90s Trends Part 1

This is Jason David Frank and you're listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. You're listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. the geek in you

hello and welcome to geek cast radio this is

episode 91 and this is our big 90s spotlight

thing from episode 91 and 99 we're gonna be doing

some 90 stuff here on geek cast radio I am of

course one of your hosts TFG and Mike joining

me is Steve Megatron hello sir how are you hello

yes I'm good you're good that's right uh... tonight

we're going to be talking about a few trends

from the decade that was the nineties will give

it to you in thirty minutes or less just like

pizza so uh... uh... uh... nineties trends and

fads while uh... pox will start with that because

that was suggested by uh... he's is in a few

other people as well Yeah, the game of pogs was

around a lot earlier than the 90s but The mainstream.

Oh, yeah, I mean because in the 90s we had like

They were decorated with all kinds of things

you can think of I remember specific commercial

you take you could take paper like things you

printed off the internet Yeah, back in those

early days Or magazines or something else and

you could create your own pogs. Yep If you had

the pot maker. Yeah, exactly. I mean, I remember

specifically I remember transformers ones. I

remember he man ones. I remember Probably GI

Joe ones Batman one super friends all that kind

of stuff the fast food companies did it all the

time Athletic teams and it was just this simple

game where you know Well, basically you would

you would hit your slammer which is like the

solid piece on your stack of Pogs and if you...

it was basically a game to trade pieces. Right.

Absolutely. I remember playing this. I remember

having this. Yeah, I had it. I had a ton of Pogs

and then Slammers and then the Maker. Yep. Absolutely.

It was just a fun, fun game. To me it was almost

like the reverse of Hungry Hungry Hippo. because

eventually the Pogs would go everywhere, not

just on the specific board game. Oh yeah, it

was a mess. Yeah, absolutely. What is so funny

is, as I mentioned, there were He -Man and She

-Ra designed Pogs as well, and six years ago

this year, Optimus Solo and I started the Powers

of Grayskull series. It's exactly why it's named

Powers of Grayskull series. It has nothing to

do with the fact that it's Powers of Grayskull

and He -Man. It has to do with this game, specifically,

because I wanted that acronym for the podcast.

So yeah, good ol' Pogs. And then we're gonna

bop it. Oh, I hated the commercial for this thing.

Because it was the most annoying commercial that

you could watch Bop it touch it spin it Slap

it punch it. Oh my god whip it whip it real good.

That's right. Pull a little Devo in there. Oh

my god I never had a bop -it. I never wanted

a bop -it. The commercial made me puke as a 10

-year -old and 11 -year -old. Like, no. I used

to make fun of it. Anyone that had this, please

sound off in the comments and let us know why

you asked your parents for this or why you actually

wanted this, but... I knew a friend that had

one, and it was very much a hand -eye coordination

thing, which I did not possess as a child. I

still don't possess it. What hand -eye coordination

well you play enough video games you should that's

different It's it's it's not a video game. It's

it's this this stick that with a bunch of different

like controls to it It's yeah, I know what bop

it is I'm saying you not having hand -eye coordination

is surprising considering all the video games

you've played over the years It's not a video

game though. I know it's not Which is why I'm

not good at it Hockey Game on yeah, I could destroy

it. Yeah, literally I would break the Exactly

so and then the 90s was the decade of the roller

blades I have no balance at all. You know, it's

you know, it's awesome. I have balance. And then

the first time I ever saw a roller blade, I,

my mom, my brothers and my stepdad, we all went

to our local Meijer store, which is basically

like a, you know, like a target or. Yeah. And

we. we're gonna buy some roller blades. Never

before had I used one. However, I thought, you

know, I watched as my mom and my stepdad and

my brothers put theirs on and I put mine on and

having just watched people, I was able to emulate

people just by watching. And so I was able to

put them on and I just started skating around

the store. And they're like, how did you pick

that up so quickly? They're like, have you ever

done this before? I says, nope. I've watched

a lot of people use them, though, because we

used to have after school skating with elementary

school. Right, yeah. See, for me, because of

the cerebral palsy that I was born with and whatever

else, I have really, really crappy balance. So

putting me in anything on wheels that isn't just

me sitting in a car or a bus or whatever is not

a good idea at all. Didn't even get to the point

of trying rollerblades my mom put me in a pair

of roller skates at one point in the late 80s

early 90s somewhere between 88 and 92 between

the time I was 8 and 12 years old and Yeah, that

didn't go well. I mean, I know they always say

oh you keep falling down you keep getting back

up Yeah, I fell down once and I was like, nope.

I don't want to be on these fucking wheeled things

at all whatsoever And I wasn't and they're like,

oh but rollerblades. It's just like walking for

me. Yeah, it wasn't You glide yeah, I don't glide

so well How about the koosh balls oh These things

oh I remember these things they were strange

as hell, but I still remember them Well, they

were I don't know they were really just weird

I Just yeah, I I had no interest in them. Mm

-hmm personally like just because yeah but Yeah,

these are so the kush balls folks They're basically

I guess Balls of yarn not yarn, but like it's

kind of hard plastic type stuff or Think of it

like everybody took all the aglets in the world

the the tips of a shoelace and put them all together

in multicolored fashion type things I Remember

the kush balls ended up at least in my neighborhood

used to you used to be used as if you couldn't

get a really good hacky sack You would use a

kush ball to play hacky sack. It was a little

rough, but These things were all the rage back

then and the sad thing is when I just googled

it now Amazon still sells them. Oh You can still

buy them at the grocery store. Yeah, like at

Meyer stores. Yeah. Yeah It's just just crazy

just absolutely crazy That's not a really bad

90s trend, but it was just one of those almost

head scratchers at the time. And then there's

hacky sack. I hated this game. Well, that was

the thing that all the kind of the sports people

would get into. Yeah. And if you were like among

the nerds or the outcasts, like you were like,

they would tell you, you know, more or less,

get out of here, man. Leave us alone. We're playing

hack. And they were the ones that had the that

kind of punk emo like early stuff skateboarder

type Setup of the 90s Yep, absolutely and looking

at these on Google as well looking at some of

the images of them They're essentially a koosh

ball with beanbags in it They're not the spiked

ball, but they're basically a ball of it's basically

a cat toy for adults essentially what hacky sack

is as far as the look of it but these again came

in all kinds of colors and designs oh my god

there's a pokeball version I'm not surprised

yeah I'm not either but just was not expecting

to see that but you know it was a very cool fun

game for those of us that could actually play

it you know it was to keep you know your Foot

dexterity up and your reflexes and all that it

was very cool at the time What's funny is I couldn't

I couldn't hit the stupid ball like I could not

I Played soccer like yeah hitting a ball was

you know you're supposed to hit it in with a

destination. Yeah Yeah, and if I remember correctly

folks if you're listening to this you can correct

me if I'm wrong wasn't hacky sack The game itself,

it was basically soccer, but it wasn't soccer

because you're not hitting it towards the goal,

but basically you could only use your feet. If

you touched it with your hand, you were out or

something. I forget what the rules were to it,

but I remember something about you could only

use your feet to play the game kind of a thing.

How about chain wallets? What a grunge thing

for the 90s. What's funny is I had a Spider -Man

chain wallet. Really? Yep. And the funny thing

was is I had that for like a long time and the

wallet actually disintegrated long before the

chain did and as a matter of fact I think I still

have the chain in the top of my desk. Wow. Well

the top of my desk is this thing I call the pack

rat zone. Meaning that things always go in but

they never see the light again. Yeah, unless

I absolutely need them. And so I'm pretty sure

it's in there because there's stuff that's been

in there since I was like 12 that I've never

cleaned out and I'm 31. Yeah, that's Spider -Man

chain wallet. Wow. I never like under, like,

I don't know. I never got the whole thing of

a chain wallet. I think I had one once, but it

wasn't any... What it was was to have the chain

dangling there, too. It was so that you had your

wallet not getting stolen. Yeah, that's true.

Because you'd clip it to the front part. And

then there was a like a key ring clip that you

could actually have your keys hang from. Right.

And go into your pocket, which was nice, too.

And that's primarily why I used it. was because

my wallet was on the chain, my keys were on the

chain. It's shortly after, I think I had that

on my person for, I don't know, probably until

I was about 24, my wife was like, you have to

throw that thing away. She's like, get your keys

out of this chain, get rid of the chain, it looks

stupid. And I was like, fine. So she made me

get a... Got one of those It's kind of a clip

type thing that you get at the hardware store,

you know like that clasps to your you know, like

belt loop type thing and so I have my keys hanging

from that now and so it Serves the same purpose

without being seen Yeah Because that was I was

like that aspect more so than the fact my wallet

was on a chain Yeah What I love nowadays is not

really needing a wallet at all anymore, because

I have a phone case with a bunch of pockets in

it, so it's like... I carry a decent amount of

cash, and other miscellaneous gift cards that

nobody else wants to hold onto, and so I get

stuck with them. Alright, how about the Discman?

Oh boy. I remember the Walkman and then the Discman

like when I got that that was awesome and the

thing was so huge. I used to listen to it in

school but the key was is it had to be whether

we had a jean jacket because I had the way my

jean jacket was set up I actually had like where

your pockets would be for your hands. They didn't

have the top part of it sewed on the inside and

so it was like the perfect spot to put a disc

man in Yeah, and it wouldn't fall out like unless

you moved your hand from the inner side of the

pocket, but it was it was awesome because I used

to I Had the cord for the headphones snake through

and you know you didn't have the earbuds at the

time No, you had the headphones. Yeah headphones

not earbuds Yeah, and Love I love my like earphone

headbud things that wrap around the ear that

I have now I hated those headphones But the the

Walkman thing was hilarious because if you like

move just right the thing would skip. Yep Yeah,

early Sony Discman not exactly skip technology

friendly. It took them a while to do the anti

-skip technology. And looking at some of the

pictures on Google for the original Discman,

oh my god, some of these things are about the

size of a Sony PlayStation. Oh my god. The one,

I had a decent one, and it wasn't too big. It

was like if you put my Galaxy S5 side by side,

and then you layered it two phones deep. So it

wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great. Over the

years, CD players got smaller and smaller and

smaller, and then eventually we had iPods and

iPhones and Samsung. Stuff so yeah, absolutely,

but now the Discman was really really cool like

I said before some of the other non Discman type

stuff that like just regular CD players Sony

came out with in the mid to late 90s and early

2000s With the anti skip technology so you could

actually walk without having the damn thing skip

every two seconds Was really really interesting

Yeah, I loved having the the disc man the benefit

was to when I took the meep test one year which

I absolutely hated I Told them that I needed

to listen to it Because it would help me perform

better on the test which it did because I was

mad I had to take the test in the first place

So it was quite humorous that I got official

sanction to use a walkman or a disc man in class

and granted the best part was I cranked it up

so it was loud everybody else could hear it too

but because I told them that you know because

state mandated tests you know and federal mandated

tests you know they wanted you to perform well

so I told them it did and it did yep Because

I got to tune out everybody like I can't think

in dead silence like if I'm listening to something

I want to listen to and I'm distracted I think

clearer, but if I'm Dealing with that so it was

it was just funny in general absolutely And then

there was the talk boy The father. Yes, sir.

I'd like a hotel room, please, with an extra

large bed, a TV, and one of those little refrigerators

you have to open with a key. Yes, sir. You'll

need a major credit card upon checking. Credit

card? You got it. You can have lots of high -tech

fun with Tiger's Talkboy tape recorder. Hey,

stop drooling on me! it even has speed control

hi kids we're home early hi kids we're home early

tiger's talk boy tape recorder comes with audio

cassette batteries not included anyone that doesn't

know what the talk boy is you'll know when you

listen to the episode folks because i would have

just played a clip of it but the talk boy was

generally just a tape recorder but it got huge

notoriety from Home Alone 2 when Macaulay Culkin

as Kevin McAllister used it to record part of

the Celebrity Ding Dang Dong show and he recorded

the Plaza Hotel phone number off of it and things

like that. You could use it to slow your voice

down or speed your voice up or whatever. I always

wanted one of those Top Boy things. I never got

one. Yeah, I was a little, a little... uh...

miffed that i never got one as a child either

and especially when i would read comic books

and see them in it so yeah absolutely uh... i

mean i thought it was a really really cool thing

if you watch the the the talk boy commercial

you know it's the kids slinking around uh...

trying to get his sister in trouble with her

boyfriend kind of a thing it's very very funny

And then they eventually made a talk girl, which

is essentially just a pink version for girls.

So there's that equal opportunity talk recording

things. But yeah, that was something 11, 12 -year

-old me absolutely wanted back then in 91, 92.

And then we've got the frosted tips hair design.

Oh, lord. Yeah, remember every artist under the

sun had that? pretty much in sync and anybody

else in the 90s boy band type stuff yeah oh god

frosted tips like why well like I said it's it's

funny because I had them too so I've wanted to

dye my hair several colors over the years and

things like that, but I've never Don't like for

me. It's like I get up Take a shower wash my

hair get out dry my hair Comb it a little bit

and just go like I've never This is this is why

I shaved my head to the point of not having hair

because I don't have to do anything to it anymore

and The reason I did that is because back in

the day When I lived at home, I more so, I just

kind of just had normal, like a bowl cut at one

point or like feathered hair, you know, at some

point. Bowl cuts. Basically, it's basically that.

And then my mom had talked me into changing it.

So like I spiked my hair for a while. And then

she took me to this place and then I'd get, you

know, the highlights or the frosted tip things

put in. And so it just you know I did that for

like three years and then it got to the point

I was I Needed a haircut like every three weeks

because my hair grew so fast And it just looked

like I had Bart Simpson hair After a while and

so I just was like this is ridiculous and so

I just started like not doing the highlights

anymore and then I stopped doing the spiking

too, and then I started doing this like down

spike thing and then After a while I get my own

hair cut stuff and started cutting my own hair

because it was just cheaper. So it's I Just buzz

it all off Yeah, yep Yeah, I I don't know why

frosted tips would ever make a comeback like

I Don't think they will but no, I don't think

they will either but like I just I never understood

that like I understand most of the the hairstyles

of the 90s but sadly that's not one of them yeah

it's it's still funny though and then there was

the trapper keeper fad what trapper keepers are

essentially foldable notebook type folder things

you can have dividers in it with paper it's basically

for school and oh man like I remember having

a mini Trapper Keeper collection because they

had all kinds of designs on these things these

are kind of like you know the pogs for schoolwork

kind of stuff like you could get almost anything

on these things that you wanted if you could

find it obviously came in multiple colors very

organized It was like having a bind like a three

ring binder and it was an all -in -one desk kind

of thing all at once They've made ones thicker

than what the normal one was they've made ones

thinner I just My organizational skills as a

kid were kind of lacking so having that was very

Very interesting and very very cool And then

to end this first part of the 90s fads and trends

and things like that We're gonna talk about the

super soakers even though they were pretty much

in the 80s as well late 80s as well I think super

soaker Very very popular in the 90s It's funny

I had several of them and I was a force to be

reckoned with I had one particular kind. I don't

even remember what kind it was of the Super Soaker.

What was it? Super Soaker? Was it the 50? No.

I had the 2000 at one point, which was ridiculous

on its force that it had. What was it? The 200?

No, the 200 had... Had the two the double barrel.

Yeah, which I had a friend that had that We had

the super soaker 100. Okay, which dates us a

lot I had the orange one and it looks like if

you watch Star Trek the original series It looks

like the hand rifle that Captain Kirk used Okay

And so anyways this particular one The beauty

of this thing was, is it had basically like a,

the way the nozzle worked for the bottle on it,

you could screw in a two liter if you wanted

to. Because it was basically a 20 ounce bottle,

like a long, or basically like one of those 16

.9 ounce pop bottles. It's basically the the

form factor of this this problem that's on there

and then it would it would pump up pretty hard

onto the little Jug on the back But the the awesome

thing I figured out is you can hook up a hose

to it See that's not right. I well what happened

is we had these neighbors behind us that were

just total dicks and Being vindictive as a child

and and not taking crap from anybody and and

Modeling it after Captain Kirk who doesn't take

anything from anybody I Hooked up the hose to

my super soaker And my brothers are sitting there,

you know, we're shooting super soakers over the

fence and they were hitting us with You know

these more expensive super soakers and We had

these older super soakers and I was like, this

is just lame And so I hooked it up to the hose

and I blasted them We didn't play that game anymore,

obviously not because I won. Yeah They sell that

one they've got it's it's I think it's you can

still buy it but it's like blue now instead of

the orange Yeah, a special edition like 20th

anniversary version or something. Yeah. Yeah,

there's so many super soaker models over the

years and I mean after all it is a nerf thing.

So, you know It's either nerf or nothing, right?

You know, so I remember having I think super

soaker 30 and 50 at one point or another I don't

ever remember having 100 or 200 I know friends

that had the 200 because like you said the 200

was the double barrel, right? The 200 was a double

barrel. The 100 was the other one. I think I

had No, I didn't even have that's right. I didn't

even have the 100 I had the super soaker 50 which

still did the same thing Yeah, see, that's what

I had too. I had the Super Soaker 50. I just

saw a picture of the 50 while I was looking at

it. I'm like, I had that. And then I also had

the, I think I may have had the 100 as well.

And then we also had the X105, which was just

ridiculous power. Yeah, it was. What is so funny

about this, folks, that we're talking about Super

Soakers in GCR 91 here, Talked about those a

little bit in boy me in podcaster meets world

episode one because that one of those first three

episodes of boy meets world they had a water

war and Everybody had a super soaker except Cory

So funny so funny Think that's gonna do it for

us in episode 91 folks for 90s trends part one

or whatever We're gonna call this in the post

yet 90s trends part one Join us next time for

90s trends part two to hear us what we're gonna

bring up with Some food trends and some other

trends as well that were big in the 90s Where

can the people find you online Steve on the Twitter's

at SCP 21? You can follow at GeekCastRadio for

all the other show updates and network updates.

I am at TF2 and Mike. Unleash the 90's geeking

you and we will catch you next time here on GeekCastRadio.