"Digipets" were one form of virtual pet, but Pokemon and Digimon are in no way connected to that fad, other than the fact that they all originated in Japan.
Were Neopets a thing? 'Cause that's what I remember them being called. But perhaps my memory is off? I never had them myself, but it seemed every one else had them.
Aw yeah, I had a Hypercolor shirt! Those things were pretty cool, although mostly what happened was that it changed color on your shoulders and the parts where it was resting, and stayed that way, and you couldn't really make the cool handprints they showed in the ad(vert)s. But still. The one I had was kind of mauve, and pink when it got warm.
I had a Hypercolor sweater that was that color... in fact, I still have it! It has a big rip along one of the seams and it barely works, although I don't know if this was because I used to wash it in the washing machine and stuck it in the dryer when I was a teen (you're supposed to hand wash and flat dry it) or because of age... or both.
US. They were quickly taken off the market because the colors changed more drastically on the hottest places on your torso. So your pits were a different color and, more embarrassingly, for busty girls, the underboob area changed colors. Not a great look.
I remember the same thing. During the first week of 6th grade, some of the kids with wealthier parents had the new hypercolor shirts. Only took them a week or so to realize that a shirt that highlights when and where you are overheated in the September California sun is a bad idea...
The fad when I was a kid were Cabbage Patch dolls. Have you seen these ugly buggers? No respectable kid now a days would dream of having one, yet people were literally getting trampled for them. Kids + Greed + Parents trying to buy affection = Crazy toy fads. Ridiculous.
I didn't trample anyone to buy a Cabbage Patch Kid for my daughters, I waited until the craziness had died down, found them stocked on the shelves, and bought them as birthday gifts. The girls played with them until they outgrew them, and now they have passed them on to their own daughters who love them as much as their mothers did. What's wrong with that? Not many toys today are so well-made as to survive two generations of play.
Elmo was a toy, but Beanie Babies became a collectible due to the company's regularly retiring designs and producing only limited numbers of each design. Some of the early retired toys were sold for large profits and then people were in a frenzy to collect every one the company made. Someone gave each of our kids one, but they were never into them. They preferred Pound Puppies.
Beanie babies tapped into people's impulse to collect, and also FoMO.
Tickle-Me-Elmo was just the popular toy one Christmas season that everyone wanted and as often happened with those things, American parents decide that they've somehow let their child down if they don't get them the big popular toy of the season, which led to people fighting over them. I worked at Toys R Us in the stock room that year. I should have stolen a box, I had my hands on one once coming off the truck, I probably could have made $10,000 on eBay.
I never associated that with the swing craze, but I can see how the resurgence in swing (Cherry Poppin Daddies, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Brian Setzer Orchestra) led to a resurgence in mambo, salsa and other traditional dance music. I think of swing as being rather non-Latin but I suppose it all bleeds together at a point.
First of all, it's '90s not 90's. Secondly, the Atkins Diet was a 2000s fad, not a '90s one. From the Wikipedia page, "The Atkins Nutritional Approach gained widespread popularity in 2003 and 2004."
It first came out in the 1970s if I remember correctly. It has risen and fallen in popularity many times since then, but is still going strong so I wouldn't exactly call it a fad.
14 was a little old for Tamagotchi. I've also never heard of hypercolor. Hamster dance was popular, but it wasn't a craze on par with some of this other stuff.
That was the one clue that jumped out at me as something that felt like it was later than the 90s. But I assume QM did his research. Maybe it was introduced in the late 90s and caught on in the 2000s? In the 90s I remember jogging, power walking, Ultra SlimFast (or was that the 80s?), and fat-free frozen yogurt.
Also, I thought "picture book where you tried to find a guy" was talking about like, dating...pre-internet, pre-facebook. Duh. Where's Waldo? Totally misunderstood that one.
For a minute there I thought this was an exceedingly rare instance of Quizmaster being objectively wrong. Turns out the website in question really did misspell it as "hampster". Should have known
I'm upset by the lack of references to: the video game console war between Nintendo and Sega and then Nintendo 64 and Sony Playstation. To no reference at all to Michael Jordan, maybe the most famous human on the planet during the Bulls' 1990s dynasty. To no mention of Titanic (the movie was a phenomenon at the time, as was Celine Dion's awful song), Seinfeld, or Friends. To Bill Clinton and Monica Lewnsky. And many, many more. I was born in the mid-1980s, which means I grew up in the 90s and I remembered everything on this list but hypercolor and the Hamster thing.
And I saved these for last just because they made me laugh, but what about pogs?
And the correct spelling of the ANIMAL is hamster, but I'm guessing what is referred to here - which I have never heard of before - is indeed spelled with a P.
And a few things I left out: crystal pepsi, America Online, Stater jackets, and the color teal. In the early to mid 1990s used the color due to the fad, from the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA, the Florida Marlins and Seattle Mariners (who existed before the '90s but adopted teal in that decade) of MLB, the San Jose Sharks in the NHL, and the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL. And why the NFL decided to introduce two southern teams who were both named after large jungle cats and both wore teal is a mystery to me. I know people who still confuse them (though I must admit, I am not one of those people).
I don't really think grunge was a fad. It was a sustained era of music that is still well-respected. Yes, it is decidedly '90s, but it wasn't an incomprehensible success based solely on hype in the way that almost everything else on this list is. People still discover and get into Nirvana and Pearl Jam every day. How many people do you think are still buying Tamagotchis and Hypercolors?
My daughter grew up in the '90s and had several Giga Pets; I never once heard the name Tamagotchi. From Wikipedia: "In the U.S., Giga Pets were reported to be more readily available than Tamagotchis and at price of approximately $10 USD, roughly $5 less than the suggest retail price for their Japanese counterpart." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giga_Pet) Please accept Giga Pet as an alternative answer.
I know I'm responding two years later but my tween daughter is wearing flannels,boots, ripped jeans and chokers. She looks just like I did in high school lol. Of course she thinks she's original lol. So the grunge look is definetly back!
I wore bell bottoms in the '60s and one of my daughters made fun of the look when she saw some old photos. I told her they would come back again some time and she would wear them. She signed a paper stating that she would never wear bell bottoms as long as she lived, and told me to keep it in my desk drawer. The paper is still there, and to my knowledge she has never worn them. I suspect her children will, though.
I remember when I was growing up in the 90s and all the fads from the 60s and 70s were becoming popular again. I guess it's time for the 90s to come back
Are SUVs really a 90's fad? I don't think they've ever really gone out of style, except maybe briefly in 2008 when the price of gas spiked. Unless it's "crossovers" that have lived on rather than true SUVs?
(Also note the lack of an apostrophe in SUVs, since it's not possessive. One of my biggest grammar peeves.)
Wow, how had I missed out on the hypercolor clothing craze? Sounds like something I would've been all over back then. I remember some gimmicky things (other than mood rings) at the time that used that color changing effect, but not clothing.
Nope, Air Jordans did have an encased air bubble, but it was the Reebok Pump that actually allowed the wearer to inflate the sides and tongue to mold around their foot.
Inliners or inlines should work too? Rollerblades is just one brand. Or it should say you need a brand. (Inliner skates might work, didn't think of trying that.) Also I am pretty sure I tried harem pants and got it, are those similar to hammer pants AT ALL?
They are different - overalls have sleeves, dungarees don't. But I think that the Fresh Prince had dungarees and not overalls, otherwise there wouldn't have been a strap to leave undone
According to Wikipedia overalls and dungarees are the same thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overall. In my area the ones with sleeves are called coveralls. Maybe it's different in other countries?
With the stuffed animals I thought wth?!? That became a hype... how?? I was thinking of taxidermy, they are stuffed (and otherwise expected the word pluche or toy). With the pictures to find a guy, I thought it had to be something to find dates. Like in some places (if I have to believe some movies ;) ) they had video (real video on videotapes) messages you d make to find a date. So why not a picture. With the doctors and drugdealers first things I thought of was syringe, then all types of drugs.. but didnt bother trying them all out. The question might be a bit more specefic. Like a new communicationdevice. And I cant be the only one that tried Nike air..
Racking my brain for some others...there was "The Train" dance (from the Quad City DJ's song), pogs, Magic: the Gathering, Hanson, Total Request Live (and the Backstreet Boys/NSYNC rivalry along with it), Pauly Shore, blond highlights on men, "the Rachel," nu metal, and getting knobbed in the Oval Office.
The beeper clue is a bit vague. I was trying to rack my brain to figure out what doctors and drug dealers have in common. I knew doctors had beepers, but I didn't know about drug dealers. Maybe a hint about it having to do with communication?
Tickle-Me-Elmo was just the popular toy one Christmas season that everyone wanted and as often happened with those things, American parents decide that they've somehow let their child down if they don't get them the big popular toy of the season, which led to people fighting over them. I worked at Toys R Us in the stock room that year. I should have stolen a box, I had my hands on one once coming off the truck, I probably could have made $10,000 on eBay.
Therefore, I think "Hampster Dance" should be allowed.
And I saved these for last just because they made me laugh, but what about pogs?
And a few things I left out: crystal pepsi, America Online, Stater jackets, and the color teal. In the early to mid 1990s used the color due to the fad, from the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA, the Florida Marlins and Seattle Mariners (who existed before the '90s but adopted teal in that decade) of MLB, the San Jose Sharks in the NHL, and the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL. And why the NFL decided to introduce two southern teams who were both named after large jungle cats and both wore teal is a mystery to me. I know people who still confuse them (though I must admit, I am not one of those people).
(Also note the lack of an apostrophe in SUVs, since it's not possessive. One of my biggest grammar peeves.)
Over here, overalls means the same as boiler suit whereas dungarees have the straps and don't cover your arms.
I guess overall means literally that - over all of your body.
Except your head.
And hands.
And feet...