Other 1994 Items We’d Love To See Resurrected
Image by Sergey Egorov from Pixabay
The Playstation Classic was released this month, a reminder of what it was like to pick up a controller for the first time and immerse yourself in the wonderful world of gaming. Yes, it may be a way to capitalize on nostalgia for a generation who have disposable income now (and don’t have to beg mom for their shiny new game console), but it’s also a way to remember a time before Instagram and Snapchat, a time when music was bought on a disc in a shiny case, and when life was so much simpler. Or at least, that’s how it looks from the perspective of 2018!
In homage to the re-issue of that first PlayStation, we’ve pulled together some of the other things that we’d love to see resurrected from 1994.
The Lion Ki…wait
One of the most famous and best-loved things that came out in 1994 was The Lion King, a Disney movie that took us to the African plains, ripped our hearts out with a wildebeest stampede, and put them back together with a medley of catchy tunes. We’d be clamoring to bring this one back…if it wasn’t already on the way. Disney is adding The Lion King to its stable of live-action adaptations of original animated classic next year, so it looks like this is just in time. Perhaps there are some other 1994 films that should get a remake too. Forrest Gump could scoop another few Oscars, maybe, or perhaps it’s time for a Pulp Fiction remake.
Indestructible Cellphones
Cell phones do so much more than they used to in 1994—internet access, massive HD screens, super-speedy responses, fingerprint scanners, and the list goes on. But there are a few things that the phones of today just aren’t as good at, and chief among them is being flung onto a concrete floor and continuing to work! The original Nokias of the mid '90s were true cellphone warriors, capable of being smashed, stomped on, dropped, and even taken apart… yet still turning back on ten minutes later so you could resume that oh-so-frustrating game of snake. Now that phones are obsolete within a year or two and need constant case updates, wouldn’t it be nice to have those old bricks back, just for a little while?
Lisa Frank Trapper Keepers
It’s actually still possible to buy a few Lisa Frank goodies, but we’d love to see the return of the Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper at every major retailer. The ultimate girly status symbol of the mid-90s, these eye-wateringly bright designs featured unicorns, kittens, pandas and more, reimagined in the brightest color the human mind can comprehend, with all the rainbows that your little heart could desire. The Trapper Keeper, especially, was the kind of organizer that schoolkids in the ‘90s had no idea what to do with, but the bullet-journallers of 2018 would be dying to get their hands on.
Slap Bracelets
High fashion? Why bother, when you can enjoy an accessory that also functions as anger management? These uber-trendy bracelets started out stiff, and had to be violently slapped onto a wrist to turn into a sweet, sweet bracelet with any print you could imagine. The joy, of course, is not in the wearing of these, but in the excuse to slap them onto the arm of someone else. And while they are still absolutely hideous, who wouldn’t want to have an excuse to inflict just a tiny bit of pain on their annoying co-worker in the name of style?
Psst! If you're feeling nostalgic for these bad boys, you can get them in our Paperback Crush: Totally Radical '90s box until December 14, 2018.
Pogs
Tamagotchis may have already made a return, but we’re waiting for the day that Pogs are back on the playground—a day that may never come for this particularly pointless fad. Who else remembers collecting dozens (if not hundreds) of these little cardboard discs, just to stack ‘em and smack ‘em, trying to flip a few over? Much like the Slap Bracelet, we don’t want these back because they were actually all that fun, but because this is a surprisingly good stress reliever. This is the only way that we can throw something down as hard as possible and then walk away with someone else’s prized possessions and still feel good about it.
Friends
In recent years, we’ve seen many TV shows get reboots and revivals, but Friends has yet to be revisited. The ultimate New York sitcom of the '90s could do with some rebooting! When it hit Netflix, new viewers were appalled at how badly the jokes in the show aged, so maybe it’s time to bring back Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe, and give them a bit of an update. We’ll keep the unrealistic apartments (it is a sitcom, after all), but add a little diversity and sensitivity. Maybe we weren’t done with Friends after the show ended in 2004. Maybe we were just on a break.
What would you love to see return from 1994? Tweet @quirkbooks and let us know.
