Toys Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dragon Ball Z

In the mythos of the Dragon Ball Z world, the seven dragon balls are scattered around the planet. Anyone who can assemble all seven earns a wish. Dragon Ball Z was actually a sequel TV series to the original Dragon Ball, picking up with many of the same characters about five years later. The "Z" series ended up being much more popular and is better known worldwide. There were new toys produced for more than a decade after the series ended airing.

As a child of the 1990s (I was born in the 80s, but raised through the 90s) these toys were very hot as I was a child. The show they were based on, despite debuting in the 1980s, didn't make it to American TV until the 1990s.

Answer: Greeting cards

Originally, Care Bears were from Cleveland. American Greetings was the first to produce Care Bears merchandise. Eventually, after Kenner started making the dolls, several TV specials were made, leading into an animated television series. The plush dolls were so popular that the toys were branched out to include action figures and many other varieties of playthings.

While the plushie versions of these toys came out in the 1980s, the PVC and several other versions didn't pop up until the 1990s. The toys continued to be popular through the 90s, and a few remain on my shelf to this day.

Answer: G.I. Joe

The Star Wars figures were the first line to be produced in this scale and do extremely well. Other soon followed, G.I. Joe, which was failing at the time as larger figures,was quickly scaled down and re-emerged as a force in the early 1980s toy lines.

The figures remained popular thanks to animated series, comic books and eventually live-action movies.

In the 1990s, the toys continued to be popular, with both the 3.75" figures and re-issued 12" figures. With trading cards, and a revived animated series, the Joe line was a top seller in the decade.

Answer: Masked Rider

The "Masked Rider", was technically a spin-off of the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" TV series as the planet the main character was from, and some of the characters from the pilot episode, were included in an episode of "Power Rangers". That's now how it was in Japan where they were completely separate shows though. The toy lines often mimicked or were even exact copies of the Japanese version though, as TV storylines were changed, the same suits for heroes and villains were used in both countries.

The show, and the toys, debuted in the U.S. in 1994/95.

Answer: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

The original five rangers were red, blue, black, yellow and pink. During a special event in the first season of the show a sixth, green, ranger was added. At first, he was a villain that was later brought to join the heroes. His character, and toys, quickly became the most popular of the series. When they ran out of footage to reuse from the original Japanese show that the series was being re-edited from, they kept the same actor and character, but brought him in as the white ranger. Those toys remained the most popular of the line, still surpassing the original five in sales.

The show and the toys debuted in the U.S. in 1994.

Answer: The Mystery Machine

The Mystery Machine is one of the most iconic toy vehicles of all time. It's been produced as a Matchbox car, in model kits, in Lego bricks, and many other toy lines as well. In nearly all variations it is designed to look like a van from the 1960s U.S.

In the 1990s, the Scooby Doo toys had an all-new line released. This included the first release of the Lego version of the Mystery Machine, and also the toy pictured with the question, which was a pedal car designed to look like the van. It was released in 1993.

Answer: USS Enterprise

From the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" TV show and toyline. The Star Trek toys produced in the early to mid-1990s were mostly 3.75" scale. Made by Playmates, they were never as popular as the Ninja Turtles that the same company made, mostly because the "Star Trek" series appealed to older crowds, but the toys were produced for children. In later years, higher-end collectable versions of the same characters from other companies sold much better than the cheaper, mass-produced, counterparts.

The toyline was first released in late 1989/1990 after the first season of the show had proven to be a success. The majority of the line, included the Enterprise playset, was released in the 1990s.

Answer: Star Wars

The Star Wars toys hit at the perfect moment. They were among the first toys produced in conjunction with a movie that sold well. Kenner, one of the smaller companies making action figures in the U.S. at the time, got the rights as other companies passed.

They decided to produce the figures at the 3.75" size which wasn't standard at the time, and it paid off. The figures were able to be made cheaper, and faster. That allowed them to be sold cheaper, and to be produced quickly to meet demand.

While the most collectable portions of this line were the originals from the 1970s, the most produced were from the Power of the Force line in the mid 1990s, which was mostly re-releases and updates of original figures, and new figures designed to match that line, and then in 1999 figures based on "The Phantom Menace" which was the first prequel movie in the franchise.

Answer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures were based on the animated series and comic books of the same name. The four mutated brothers were named Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael. Along with April O'Neal, Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady, they were the original eight figures produced in the line in 1988. The toyline was one of the most popular in the world over the next decade, and continued to be popular into the 2000s and beyond.

As the series and toys turned to the 1990s, the toys came out that were based on three live action movies, a live-action TV series in 1997 and many other "wacky" versions of the toys to keep the line going.

Answer: Hot Wheels

Hot Wheels, which celebrated 50 years in the toy industry in 2018, was the world's largest producer of toy cars in the 1990s. The "red lines" were a series of cars produced that literally had red lines on the wheels; there wasn't anything else special about them. They were only produced for a short time though, and quickly became highly sought after in the toy car world.