Many of the toys that were invented and manufactured during the 1960’s
are still around and popular with today’s more modern children, although
most toys have experienced many alterations through the years in an
attempt to keep up with the changing of times. Unfortunately, the alterations
to make the sixties toys more modern most often results in creating
toys that are made with cheaper materials, made and packaged with plastic,
and just created as a lower quality item than they were when they were
first invented. People who grew up in the sixties who still own toys
of the decade are now in possession of valuable antiques and collectables,
depending on the current condition of the toys! These antique toys often
sell on online auction sites or yard sales for fairly large amounts
of money, but some people prefer to keep their antiques and collectable
items because of the nostalgia associated with them.
In America, the Barbie Doll was released at the end of 1959 as a teenage
fashion model. She had a more curved body than any dolls previously
made, and even had her own boyfriend, the Ken doll. Girls were immediately
attracted to the Barbie doll since she was basically everything a girl
wanted to be- beautiful, wearing fashionable clothing, and having a
gorgeous boyfriend! Barbie was originally designed to wear popular designer
clothing, but as the British Invasion entered America, her clothing
and fashion styles began to reflect that of the British styles during
the 1960’s. Barbie and Ken dolls have withstood the test of time, and
are still a very popular toy for girls in America, although she has
come along way; not only are their fashion model dolls, but the Barbie
line consists of Barbie depicted as having different careers, such as
Doctor Barbie, Dentist Barbie, Barbie as a mother (with teenager dolls,
called Skipper, and baby sized dolls), Babysitter Barbie, and others
to encourage girls to aspire to have different careers. Modern Barbie
dolls also are marketed with different themes, like Wedding Barbie,
completely decked out in a wedding gown, and Sports Barbie, for example.
In 1963, the doll known as the British version of the Barbie Doll was
released in an aggressive marketing campaign that no other toy had received
in Britain prior to this sixties toy. The doll, called “Sindy”, was
marketed throughout the United Kingdom as “The Doll You Love To Dress”
and was instantly a hit with the girls of Britain, and well over 200,000
Sindy dolls were sold during the Christmas season alone, during the
first year of her release. The Sindy doll first manufactured by the
company, Pedigree of Kent, was given a boyfriend doll, named Paul, in
1965, to keep up with Barbie and Ken.
In 1966, Palitoy Ltd released a plastic action figure geared toward
boys, called “Action Man” and was remarkable similar to the American
G.I Joe action figures.
The popular game of “TWISTER” was invented in 1966 by Reyn Guyer, and
was played live on Johnny Carson’s late night talk show- the publicity
stood to make the game an instant hit among teenagers!
Matchbox cars and trucks were popular during the sixties, and the styles
and types of cars changed regularly, although during the sixties the
manufacturer of Matchbox cars always offered a product line of exactly
75 different cars at any one time. Matchbox has taken on a variety of
transformations over the years in both American and the United Kingdom
markets. The product line in the United Kingdom includes rescue vehicles,
cars, trucks, complete play sets with streets, towns and villages, and
flying vehicles.
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