This has been going on in the background for three months, but I'm aware that I haven't published anything about it and felt it was time to bring it back to the foreground.
Potential subjects
I started by drawing up lists of childhood associations from different eras. Selected highlights include...
- Pre-1950s: hula hoop, spinning top, fairground shooting games
- 1950s: Dan Dare, Meccano, cowboys & indians, pogo stick, model railways.
- 1960s: Thunderbirds, Scooby Doo, old-style police uniforms (e.g. traffic policemen with striped sleeve bands), Ladybird books, Spangles
- 1970s: Space Hopper, Chopper bicycle, Rainbow TV show, Jamie and the Magic Torch, spud guns, toy miniature chocolate dispensers, Space:1999, Tonka toys, Lego, fuzzy felt, Stickle bricks, action/war comics, walkie-talkies, Weebles, ViewMaster, Evil Knievel toy, Lucozade, Monster Munch
- 1980s: Rubiks cube, Transformers, Smurfs, VHS tapes, Trolls / My Little Pony / Strawberry Shortcake, He-Man, Simon electronic game, Big Trak, Gary Numan, Adam Ant, old skool hip-hop, Cabbage Patch Dolls
- 1990s: Pokemon, Power Rangers, TMNT, POGs, Super Mario & 4th/5th generation consoles, Teletubbies, Tamagochi, Tickle Me Elmo
- 2000s: Tweenies, Ben 10
The list is endless, and these represent only a fraction of the suggestions available.
Longevity issues
First thing to notice is how many of these items span a number of decades, such as Lego, Power Rangers and Super Mario, and we are still bombarded with advertising images for them. Their longevity implies that manufacturers are clearly aware of their popularity. As such there is limited emotional affect attached to them.
Some long-lasting toys are past their peak and maintain a diminishing (often minimal) level of popularity, and are not prominently advertised. Examples include Space Hoppers or model railways. This provides better scope for emotional reaction.
There is a niche opening for stronger nostalgic reaction when talking about a specific variant -- e.g. for Lego, old-style people (with bendy arms) or original faceless mini-figures (with blank faces and solid legs).
Others have already been rediscovered & resurrected, and are being used specifically for their nostalgic effect. Examples include Transformers (recent movies earned $2.7 billion collectively at box office), The Smurfs ($560 million), and 'retro' releases of old products such as Super Mario All-Stars or Big Trak.
Thus the long-lasting and the rediscovered products offer limited potential for releasing a strong emotional reaction, due to their existing prominence in the marketplace.
Copyright nightmare
There is a second issue common to long-lasting and rediscovered products, and it is an issue which has much bigger consequences for my research: copyright & intellectual property (IP) rights.
Probably 80% of the items mentioned in my subject list are trademarked or covered by some kind of copyright. This is far more wide-ranging than most people realise -- some of the most basic, generic toys are still legally protected in some way:
- Hula Hoop -- the name is trademarked by the Wham-O company (1958).
- Lego brick -- protected by patent (and legally dubious trademark) up until 2005, when a ruling in Mega Bloks' favour finally broke Lego's monopoly on Lego-compatible plastic bricks.
- Frisbee -- name trademark owned by Wham-O company (1959).