18. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
YouTubeAh, drugs. It had to be drugs, right? That's the most plausible reason that one would come up with a concept like mutant sewer-dwelling turtles with ninja skills and a pizza fetish, and a giant rat with Mr. Miyagi tendencies. And what the hell was the deal with Krang? A brain-blob with a bad attitude bent on world domination? This, kids, is why you're not meant to sniff marker pens. Still, the resulting merchandise - specifically the vast range of figurines, vehicles and play sets - was top notch, and popular enough to attract the negative attention of notorious fun-spoilers like your parents and the church. The toy range has been revived a few times over the years, but it was the original line which made the biggest impact. Before things got a bit out of hand with more and more outlandish spinoff figurines and "expanded universe" nonsense - wild west and military variants and so on - these four heroes in a half shell were nicely detailed and skillfully crafted for their time, providing instant schoolyard cool-points.
17. Koosh Balls
WikipediaPeople of all ages love throwing things at one another. Sometimes we want to throw things without actually hurting anyone or breaking windows. Enter the Koosh ball: It's soft, it's rubber, and it makes a sort of kooshy sound when it plops onto the floor. There's not really much to it, but you all remember the way is smells - that most delicious scent of new rubber that you only get with new toys - and the way it feels, hundreds of brightly coloured rubber filaments flopped in your hand. Proof that sometimes it's the simplest ideas which prove the most enduring