.
46.) My favorite childhood toy was Tinker Toys. I had the plastic version and absolutely loved to build all sorts of things out of them. My most memorable build is when I built a fair. I specifically remember making a huge Ferris wheel with the yellow round connectors and lime green rods.
47.) My favorite childhood toy was water guns (no company specifically). I fondly remember my neighbors, friends and I having water gun fights and having a great time playing with them consistently.
48.) My favorite childhood toy was the train sets we would set up at Christmas time. We would put together the tracks, hook it up to a battery, and run the trains. The power supply hummed and you could smell it in the air. Best part, crashing the train or when it jumped the tracks so you could, of course, put it back again.
49.) My favorite childhood toys were these He-Man action figures. I had gotten them from my big brother, so there were already quite old. They had elastics connecting their legs together, so I would twist them and they’d snap (making the ones I had left more and more precious as I’d destroy them.)

50.) My favorite childhood toys were my Barbie dolls. I enjoyed changing their clothes and making up stories about them. I had a case for them and I used the case as their closet. I liked to rearrange and organize the clothes. I also made beds for my barbies out of empty boxes and sewed bedding for the beds. I spent a lot of time playing with my Barbies.
51.) My favorite childhood toys were my Barbies. I used to like to play them with my friends and siblings because there was always enough to include them. I had a huge Barbie house that contained tons of cute furniture and I would play make-believe for hours. I liked playing barbies because there was always a variety of dolls, clothes, and activities for them. Barbies was a great way to form friendships. I was able to get my daughter a Barbie house just like mine as a child! She loves it and now plays barbies with her friends.
52.) My favorite first toy that I can remember using were my Legos. I loved my legos so much because I was always a curious kid who loved to build. My favorite memory was when my father and I would make small towns together whenever he would come home from work. Even now I still enjoy playing with Legos and I will continue to (as soon as I have children of my own).
53.) My favorite toy as a child was a lovey named Snowden. He was a Christmas pillow that looked like a snowman, and I slept with him every night (and took him everywhere with me).
54.) My favorite toy as a child was an elephant named Dumbo.
55.) My favorite toy as a child was my baby doll “Little Pinch”. I got him when I was first born and he meant a lot to me.
56.) My favorite toy as a child was my little stuffed kitten. The reason that it was my favorite is that it made purring noises when picked up and was really great to cuddle with as I fell asleep. I had that little kitten for many years and it was with me through many stressful periods, making it very special to me as a child and still as an adult.
57.) My favorite toy from childhood was the light heart raccoon the carebear cousin. It was purple and very cute. I would take it everywhere with me. I still like raccoons to this day. I was a big care bear fan. My heart was broken when my pet cat pooped on my toy and I had to throw it away.
58.) My favorite toy growing up was a doll called Rub A Dub Dolly. I loved this doll cause I could play with her in the bathtub. She also came with a lot of accessories. I can remember sleeping with her also.
59.) My favorite toy growing up was legos. They gave me the ability to create anything my wild childhood mind can think of. Yes, instructions were useful for creating certain things, but using creativity is the real fun.
60.) My favorite toy growing up was my basketball. It was round and soft, orange with deep black grooves running around it, dividing it in equal lengths. I loved it because it allowed me the ability to imagine I was playing with other children even though I was often alone. A basketball filled the hole in my heart – swish!.
61.) My favorite toy growing up was my Lincoln Logs. I loved to build different things with them. They could be used so many different ways. They gave me hours of imagination filled fun.
62.) My favorite toy is yo-yo because it moved up-down, down-up. The move happened with the tossing of figures tied by the string. I enjoy it very much.
63.) My favorite toy was a doll. It was the kind you could feed. This was back in the 70’s so just imagine how that doll was. You would get dry food packets and mix it with water. You could feed the doll and then you would have to change it’s diaper. I know they have dolls similar to this now, but back then it was the newest and coolest doll to have.
64.) My favorite toy was a teddy bear I was given by a relative when I was born. It was a simple small brown teddy bear that I named Angel. I used to bring him everywhere with me and always cuddled him at night.
65.) My favorite toy was a Thumbelina doll. I carried her everywhere. At one point, her arm broke off and my parents convinced me she had to go to the “doll hospital”. A few days later a brand new Thumbelina showed up in her place, but I totally fell for it. Fifty years later and I can still tell you every detail about that doll, her plastic hands and feet, her padded body, the dress she wore, everything!.
66.) My favorite toy was a toy helicopter. I like it very much. It can fly a lit bit but not so much high. I always used to play with it in my childhood. I remember it fell in the water one day, but the toy was not damaged. I miss my childhood toy.
67.) My favorite toy was a white teddy bear. I liked it because it was small and easy to carry around. I like throwing it up in the air and pretending it was in distress.
68.) My favorite toy was a cap gun. It was a silver replica of a Colt 45 pistol. I remember loading the caps and I felt I was ready for anything.
69.) My favorite toy was my “O Jenny dollhouse. ” I loved playing with all of the furniture and decorating the rooms, and having the dolls interact with each other. I spent hours creating stories with this toy!.
70.) My favorite toy was my EASY BAKE OVEN. I liked my Easy Bake Oven because I was able to feel like a chef at a young age. My favorite memory was when I got it for Christmas and made brownies.

71.) My favorite toy was paper dolls. I liked playing with them because I could create stories about them. I loved clothes and jewelry even at a young age. I would be imaginative, cutting clothes and jewels, from catalogs for the “dolls”. I would have those with lots of clothes and material goods, and those with little. As a family, we did not have much so I was able to live in this “dream world”.
72.) My Favorite toy was the Digimon Digivice which is basically Tomagachi for boys. I and my cousin would run around the house, the steps made would evolve our “pet” and we would battle it out. Even though it was a small handheld device that was 8-bit, our imagination ran wild.
73.) My favorite toy when I was a child was a small teddy bear. It had many different colors and was the first thing my step-father had bought for me when I was born. I took it everywhere with me for several years and I still have it.
74.) My favorite toys were the Lisa Frank stickers, markers, and folders. I would spend hours in my room coloring pictures and putting stickers on them. I would neatly place them in their correct folders and put the folders in the right place in my room.
75.) My favorite childhood toy is Legos. I loved it because it was gender neutral and I used to build houses and buildings with my younger brother. We were both into playing and building with Legos that my parents bought a special tool to separate Legos that were stuck together, a better solution than using my teeth to bite down to separate the pieces. Although I didn’t get along with my younger brother much growing up, Lego time was when we could play together without fighting!.
76.) My favorite childhood toy was a handheld game featuring the “Cookie Monster” from Sesame Street. It was yellow and had a picture of the Cookie Monster on it. The game consisted of Cookie Monster juggling cookies. There was a button on both the left side and right side of the unit – kind of like a pinball machine. By pressing the buttons at the right time, I helped Cookie Monster keep juggling cookies. If I missed, it was game over. As I progressed towards higher and higher levels, the cookie moved faster and faster making it more difficult. I became so good at it that I got to the highest level available, essentially acing the game.
77.) My favorite toy growing up was a doll. I named her Natasha after one of my elementary school friends. One Christmas I received amazing purple pajamas that came with a matching pair for her. It felt magical.
78.) My favorite toy was a troll. It was my favorite because its eyes lit up and I found it to be really cool. It didn’t do much besides that. The eyes lighting up was amazing and it fascinated me. It had green hair and it was a Christmas present. I was about 6 years old when I got it.
79.) My favorite toy when I was younger was a beanie baby in the shape of a bat. I named her Patricia, and she went with me everywhere. She had two wings that would velcro together so that she could hang from places like a real bat. My dog chewed her one day, so her ear was mangled, but I still loved her.
80.) The first toy that I remember is a little terrycloth stuffed animal in the shape of a horse. I still have it and I am 59 years old. I even have baby photos of me with it.
81.) My Little Pony was my favorite childhood toy. This was my favorite because they had pastel colors and bright sparkle hair. I liked combing them and pretending they could fly. They made me feel magical and special.

82.) My stuffed dog Susie. Susie was a stuffed cocker spaniel that my grandmother gave me when I was 4. I love that dog and slept with her every night. My grandmother died when I was 6 and Susie was my comfort through those times. 58 years later she has an honored place in my home. She has had restuffing and stitching and now wears a flannel nightie. Through the years she has comforted my siblings and my children. She still comforts me by her presence.
83.) My teddy bear. It gave me comfort when I needed it. As a child, I was always scared of the dark and so sleeping with my teddy bear was one of the greatest things for me.
84.) My toys name was Koal-ee. When I was around 5 years old, my family moved from San Antonio Texas to Dallas Texas and we continued to go back to San Antonio for holidays. My uncles purchased a bulk amount of toys for gifts that were delivered in a Santa sack to all the cousins, I got the stuffed Koala bear and this toy reminded me of my extended family and loved it very much, for a long time.
85.) Patty the Platypus, a TY Beanie Baby from McDonald’s, was my favorite childhood toy. It was small enough to go everywhere with me, and I could play with it with the bigger Beanie Babies as well! I got it on a vacation with my parents and my brother, so it also reminds me of the happy times with my family.

86.) Simon Says was my favorite childhood toy. I liked that I can play it alone or with my sister or my cousins. The more players there were, the more fun we had.
87.) Socker Boppers. They were my favorite toy because you can fight anyone without getting hurt badly as long as you were in a clutter-free environment. My favorite memory was when my friends and I pretended we were pro boxers using them. We would set up matches every week.
88.) Strawberry. She was a teddy bear in a Christmas printed dress. I used to take her everywhere with me, even the county fair. I still have her now. She’s over 23 years old.
89.) Super Nintendo. I begged for a Super Nintendo when I was six years old. The day I finally got it was one of the best days of my childhood. This was the first gaming system that I got to own. Before having my own system I only played games at the arcade and my great-grandfather had an Atari. This system even to this day is still my favorite. There were so many awesome games to choose from. I spent a large majority of my time after I got that system just playing it all the time. My favorite memory of playing on the Super Nintendo was when I beat the crocodile boss in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game.
90.) That is an easy question. It was my Barbie! I still have my Barbie, and her friends, and Ken. I loved dressing her in pretty clothes and shoes. I had a Barbie house and furniture. I kept all my barbie things nice and neat. I remember getting so upset if my sister would take any of her clothes. I loved her hair too.
91.) The Barbie Doll and the Ken Doll sets were always my favorite. With this toy set, I was given the opportunity to interactively play pretend with them. My parents bought me every accessory that was both fun and educational. With the Barbie Store, and the Sea Doo’s my Barbie and her family were able to get changed into many different outfits as well as swimsuits. My father made a Barbie doll bed for them so I would put pajamas on them and they would lay nicely under the covers that my grandmother made for them. The Barbie doll house was always a particular favorite with my friends and I.
92.) The name of my toy was Tiger. It was a stuffed animal that I slept with every night. I think that it was my favorite because I liked (and still do like) cats. My favorite memory associated with it is how safe it made me feel at night.
93.) The name of the doll is Tina. I love the doll very much and its yellow in color and its very soft to touch. The color and the soft touch attracts me a lot and additionally its the biggest doll I ever had.
94.) They can hold their strong feelings inside a little bit, but their feelings can easily burst out in a rush of excitement, fear, and frustration. Losing control of such big feelings can be very frightening for them and they need lots of physical contact and reassurance that they are lovable.
95.) Jacks! This game was so much fun. It involved coordination and steady hands. My favorite memories about it are playing with my best friend, Phillippa. We always made each other laugh, regardless of what we did together. With practice, I became quite good at playing jacks, but I could never beat my oldest sister. Her style was impeccable. I wonder how many kids today have heard of this game.
96.) Well my first toy was a stuffed animal kitten it was my favorite toy. I took it everywhere I went. I loved that toy so much that I thought that the kitten was real and that she was my best friend. I was so attached to that stuffed animal that I remember it was small pink with blue eyes and it had whiskers. I had that for a long time up until when my sister was born. I was about 15. I gave to her because it brought me so much joy. After a few years, I never knew what happened to it.
97.) When I was a child, my favorite toy was a stuffed teddy bear. It was red and white with velvety soft paws and its left ear would squeak when you squeezed it. My favorite memory of my bear was when I was alone at home, he helped me feel safe.

98.) When I was a young girl, I loved playing with my Moonbeam My Little Pony. It was actually a unicorn and I spent hours pretending she was real and came from a magical land. I took special care styling her mane and tail with ribbons and/or braids. My lifelong love of fantasy began with unicorns, and Moonbeam was a huge part of it.
99.) When I was little I like playing with paper dolls which I had cut from magazines. I liked making then and playing with them because I could make dresses or any outfits in any different color from the magazines. I also liked playing with real dolls and changing their clothes.
100.) When I was young I got a sled as a gift for something. It was my favorite toy I have ever had back then. We had lots of snow and ice that year and the sledding was fantastic. The neighborhood sledding hill was packed that year and it was the first year I had my own sled and didn’t have to wait to have a chance to get on someone’s sled.

What’s your favorite childhood toy?

Best nostalgic toys

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