Artificially flavored dyed drinks, robot dogs, chocolate balls, strange toys: one of these items just gave you a flashback to your childhood. We each have our own fond memories of something that a company decided to discontinue for one reason to another, that we'd like the chance to relive just once more. Let's take a trip down memory lane.
1. Poo-Chi
Tried begging your parents for a pet? Ended up getting a robot dog? We're right there with you. These lovable hunks of plastic made it fun to be a robot-pet-parent.
If you were lucky enough, you had a Poo-Chi dog in every color that it came in -- including purple, blue, green, or pink. These dogs were created in 2000 and discontinued in 2002.
2. Leggy Dolls
Before Barbie, there were Leggy Dolls! These Hasbro dolls were created to portray 1970's fashion in a fun way for kids. Their bodies were designed like exaggerated runway models.
If Hasbro decided to recreate Leggy Doll clothes for humans in 2021, we would join their mailing list ASAP. Who knows, they might just make a comeback if we're loud enough!
3. Pound Puppies
These adorable stuffed animals came from a line of other toys from Tonka in the 1980's, which included boxed up dog houses that might still be in our parents' basement somewhere today.
The stuffed animals came in a cardboard doghouse and an adoption certificate, which reminds us of a certain stuffed animal chain shop that's around today. In five years, these "Lovable, Huggable" toys generated $300 million in sales in 35 countries. The toys later inspired a TV series and a feature film.
4. HitClips Discs
Before the iPod, there was HitClips. You could play up to one minute of low quality hits on this portable music player. The machine first launched in August 2000 with discs from NSYNC, Britney Spears, and Sugar Ray. It was amazing to have music readily playable in your pocket.
In June 2002, HitClips had sold more than 20 million units (discs and players). Both Hillary Duff and Raven Symone were early spokespeople for the company. By that time, you could also listen to hits from The Backstreet Boys, Faith Hill, and Destiny's Child.
5. Waffle Crisp Cereal
If this bright yellow box didn't get you excited to get out of bed in the morning, then we don't know what did. When we were too lazy to pop a waffle in the toaster, this cereal hit the spot.
Crunchy, maple-y carbs were certainly the best part of being a child in the 90's...and maybe the secret of adult happiness nowadays since as of 2021, Walmart has reintroduced the cereal into their stores.
6. Skip-It
This weighted plastic came connected to a hoop that you attached to your foot to spin around and jump over, sort of like a horizontal jump rope. We entertained ourselves for hours with this thing but also have a few bruises from it as well.
Skip-it gained it's popularity thanks to Nickelodeon, which broadcasted advertisements for it in the 80's. A later version of the toy came with a counter to record the number of skips one could do.
7. Squeezit
If the name doesn't gross you out now, then we don't know what does. Squeezits were plastic bottles filled with sugary liquid that you would literally squeeze to drink. Calling it a juice would be sacrilege.
Which Squeezit flavor was your favorite? Chucklin' Cherry, Berry B. Wild, Grumpy Grape, Silly Billy Strawberry, Rockin' Red Puncher, Mean Green Puncher, Smarty Arty Orange, or Troppi Tropical Punch? The amount of actual fruit in these drinks is TBD.
8. Trix Yogurt
We got one of these colorful cups of dairy in our lunch boxes if we were lucky. These fruity yogurts gave us life back in elementary school. Cotton Candy was the most popular, with Wild Berry coming in close second.
The yogurt line was discontinued in 2013...which makes sense as sugar is the second ingredient listed on the nutrition label. That certainly would not fly for the same generation today.
9. Hubba Bubba Squeeze Pop
It seems like everything we ate in our childhood aimed to poison us. These Hubba Bubba candies were literal tubes filled with slimy sugar that you could squeeze out for yourself and for friends.
Ironically, these candies are one of the most discussed discontinued treats on Reddit. While some candy companies are trying to make their own version, none will ever live up to the Hubba Bubba hype.
10. Nesquik Cereal
Nesquik had tons of great products -- from their original milkshake powder, to their cool branded milkshake cups and to-go bottles in the supermarket, they were KILLING it in the branding and taste department.
Their cereal was no different. The ever-loved bunny made his appearance in the cereal aisle in 1999. While the ingredients are the same as Cocoa Puffs, it did not stop people from throwing this box into their carts.
11. Ouch! Bubble Gum
Sharing bubble gum made us the most popular kids in school, camp, vacation, or anywhere else we went. This was another great, popular sugary product from the Hubba Bubba company.
The 90's iconic sugar-free fruity gum came in three flavors - strawberry, watermelon, and grape, and came in a container that was designed to look like a band-aid box..because nothing fixes a sugar rush like these candies.
12. Hershey's Kissables
It looks to us like Hershey's got a little bit jealous of M&Ms for awhile, which caused them to launch their own line of candy-coated chocolates called Kissables. These candies were sold from 2005-2009.
This product faced many ingredient list changes, including an alteration in 2007 that replaced cocoa butter with cheaper fats, forcing them to legally changed the description of the candy from "candy coated milk chocolate" to "chocolate candy." No wonder they got discontinued.
13. Kudos
"Chocolat Granola Bars" sounds like a relatively good way to say "not really healthy but we'll make you feel better about your kids' nutritional choices." These bars came in different flavors including M&M, Dove, and Snickers.
We'll never truly know why the pseudo healthy granola bar was taken off shelves, but we will always remember it as the best snack that kept us full for at least thirty minutes.
14. Oreo Cakesters
Look, Oreos are good enough as they are. But Oreo Cakesters elevated the treat to a whole new level. Two soft, spongey chocolate cakes sandwiches a layer of sweet cream and boy, what an amazing dessert they were.
Oreo Cakesters came out in 2007, but were sadly discontinued five years later in the dismal year of 2012. We continue to mourn one of the most addicting desserts ever introduced to humankind.
15. Wonderball
Wonderballs. These magical chocolate balls that contained figurines of your favorite Disney characters blessed us in the early 1990's, but were later discontinued after being labeled as a choking hazard.
Wonderball later included figurines of other lovable characters, including Mario from Nintendo, Shopkins, and monsters. If we ever see Wonderball grace the supermarket or toystore again, we're buying them out!
16. Trix Fruity-Shaped Cereal
Yes, eating cereal used to be a fun experience! Trix Cereal came in beautiful shapes of watermelons, flowers, and raspberries. The delicious cereal was discontinued as we knew it in 2006.
While the fun shapes went away, Trix continued producing the cereal in the shape of...round balls. Yes, it's totally dissapointing, but if you loved the taste, at least that's still around.
17. Polly Pockets
Polly Pocket toys made us all imagine and dream to be fashion designers. These plastic, and sometimes squishy, dolls gave us hours of entertainment while we traded rubbery clothes and created storylines of pettiness and drama between dolls.
Polly Pockets came in many different sets and themes -- pet grooming, vacation partying, mall-owning, you name it. If you didn't get a Polly Pocket set for one of your childhood birthdays, did you even celebrate?
18. Dunkaroos
These delicious short-bread sugary cookies came in a blue plastic container with a pocket of frosting attached to it. The frosting came in two flavors, vanilla with sprinkles and chocolate.
Even after the cookies were long gone, we would devour the rest of the frosting via fingerful until it was totally gone. It gave us a loooong sugar rush until we crashed from the treat.
19. Crest Kid's Sparkle Fun Gel
One look at this photo and we can taste our mornings and nights, brushing teeth as a child. Mint toothpaste was totally gross, so of course Crest came out with the best tasting toothpaste ever.
Honestly, we can't put what 'sparkle fun' tastes like into words. But we can describe how much more fun it was to brush our teeth, and how much less of a fight our parents had to put up with.
20. Shark Bites
These Betty Crocker "snacks" were one of the best candies we remember. These cute, fruit-flavored shark-shaped treats were fun to eat and got stuck in our teeth for hours.
Shark Bites debuted in 1988, and had a very long run until it became discontinued in 2012 (a really bad year for food discontinuations!) But just looking at this box gives us nostalgia and smiles.
21. Password Journal
We all had super secrets back in the day. So much so that we needed a password protected journal. Otherwise, what would have happened if our sisters found out who our crushes were?
We hope security has brought us a little farther since what we had in the 90s. Also, anything with the word "password" on it makes it so much more interesting to hack into and read!
22. Chiclets
The candy-coated chewing gum was introduced by Mondelez International in the early 90s and discontinued in 2016. They promised to deliver "giant fruit flavor" via these mini candies.
Whatever the promise was, we went through a packet of these within one day. Gum flavor never goes a long way, but at least we had a big amount of it!
23. Mini Piano
Was your first instrument a recorder? A harmonica from a vacation gift store? How about a mini piano? While we could never become Mozart on one of these things, we certainly had fun.
If you're lucky enough, and want to practice your mini-piano skills, you might be able to snag one of these 1980's toys on eBay. There's a few vintage ones floating around on the site.
24. Pokemon Pokedex
In 1988, Tiger Electronics released the Pokemon Pokedex, an encyclopedia of all 150 original Pokemon that also featured special attack and action animations on the little screen and the ability to sort Pokemon by characteristic.
Just think of it as the official Wikipedia of the Pokemon show. You could follow along with the show and keep track of every Pokemon that Ash caught throughout the series.
25. Moon Shoes
Moon Shoes were advertised as mini-trampolines for your feet, giving you the fun, freeing feeling like you're on the moon, walking in zero gravity (or something close to it, at least).
We can totally imagine these shoes making a comeback at some fad workout studio that will sell you nostalgia and a promise of buring 300 calories...but we would also sign up for those classes as well.
26. Tamagotchi
What else did you do during recess if you weren't feeding your Tamagotchi? This toy was released in Japan in 1996, and by 1997 the rest of the world was enjoying the ultra-popular digital pet product.
In 2010, over 76 million Tamagotchis had been sold, and by 2017 that number rose to 82 million. "Tomago" means "egg" in Japanese, while "uotchi" means "watch". Tamagotchi is a combination of these two words.
27. Viewmaster
We could lose ourselves for hours while going through slides of our favorite movies and stories via Viewmaster. The 3D printed images were immersive, engaging, and almost dizzying to look at.
The Viewmaster was originally manufactured in 1939 at the New York World's Fair. The cardboard discs featured stereoscopic images that you would push down on a lever to change and experience.
28. Stick-On Earrings
If your parents didn't let you get your ears pierced, these jewels served as a great second choice. These tiny 3D stickers were marketed as stick-on earrings, so you could start feeling glamorous as early as you could buy them with your allowance.
If you were curious enough, you could experiment with wearing multiple pairs of them all over your ears. We remember sticking them on our faces and running around until they fell off. If only they made earrings that looked just like these for adults now.
29. Crayola Stamp Markers
Did anyone else ever use these to give yourself tattoos or was that just us? These special markers allowed you to stamp all over any of your beautiful pieces of art...but were also used to cause mischief.
Today they make similar markers, but not with the same original stamp patterns -- like cute innocent smiley faces or hippy swirls. They're much more aligned with popular emojis. Sigh.
30. Golden Sound Story Books
If it wasn't your turn to choose what to watch on TV, you could at least go to your Golden Sound Story Book and listen to your favorite characters act out the movie, on your own time.
You could read and listen to abrided versions of Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Pinocchio, Aladdin, and tons of other Disney classics until your fingers broke or the speaker died.
31. Trolls Pens
Writing with a shaking Troll Doll atop your utensil was the best way to create your daily diary entry or even do your homework. If you were lucky enough, you had a pen in every Troll color.
Today, it might be weird to take one of these to the office and write with a naked weird doll perched atop your pen, but during middle school days, these were the thing to own.
32. Talk Back Dear Diary
The Talk Back Dear Diary 1996 commercial has over 2.7 million views on YouTube. Maybe because this diary was the OG voicenote recorder. If you had too much to write in your diary about your crush, you could speak into it and not be limited to write until your hand cramps.
The Talk Back Dear Diary was honestly tech ahead of its time. You could record messages AND use the keypad to type in additional information. It was the ultimate pocketbook accessory for tweens and teens in the 90s.
33. Kid Cuisine
Honestly, we're glad these were discontinued. You probably don't want to know what these were actually made from, but they were a treat to our parents for a night of easy meal prep.
Kid Cuisine was launched in 1990 by Congra Foods. While as of 2019 you could find some Kid Cuisine meals, discontinued meals include "Catch A Wave Mac N Cheese" and "Deep Sea Adventure Fish Sticks." Yum.
34. Notebook Covers
One way to personalize those classic black and white notebooks was book covers! These stretchy fabrics always fell off our notebooks and textbooks, but they came in fun colors and patterns that made carrying books a bit more fun.
But since the dawn of laptops and Kindles, no one needs personalized covers that ended up getting burried in the bottom of your backpack anyway. Although the hot pink zebra stripes were cute.
35. Nik.L.Nip
Another odd liquid candy that just tasted like interesting medicine. You'd bite off the top of the chewy wax and drink the sugary liquid. Don't know if we'd choose these over Laffy Taffy, but they certainly stuck around longer than needed.
Actually, liquid isn't even the best way to describe the contents. Syrup is better, as these things slowly oozed out of the bottle. Also, the name is quite odd and wouldn't stick around today.
36. Fortune Teller Fish
Did anyone else win these at arcades? I remember having tons of these fish floating around my room as a kid. However the fish moved, that would be your answer.
It was like the cheaper version of the Magic 8 Ball. How else would you decide what to wear to school, or if your crush was ever going to call you? Just ask the flopping fish.
37. Bop It
Bop it. Twist it. Pull it. YAAAAH. The original bop-it provided hours of fun, and then the other versions that came after (Bop It Extreme, Extreme 2, Mini) just extended the pastime. It might have driven our parents nuts, but at least it gave us a good time.
Did anyone else ever bruise themselves from bopping it too hard? Cause we feel your pain. We were all bop-it enthusiasts at one point or another. It also probably became our first source of anxiety.
38. Betty Spaghetty
Betty Spaghetty was the best bendable rubble doll a kid could have. It was released in 1998 but stopped being produced in 2004 due to the toy company's sales falling by 15% due to high competition in the fashionable dolls market.
But for those that got their hands on a Betty Spaghetty knew how fun it was to change her hair, hands, feet, shoes, and customize their new friend to no end. She even came with accessories!
39. Magic Mitt
There's no sound as satisfying as the wirey feeling ball getting peeled off of the padded mitt. Magic Mitt was a great alternative catch game to play outside and is quite fun and addictive.
You could take this bright neon game anywhere back in the day -- the beach, the backyard , the park. Now if you search for Magic Mitt online, you just get ads and videos of makeup remover wipes. Not as fun and certainly not as satisfying.
40. Groovy Girls
Like Betty Spaghetti, Groovy Girls fashion dolls were also released in 1998. These dolls were launched as a response to Barbie, and featured different skin tones, hair types, and facial features. They were sold in our favorite toy stores - Zany Brainy and Noodle Kidoodle, which also went out of business in the early 2000's.
These inclusive, funky dolls made a splash in the market as they showed a more wholesome side to fashion dolls, and were in production up until 2019. In 2005, more than 8 million dolls were sold.