The inexplicable fads of our childhood

Perhaps it's ironic that the following affectations are included in the Nostalgia Edition; nostalgia is perhaps the least-prevailing sentiment when reviewing some of these trends and one's respective degree of participation. Bemusement, perhaps, utter confusion, possibly chagrin and even outright anger seem to be the natural emotions. Few would profess to a feeling of sentimentality when recounting the percentage of weekly allowances they blew on Gigapets.

Granted, certain fads are recalled with an obvious tinge of wistfulness, but such blessed fads rarely lasted long in duration and were somewhat pragmatic in application. Slap bracelets were cheap, easy to use and are still available in NASCAR themes. Most former slap-bracelet sporters would confess to buying more slappable-wrist fashion if given the chance. 



Yet a fine line exists between trends like slap bracelets and more baffling ones like five-inch animals stuffed with dry beans selling for $6 each. Beanie Babies were given a name, a birthday and a sickeningly personalized jingle (inside their valuable cardboard tag). Yet they somehow managed to make themselves neither age nor gender-specific, so their creator, Ty, could make a trillion dollars off grandmothers buying Chopstix the monkey for their grandkids while keeping Carnation the kitty for themselves. It's difficult to imagine an American who didn't get a Beanie Baby with a corresponding birthday.



We have shown ourselves to be a nation of suckers, even for trends that failed to involve at least the cute and cuddly, specifically our taste for slamming silver-dollar-size discs onto two cardboard ones repeatedly. Remember Pogs? Remember selling your (estimated) $50-worth of tubes, slammers and Pogs at a garage sale for 50 cents three years later? Sub-question: did that sentiment even come close to matching the pain and anguish experienced upon losing the lustrously blue No Fear Pog to Michael, but only because he had that aluminum slammer?



The Onion recently reported the last remaining Tamagachi has died in captivity. It may or may not have taken with it Rollerblades, Super Soakers, Power Rangers, Tech Decks, Transformers and any of the other inexplicable fads that serve as a hallmark of our childhood. 



Thank God we missed Pokemon.