10 Toys From Your Childhood That Got Insane Upgrades

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

1. Easy-Bake Oven

Easy-Bake Ultimate Oven / Via yoyo.com

For baby bakers, the original Easy-Bake Oven was quite a wonder. Cook real food in a real oven just like mom and dad! The food didn't always win points for presentation, but let's be real—it was kind of tasty. Easy-Bake's modern iteration, the ULTIMATE OVEN, looks more like a spaceship than a kitchen appliance, comes in gender neutral colors, and uses an actual heating element instead of an incandescent bulb. Welcome to the future of children's culinary technology.

2. Fisher-Price Grow-With-Me Skates

Fisher-Price Grow With Me 1-2-3 Inline Skates / Via yoyo.com

Remember the brightly colored, rubber-coated skates with wheels that could be adjusted as you grew more comfortable with rolling around? Yeah. They're pretty much rocket-powered space boots now. Well, not really. But they now look much cooler and they come in an inline configuration. BOOM. Upgraded!

3. Tickle Me Elmo

Big Hugs Elmo / Via yoyo.com

If you're too old to have played with Tickle Me Elmo, you probably remember the craze surrounding the maniacally cackling stuffed doll circa 1996. Stores nationwide struggled to meet demand. Fights broke out in malls. Some paid thousands the get their hands on one. Eventually the fad faded, but the animatronic Elmo lives on in toys like Big Hugs Elmo. Seemingly seeking revenge for enduring years of tickle torture, Elmo now just wants to embrace you. Over and over. Forever.

4. Simon

Simon Swipe / Via yoyo.com

Simon says press the red button. Simon says press the blue button then the red button. Simon says have a panic attack. Sound familiar? This handheld electronic game of pattern repetition may have given us some anxiety issues, but it was simple and fun. In today's post-iPhone world, however, Simon needed an upgrade. Enter Simon Swipe—a new twist on the classic challenge that adds the now-familiar finger swipe into the mix, creating new layers of madness & frustration. Xanax not included.

5. Erector Set

Erector Space Chaos / Via yoyo.com

You can't get much simpler than the good 'ol fashioned Erector Set, right? You've got your metal beams, your nuts, your bolts, your occasional pulleys & gears, and your wits to put 'em all together. But just like its distant cousin LEGO, Erector eventually evolved past its simple premise and into more engaging, interactive forms. Just look at this Dark Pirates Bomber from the multimedia card game Erector Space Chaos.

6. Mr. Potato Head

Potato Head Mash Up Optimus Prime / Via yoyo.com

Did you know this iconic toy launched as a BYOP (Bring Your Own Potato)? The O.G. Potato Head set included accessories that were to be applied to a living vegetable. But after some issues with food safety, Hasbro began producing the plastic model we know today. In recent years, the Mr. (and Mrs.) Potato Head line has spawned hundreds of spin-off versions, many depicting licensed characters like Darth Vader, KISS, and Marvel superheroes.

7. Monopoly

Doctor Who Monopoly / Via yoyo.com

“I know! How about we create a strangely complex game about property management, banking, and tax collection? For kids!” Unlikely as it may seem, Monopoly is insanely popular and can be pretty fun when you play with a group (even if no one seems to be able to finish a game). Since its inception, the world’s only Atlantic City-based board game has grown from a simple pastime to a massive brand name, spawning innumerable licensed versions (Star Wars Monopoly, Doctor Who Monopoly), spinoffs (Monopoly Hotels, Monopoly Empire), and of course the annual McDonalds Monopoly game.

8. Slinky

Light Up Slinky / Via yoyo.com

There’s something supernaturally mesmerizing about the classic Slinky. Maybe it’s because it seems almost alive as it dances down flights of stairs by itself. Maybe it’s because it actually levitates for a few milliseconds when you drop it from a height. Maybe it’s because, if you look right down the middle of it, you can see into another dimension, man. Err…sorry…that last one might have been a hallucination we had when we took the Light-Up Slinky to an all-night rave. Are ballroom galas more your style? Drape the 14KT Gold Plated Slinky around your neck and mingle with the upper crust of toy collectors.

9. Little Tikes Cozy Coupe

Little Tikes Cozy Coupe 30th Anniversary Edition / Via yoyo.com

It’s alive! It’s aliiiiive!! After 30 years, Little Tikes has updated its iconic car for kids—the Cozy Coupe—with a few modifications. There’s a 360-degree steering wheel, and cup holder, and…oh god, this car has an actual face! We’re guessing kids are delighted by the vehicle’s wide, staring eyes and crazed grin, but we prefer our cars to be non-anthropomorphic, thank you very much.

10. Rubik's Cube

Rubik's Twist / Via yoyo.com

Well, it took us a while, but we finally solved that Rubik’s Cube. Seeing those solid colors on every side is so satisfying! We’re ready to take on any puzzle you can throw at us. What’s next? Rubik’s Cube Twist? No problem? Rubik’s Revenge? Might be tough but ok. The Over the Top Cube? The one with (and we swear this is a real number) 66 quinquagintatrecentillion possible positions? Maybe we’ll just play video games instead.