Let's go back in time for a short while. Do you remember going through the Sunday newspaper, which was giant because it was overflowing with extras? I remember pulling out my own stack that was relevant to me...there was the color comics page, the weekly TV book to go through (which was the only way you would know what movies would be shown), and of course the sales flyers!
What we have today is a Toys R Us catalog, from around Thanksgiving of 1995. Let's see, what made the front cover? Some cars nobody remembers...something called "Baby Sip 'N Slurp" which sounds terrifying, and the motorized board game of the week. Not very thrilling, but don't worry, it's about to get better!
Aha, Game Gear! I had one of these. So the system was $120, and games were upwards of $40. I have conversations with folks where we are trying to remember the cost of video games back in the day, and the truth was, they were always expensive. I remember new Atari 2600 titles being $50, which was a car payment back then! Interesting that the Game Boy is 50 bucks...note that it's not a "Game Boy Color," just the crummy first one in a colorful shell. Game Boy Color didn't come out until 1998!
Board games. I am not sure how these are still made in Current Year, but they are. The VCR game in the bottom left looks interesting (they were about gone by this time). Note the "Tiger Talkboy" on the right-hand page!
I don't have much to say on this page. We could laugh at how bad the Pocahontas movie was.
This next page is interesting in one way, because I think pretty much every single thing on it is still available!
Oh, and suddenly we are in a good place, but you have to look hard to get past the "dull." I would've told you there was going to be a full page of Star Wars, as the action figures made their return in 1995, but there isn't so much as a mention here! However, there are two moments of coolness:
ToyBiz Spider-Man figures were $5.99! Good grief! And the giant playset was only $29.99. And, of course, Batman figures had already been a staple of the toy aisle by this point in time. And, I saved the best for last:
Well, finally! One of the problems with the Trendmasters Godzilla line was that there was never anything to promote. There was no hip cartoon or game, and the current films weren't available in the United States, so it always got pushed back into a corner. Here we have mention of the 40th ANNIVERSARY GIFT SET (the second version; note the prototype art being used here) and the "Godzilla Missile Blaster Set." Wait a second...what's actually shown is the GODZILLA ATTACKS NEW YORK playset. J.C. Penney's got an exclusive, smaller version of the playset called "Missile Blaster Set." They couldn't even get that right! 25 bucks, though!
Here is the back for completeness...blah, blah, boring building toys. Note that there is not a whiff of Lego anywhere. That of course would all change in 1999, when they began licensing (but that's another story).
I hope you've enjoyed this foray back into 1995, and it's jogged some happy memories for you. If only we could go back--with a full wallet--and bring back several wheelbarrow-loads of stuff. (If you figure out how to do this, a friendly reminder to make sure you somehow find currency that's old enough, and not dated 2021 or something, so you don't cause some kind of time explosion...or implosion...or worse.)
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