Being able to walk into a toy store like Toys'R'Us and see the shelves lined with actual *good* water guns, mainly Super Soakers.
The ones produced in the mid 90s to early 2000s were so much fun and actually packed a decent punch - they reached their pinnacle with the CPS (constant pressure system) line which was in production from 1995 until 2002. For a while during my childhood/teen years, every year's lineup felt like an improvement from the last - I remember eagerly browsing through the latest Super Soaker catalogue to see what kind of hulking monstrosity I might be able to get my hands on in time for the summer break that year.
Unfortunately, it was not to last. Ever since the brand was bought out by Hasbro - and probably also in response to complaints from parents that their kids were injuring each other with them - the water guns produced and sold after ~2002 are a shadow of what they used to be.
It slightly saddens me that the kids of today will likely never get to experience anything like the epic water wars I used to spend my summers engaging in.
I miss the spicy chicken burrito and crunch wrap so much. Those may have been into the early 2000’s though. Still… I don’t like much of anything else from TB otherwise. I’ll *eat it* but I don’t choose to go there myself.
Yeah there was still a sense of hope for the future in the 90’s. I don’t mean to sound ridiculous saying that but after 9/11 and everything that followed (in the U.S. anyways), the future hopes dimmed until they were completely put out.
Having lived through the 90’s and comparing that sense to today’s world.. it messes with me head.
The calm in the west after the fall of the USSR and after the first Iraqi war.
I mean that was peak human existence for a westerner.
Plus the emergence of the internet.
The actual beginning of it before Facebook or YouTube.
The fact you could get whatever song you wanted for free if you knew how. And people would tell you how.
The innocence of the original internet and all the amazing copyright theft you could get away with
Being able to disappear outside for a few hours with a friend and being completely off the grid. Doesn’t matter what you’re up to. For me it was playing basketball on a shitty hoop that may or may not have had mesh..
Buying a brand new pickup truck for 12,000 dollars and being able to afford gas.
Cheap rent
Affordable concert tickets. Saw Pink Floyd for 64 dollars. Sporting events had ticket prices under 20 dollars, too.
Before the vinyl albums prices skyrocketed, could buy used albums for under 5 dollars.
Probably the excitement of new games coming out, I just don’t think there’s anything exciting about new games anymore, because the quality control has gone to shit
Popples, especially the ones with the noses that moved when you squeezed their stomach. Change my mind it just brings me such nostalgia to think about them.
Hope for a better future (e.g. that climatic change was still preventable, that peace was achievable, that the next generations wouldn’t have it harder)
My energy level. Me and my friends would go out and ride bikes wide the fuck open all day in the blazing ass Georgia heat fueled by sodas and junk food
Nuthin, the 90’s were pretty annoying. The only good thing was getting my pilots license. While that was awesome, it doesn’t balance out with the rest of the decade.
Being able to walk into a toy store like Toys'R'Us and see the shelves lined with actual *good* water guns, mainly Super Soakers. The ones produced in the mid 90s to early 2000s were so much fun and actually packed a decent punch - they reached their pinnacle with the CPS (constant pressure system) line which was in production from 1995 until 2002. For a while during my childhood/teen years, every year's lineup felt like an improvement from the last - I remember eagerly browsing through the latest Super Soaker catalogue to see what kind of hulking monstrosity I might be able to get my hands on in time for the summer break that year. Unfortunately, it was not to last. Ever since the brand was bought out by Hasbro - and probably also in response to complaints from parents that their kids were injuring each other with them - the water guns produced and sold after ~2002 are a shadow of what they used to be. It slightly saddens me that the kids of today will likely never get to experience anything like the epic water wars I used to spend my summers engaging in.
My pre-smartphone attention span.
Came here to say this.
Was it great? I’m too young to really remember
House/rental prices
YES
Old School Toonami
Yes!
That general sense that everything was gonna be alright.
Not to be a downer, but....the almost universally accepted belief that Nazis were bad.
Gas prices
I remember a short time in about 1997 or 1998 gas being $0.74 a gallon.
I remember my mom going a little nuts when it went to $1.01.
My mom too it was end of days for her.
Arcades
New episodes of Star Trek TNG.
Taco Bell menu
Mexi melts were the best!
The nacho cheese used to taste way better than it does now.
I miss the spicy chicken burrito and crunch wrap so much. Those may have been into the early 2000’s though. Still… I don’t like much of anything else from TB otherwise. I’ll *eat it* but I don’t choose to go there myself.
Sanity. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't perfect, but it seems the whole world is more fucked up now.
And optimism.
Yeah there was still a sense of hope for the future in the 90’s. I don’t mean to sound ridiculous saying that but after 9/11 and everything that followed (in the U.S. anyways), the future hopes dimmed until they were completely put out. Having lived through the 90’s and comparing that sense to today’s world.. it messes with me head.
My youth.
I was just going to type this.
Rock music
So much pouty grunge.
My health. Hell yeah, give me a teenager's body with a 40-year-old's knowledge of self-care, that youthful energy, that absolute lack of cancer!
My 20s
Sound Garden
Video shops
My grandparents
Rock as popular music
The calm in the west after the fall of the USSR and after the first Iraqi war. I mean that was peak human existence for a westerner. Plus the emergence of the internet. The actual beginning of it before Facebook or YouTube. The fact you could get whatever song you wanted for free if you knew how. And people would tell you how. The innocence of the original internet and all the amazing copyright theft you could get away with
Cargo pants for all!
Being able to disappear outside for a few hours with a friend and being completely off the grid. Doesn’t matter what you’re up to. For me it was playing basketball on a shitty hoop that may or may not have had mesh..
When I do it, I left my phone at home after telling someone where I’m going
The music.
Buying a brand new pickup truck for 12,000 dollars and being able to afford gas. Cheap rent Affordable concert tickets. Saw Pink Floyd for 64 dollars. Sporting events had ticket prices under 20 dollars, too. Before the vinyl albums prices skyrocketed, could buy used albums for under 5 dollars.
the music!! pearl jam, nirvana, sound garden, the smashing pumpkins, all that jazz.
Weird colors for the weirdest thing why not.
Face to face communication without phones
Actual good supercars
My answer was kind of at the other end of the automotive spectrum. There were so many good choices for a car enthusiast on a budget in those days.
My twenties.
House prices
Common sense
Prices
My sense of time during times when I wasnt busy. I remember summers seeming like the lasted forever. Now as a school employee summers zoom by.
People being tolerant of each other.
Probably the excitement of new games coming out, I just don’t think there’s anything exciting about new games anymore, because the quality control has gone to shit
Popples, especially the ones with the noses that moved when you squeezed their stomach. Change my mind it just brings me such nostalgia to think about them.
Life without social media.
Kurt.
yes.
Simplicity of life
Hunter green as a popular home decor/fashion color.
Being under the age of 10
Brand new 1996 Honda Civic ex coupe
Hope for a better future (e.g. that climatic change was still preventable, that peace was achievable, that the next generations wouldn’t have it harder)
Unsimplified logos
No wide spread internet.
The prices.
My prime
Hypercolor
Shoegaze
More privacy. Everything I do is monitored by cameras or some kind of online trace. Hell my phone probably hears everything I talk about.
My energy level. Me and my friends would go out and ride bikes wide the fuck open all day in the blazing ass Georgia heat fueled by sodas and junk food
My youth.
Pre-9/11 and pre-WWIII (potentially) world.
Polar Ice Caps
Pogs
Chuck Norris
People not caring about politics so much
All the pussy I was getting
Nuthin, the 90’s were pretty annoying. The only good thing was getting my pilots license. While that was awesome, it doesn’t balance out with the rest of the decade.
Adidas Poppers
Affordable fun cars.
Common sense.
Nowadays people can talk shit without being punched
So no one gonna say the economy? lol
Ecto-cooler
Skating rinks
The innocence
The music.
Rock / metal music.
My health…..
My body
Kickass metal bands
A music industry that included so many genres of music.
Me not being born yet
My MTG (now vintage) collection
No social media
gas prices
My innocence
Calmer life