By: Kaitlyn Boisvert and Mary Grace Donaldson
Posted In: Opinion
Photo credit: MCT Campus
“Ay-ay! Feed Me!”: Furbies were a huge fad in the 90’s–and quite demanding.
A few weeks back, we (Kaitlyn and Gracie) had a rousing discussion about our mutual favorite (and “un-favorite”) trends of the 1990s:
Furbies KB: I had three Furbies as a kid and I loved them. Unlike everyone else, I wasn’t afraid of them. I treated them as they were my babies. I now find it amusing that they were modeled after the Gremlins! GD: I was obsessed with Furbies and I even did a Furby science project. My family used to get angry with me for talking all in Furbish. KB: Oh yeah, Furbish! It came with the little Furbish dictionary. Fun fact-intelligence agencies banned them from some offices. People thought that Furby would repeat everything it heard. Beanie Babies KB: I had a million Beanie Babies. I got regular ones and also the McDonald’s Beanie Babies. After a few years I could fill a whole cardboard box. I had a favorite one.but I can’t remember what it was. It was probably a cat. GD: My favorites were the bears. I used to put the bears in the plastic boxes, and I gave them tag protectors. KB: Wasn’t there a big thing where they would be worth more money if you kept the tags on? My mom was so picky with that! GD: I don’t think Beanie Babies are worth anything now. Tamagotchis KB: At school, I kept my Tamagotchi in my classrom closet. During reading time, it went off and asked me to feed it. Everyone heard it. I don’t think I played with it much after that. GD: I had Dinkie Dino, a knock -off Tamagotchi, when I was in third grade. I remember I was on a plane with my parents and the flight crew announced that passengers have to turn off electronic devices. I can remember wondering how my Dinkie Dino was going to survive the flight.I think they were really time-consuming. KB: They were demanding, too. As soon as you played with it, then it wanted to eat. As soon as you fed it, it had to go to the bathroom. As soon as you took it to the bathroom, it wanted to sleep. I think real pets are better. Disney Movies KB: I watched them all the time as a kid, to the point where I could memorize every single word. Right down to the talking and singing animals. “Aladdin” and “Mulan” were my favorites. I know “Mulan” was getting to early 2000s but I was still into Disney movies then! GD: I would have to say that my favorites change periodically. I just purchased the DVD re-mastered version of “Beauty and the Beast,” so that’s been my latest pick. I also watched “Pocahontas” last year and laughed at how old the animation looked. But think my favorite ever would have to be “Toy Story.” KB: Pixar films are just in a league of their own. They’ve never done a bad film if you think about it. Between “Toy Story,” “A Bug’s Life,” “The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille,” “Finding Nemo”. Spice Girls KB: I was obsessed with them as a kid. I listened to their songs every single day. I had the movies. I had the dolls. Baby was my favorite.I met this British woman who saw me with my Spice Girls dolls and she told me that she was neighbors with Baby Spice. I didn’t believe her then, but she was British. She may have been telling the truth! GD: Baby was my favorite too! And I had all of the dolls. I wasn’t allowed to see “Spice World” because my mom thought it gave off “bad messages.” GD: They really were all about girl power. One Saturday Morning KB: That theme music was like magic to my ears. As soon as I would hear it it would make my Saturday. I loved “Doug” and “Recess.”As much as that music was magic to me, I think it still traumatizes my parents. They would want to sleep in on a Saturday and they would have to hear that music. GD: “Recess” was definitely my big favorite. TJ was my favorite Recess character. I saw such a leader, and that was unusual for me because I usually liked female characters. Pogs KB: I had a bunch of Pogs, but the funny thing is.I don’t know what happened to them! A few years later they were just gone! I remember I had a lot of colorful ones. I had one with Simba from the “Lion King.” What was the point of Pogs, anyway? I don’t even remember why I collected them! GD: There was a whole game that you would play with them. You needed a slammer, which was that big, thick looking pog, and a chipper, which was thinner to “chip” a pog out of a stack. Old School Nickelodeon KB: My favorites were all of the cartoons, like “Hey Arnold!” and “Spongebob,” but I didn’t really like “CatDog” because the dog tortured the cat. I loved “Rugrats,” too. GD: The game shows were my personal favorites. “Wild and Crazy Kids,” “Legends of the Hidden Temple,” “Double Dare” and my personal favorite was “Guts.” KB: What’s even on Nickelodeon anymore?
