Published Nov. 30, 2003 in the Hibbing Daily Tribune
In the 20 years since the pop culture demise of Care Bears, much has taken place. The Berlin Wall fell. The Internet has emerged as a major form of communication. George W. Bush sobered up, bought and sold the Texas Rangers and was elected president.
It’s been a busy couple of decades.
But the past has come alive. As the holiday shopping season arrives once again, I read with great amazement the list of “hot” toys for kids in CNN/Money online. Care Bears – the pastel omnivores thought to have died with the Michael Dukakis presidential campaign – have now placed fifth on the top ten toys list for girls. Also on the list are the previously defunct “My Little Pony” figurines, a longtime favorite of girls who think horses need makeup and perms.
It’s not all a retro nightmare. “Bratz” and “American Girls” dolls are giving #1 Barbie a run for her money and for once Barb’s stick-thin figure is working against her. Next year, I bet Barbie is toppled from the lead.
I wouldn’t worry, though, Barbie fans. In 20 years, she will be resurrected from the toy scrap heap – just as the Care Bears rose from the ashes this year. Plastic ages well.
For some reason, the boys’ list seems immune from the retro toys. Cars and trucks still dominate the masculine toys. If those start to include Dodge Darts, we should worry.
FOUR different entries on the boys’ top 10 list are variations of video games. That’s a lot of video games – too many if you ask me. I don’t know how the youth of today can handle it all. I gave up on any video game that has more than two buttons and a directional pad. If “X” is a button choice, I can’t handle it. I’ve tried those video game demonstrations they set up at places like Target and I always end up ruthlessly slaughtered by a computer warrior or scraping my face down a ski hill in some snowboarding game.
Maybe my problem is that I do about as well on complicated video games as I would in real life combat with a ninja or snowboarding down Mt. Everest. Aren’t video games supposed to be an escape from reality?
One toy that found its way onto the lists for both boys and girls is the Leap Frog learning system. You’ve probably seen or heard of these things. It’s like the old “Speak and Spells,” only more expensive and somewhat more sophisticated.
While it is encouraging to see something educational make the list for both genders (though higher on the list for girls than boys – what’s that about?), there is something deep down that bothers me about the Leap Frog.
Perhaps my gripe is more with the recent advertising campaign than with the Leap Frog itself. You might have seen the ad where the boy corrects the spelling on a restaurant chalkboard. What is this ad telling us? Well, first, it tells us that a machine has taken the place of a parent in the delivery of reading skills. It tells us that families no longer eat meals at home around a table and that they will even let a kid bring a beeping toy to dinner out so that no one actually has to talk to each other.
Well, maybe I’m reading too much into that. Perhaps I need to hug a Care Bear and enjoy the holiday season.
Aaron J. Brown is a columnist for The Daily Tribune.