Showing posts with label nostalgia bomb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nostalgia bomb. Show all posts

Friday, January 17, 2020

Nostalgia Bomb! - Snow White Cream Soda



What was it?

Snow White Cream Soda was an independent and hard-to-find cream soda that I had in and around the 1990s. It was a clear or colourless cream soda and was not tinted with any dyes to look pink, which was and is common with different brands of cream soda, like Crush.

When was it available?

This one is a toughie! From my research the company that technically made Snow White sodas has been around since in the 1920s and I've seen some very old-looking cans of Snow White Cream Soda for sale on eBay for extravagant prices, but without exact dates on them. I know for certain it was around in the 1970s to the 1990s and potentially even as late as the 2010s, but more on that in the next segment!

What about today?

The short answer is... I dunno. The long-winded one - because you know I can't help myself - is that the company that technically makes the soda still appears to be around and making pop, so there's a possibility that it could be being made and sold right now in some small markets in Canada. I don't think that's the case, though!

Why do I remember it?

Simply put, Snow White Cream Soda was by far the best cream soda I have ever had!

I first started spotting cans of the stuff at a local convenience store that I frequented as a kid in the early '90s. It was never stored anywhere near the big brands like Coca-Cola or Pepsi and would always be mixed up with the cheaper brands, like Cott or RC. This section of the pop fridge was always in complete disarray and held a mish-mash of cans, so you had to actually take the time to dig through them to find something you were looking for.

The can I know and remember is this one, which I found on the site canmuseum.com:


I feel like I remember other winter-themed designs on the can, but I could be totally wrong and I have no way to corroborate it. I'm so sure there was one with a cutesy penguin or something, but the Internet is failing me.

Cream soda is always about the vanilla flavour. It's a really simple drink that hearkens back to an older time. It feels right at home with ginger ale or root beer. I feel like around the '80s some soda companies decided to spice things up and started putting pink dye in cream soda as a way of making it more appealing to kids. This isn't inherently bad - in fact I still really enjoy Crush Cream Soda, which does this - but it seems like the flavours started to vary at this time, too. The taste took a backseat to the colouring.


For a long time Crush actually didn't add the pink dye. The label would be pink, but the soda remained colourless. Nowadays the whole brand is pretty well sold on its vivacious coloured sodas, like orange, pineapple, and grape, so cream soda has gone the same route.

No other cream soda had the formula so perfect as Snow White, which is why I believe I was even able to get the stuff in Nova Scotia. You see, the brand is owned by Breuvages Kiri from a small town in Quebec. Like most small brands, it pretty well only distributes in the immediate area, but you could get their sodas as far as Ontario and northern New Brunswick. They had other flavours, which I was surprised to find out, like orange and lemon-lime, but cream soda was their best and brightest and, as such, was distributed with a further reach.

Sometime during the late-90s I stopped seeing the stuff on local store shelves. It was one of those "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone" moments. I'm sure I enjoyed as much of the stuff as I could, but as soon as I couldn't get it anymore I craved it. It was right at home with a bag of Hostess Barbecue potato chips as a Coke, which in my mind is no small feat.

That said it looks like Breuvages Kiri, also known as TechnoBev in Ontario (because this shit isn't confusing enough), weren't done with the soda. The Snow White brand continued on and even added some flavours to try and diversify. In addition to the three I mentioned above I think there was root beer and cherry. This may have occurred around the 2000s, but it could have been earlier. If you could tell, solid information on this brand is pretty sparse. 

At some point before the 2010s the company re-branded their sodas as simply Kiri and appears to still be a local favourite, having carved out a small enough niche to survive all these years in the rough-and-tumble soda business. The thing is their website has thrown a broken link since 2011 when the company reportedly filed for bankruptcy protection, so I'm not sure what's up. There is another Kiri soda brand from Uganda but, unsurprisingly, there's no connection.

I have read that Kiri pushed other flavours, but I've even read that as late as 2011 they were still producing cream soda with the original recipe. Whether it was still branded as Snow White or made under the Kiri label I can't be sure. From what I've read it was found in Giant Tiger stores in Quebec, which are sort of like mini department stores that are a step up from a Dollarama. We have the stores here in NS, but no Snow White to speak of.

So there's still hope that some day I might be able to enjoy a Snow White Cream Soda in one incarnation or another! I'm not holding my breath, though.

Whether Snow White is still around or not is kind of inconsequential, honestly. As much as I'd love to have it again - should it still exist - it was a slice of time in my childhood and teenage years that I can never get back to. When biking to the store and renting some tapes or games and grabbing a cold soda out of the fridge was always a night well-spent, especially if I was enjoying an ice cold Snow White Cream Soda.

And that's why it's a blast from my past!
R



Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Nostalgia Bomb! - A Muppet Family Christmas


What was it?

A Muppet Family Christmas is a holiday special produced for ABC by the Jim Henson Company. The show features characters from all of Henson's TV efforts to that point: The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and Muppet Babies.

When was it available?

The special first aired on December 16th, 1987 and ran in an hour-long time slot. ABC ran the special again the following year on December 2nd, 1988 before the show was re-edited for licensing issues and aired on NBC in 1989 as a part of The Magical World of Disney anthology series. After that it surprisingly aired on Nickelodeon as late as 1997!

What about today?

Today, well... you're out of luck! There have been several VHS releases of the special since around 1990 and even a DVD was produced as late as 2003, but due to licensing issues with several of the songs used, as well as ownership rights over the different Muppet brands, there hasn't been a home video release or broadcast of A Muppet Family Christmas in many, many years. Home video releases of the show fetch upwards of $200 CDN as of writing this.


Why do I remember it?

It's difficult to forget A Muppet Family Christmas once you've seen it! It has to be one of the most ambitious television programs ever produced.

The Jim Henson Company was certainly riding high in the '80s. They had a major success with The Muppet Show in the '70s and then rolled that into three feature films by 1984, and by '87 there were several popular TV shows being produced in joint all over the globe. A Muppet Family Christmas wasn't happy just taking their stock Muppets from The Muppet Show and creating a family-friendly Christmas special, so they went out and dragged in Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and even created real Muppets for Muppet Babies, which was a cartoon series!

It's interesting to note that this wasn't the first time they brought all these franchises together - technically The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years gets that honour - but I think the more adored special is A Muppet Family Christmas.

With all these characters and story-lines intermixed the special really moves. There is zero downtime to speak of. Characters transition from scene to song to scene quickly to make sure everyone gets their limelight in this 45 minute show.

The main gist of the special is that Doc and Sprocket from most of the iterations of Fraggle Rock - these characters were only featured in wraparound segments of the show and were sometimes changed regionally - are renting Emily Bear's home for a quiet country Christmas, while she intends to go to sunnier climates on holiday. Unexpectedly, her son Fozzie and the rest of The Muppet Show gang turn up to surprise her for Christmas! The only Muppet missing is Ms. Piggy, who was finishing some business and intends to make a later appearance, but is caught in a bad snowstorm en route.

Some of the subplots include Fozzie's snowman coming to life and becoming his new comedy partner, the Sesame Street gang stumbling upon the country farmhouse while they're out caroling, Swedish Chef trying to cook a turkey for Christmas dinner, Kermit and his nephew discovering a Fraggle hole in the basement of Emily Bear's house, and Scooter finding an old film reel of the Muppet Babies in a closet!


Outside of the multitude of stories the songs are certainly the biggest feature of the special. There are 12 songs in total in the original edit, which includes some holiday classics, a few original tunes, and a massive medley to round out the program. Seriously, I have no idea how they found that many puppeteers. Outside of the medley there are several standout songs, but I have to say getting to hear Swedish Chef and Big Bird sing a duet of "Merry Christmas To You" is the highlight, in my opinion.

Swedish Chef and Big Bird may seem like a weird combination, but it works with the story. Some other mash-ups get teased, like Oscar the Grouch and Rizzo the Rat or Cookie Monster and Animal, but because of the breadth of the special they aren't explored.

The cherry on top of the whole thing is a small scene at the very end of the special where Jim Henson is enjoying seeing all his creations celebrating together before opting to clean the dishes with the help of Sprocket. It's sad to think he'd pass just three short years after this special aired.


All-in-all, A Muppet Family Christmas is one of the best holiday specials out there and one my most cherished. We didn't have Nickelodeon in Canada when I was a kid, so I would've only had the opportunity to watch the show a few times in the late-80s/early-90s, but it left an indelible mark. It's just so cozy and comfortable! Like most of the specials that I feature on the site it's really sad this isn't broadcast each year, but at least in this case the licensing issues are pretty clear: Disney bought out The Muppets brand in 2004, but the Sesame Street characters is still owned by Sesame Workshop, for instance.

You can still find it to stream in a few corners of the Internet, however. There's a pretty nice copy on YouTube that you can easily search out. I - being a total nostalgia nerd - opted to watch a really poorly recorded copy with the original commercials on archive.org. I've linked it so you can check it out, but if you're not that jazzed to see old ads for Ritz and Legos... well, actually, what are you even doing here!?


A Muppet Family Christmas is as true holiday classic that still resonates today and that's why it's a blast from the past!

Hope you enjoyed,
R


Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Nostalgia Bomb! - Garfield's Halloween Adventure


What was it?

Garfield's Halloween Adventure was the fourth Garfield television special directed and produced by Phil Roman and written by creator Jim Davis. It was the second Garfield program created by the Film Roman company after Garfield in the Rough. The previous two specials, Here Comes Garfield and Garfield on the Town, were developed by Peanuts TV special producers Mendelson-Melendez.

The show featured the usual cast of Lorenzo Music as Garfield and Gregg Berger as Odie, with a brief appearance of Thom Huge as John Arbuckle, and included C. Lindsay Workman in the role of the Old Man. The music was handled by the usual writing team of Ed Bogas and Desirée Goyette and performed by velvet crooner Lou Rawls.

This time around Garfield convinces Odie to go trick-or-treating with him, a ploy to help the devilish orange cat garnish twice as much candy, candy, candy! But his greed leads him to a brush up with more than just kids in spooky costumes!


When was it available?

The Halloween special first aired on October 30th, 1985 and was followed promptly by an airing of It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, which was typical of CBS during this era. I can confirm for certain that it ran up until 1989 and I'm sure it was played for many years after that, but I don't know when the special officially stopped airing on CBS. It's likely it ceased to be shown in 2000, which was the year that A Garfield Christmas was last seen on live television.

It was released individually on VHS in 1992 and later on DVD in 2004 with specials A Garfield Christmas and Garfield's Thanksgiving. It was later released again on DVD in 2014. This release had the same specials listed in the 2004 disc, but included Garfield on the Town and Garfield in Paradise. It also has a new individual DVD release from 2018.

Image result for garfield's halloween adventure dvd

What about today?

You can stream Garfield's Halloween Adventure on Amazon Prime, which inexplicably has it listed as available since 1996. It's also on iTunes and probably any other streaming service you can think of. The easiest place to watch it, however is on YouTube. You won't get quite the same visual fidelity, although I'm sure it can't be that far off, but one thing you can get on YouTube is an airing of the show with it's original commercials intact!


As is always the case with YouTube links, I can't attest to how long this one will be live, but there are several versions of it floating around.

Oh, and there's that 2018 DVD!

Why do I remember it?

Garfield's Halloween Adventure was required viewing for any Halloween celebrations when I was a kid. I mean, it aired in conjunction with It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown every year! That's high marks.

I wrote about A Garfield Christmas last year, so I knew I had to give the Halloween special the same treatment, but the story is pretty much the same here. Inexplicably, CBS just dropped this show off it's Halloween specials list and it suddenly became difficult or expensive to find on home video.

Luckily, nowadays, it isn't difficult to get your hands on a copy of Garfield's Halloween Adventure, but why the Charlie Brown specials still air and not these is mind-boggling.

One thing I will say about Garfield's Halloween Adventure is that it is legit scary for kids. I believe Jim Davis has said in interviews that they sought to make it something that would genuinely frighten children and they certainly succeeded. Even for this 30-something grown man there is some creepy stuff to be found in this special.

From the monstrous trick-or-treaters Garfield and Odie encounter, to the Old Man covered in warts telling his ghostly tale, and finally the pirate ghosts searching for their hidden treasure, this isn't a light-hearted affair. I considered letting my five year old watch it this year, but decided against giving him those nightmares just yet (although I'm certain I would've watch it at that age).

Image result for garfield in disguise

As was usually the case with Garfield specials, the music here is on-point. I personally prefer the songs in A Garfield Christmas, but that's not to slight the great Halloween-y tunes present in this show. Lou Rawls' voice is perfectly deep to deliver these tracks and I'm glad that they really leaned into the spooky mood.

The TV special was adapted by Jim Davis into a book that was published in 1987 under the title Garfield in Disguise, which was also the working title of the TV special. The story is pretty much the same, but with some slight changes and a different ending tacked on. In the book, Garfield steals a pirate's treasure ring and the ghostly spooks chase after he and Odie until they return it. It was apparently story-boarded and considered for the TV show, as well, but was ultimately dropped, likely to make the 24-minute run-time required for a half hour slot.

I can't let October slide by without taking in Garfield's Halloween Adventure. I hope someday that it makes it back to broadcast television, but regardless it will always be a blast from my past!

Hope you enjoyed,
R

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Nostalgia Bomb! - Hostess Taquitos


What were they?

Doritos were first introduced into US markets in 1967 and hit small Canadian markets in the 1970s, but it wasn't really until 1987 that Doritos hit their stride in the Great White North, due to a partnership between Hostess and Frito-Lay. Before this - and into the 90s - Hostess had their own flavoured nacho chip brand, known as Hostess Taquitos.


When were they available?

It's hard to pinpoint exactly when they first launched, but I believe it was in 1985. It's also hard to say when they were finally phased out. Hostess Potato Chips themselves were slowly removed from the market in 1996, after Frito-Lay bought the company and decided to bring Lay's Potato Chips in as their main brand (more on that here). It's safe to assume they existed into the early 90s, but I'm not 100% they lasted until 1996, either.

What about today?

Unfortunately, Hostess Taquitos went the way of the Do-do many years ago. Frito-Lay had a hit in the US with Doritos and decided to focus on that brand across the border. That said, one of the Hostess Taquitos flavours still lives on to this day!

Why do I remember them?

Well, pretty much because they were delicious! Although they were way greasier and messier than Doritos, they packed way more flavour and crunch.

The way I remember it is that Doritos really started making gains when they introduced Cool Ranch into the Canadian market. Usually when kids bought nacho chips around here they'd get Taquitos unless they didn't want a cheese flavour. Then they'd buy Cool Ranch. I think they'd probably exist to this day if Frito-Lay hadn't made the decision to go with their American brands over the Hostess counterparts.

It's hard to impress how popular Taquitos were at the time, but Hostess really pushed them as one of their big brands. They even had their own mascot. Their potato chip brand had The Munchies, but Hostess Taquitos had El Taquito, a nacho chip shilling monkey!


Now, here's one thing that I have found weird over the years. I remember there being three kinds of Hostess Taquitos early on, but then eventually there were only two. There was Nacho Cheese, Zesty Cheese, and Crisp n' Cheesy. They were all distinct cheese flavours. I wasn't much of a cheese guy, so I always went for Nacho Cheese, where Zesty had a very strong flavour. I always considered Crisp n' Cheesy to just be like a Hostess Cheese Stick flavour, or as we called them, "Cheesies".

Eventually Crisp n' Cheesy was dropped and there was only Nacho Cheese and Zesty Cheese. If you were to try and look up Hostess Taquitos, however, you'll see that most posts online refer to them having only ever having two flavours: Zesty Cheese and Taco. I don't recall every having Taco flavoured Taquitos. The first flavour of Doritos was Taco, so I don't know if this is just some people mixing things up or if it was a difference in markets here in Canada, but I only saw cheese flavoured nacho chips.

I have recently found a commerical, however - thanks to RetroJunk.com - from 1985 that validates my memories and shows the three cheese flavours! Watch it in all its 80s glory! It's amazing.


I mentioned that one of the flavours still exists, right? Well, when Frito-Lay decided to push Doritos and get rid of Taquitos they made the smart decision of keeping the Zesty Cheese flavour, which I think was the best seller. So, if you've had Zesty Cheese Doritos, you've technically tasted these short-lived Canadian nacho chips! Doritos have always been a less messy, less greasy option, so they don't taste exactly the same, but it's as close as you can get these days.

Hostess Taquitos were something bold and new in the world of potato chips and salty snacks in the mid-80s. The were absolutely packed with flavour that would turn your parents off instantly, which made them all the more alluring to us kids, and that's why they're a blast from my past!

Now go get some Zesty Doritos!
R

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Nostalgia Bomb! - A Garfield Christmas



What was it?
A Garfield Christmas was the seventh Garfield television special directed by Phil Roman and written by Garfield creator Jim Davis for CBS between 1982 and 1991.

A Garfield Christmas is often referred to as A Garfield Christmas Special, as well, as it is here on the title card

The specials were initially produced by Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez, but as their company was primarily focused on producing the famous Peanuts TV specials, Phil Roman later took on the producer role, as well.

It aired for the first time on December 21st, 1987 with a run-time of 24 minutes and featured music by Ed Bogas and DesirĂ©e Goyette, with the singing talents of Lou Rawls. Garfield was famously voiced by Lorenzo Music, who voiced everyone's favourite grumpy orange cat in each of the Phil Roman specials. Thom Huge and Gregg Berger voiced John and Odie, as they did in all of the other specials as well, and Pat Carroll played John's grandmother, famous for her many acting roles and her portrayal of Ursula in Disney's The Little Mermaid.

This particular episode featured John, Garfield, and Odie heading off to the Arbuckle family farm for a good old fashioned Christmas.

When was it available?

The special was aired every Christmas on CBS from 1987 to 2000, at which point it inexplicably dropped off their holiday schedule. In 2004 the DVD Garfield's Holiday Celebrations was released, which included A Garfield Christmas, as well as other holiday favourites Garfield's Halloween Adventure (1985) and Garfield's Thanksgiving (1989). From my understanding the DVD was produced until at least 2007 and after its production run became a highly sought after collector's item, fetching big sums on eBay.

A second DVD was released in 2014 as a Walmart exclusive and featured the same episodes as the 2004 disc, but also added Garfield on the Town (1983) and Garfield in Paradise (1986), which aren't really holiday-themed, but are a nice addition. This DVD is also out-of-print and fetches high prices on reseller sites.

What about today?
In 2017 A Garfield Christmas was released on streaming services Amazon Prime Video and Apple iTunes in the US. One thing to note, however, is that there were some oddities with the final DVD release of A Garfield's Christmas, such as a scene featuring John's brother "Doc Boy" and Grandma playing Christmas music on the family piano, which was removed. This is the version that can be streamed from the above services, so it typically rubs viewers the wrong way!

Garfield Holiday Celebrations DVD from 2004

I personally streamed it from YouTube this year. There are several uploaders with the special on their channels. I'm pretty certain that none of them are legit, however, and could likely be stuck with copyright notices at any moment, so linking one here would probably be folly. If you want to watch the original special intact, however, this is probably the best avenue. The version I watched was at least DVD quality and contained all the scenes and original music.

Why do I remember it?
A Garfield Christmas is one of my absolute favourite Christmas TV specials of all time and I've done my best to take it in every single Christmas all these years.

After it stopped airing on TV, I was forced to become a pirate and find sites that either streamed the show or allowed for a download. Once I had a copy of the special that I liked downloaded, I often went back to that copy in subsequent years, but I've found YouTube pretty reliable as of late. I personally never saw the aforementioned DVDs, so from 2001 onward getting my Garfield fix at Christmastime became a yearly mission.

Up until the last few years, I had a copy on my tablet that I would break out when I was wrapping presents, alongside a copy of A Muppet Family Christmas, which is another amazing Christmas special from '87 that doesn't air on TV any longer and has a shoddy history on DVD.

The Arbuckles gather 'round Grandma as she receives here gift from Garfield

A Garfield Christmas is purportedly an autobiographical account of Jim Davis' personal Christmas memories and features a really fun look at the Arbuckle Christmas, but also has a sub-plot about John's Grandma that will get you right in the feels.

The music in this special is on-point with great tunes sung by Lou Rawls that you'll find yourself singing around the house right alongside Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley.

I cannot fathom why this special isn't aired today alongside all the other greats, like A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, and How The Grinch Stole Christmas. In fact, CBS usually aired A Garfield Christmas right next to the Peanuts classic from '87 to 2000. I can't find any solid information on why the show was dropped, but it could just be due to viewer count, I suppose.

A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Garfield Christmas commerical from CBS

The fact that the scene with Doc Boy and Grandma playing the piano was dropped from DVD releases kind of makes me wonder if there's some sort of rights issue at play, but they're playing "O Christmas Tree", so I find it hard to believe that's the problem in this case.

Although it was hard to find for almost 20 years, outside of a few DVD releases, which I personally never saw here in Canada, you can now enjoy A Garfield Christmas via streaming services (in the US, at least) or on YouTube, and I can't recommend enough that you give it a watch.

I viewed the show with my kids this year and I saw them laugh and sing along at the same spots I did when I was growing up, which made this year's viewing all the more special.

And that's why A Garfield Christmas is a blast from my past, but also - hopefully - a future family tradition!

Hope you enjoyed,
R

Monday, August 20, 2018

Nostalgia Bomb! - Hostess Potato Chips



What were they?
Hostess Potato Chips (no affiliation to the Hostess pastry brand) was the premiere potato chip in Canada, first opening its doors in Ontario in 1935. They started with what would later be known as the Regular flavour, early on branched out to include Salt & Vinegar and BBQ, and later introduced Ketchup, Sour Cream & Onion, Dill Pickle, Roast Chicken, and even a Pizza flavour!

The last known line-up of Hostess Potato Chips

When were they available?

They were available from their inital release in 1935 up until 1996 when the Hostess brand, previously purchased by Frito Lay brand giant PepsiCo, was re-branded as Lay's Potato Chips.

What about today?
Some smaller grocery stores in Ontario, where the Hostess plant is located, continued to receive stock up until the 2010s. Today the only Hostess snack that is readily available are Hostess Hickory Sticks, which still seem to have a strong presence in the snack aisle.

Hickory Sticks are still a popular Hostess brand to this day.

Why do I remember them?
They were the best potato chips on the market! They held their place as Canada's #1 potato chip for as long as they did because they kept things simple and they produced a quality product.

Sure, like all massive brands they dipped their toes in some weird products. In the 1970s Hostess attempted a fruit-flavoured potato chip wing, which crashed and burned very quickly, but their strong main line-up of salty potato chip flavours couldn't be beat right up until they were re-branded in 1996.

What brought them down then? The introduction of higher quality brands, like Miss Vickie's kettle chips. Very quickly the more basic Hostess brand started seeing a drop in sales down to as little as 10% of the market.

It was decided that they would re-brand as Lay's and a huge marketing campaign accompanied the changeover. Mark Messier (famed centre for the Edmonton Oilers) would become the spokesperson for the brand with the slogan, "I bet you can't eat just one!" Why was all this so necessary? Lay's had been in Canada for years under the American brand and it was considered sub-par to Hostess chips. Canada was mind-washed of this and Lay's became the dominate brand almost overnight.

I can't write an article about Hostess potato chips and forget The Munchies! These cute little mascots fit right in during the 80s when everyone was sliding their commercials between cartoons on Saturday mornings. There were three Munchies, yellow, orange, and red. They were sort of like the Keebler Elves of chips.

The Hostess Munchies appearing on a button from the late-80s/early-90s.
For a short time after Lay's took over Canadian shelves Hostess still trickled in, but after a while the well dried up. My biggest problem with the whole thing was that Hostess BBQ chips were my favourite chip of all time. All of the other flavours got a somewhat similar representation by Lay's - in Dill Pickle's case, Lay's actually had the superior flavour - but the BBQ flavour that Lay's sold was nothing like what I was used to with Hostess.

You see, BBQ in the US - in relation to potato chips, anyway - is a much different beast than it is in Canada. To be fair, the US flavour is a better representation of actual barbecue - it is a sweet flavour, with a little spice. In Canada it basically just means hot and spicy. After a time, Lay's actually responded and came out with a hot BBQ flavour, but it just wasn't the same.

Lay's Old Fashioned Bar-B-Q flavoured potato chips.
BBQ Chip Tangent:
When Lay's was first introduced I switched to Humpty Dumpty, which was the real competitor to Hostess in the 80s and 90s, in my opinion. They had a BBQ flavour that was at least akin to Hostess and over time I learned to love that flavour, as well. Humpty Dumpty would see a similar fate to Hostess, however, being swallowed up by a bigger fish and purchased by Old Dutch. For many years the BBQ flavour that Old Dutch produced was actually titled "Humpty Dumpty BBQ", showing how strong the flavour was, but in the last few years they added cinnamon to it and dropped the "Humpty Dumpty" from the title. As a result, I've stopped buying it. My BBQ flavour of choice now? Walmart Canada's Great Value brand. It's actually really quite good! And at only $0.99 a bag it's hard to beat.


The "Humpty Dumpty" was eventually dropped in Canada, but it may still be available in the US.

What makes the whole thing more frustrating is that eventually the "upscale" potato chip concept would wear off and the market leveled back out. If Hostess had just stuck it out and PepsiCo hadn't re-branded everything to Lay's I think that Hostess would still be on top to this day. Even if you don't believe me that Hostess had the best flavours, Hostess' offerings were at least on par with their competitors.

In this day and age of "nostalgia is king", and especially being owned by PepsiCo - who have brought back Pepsi with real sugar as Pepsi Throwback, had a successful re-relase of Crystal Pepsi in 2016, and are now offering cans branded with their old logos and designs - I have this dream that one day there will be a limited run of Hostess chips in Canada. Even if it were under the Lay's brand, but with the original Hostess flavours, I'd be happy.

But until that day comes, Hostess Potato Chips will still be a blast from my past!

Hope you enjoyed,
R

Friday, July 6, 2018

Nostalgia Bomb! - Topps Nintendo Game Packs



What were they?
Nintendo Game Packs (with Top Secret Tips!) were a series of scratch-off trading cards and sticker packs released by Topps for 25¢ apiece. Inside each wax-wrapped pack you would find three scratch-off cards and two stickers, as well as a stick of bubble gum!

Topps Nintendo Game Packs (1989) - image courtesy of Toys'n'Stuff YouTube Channel

There were 93 cards to collect in all. 60 of those were the scratch-off or "game" cards, which could be broken out into groups of 10 based on 6 different Nintendo games: Super Mario Bros., Super Mario. Bros. 2, The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Double Dragon, and Punch-Out!! The other 33 cards were the stickers, which portrayed character portraits from all sorts of different Nintendo games and had printed tips and tricks on the back, not necessarily related to the actual sticker on the front.

A sticker card featuing Abobo from Double Dragon - image courtesy of TPsRockin.com

When were they available?
They were released in 1989. Topps would release a yearly series of sports cards, which would include the usual culprits of baseball, football, and hockey. They would also release non-sports sets each year that would be based on different movie and cartoon franchises, which included the Nintendo set. '89 would also see sets for Back to the Future Part II, Batman (1989), Batman (1966), Ghostbusters II, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ('89 cartoon show), and Stupid Smile Stickers, which were essentially parody cards making fun of the popular "smiley face" stickers at that time.

A full box of Topps Nintendo Game Packs

What about today?

Although Nintendo would go on to have different trading card sets over the years based on many of their popular franchises, like The Legend of Zelda and most recently amiibo trading cards for the Animal Crossing series, this was the only Topps set they would ever release.

It is worth noting that Topps also released a set of Nintendo Tattoos around the same time. They are considered much more rare than the Game Packs and I can honestly say I don't recall ever seeing them when I was a kid.

Topps Nintendo Tattoos, also circa 1989

Why do I remember them?

I was a big card collector back when I was a kid. It was completely hooked in 1990 on the first Marvel Universe trading card series by Impel (later Skybox), but I cut my teeth on these Nintendo Game Packs.

Although I have all of my old Marvel cards I unfortunately don't have any of my old Nintendo cards left today. I think it was because they were made somewhat disposable. Each of the scratch-off cards were a game and once they were scratched I considered them used up and the sticker cards would make their way into a sticker binder I kept (which is long since gone). It wasn't until the next year I'd clue in on collecting cards.

A Zelda scratch-off game card - image courtesy of TPsRockin.com

You see them a lot these days, though. They're typically easy to find on eBay or in different niche stores. You'll also find a lot of videos on YouTube of people either displaying their collections or showing off opening old packs that are still sealed.

I haven't gone so far in my enjoyment of these cards to get the set myself. I have checked out the prices on eBay now and then, but I never pull the trigger. It's fun to queue up YouTube now and again, however, and watch some videos on Topps Nintendo Game Packs and reminisce.

I hope you enjoyed,
R

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Nostalgia Bomb! - McPizza



What was it?
In the 1980s McDonald's wanted to break into the pizza market and take on companies like Dominos and Pizza Hut, so the began testing the McPizza. It wasn't until the 90s that the test phase branched out into over 500 stores. Originally it was served as a "family-size", which was brought to the table and placed on a raised rack, but they quickly began serving it in a personal-size format, which could be included in an Extra Value Meal with fries and a drink.

McPizza ad

When was it available?
I've read that the earliest test markets actually started in the 70s, but most articles related to McPizza state that it started hitting test restaurants in the late-80s and by 1991 had branched out to around 500 stores. In Canada, it was phased out in 1999, although I know it left my local McDonald's well before that. Officially, it appears it left almost all McDonald's by the year 2000. It was ultimately removed from most McDonald's menus because it took 11 minutes to cook, which wasn't in-line with their policy of providing food as fast as possible.

What about today?
Much like the start date of McPizza, there is a lot of conflicting information about this, but up until recently my understanding was that you could still get McPizza at two locations; Pomeroy, Ohio and Owensboro, Kentucky. From what I've read, both of those restaurants served their last pizzas as of 2017, but it appears that that largest McDonald's - located in Orlando, Florida - is the only restaurant that still offers the McPizza.

Why do I remember it?
Mostly, because it was delicious.

In an Extra Value Meal
An odd thing about where I grew up is that pizza is like religion. There is no Pizza Hut or Dominos there. They would crash and burn. Everyone gets their pizza from their favourite "joint" and you'll hear many arguments as to which is the best. So when McDonald's came out with McPizza I assumed it would be garbage and would never last, but when I first had it I was hooked. That said, no one in my family would ever go to McDonald's to get a pizza, which is why the personal-sized pie was so crucial. If we all went to Mickey Ds I could get a pizza for myself!

I remember it having a cornmeal crust or something, which was unheard of where I lived. All the crusts were typically the same and I'd dare say that's how it is even today. I can't think of a place that deviates. I'd never had anything like that and I really enjoyed it. Also, I think they added parmesan to their mozzarella cheese, which was something I'd never had before and really liked as well.

McPizza is a bizarre thing, because under the lens of nostalgia and passing time it seems like everyone enjoyed it and wishes they could still get it, but that just can't be the case. I know that most articles I've read state that McDonald's removed it from their meny because of the time it took to cook, but let's real here; if the stuff was selling like gangbusters, they'd still have it on the menu.

The reality is that McDonald's took on a pretty tough market and didn't see enough upside to keep the product going. I can attest to it being good - and I consider myself a pretty tough pizza critic - but money talks and now McPizza is (pretty much) no more.

This is the box I recall
If I'm ever in Orlando, however, and I happen upon this magical McDonald's that still carries McPizza, you can be damned sure I'll be buying it and reliving my childhood for a few gooey, cheesy moments.

I hope you enjoyed,
R

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Nostalgia Bomb! - Couch Co-op



What is it?
The term "couch co-op" is actually a retroactively applied term for what we used to fondly know as "two-player" or "multiplayer" gaming. From the earliest days of video gaming, many of the devices sold to the home market, and some arcade games, were built with a second controller so that friends and family could either work together toward a common goal or - and more often - face off against one another in their favourite games.

With the advent of online gaming and the ability for a video game console or a PC to connect two players across the globe the term "couch co-op" gained strides as a way of describing the old school method of playing a multiplayer experience, where two or more people would physically sit next to one another on a couch playing a game on the same device.

"Multiplayer" today

When did it start?
Whether you consider Spacewar! or Pong to be the first video game, both were two-player titles. In Spacewar! - developed on a PDP-1 computer at MIT in the 60s - two players would take control of ships and face off in against one another in space. In Pong, two players would control "paddles" and bounce a virtual ping pong ball back and forth for points.

Pong in all its glory

What about today?
The vernacular today is typically "co-op", short for co-operative, which - when you think about it - doesn't make sense, since most multiplayer games are actually competitive in nature. The issue is that it's all geared toward the online experience, which makes sense for two reasons: 1) the software/hardware developers get to make more money, because it requires each individual to buy a console/PC and their own copy of the game they want to play, and 2) most people are playing games solo nowadays so really this sort of thing is catering to the crowd.

Goldeneye 007 (N64) 4-player split screen

Some games still provide a couch co-op option with split-screen, but that sort of thing is going more and more the way of the dodo.

Why do I remember it?
I remember it because of all the great times I've spent playing multiplayer games with my friends in our parents' basements! I can't even begin to tell you all the games my friends and I have sunk hours upon hours into, huddled together on a couch, basking in the electronic glow of a CRT television.

Some titles that come to mind were Super Bomberman (which required the SNES Super Multittap so that up to four friends could get in on the action), Mario Kart 64, and Goldeneye 007. Halo 2 was another highlight, where my friends and I actually setup two Xbox consoles, cross-wired them with ethernet crossover cables, setup two different TVs, and played up to 8-player couch co-op together. The smack-talk was out of control!

The Multitap, which NEC/Hudson Soft actually released for Super Bomberman

Of course, Japan's was cooler

The old fogies like myself will always decry the problems with the current status of online co-op, but only because we have warm fuzzies over the memories of sitting in a room with our buddies, eating pizza, and playing games together. The reality is that with today's technology you and all your friends can be all across the globe and you're still able to see, speak to, and play games with anyone, thanks to the advances of online capabilities. All that said, there's a little something missing when you lose the "human element" involved with couch co-op and it's that something that I will always miss.

And that's why someday soon (unfortunately) couch co-op will be a blast from the past!


Hope you enjoyed,
R

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Nostalgia Bomb! - Video Game Instruction Manuals



What are they?
Once upon a time when you got a crisp new video game you would receive a small manual in the packaging, which would give you some backstory for the game you were about to play, information on how to play the game, and occasionally some tips and tricks to help you out along the way.

An assortment of NES instruction manuals

When did they come out?
Video game manuals would have appeared in just about every home released video game going back to 70s, including standalone games like Pong and the earliest cartridge-based games, like those on the Fairchild Channel F, right up to today's modern consoles.

Mega Man 3 (NES) Instruction Manual

What about today?
I just said that manuals come with modern day console games, so why the heck is this a "Nostalgia Bomb"? Well, the era of high-quality colour manuals is a without a doubt over and done with. The rare game might release with a nice manual, but it's definitely not the norm. In some cases a game might release with some form of manual, but its completely bare bones. Many are just a black and white fold-out piece of paper with the controls written on them or just a slip of paper outlining how to find the "online manual", which is often just as barren as the fold-out.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker's instruction manual

Why do I remember them?
Lately I've been replaying the original NES Legend of Zelda games, most recently Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. As I was playing, I found myself more interested in the story behind the game, so I turned to the Internet to see if there was ever any backstory to the title. Sure enough, if you picked up the complete in-box game on the NES you would receive a full colour manual, which not only showed you how to navigate the world of Zelda II or how to fight using Link, but it also gave you a really nice background story, which included hand-drawn art depicting Link and how he begins his quest.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link storyline from the manual

The manuals that came with 8-bit and 16-bit games were full of wonderful concept art and backstory that you couldn't necessarily get from playing the game. It was a sign of the times. These days, you don't really need to have the story of a video game explained to you in a paper manual, because you get it all from the game itself.

I'm not complaining so much that manuals have gone the way of the Do-do. I get it. If the story is present within the game itself, all you really need is to know the controls. Honestly, most games these days take you through a tutorial to teach you the controls, as well, so I can see why dropping manuals would save money and trees.

That said, I used to love opening up a new video game and breaking out the instruction manual. It was like a first peek into the adventure that was about to unfold, and in the case of an NES title it gave you an idea of what you were actually doing in the game, as often you'd just be dropped right into the game with little idea of what was going on and just playing the game solely for the gameplay.

Old school video game instruction manuals are definitely a blast from the past!

Hope you enjoyed,
R

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Nostalgia Bomb! - Batman: The Animated Series



What is it?
Batman: The Animated Series was a cartoon produced by Warner Bros. Animation and developed by Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski. Taking cues from the popular films Batman and Batman Returns, a more adult-themed cartoon was created that was appropriate for young and old alike.


When did it come out?
The series premiered in 1992 and the first season included a 65 episode run, which aired every weekday until 1993. It was re-branded The Adventures of Batman and Robin in its second season, which aired weekly on Saturdays from 1993 to 1994, at which time the first season was being aired as repeats on the still weekday schedule under the newly re-branded title.

What about today?
Although the original show, which falls under the branding of Batman: The Animated Series, only ran from 1992 to 1995, with a total of 85 episodes and two feature-length films, its legacy still reaches out to today. It began what has become known as the DC Animated Universe, and would spawn direct sequels with shows like Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, Justice League and Justice League: Unlimited, just to name a few.


Even the most recent productions by Warner Bros. Animation, like Batman: The Killing Joke are taking cues from the original series, including casting mainstays Kevin Conroy as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Mark Hamill who - surprisingly - became the most iconic voice actor to ever portray The Joker.

Why do I remember it?
Everything about Batman: The Animated Series makes it memorable today. It pushed a lot of boundaries in its release, adding a more adult tone to children's cartoons that wasn't seen previously.

The production of the show created a timeless vision of Gotham, which seemed to include modern day technologies like cell phones with blimps in an art deco/bauhaus style.

Characters were re-imagined to give them more depth, like Mr. Freeze - no longer a mad scientist, now a lover avenging his dead beloved - or Clay Face - a now tragic accident yearning to return to his past life. It even created a new Bruce Wayne/Batman dynamic; no longer was Bruce Wayne portrayed as an idle playboy, but instead the true leader of Wayne Industries, a man revered for his work ethic and magnanimity.

Batman versus Clay Face!
Whether this was the most accurate portrayal of Batman from the comics or not, it was and is the greatest overall portrayal of the property. It essentially took the best of everything and created the perfect package. It didn't have to be as dark and grim as was the slant of the comic books and films of its generation, and it could appeal to children who wanted to see more of the character.

From the animation, to the music - homaged from Danny Elfman's Batman film score, to the excellent writing and depictions of some of Batman's incomparable Rogue's Gallery, Batman: The Animated Series pushed the envelope for what a cartoon could accomplish and it became the sturdy base for everything DC would publish in its animated wing for decades to come.

Batman: The Animated Series is most-definitely a blast from the past!

Hope you enjoyed,
R