7 of the coolest things we all wished we owned in the 80s and 90s, from novelty item to tech game-changer
You’re not a child of the 80s or 90s if you didn’t want one of these
- They were the epitome of cool in the 80s and 90s
- These design classics were on everyone’s wishlist back then
- Some are now collectors’ items, fetching well over £1,000
They are the items that were on everyone’s wishlist during the 80s and 90s.
Teenagers wanted them in their bedroom, and adults craved them to help organise their lives.
These are some of the coolest, most desirable products of the 80s and 90s.
Some are design classics, which can fetch many tines their original price today.
Others were novelty items, which briefly lit up our lives before fading away, including one particularly impractical gadget.
How many of these items did you own, or are there any you remember desperately wanting at the time?
Philips Discoverer TV
Before this came along, televisions were designed to be watched, not looked at.
But this space-age design changed all that, making the TV itself a desirable piece of furniture which would complement any living room or bedroom.
The limited edition 14” colour TV, modelled on an astronaut’s helmet, with a visor that could be lowered over the screen, was designed to celebrate NASA’s first space shuttle launch in 1981.
It did not hit the market until a few years later and was only available for a relatively short time, but it is rightly recognised as a design classic.
See-through phone
Was there anything cooler in the 80s and 90s than a see-through telephone?
It satisfied our innate curiosity by revealing the inner workings of the phone, and it looked so different to anything that had come before.
The neon colours, which were all the rage back then, plus the fact they lit up when they rang, added to the appeal of this design classic, which made getting a call more fun than ever.
One person recalled: “I would turn all the ringers off in my house except for this phone in my bedroom and it would light up when my sixth grade boyfriend would call.”
Clap-on, clap-off lights
The ultimate time-saving device or the last word in laziness?
For most people, these were just a bit of fun - a way to impress your friends with this high-tech (for their day) wizardry.
They were, of course, highly impractical, with the lights often turning on and off unexpectedly as they were activated by other noises, but this only added to the fun.
As one person remarked: “Imagine using a clapper and then an ad for it suddenly starts playing and your lights go on and off.”
The Clapper, as it was known, was heavily marketed, with some incredibly corny adds promoting it as a life-changing device, but for most of us it was just a novelty item, and the novelty soon wore off.
Apple iMac G3
Computers had never looked sexier.
Apple broke the mould and began its resurgence with this beauty, which hit the market in 1998.
At a time when most PCs were still housed in ugly rectangular grey boxes, this curvy, colourful design classic looked like nothing we’d ever seen before.
The all-in-one PC with screen and computer housed inside the innovative see-through casing was not just good to look at.
It was easy to use, thanks to Apple’s now famously user-friendly interface, and teenagers everywhere wanted one in their bedroom.
Boombox
The Walkman meant we could take our favourite music with us wherever we went, but if you wanted to subject everyone else to your musical taste then a boombox was the answer.
Boomboxes were everywhere in the late 80s and early 90s and it was a case of the bigger and louder the better.
Although they came with handles, you needed to be packing some serious muscle to lug around the heftiest of these portable stereo systems.
But it was worth it, of course, as it meant you could literally bring the party with you.
ZX Spectrum
This groundbreaking 8-bit creation made home computing accessible to millions of people for whom it was previously unaffordable.
When it was released in April 1982, it became one of the first computers available in the UK for less than £100.
As well as being affordable, Sir Clive Sinclair and his team built it with practicality in mind, making it much smaller and easier to use than many home computers of the time.
The ZX Spectrum proved a huge success, with more than five million units being sold.
The colour display and its stylish, sleek black keyboard with the rainbow motif made it a design classic which everyone wanted in their home.
Psion PDA
Before we all had mobile phones and you wanted to keep your life in order, then a PDA (personal digital assistant, not public display of affection) was the must-have gadget.
Among the coolest and most popular of these pocket-sized electronic organisers during the 90s were the Psion Series 3a and 5a.
The clever clamshell design opened up to reveal a decent-sized keyboard, and they had everything you needed at your fingertips, from a word processor and spreadsheet to your calendar and a calculator.
There were games to keep you occupied during any downtime, too, and the clever layout made the devices easy to use.
Later models came with a touchscreen and a stylus that slotted away handily.
If you’re after more 80s and 90s nostalgia, why not check out our list of things that were popular back then but you can’t do anymore?