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| Sunday, 15 December 2002 |
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There are two types of collectors: The refined collectors who have a passion for stamps, antiques and art... and then there's the rest. Those in the latter group will collect just about anything, as long as they feel some sort of connection with the items. In recent decades, a number of useless widgets and doohickeys like Furbies, Koosh Balls and Beanie Babies came to be and ultimately served that market, giving birth to fashionable trends that can be quite profitable for the owner. Here are some fashionable fads Pogs Apparently, in the mid-'90s, the "pog" craze had become so intense with children that innumerable schools prohibited the game in their yards. If you're unfamiliar with the game, it involved stacking pog discs (which are made of a cardboard-like material) and knocking the pile over with another disc made of plastic or metal, referred to as the "Slammer." The player would keep the pogs that landed face-up; the one with the most discs at the end of the game was declared the winner. Pogs became available in a variety of colours, styles and themes, and were traded ad nauseam. G.I. Joe Figurines The story begins in 1964 when an approximately 11.5-inch doll became a way of life for a decade. It resurfaced in 1982 in a new format: the less than four-inch size figurine. The "Real American Hero" came with its weapons and vehicles, and a horde of friends and foes, the evil Cobra Command. There was even a popular cartoon series to go along the product line. Others tried to ride their coattails to triumph; anyone remember Transformers? Bobble Heads Would you believe that bobble heads have been around at least since the 1900s? Sports-themed bobble heads originated in Japan in the '60s, and were then made of paper mach,. The "bobbers," as we know them, were introduced as dashboard ornaments. They became fashionable again when the San Francisco Giants began offering them as souvenirs in 1999. Nowadays, they are available in a variety of depictions, from U.S. presidents and movie characters to athletes. Slinky Who hasn't seen a Slinky making its way down the stairs? The idea for this toy came to Richard T. James by accident, when he worked in a shipyard during World War II. A coil spring tumbled off a shelf and began to act in a funky manner. James soon set out to develop his idea but no toy store agreed to carry the Slinky, which was made out of 80 feet of wire (coiled into a two-inch toy). Finally, he discovered a small shop that consented to selling them and soon the entire shipment sold out. Within ten years, over 14 million Slinkys were sold... and the rest is fun history. Smiley face Contrary to what Hollywood would have us believe, Forrest Gump did not invent the "smiley." Apparently, Harvey Ball, an advertising artist, designed the smiley face in 1963 in order to keep office workers' spirits high, but it didn't hit the big-time until the N.G. Slater Corporation manufactured a smiley face pin with plastic eyes that moved around. By the early '70s, you could see that yellow face with two black eyes and a smile everywhere, from buttons and clothes to jewellry. Soon, the "Have a nice day" slogan was added to the smiley face. Also known as the "happy face," the smiley face returned in the '90s with a vengeance, when retro-styled clothing reminiscent of the '60s and '70s became popular; probably Bobby McFarlin's song, "Don't Worry Be Happy" also had something to do with its reemergence. Cabbage Patch Kids Anyone who was around during the mid-'80s certainly remembers the widespread obsession over Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. Technically, you couldn't buy the dolls; you adopted them. Each came with its own adoption papers and each doll was "unique." The brainchild of Georgia sculptor Xavier Roberts (whose signature was etched into the dolls' bottoms), the cute toddlers were so successful that fights broke out between parents in stores around Christmastime. While they made a lot of money, the fad was short-lived, dying out before the end of the decade, but not before spawning a board game, clothing, and a whole empire of products. Pok,mon Products If you're over the age of ten, chances are your Pok,mon knowledge is very limited. This Japanese innovation, which is short for "pocket monster" (or Poketto Monstaa) is based on a Nintendo video game in which players travel around the world to collect the over 250 monster species (hence the slogan, "Gotta catch 'em all!"). Then came trading cards, a cartoon series - which sat on top of the Kids WB network - and blockbuster movies. So far, the Pok,mon trademark is valued at over 6$ billion. Pet Rocks Pets are fun. You can talk to them, groom them, and take them out for a ride. But like children, they require a lot of care. You have to feed them, train them, and be prepared for some damage every time you leave them alone in your house. The pet rock was regarded as the perfect pet, as it didn't entail much fuss. Gary Dahl was a California man who worked in advertising, whose idea for the pet rock came to be in 1975. He sold the rocks as gifts, which even came with their own manual of training instructions. A year later, millions of pet rocks were in proud owners' homes, making Dahl a millionaire in the process. Pez Dispensers Austrian businessman Eduard Haas came up with a way to quit smoking back in 1927; he sold his small peppermint candy for more than twenty years before dispensers were brought to the market in 1948 (intended to look like cigarette lighters). When the dispensers arrived to the U.S. in 1952, sales were quite low, prompting Haas to outfit the candy dispensers with the head of a cartoon character and make the candies fruit flavoured. Business boomed again for Pez candy, as schoolchildren began trading the attractive dispensers. At the moment, these dispensers practically outsell the candy itself. Troll dolls Lack of funds has always favoured creativity. In 1959, Thomas Dam, a Danish woodcutter, couldn't afford a birthday present for his daughter, so he carved a doll for her, using the legend of the trolls roaming in Scandinavian forests as inspiration. He began to sell these dolls in his native country before they took the world by storm. These dolls were so ugly that you had no choice but to laugh at them, which is why they were considered lucky - because if you were laughing, then you were safeguarded against evil. Everyone from children to businessmen was carrying around these lucky charms - even Lady Bird Johnson admitted to having one. |
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