Collectibles: Other

This is our last short summary post about 90's collectibles.
Some of the other things that could be collected in the nineties were; Movie posters, Banners, Cardboard Cut-outs, Comic Books, Action Figures and even Cereal Boxes.

The guy in the next video will show you his enormous collection of 90's Collectibles.

Next week the nineties theme will be Computer Games, so don't miss it!

Collectibles: Trading Cards

Today's topic is nineties trading cards (or collectible cards). This is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or objects (fictional or real). On these cards are a short description of the picture, along with other text such as attacks, statistics and other trivia. There is a wide variety of trading cards an there is distinction between sport cards (like baseball and basketball) and non-sports trading cards that often feature cartoons, comics, book characters or stills from television series/films.

In the 90's, cards designed specifically for playing games became very popular, and became a category of their own: collectible card games (CCG). The world's current best-selling CCG is Yu-Gi-Oh! The CCG all have their own set of rules, which all the players have to follow and are usually accompanied by a starter set (an introductory product that contains enough cards for 2 players and includes instructional information on how to play the game). Next to the starter set are also the tournament/starter deck, theme deck and booster packs.

Some other well-known trading cards from the 90's are: Dragonball Z, Pokémon, Marvel Trading Cards (comics) and Digimon.

 

This was all on trading cards!

Collectibles: Flippos

This week we will go over several collectibles that were trending in the nineties; we will start off by discussing the Dutch fad of Flippos.

Flippos are little discs that used to be in the Smiths potato chips bags, on these discs were images of cartoon figures like the Looney Tunes and Chester Cheetah. The flippos were introduced in the Netherlands and Belgium in 1995 and became very popular instantly. The collecting and trading of flippos was very popular among elementary school children and there were several games devised (by the children as well as the company) in order to win each other’s flippos. Smiths also brought out several binders in which the flippos could be collected and the goal of this was of course to collect all the different flippos and therefore make parents buy more potato chips by Smiths.

Because the flippos were so popular amongst young children several other companies made clones in the hope of riding along on the wave of success. Some of the more familiar flippos copies are the Topshots by Croky which had soccer players on them and the Jam Caps by Jamin which displayed cartoons like Smurfen, Garfield and Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. 

The Dutch flippo series:

Looney Tunes

Series Name	Numbers	Description
Looney Tunes	1 - 75	In the first series the Looney Tunes are displayed in a music or sports theme. The numbers 60 to 75 show the individual characters: Tweety, Bugs Bunny, Coyote, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Marvin, Speedy Gonzales, Road Runner, Taz, Yosemite Sam, Elmer, Sylvester, Marc Antony and Sylvester Jr. The flippo has a green backside and is worth 1 point.
Mega	101 - 120	These flippos also show the Looney Tunes, this time in a close up. The flippos have a pink backside and are twice as thick as regular flippos, which could be an advantage in flippo games.
World	141 - 240	The World-Flippos continue until the end of the first folder and is with 100 Flippos the largest series. The Flippos different from the earlier series because they are educational tinted. The Flippos show next to the various Looney Tunes characters themselves important world figures, buildings and cultural phenomena (such as sports and dancing). In the accompanying binder the images will be explained. The World-Flippos were available from mid July 1995, were blue colored and worth 4 points.
Flying	251 - 290	In this series the flippos portray the Looney Tunes and different vehicles with regard to aviation. There are also some cuts in the flippo in order to play a number of new games. With the aid of another flippo, and the cuts you can make this flippo fly. The flippos are purple and worth 6 points.
Adventure	341 - 420	In the Adventure Flippos the Looney Tunes are portrayed as being in an adventurous situation. The Flippos are green and yellow-gold and display different letters (plus possibly one or more question marks). When this set of flippos was available, some children's magazines (like Donald Duck) placed an advertisement.  Following this add, you had to use the letters on the set Flippos in order to form a long sentence, this sentence was a hint to a Smiths hidden treasure. The flippo is worth 8 points.
Olympic	431 -  490	On these flippos different Olympic facts are shown and on the back the image is illustrated. In the second folder the images are also described, sometimes with other facts than those on the flippo itself. The Flippos not have the same colors; up to 4 colors combined are combined in them. The Olympic-flippo is worth 9 points.
Griezel	536 - 545	These Flippos were, instead of plastic, in whole made ​​of cardboard. In addition to images of the Looney Tunes, several horror figures are shown on these flippos. It is possible to use a tab to bring out an otherwise hidden image. On the tab itself are some keys with which you can play a game. The flippo is worth 13 points.
Limited Edition Adventure	816 - 818	These were obtained by solving the puzzle on the back of all Adventure Flippos. They had a red and green back and are worth 25 points.
Winter	I -  X	The Giga Winter-flippo is approximately four times as large as a normal flippo, and with the aid of a cut, it is possible to use this as a Christmas tree ornament. On the front are the characters of the Looney Tunes and on the back a drawing of a snowman. These large flippos are worth 14 points.
Golden Flippo	Not numbered	This extremely rare Flippos were randomly hidden in bags of chips. The lucky finder of such flippo was awarded a cash prize by Smiths. There were also real gold Flippos to win during the Flippo Finish Show aired by Kindernet.
Special Christmas flippos, only distributed to the staff of Smiths	Not numbered	This set is really rare and consists of 10 flippos with special Christmas images on them.

Chester Cheetah

Series Name	Numbers	Description
Chester Cheetos	76 - 100	These were worth 2 points.
Techno	121 -  140	This Flippos had serrated sides and notches. This enabled a construction of techno flippos.
Strip	241A - 250C	Flippo A to C of a particular number told a little story (comic) about Chee-tos. Flippo A suggested a situation, flippo B showed that situation with a bag of chips, flippo C showed the effects of that. Furthermore, these Flippos also covered with the same cartels as the Techno-flippos.
24 Game	291 - 315	On the back of these flippos were 24-game game boards.
Guinness Record	316 - 340 and  421 - 430	These flippos portray Chester performing different records from the Guinness Book of Records.
Joker	None, only a binder	There are a total of six Joker Flippos;  the 2 and 5 Joker (cut edge with purple paw print and round edge with green paw print) and the super 10 Joker (one with a yellow paw print on the back and one with a face of Chester on both sides). If you found a Joker Flippo was, you could send it back to Smith with a request to  receive a number Flippos (2, 5 or 10, as the joker denoted), in order to make your collection complete.

Looney Tunes & Chester Cheetah

Series Name	Numbers	Description
Spiek	491 - 515	The back of the Spiek Flippo shows a mnemonic or a useful factoid, the front displays the text on the back. The Spiek Flippo consists of up to 3 different colors and is worth 10 points. The numbers 491 - 500 had pictures of the Looney Tunes, and the numbers 501 - 515 pictures of Chester.
Time	516 - 535	The Time-Flippo shows a clock in yellow on the back. Besides the clock, it also has an excuse or another factoid on the back. The flippo is worth 7 points. The numbers 516 - 531 and 521 - 535 had pictures of the Looney Tunes, and the numbers 522 - 530 pictures of Chester.

This was all on Flippos, but stay tuned because next time we’ll discuss several collectible trading cards of the nineties!

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Playground Fads: Mini Games

To conclude our playground fads week we will discuss several games that were played during recess in the nineties. There are tons of games that were played on the playground and we will go over several (Dutch) games. The first popular game is of course the classic hide and seek game. This a game in which a number of players conceal themselves in the environment, to be found by one or more seekers. The game is played by one player (designated as being "it") counting to a predetermined number while the other players hide. After reaching the number, the player who is "it" tries to find the other players. After the player designated as "it" finds another player, the found player must run to base, before he is tagged by "it”. There are several variations to this game such as sardines; where only one person hides and the other players have to find him/her. A familiar Dutch hide and seek game is “10 Tellen in de Rimboe” where one person counts down from ten and the others have to hide.

Another well-known game is tag (also known as tip, tick, tig, tiggy, dobby, it, chasey and many other names). This playground game is played worldwide and involves one or more players chasing other players in an attempt to tag or touch them, usually with their fingers. There are many variations, such as British Bulldogs, Busted, Freeze Tag, Cops & Robbers and the Dutch Shaduwtikkertje. Most forms of tag have no teams, scores, or equipment.

Not sure if they're playing tag or beating the kid up...

Some of the more familiar Dutch chanting games (in combination with clapping or crossing a certain area) are: Annamaria Koekkoek, Schipper Mag Ik Overvaren, Charlie Chaplin Ging Naar De Disco, Pepsi Cola and Er Is Een Vrouw Vermoord. The lyrics of the songs can vary between different parts of the country or even between schools.

This was all on playground fads, we hoped you’ve enjoyed it, even if you haven’t played any of these ;)

Next week we will talk about 90’s Collectibles! 

Playground Fads: Skipping

Remember the time when you had great stamina and could play with the jumping rope for hours? Today we will discuss the jump rope and several games related to it.
Skipping is defined as swinging a rope over one or more participants heads and they then have to jump over it. You can do this alone, by holding the two ends of the rope yourself or you can use a long rope where two people will hold the ends and swing the rope and other people jump inside it. You can also play with two turning ropes; this is called Double Dutch and is significantly more difficult.
The are several jumping rope rhymes and they are often chanted beginning when the skipper jumps in and ending when the skipper is tripped up.

Maybe you can become like this man if you practice very hard ;)

There are several jumping rope techniques, here is a list of some of them:

Basic jump or easy jump

This is where both feet are slightly apart and jump at the same time over the rope. Beginners should master this technique first before moving onto more advanced techniques.

Alternate foot jump (speed step)

This style consists of using alternate feet to jump off the ground. This technique can be used to effectively double the number of skips per minute as compared to the above technique. This step is used for speed events.

Criss-cross

This method is similar to the basic jump with the only difference being that while jumping, the left hand goes to the right part of the body and vice versa for the right hand, with arms crossing in front of the body.

Side Swing

This is a basic technique where the rope passes the side of the skipper's body, without jumping it. Usually the skipper performs a basic jump after a side swing, or a criss-cross.

EB(front-back cross)

This is similar to the criss-cross except one arm crosses behind the back.

Double under

To perform a double under, the participant needs to jump up higher than usual while swinging the rope twice under his feet. It is possible to have the rope swing three times under the feet (triple under). In competitive jump rope, triples, quadruples ("quads"), and quintuples ("quins") are common.

Double Dutch

Double dutch is a game in which two long jump ropes turning in opposite directions are jumped by one or more players jumping simultaneously.

Toad

The toad is a more complicated trick where the jumper performs the "Cross" manoeuvre with one arm crossing under the opposite leg from the inside.

Crougar

The crougar is a trick where the jumper jumps in a normal open jump, but with one arm hooked under the same leg.

Awesome Annie

This is where the jumper alternates between a crougar and a toad without a jump in between.

Inverse toad

Similar to the toad, except the arm crosses the same leg from the outside (rather than the opposite leg from the inside).

Elephant

A cross between the inverse toad and the toad, where both arms cross under one leg, rather than one.

Frog/Donkey kick

This is a variation of a handstand, with a beginner version and an advanced version. In the beginner version, the jumper does a handstand, comes down and then pulls the rope under. In the advanced, the jumper pulls the rope while coming down from the handstand.

Combination jumps

There are many more difficult jump roping tricks that combine two or more of these techniques to make a single trick. These combinations can also be used in Chinese Wheel, Double Dutch, Egg Beater, triangle and Long Rope.

Other

Many other variations are possible, including: "skier", a side-to-side jump keeping the feet together; "bell", a front-and-back jump keeping the feet together; "scissors", a jump putting one foot forward and the other back, then switching back-and-forth; "jumping jack", a jump putting the feet apart and then together; and "can-can" a jump with one leg up and bent, followed by a jump with both feet on ground, followed by a jump kicking the foot out. The possibilities are endless, and many Grand National champions have routines consisting of tricks they made up.

There are also some familiar jump rope rhymes, the most famous are Charlie Chaplin and Big Ben Strikes, the lyrics of these song can vary between different regions.

Next time we will go over several mini games that were played during recess!

Playground Fads: Marbles

Who hasn't played with marbles when they were young? (If you didn't, go play with it now!)
A marble is a small toy made of glass, clay, steel or agate. Like you know, the balls vary in size. There are really small ones (1/30 inch, 0.111 cm) and really big ones (over 3 inches, 7.75 cm). The average size of a marble is about 1/2 inch to 1 inch (1.3 to 2.6 cm). We can't really name the sizes, because the names of these marbles also differ per country, region or even school. Next to playing with them, people often collect marbles because of their aesthetic colors. Because we prefer playing before collecting, we will discuss some fun marble playing games! (Maybe you don't know them, marbles games are different all over the world)

Normal game

Try to get all the marbles in the pit. If you miss, your oppontent may try. If you succeed in bumping your marble in the pitt, you're allowed to take one more turn. The one who bumps the last marble into the pit, can have them all.

Pointing game

Draw several cirkels on the ground like in the image next to this text. The lines are 10 cm from each other. The bull's eye count for 50 points, and the other rings for 40, 30, 20 and 10 points. The players aim with a pre-arranged amount of marbles or till an agreed number of points is reached. The ones who wins gets all the marbles.

Bombing game

If you own this game you probably make more enemies than friends while playing it. Each player puts an amount of their mables in a cirkel. With turns, each player will hold one marble an arm length above the marbles in the cirkel and drops it. The marbles bumped out the cirkel are now the belongings of the ' bomber'. The bomber also gets his 'bom' back. The game ends when all the marbles are bumped out the cirkel.

Remember: it's not about the marbles, but all about the games!

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Fashion: Hair

In addition to 90’s fashion, we will conclude this fashion week by discussing the hair fashion of the nineties.

Men: Men's hair became increasingly shorter from the early 1990s onwards. In the early 90s curtained hair (sometimes dyed blond) and small ponytails were popular among yuppies. Side-partings were briefly popular in the mid-1990s before head-shaving had become an acceptable way of dealing with male pattern baldness. In the late 1990s variants of the quiff became popular among young professional men. Dark haired men dyed their spikes blonde and some tended to have wavy blonde streaks - this trend continued towards mid-2000s, namely until 2004 where they started to go back to their natural dark hair.

Woman: Women's hair changed from the teased curls popular in the late 1970s to late 1980s to straight, smooth hair, which was a revival of late 1960s hairstyles gradually between 1989 and 1995. The pixie cut and Rachel haircut which resembled elements of the Marlo Thomas haircut on the tv show That Girl, inspired the haircut worn by a character from the TV show Friends, were popular among women in as early as 1995. Straight hair was also styled with a short fringe cut just above the eyebrows, known as a “hime cut”, and those with Afro-styled or naturally curly hair would rely on a Relaxer to keep the sleek straight hair. In the mid-1990s this style went out fashion until its revival in the late-2000s. Dark-haired women tended to dye their hair a lighter color (with highlights and lowlights) with blonde streaks (popularized by Jennifer Anniston) - this trend continued until mid-2000s.

Youth: For teenagers longer hair was popular in the early to mid-1990s, including collar-length curtained hair, shaggy surfer hair popular among some Britpop fans, and dreadlocks. This changed in the mid-1990s when the much-ridiculed bowl cut became a fad among skaters, while hip-hop fans wore a variant of the flattop known as the Hi-top fade. In the late 1990s hair was usually buzzed very short for an athletic look although a few grunge fans grew their hair long in reaction to this. Headbands and scrunchies of various styles and colors were popular with girls throughout most of the 1990s who frequently wore them with side ponytails and bangs

This was all on 90’s fashion, next week we will go over Playground Fads of the nineties!

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