"Captain Planet"When the Planeteers, a group of teenagers from different backgrounds with a common goal of saving the planet, combine their forces, a superhero is released. Only Saturday morning cartoon marketers could think of something as ridiculous as this. "Goooo Planet!"
Electronic PetsFeeding and playing with your Tamagatchi was fun for about a day, until you realized it was a tiny blob, on a tiny computer screen, that you would never be able to play with in real life. Plus, you had to clean up after it pooped every 20 minutes or so. And Furbies. Those furry, little, beak-nosed creatures looked way too much like Gremlins to be something little kids should play with. Good thing the fad lasted as long as they could keep the toys in stock at the local Wal-Mart.
"Legends of the Hidden Temple"Hands down the most boss game show on Nickelodeon, "Legends of the Hidden Temple" pitted several kids against a giant talking "stone" head named Ol' Mec in mystic trivia and extreme challenges. The only bad part of the show was watching the kids be so slow at the end when they were hopelessly trying to construct the statue at the shrine of the silver monkey.
RavesNever have skinny white kids thrown their limbs around with such vigor. Weeks before a big warehouse parties tickets would be purchased from vinyl stores, hair-gel prepared and fat pants repaired. On the anticipated eve, ravers popped their glow sticks and sweaty club drugs for an eight-hour festival of stomping and liquid light shows.
Mini-backpacksJansport's devilish little creation was knocked off endlessly this decade. The mini-backpack was the perfect size for a slam book, feather pen and giggle-inducing Spin the Bottle snapshots from Mandy's party. Having just one would relegate any seventh grader to the un-cool category.
"Pete and Pete"This Nickelodeon show about two brothers both named Pete defined a generation. The best episode was "Grounded for Life," when little Pete is grounded during his favorite holiday, the Fourth of July, and must tunnel out of his house using a statuette of the Statue of Liberty. The show also had Artie (the strongest man ... in the world) and tons of sweet guest stars like Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Michael Stipe, Chris Elliot and Janeane Garofalo. Only the luckiest with digital cable can catch reruns on Noggin.
Reebok Pumps shoesEveryone seemed to have these totally awesome high-top sneakers, but finding someone to 'fess up to it today is really hard. With the simple squeeze of the rubber basketball on the tongue, the insides of the shoes inflated for the best of snuggly fits. Possibly the coolest things these shoes could do was spew white powder everywhere when the little airbags inside popped.
"RuPaul"The '90s were a real "drag," thanks to cross-dresser/disc jockey Rupaul. Her hit song "You Betta Work" reminded us that anyone can be fabulous, as long as you have plenty of MAC eyeliner and a Wonderbra.
Nickelodeon's "The Big Help"This was Nickelodeon's attempt to make the network look like it wasn't adding to a growing population of young couch potatoes. Basically, The Big Help brought on celebrities like Rosie O'Donnell and KC and Jojo, who also went to the wayside when 2000 rolled around, and encouraged kids to get involved with a local recycling project or charity event. Truth be told, we all just wanted to see more "Hey Dude."
PogsEveryone had Pogs, but no one actually played Pogs. The collectable cardboard disks were just an expression of mindless '90s materialism. To be fair though, they were awesome middle school birthday party favors.
-Compiled by The Scene staff
