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11 Favorite Plushes And Stuffed Animals From Our Childhood (VIDEOS)

By Shawn Tempesta

Many of our fondest memories as a child surround our friendship with our favorite stuffed animal and plush toy! From My Buddy to Kid Sister, Pound Puppies to Cabbage Patch Kids, every kid gravitated to one in the 1980’s especially.

We wanted to go in the “way back” machine and look back at some of the plushes that were always by our side through thick and thin. Check out the list below!

The history of stuffed toys

Stuffed toys have been around for ages. The first known stuffed animal dates way back to the 1880s when a company created a felt elephant. It wasn’t meant to be a toy though… it was originally meant to be a pincushion. Hardly a fitting role for such a cute thing. But the same company that made that realized it’s charm and started developing stuffed toys using the same technology.

In 1892, one of the first stuffed toys in the United States was sold. “The Tabby Cat” featured the front and back of a cat on separate pieces of cloth, sewn together and stuffed. It was not as intricate as today’s plushes, but cute nonetheless.

It wasn’t until the early 1900s where stuffed animals, in particular the “Teddy Bear“, took off. That first bear, designed by Morris Michtom, was inspired by a drawing then President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt posing with a bear cub. The Teddy Bear took off and since then the stuffed toy has been cemented in American history.

We’ve collected some of the best commercials from back in the day featuring the toys we loved so much… and deep inside we knew loved us right back. Take a look, and if you think we missed anything, reach out to me and tell me what should be added!

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  • My Buddy & Kid Sister

    This probably goes down as the biggest “bop” of the 1980’s toy commercial era. “My Buddy… My Buddy… Wherever I go, he goes…” The song is outstanding. The toy was even better, and served as my personal best friend growing up.

  • Puffalumps

    Fisher-Price, the company behind so many of our childhood toys, introduced Puffalumps back in 1986. They were released in several different lines and commemorated holidays. They were brought back for a second in the mid 2000s, but have since become a distant memory.

  • Pillow People

    Pillow People were everywhere in the late 1980s. They were shaped like normal rectangular pillows, but with faces adorning them, and arms and legs coming out. They were even D.J. Tanner’s favorite stuffed animal in Full House.

  • Garfield

    He was in newspapers, on phones, and frankly everywhere from the late 1970s. The Garfield plush was massive and chances are you had one if you were an 80s baby.

  • Rainbow Brite

    She’s got the power of the rainbow to make you happy! Rainbow Brite was a girl’s best friend back in the day and some dress up like her today! We all know that person.

  • Care Bears

    An absolute 1980s phenomenon. Care Bears came out in 1981 as characters on greeting cards, but soon were turned into teddy bears. By the mid-80s they were so popular that there were multiple feature films featuring the characters.

  • My Pet Monster

    Believe it or not this thing has the same beginnings as Care Bears, being created by the American Greetings greeting card company as a plus. While it didn’t have the same pop culture success as Care Bears (it’s movie went direct to video), many of us remembering at least seeing one growing up.

  • Cabbage Patch Kids

    Easily one of the most popular toys of the 1980s. These dolls set sales records, spun off into other products and are still thought of fondly today. They started from Coleco (the same company that had the old school Colecovision video game system), and passed on to Hasbro, Mattel, and even Toys R Us owned the brand for a bit. They are still made today, believe it or not!

  • Teddy Ruxpin

    WAIT HE TALKS?! Yeah, Teddy Ruxpin either gave you love or nightmares as a child. Stick a cassette tape in his back and he’d read you a story. How cool!

  • Muppet Babies

    These adorable stuffed animals brought the baby versions of our favorite Jim Henson characters into our homes. Adorbs.

  • Pound Puppies

    So your parents won’t let you have a dog because you’re not responsible enough, and they know you won’t walk it like you said you would. These adorable pups were way less maintenance and pretty darn cute.

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