Toys of the 1980s Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mattel

Mattel originally planned to market the toys under the name "Lords of Power", however, it was decided to change the name because it might imply something of a religious nature to some people. There were really two main characters that my sons wanted at first - the good guy, He-Man, and the villain, Skeletor.

It became necessary, however, to also have their many cohorts; He-Man's alter ego was Prince Adam and his sidekick, Cringer, was a favorite. Skeletor's minions, typically called The Evil Warriors, included many gruesome looking characters such as Beast Man and Mer-Man.

Then, of course, we needed Snake Mountain where Skeletor lived and all of the other toys. Yikes!

Answer: V-Cube 6

After the incredible market success of the original (3x3x3) Rubik's Cube, other sizes were quickly produced. Rubik's Revenge was the 4x4x4 version, designed by Rubik himself. The Pocket Cube (2x2x2) and Professor's Cube (5x5x5) were released by other designers, causing some copyright and trademark disputes.

The V-Cube series (currently spanning at least from 4x4x4 to 9x9x9) was developed in the new millennium to provide high quality designs suitable for speed-solving larger cubes.

Answer: The Little People

Xavier Roberts combined the quilting skills he had learned from his mother with the art of needle molding to create hand-made dolls that he called "The Little People". These creations were not for sale, but buyers would pay an adoption fee. As with Cabbage Patch Kids, each creation had its own name and birth certificate. Do you remember standing in long lines waiting to nab one of these for each of the kids? Sometimes in short demand, adults would actually fight over who got to buy the Cabbage Patch Kids that were available!

Answer: Fabuland

Fabuland sets were made of standard-sized LEGO bricks but contained larger figures than the typical minifigs seen in sets aimed at older customers and modeled as anthropomorphic animals. Most Fabuland sets contained under 100 parts and could be combined to make a town. Fabuland was the first LEGO line to feature associated material such as story books.

Answer: Teddy Ruxpin

Teddy Ruxpin was created by Ken Forsse and first marketed by the Worlds of Wonder company in 1985. Along with Teddy Ruxpin, the company also released accessory toys, such as "Answer Box", that plugged into Teddy and taught information like colors and counting, and "Picture Show", which also plugged into Teddy and projected images onto the wall.

Interestingly, even with the best-selling toy of 1985 and 1986, the company filed for bankruptcy and was liquidated in 1988.

Answer: The solved layout had a different overall shape.

The standard layout of Rubik's Magic is a 2x4 rectangle with only 32 possible configurations of the eight tiles that make up the puzzle. However, the solved state is a heart-shaped 3x3 layout with one missing corner. Finding a way to change the shape of the puzzle was a main part of its challenge.

A twisting move is possible but not required for the solution. It has been employed in record attempts for the puzzle (which clock in at less than one second). The move puts some significant strain on the cords holding the puzzle together and risks breaking them, effectively ruining the toy.

Answer: Pound Puppies

Created in 1984, Pound Puppies were first sold in Canada. The Tonka company manufactured and marketed them in the United States. The larger variety of Pound Puppies came in a variety of colors and was sold in a case that resembled a doghouse. Like Cabbage Patch Kids, each puppy came with an adoption certificate.

In his "Totally Tubular '80s Toys", Mark Bellomo wrote that over five years sales of the toy topped $300 million and sold in 35 countries. I do remember that this was the beginning of going to fast food joints for toys for us!

Answer: Minx

Mèffert had actually experimented with twisting puzzles before the Rubik's Cube became a fad. His most successful release was the Pyraminx, a tetrahedral puzzle in which only the six edge pieces could actually swap places - the points and centers only rotated.

The Megaminx and Gigaminx are both dodecahedrons with different cuts; the former is similar to a 3x3x3 cube with one layer of pieces around the centers, the latter resembles a 5x5x5 with a center and two piece layers on each of the twelve faces.

Answer: My Pretty Pony

My Pretty Pony was created by Bonnie Zacherle and Charles Muenchinger in 1981. The original My Pretty Pony was a brown, made from hard plastic and could moves its ears and tails. In further releases, My Pretty Pony was introduced in different colors and had accessories such as a cowboy hat. The line was not a commercial success and the franchise was reintroduced the following year as My Little Pony. These figurines were smaller, more colorful and had different themes such as unicorns and sea ponies. These were very successful and spawned several television shows, movies and other media.

Answer: Alice in Wonderland

"The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland" beings back all the beloved characters from "Alice in Wonderland", including Alice herself. The film is based on Lewis Carroll's books, which had lapsed into the public domain in 1973 and does not actually overlap with the Disney production of the same name.