What fad from your childhood/teenage years used to be "in" but now has vanished?

Sheff · 12 Feb 2020 at 17:32

Powerballs, although I think I may have passed the fad from OCUK to my friends.

Evian · 12 Feb 2020 at 18:57

mmj_uk said:
I remember having a cap gun, kids would probably end up being arrested by the anti-terror police playing with one of those in public now.

Damn is that the guns that fire plastic pellets? We used to buy those from the market here and walk the streets with them! Ak 47 styled!

Mobius 1 · 12 Feb 2020 at 22:28

lee1101 said:
O yes! I used to end up with black thumbnails and burns on my finger tips from holding the coin to close to the paper.

We used to use a magnifying glass with them

also, anyone remember barcode battlers?

HangTime · 13 Feb 2020 at 00:02

Shell suits. Going through some of my sisters old things the other day I found a photo of me wearing one, I think it was Gola or some other cheap brand.
McQueen's carrier bags.
Fancy little rubbers (stationary...) in the shape of cats.

Sheff · 13 Feb 2020 at 09:19

Tauren said:
We used to use a magnifying glass with them

also, anyone remember barcode battlers?

Yes! Although I had no idea what I was really doing - although I do remember using enemy barcodes as instead of the power-up
barcodes and those being accepted. I couldn't get any barcodes from packaging to work, my dad tried scanning the cards to create slight variations of the barcodes but for some reason his reader couldn't understand them properly.

Bubo · 13 Feb 2020 at 10:32

Sea Monkeys
Joke Shop stalls at your local county fair

Junglist · 13 Feb 2020 at 10:42

Sheff said:
Powerballs, although I think I may have passed the fad from OCUK to my friends.

I love powerballs! i still have mine but the counter has broken. It was great for rehabilitating my wrist when I broke it a few years back

Mobius 1 · 13 Feb 2020 at 11:00

Sheff said:
Yes! Although I had no idea what I was really doing - although I do remember using enemy barcodes as instead of the power-up
barcodes and those being accepted. I couldn't get any barcodes from packaging to work, my dad tried scanning the cards to create slight variations of the barcodes but for some reason his reader couldn't understand them properly.

I think they were a bit crap from what I remember

Tek81 · 13 Feb 2020 at 11:03

Finger banging. As in, when you'd use your hand as a gun and wave it around pretending to be a cowboy. Also, pogs.

Junglist · 13 Feb 2020 at 12:40

metal-jacks-game-sets-8-jacks-balls-1.5cm-66713-p.jpg

Haven't seen either of these bits in a few years either

Yadda · 13 Feb 2020 at 12:45

Figurine Panini.

Emlyn_Dewar · 13 Feb 2020 at 12:47

Rollerblades/"aggressive" inline skating.
I actually wish it had kept being popular.

wolfie138 · 13 Feb 2020 at 14:01

what the Hell are those big face things? look like a cheap-ass Spacehopper rip-off?

wolfie138 · 13 Feb 2020 at 14:03

I used to love those UFO things - were like a copter's rotor blades and you'd put them on a handle and pull a cord to spin them and they'd take off.

R.P.L · 13 Feb 2020 at 14:11

Evian said:
Damn is that the guns that fire plastic pellets? We used to buy those from the market here and walk the streets with them! Ak 47 styled!

Nope, cap guns just made a bang but didn't fire anything. Are you referring to BB guns? I got into those for a short while, but had to go to a model / hobby shop - I don't remember any markets selling them!

Junglist · 13 Feb 2020 at 14:14

wolfie138 said:
what the Hell are those big face things? look like a cheap-ass Spacehopper rip-off?

classic 'floater' style footballs which happened to have a really strong artificial fruit smell

wolfie138 · 13 Feb 2020 at 14:17

R.P.L said:
Nope, cap guns just made a bang but didn't fire anything. Are you referring to BB guns? I got into those for a short while, but had to go to a model / hobby shop - I don't remember any markets selling them!

you used to be able to buy guns that shot plastic balls but they were a totally different thing to what we now know as BB guns.

FishPolice · 13 Feb 2020 at 15:23

lee1101 said:
O yes! I used to end up with black thumbnails and burns on my finger tips from holding the coin to close to the paper.

I often didn't bother with the coin, just used the side of my thumb nail. If I was feeling particularly reckless/stupid I would use my front teeth.

vanpeebles · 13 Feb 2020 at 15:34

Push pops!!!

MookJong · 13 Feb 2020 at 15:34

"Genie" - Where you would get a full box of matches, light one and then close the box with it sticking out the top. Once it burnt down it eventually ignited the box and a 2-3 foot flame leaped up with a fizzing woosh.