What was all the rage when you were a kid?

Pogs!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogs

@Vunessuh – LOL – beat me to it! I still have my full collection including the slammers.

Tamagotchi’s were popular when I was a teen too.

Well, beanie babies were in when I was in second grade, but the main thing that occupied the kids when I was around 8–10 was Pokemon. It was huge. Everyone was into it, even the people who would later become the “popular/partiers” (of which I was a “member”). It was loved by nerds and jocks alike. It brought people together. :)

Also, one can’t forget Razor scooters, the other giant fad in the early 2000s, along with Britney Spears and *Nsync.

Pokemon was my biggest thing.
Beanie Babies.
Razor scooters.
Furbys.
Edit: Dang it, Dominic. You beat me.

HA HA HA, and Power Rangers!

BeyBlades. Let ‘em ripe!

How many remember Garbage Pail kids?

I forgot Skip-It!

@Rachienz Pogs were badass. Oh gosh, I forgot all about the slammers! I’m pretty positive I have all of mine as well. They’re up in my mother’s attic somewhere. :)

@Vunessuh – Is it wrong to feel like a game of pogs right this very second!

1960s – at primary school all girls were mad about elastics – a long loop of elastic, one girl at either end standing with the elastic around the ankles and their feet about 2 feet apart, another girl would do a series of particular manoeuvres and everytime it was done without a mistake the elastic would move up about 1 foot. It was a simple but highly enjoyable source of entertainment and obviously cost next to nothing to get started. Particular types of elastic, especially the wider, softer variety, were the best

@Adagio That is one I’ve never heard of, sounds like good exercise too.

Jump-rope
Hop-scotch
Hide and Seek
Marbles
Pick-up sticks
Jacks
Sardines
One-a-cat
Red Rover
Simon Says
Mumblety-peg
Paper dolls
Jacks
Yo-yos
Roller skates (with a key that kept getting lost)
Bikes

ELASTICS!!! @Adagio – they were fantastic. Remember – double jumps and runnies?

Lol! Yes…..Pogs….

@gailcalled What is sardines?

I used to collect trolls too. Some with the little jewels in their belly or multicoloured hair. I used to make little cities and the trolls all lived in my city. Man I was cool ;)

Trolls

@Rachienz Of course not! If I remember correctly, the majority of the pictures on my pogs were from Disney movies. Lion King, Aladdin etc. Oh and LOTS of Power Ranger pics as well.
(Sighs) The good ole days…

Oh and I forgot all about Legos.

@Rachienz My sister has about three dozen of those. Abunch of different sizes and colors.

Strawberry Shortcake
Care Bears
Cabbage Patch
Garbage Pail Kids

Liddle Kiddles, Baby Magic dolls, Barbies

Pogs.
Water Babies.
Jelly Sandals.
Pokemon.
Crazy Bones.
Easy Bake Oven.
Spice Girls.
Backstreet Boys.
Giga Pets & Tamagotchis.
Pound Puppies.
NES & SNES.

[Edit]
Gel Pens!
Awesome dance music.

Busts out WHAT IS LOVE? BABY DON’T HURT ME, DON’T HURT ME. NO MORE

@DominicX pretty much nailed it.

I can’t stress how big Pokemon was. We had a “league” and everything at Toys R’ Us, and my friends and I went once a week to trade cards and play one another. I have the league badges packed away in the basement somewhere. And I still buy the handheld games for downtime when I’m traveling, etc.

Yu-Gi-Oh! would enjoy a very brief period of popularity much later around here. I’m glad it didn’t last so long.

And some of the best commercials ever.

How about Hula Hoops and then the lastst dance craze was “Twist” and then Disco !!

@HighShaman My older sister had a hula hoop and I remember disco.

@chelseababyy Gel pens and crazy bones were where it’s at! I had a million crazy bones. We used to get these hello kitty and friends planner books with stickers and write in them with our gel pens.

Also:
Pogs
Beanie Babies
Yu-gi-oh
Magic: the gathering
Anything in bath and body works cucumber melon
Legends of the Hidden Temple
Bill Nye the Science Guy
Goosebumps
Animorphs
Baby-sitters club
Gak

@Ghost_in_the_system: Sardines is the opposite of hide-and-seek. One person hides; whoever finds him squishes into the same hiding place, as do the third, fourth and other seekers. The last person left alone is the loser. It was exciting because of the thrill of being jammed in somewhere with a person of the opposite sex. We did this in the old days when 7th grade was still middle school.

That reminds me of the other pre-sex games;
Spin-the-bottle
Post office

LOL – @chelseababyy – Spot on! Spice Girls… oh man! I still have the original Nintendo and Super Nintendo. I love curling up and playing the old Mario Brothers or Link. Yoshi’s Island… never gets old. * sigh * those were the days.

I was in love with the Backstreet Boys, * hangs head in shame *

@Rachienz:You are not the only one. Check out Snowball, the cockatoo ( I am repeating myself here.)

Definitely Cabbage Patch Kids. That’s the one I remember the most.

When my dad was visiting Atlanta, I made him go to “Babyland General Hospital” to adopt me one.

Pop Rocks
Skip-its
Kebangers
Atari 2600
Simon

Garbage Pail Kids
Leg Warmers
Neon colored accessories (socks, jewelry, etc)
Cabbage Patch Kids
Poochie
Jem

Davey Crockett coonskin caps. A bit later the Brando “Rebel Biker” look.

POGS, Sailor Moon, Polly Pockets, Adidas track pants…they all seem so trivial now.

How did I forget Atari?
Slap bracelets
Rainbow Brite
Hello Kitty (which is still popular to me- a friend gave me a Hello Kitty keychain for Christmas last week!)

fucking smurfs

This was only a few years ago, but the two things I remember are Tomagatchis (sp?) and American Girl dolls.

@Blondesjon I smurfing lurved the Smurfs!

ICBMs and throw weight
MIRVs
Sputnik

Video arcades
Atari and Intellivision
Rubik’s Cube
Star Wars and G.I. Joe action figures
New wave music videos on MTV

How about those metal skates that fit under your shoes and you tightened with a metal key? anybody remember those? the skates never stayed on your shoes and they constantly fell off and down you go. also, the famous Red Ryder BB Gun with a Compass in the stock. yes, i had one of those when i was eight years old. and NO, i did not shoot my eye out. Cushman Motor Scooters were also really big. i asked for one for my birthday, but my parents were too safety-minded to buy me one. they were right, i did not need it. i am amazed that my parents allowed me to have a bow and arrow. they were a big fad, then.

@adagio Yes! Every recess and cat’s cradle.

Yoyos
Pogs
Tamigotchis
Pokemon
Sega
Nintendo

Clackers——those hard acrylic balls hanging on two strings attached to a metal ring. They were finally banned after they were deemed too dangerous to play with. But I love them nevertheless. The balls came in different colors——red balls, blue balls, etc.

Did you guys watch the Snorks? Those strange creatures that lived under the sea?

The Yo-Yo
Roller skates you clamped on to hard sole shoes
Hula Hoops
Jaw Breakers
Super-Balls
45 rpm records
Home delivery of milk in glass bottles from trucks cooled with ice (only)
Silly Putty

@Dr_Lawrence Sounds like you and I are from the same era.

Everything Dr. Lawrence listed plus Slinkies and Etch a Sketches

I remember the Cabbage Patch Kid craze. I really, really, wanted one, but the stores were always sold out. My parents went on a cruise to Spain, and while there they saw hundreds of Cabbage Patch Kids for sale. My mom bought me one, so my first Cabbage Patch Kid was named Juan.

I also remember Garbage Pail Kids. My husband even still has some of those cards in a box in the attic!

SNES
L.A. Gear Sneakers
Playstation
Dragonball Z
Lunchables
Pokemon
Pogs
Pokemon Cards

Almost forgot,marbles and Matchbox cars

@faye oh yes, Cat’s Cradle, definitely.

Schoolhouse Rock.

We kids were always singing the Preamble to the Constitution on the playground at school, among other songs from the series. “We the people… in order to form a more perfect union…” “Interjections! Show excitement! And emotion! They’re always set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point, or by a comma when the feeling’s not as strong…”

@aprilsimnel But today I am still just a bill. :)

@aprilsimnel: What a good idea. Which tune? What series? I’d like to teach my 6 yr old grand nephew.

@gailcalled – Personally, my favourites are from Multiplication Rock and Grammar Rock.

Science Rock to me is just OK, but that’s my preference showing.

Money Rock and Computer Rock aired in the years after I was too old to spend Saturday mornings watching TV, so I don’t know much about them, though I own the DVD.

America Rock is rife with so many falsehoods about the founding of the United States that I can’t in good faith recommend some of it, though the “I’m Just a Bill” song, “Sufferin’ for Suffrage” and the adaptation of the Preamble are good and catchy.

If you’ve heard of Bob Dorough and Blossom Dearie, then you know how well the music was done for this series.

One can get the 30th Anniversary edition DVD of the entire series at Amazon, though I suggest that you review the America Rock segments and be prepared to let your grandnephew (and his parents) know that they’ve stretched the truth on some of the clips quite a bit. Also, much of the the animation has many examples of bad 1970s outfits and hairstyles. That might give him a chuckle.

I got both DVD series of The Electric Company and Sesame Street episodes geared to nostalgic Gen X’ers recently. My grand nieces and nephews laughed themselves silly over the clothes people were wearing, especially at Morgan Freeman’s gigantic Afro from his days as DJ Mel Mounds on The Electric Company.

slap bracelets

@aprilsimnel: Thanks, and, yes, I have heard of Blossom Dearie. I wonder how many others here have.

So these are both visual and audio? I was hoping for just the songs. My little guys are so overstimulated; every toy squawks, talks, needs batteries, glows in the dark and has 12 moving parts and accompanying noise.

It’s singing cartoons, basically. In the 1970s, General Foods sponsored the creation of these short animations for ABC with poppy songs to teach children the basics of English grammar, multiplication, science, and American history. In the early 80s, more were made about money and computers, but it was cancelled by 1985.

They were brought back for a while in the late 1990s, but are no longer aired. They’re all gathered on one DVD. I do believe CDs with just the music are available, as is a CD done of these songs by American “Generation X” rock stars who grew up watching them on Saturday morning telly.

Before I get ready for my NYE festivities, @gailcalled, here is an example featuring vocals by Ms. Dearie from 1973. It’s about multiplying by 8.

Pokemans and nauseating boy bands. Never got into either of them

@aprilsimnel:Thank you. That is charming and left me looking at many other. Have fun feasting tonight but do not defenestrate.

Don’t worry. We’re on the ground floor. Nothing would go very far.

Cracker Jacks Charms, Gum Chains, Troll Dolls, Madras Plaid and sailor hats.

GiJoe
Garbage Pail Kids
Atari 2600
Transformers

Unlocked doors everywhere; homes, cars, garages.
Being allowed to walk home after dark from dancing school with only a girl friend.
Bowling with friends and setting up our own pins.
Keeping the thermostat in winter at 72˚ F.
One black bakelite dial phone in the hall, shared by five people and a dog.
Half the town marching in the Memorial Day parade and the other half watching.
“Fire and Ice” Revlon lipstick.
Wearing the only available jeans – men’s Levis. If they fit in the hips, they were five inches too big in the waist and stiff as wallboard.
Poodle skirts, waist-cinchers, merry widows, penny loafers with bobby sox, the Lindy,
Cotton Maidenform bras.

Edit: All stores and gas stations had user-friendly salespeople and attendants.
Pay phones everywhere.
Permission to burn piles of raked autumn leaves.

Pokémon! Cards, TV show, toys etc. Absolutely loved it. Haha