Have you received a grade that completely took you by surprise? If so, you might have gone through three phases: anger, denial, and acceptance. This past week, I had the unpleasant experience of receiving two grades that were less than favorable. The grade I received on both assignments was a B+. Yes, I know that a B+ is a pretty awesome grade. But, to me, it stands for “nice try but no.” During the small depression that followed, I went on YouTube to help ease my frustration. While I was watching videos, I came across a movie clip that captured my exact feelings.

The clip was from the 1983 film “A Christmas Story”, which is one of my favorite movies. The clip features 9-year-old Ralphie Parker, who is waiting to receive a grade back on a written assignment. But, when he receives his grade, it’s not what he expects.

A box full of toys from the ’90s. Photo taken by David Puuikibeach.

I was rummaging through my parents’ house last Thursday, searching for an ice chest to take with me on my road trip, and I came across a brown box. The box, which was hidden in the corner of our patio, was rather old and had the word “toys” written on the left side. Being the easily distracted person that I am, I decided to open it. Behind a thick layer of spider webs and dust, lay a variety of action figures, board games, collectible toy cars, Power Rangers memorabilia, and trinkets from the ‘90s. As I dug deeper, I could feel myself being transported back in time (Cue the retro montage).

The next morning as I drove up to San Francisco, I couldn’t stop thinking about the toys that I came across. My inner child had reawakened and was crying for attention. As we made our way down the 101, my friends and I started talking about the different toys we used to play with. For some of them it was Lincoln Logs, and for others it was Hot Wheels. But for me, my childhood toys consisted of Chevron Cars, Pokémon and McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys.

The Chevron Cars

Inspired by the successful advertising campaign launched in May 1995, The Chevron Cars were small toy cars that were sold at participating Chevron gas stations. Each car sold featured different backgrounds, colors and personalities, which added to their popularity. At one point, the Disneyland Resort had a Chevron Cars store located near the exit of Autopia in Tomorrowland. My grandmother, who had a large collection, first introduced me to these toy cars. As a child, I would spend countless hours playing with these cars and envision myself driving.

Pokémon

Pokemon sign at the Nintendo World Store. Photo taken by Kate Haskell.

When I was in grade school, I recall spending most of my afternoons inside my home watching the latest episode of Pokémon. Pokémon was the first Japanese-inspired television show, followed later by Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh! One of the toys that I came across in the box was a Pokédex, which is an electronic handheld gaming device. An interesting feature of the device was that it provided additional information about different Pokémon. In addition to the video games and television show, I recall playing the trading card game against many of my friends.

McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys

To help promote Disney’s live-action film “101 Dalmatians” in 1996, McDonald’s released 101 miniature dalmatian toys. Photo taken by me.

Let’s face it; Happy Meal Toys aren’t what they use to be. Back in the ‘90s, there were some awesome surprises inside each meal. A majority of the toys were part of tie-in promotions for existing television shows, films or famous toy lines. One of the major contributors to McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys in the ‘90s was the Walt Disney Company. According to a Los Angeles Times article, the relationship between the two companies ended back in 2006. The loss of this business relationship led to the downfall of these once prominent toys.

Grab some popcorn and get ready to reminisce.

My life was like a comedy growing up in a household full of women. When the majority of my siblings were in high school during the 90s, I was barely entering grade school. I already knew so much more about life than my fellow classmates, partly because I watched the decade’s beloved romantic comedies with my sisters. Having sisters that were 10 years older than I exposed me to the finer things in life: romantic comedies and what love is supposed to be.

In kindergarten, instead of watching children’s programs like “Barney” and “Sesame Street,” I would wander into my sisters’ room and watch the most recently released teen comedy. This led me to develop my first crush on a boy in my class (Yes, I said a boy.) Each afternoon I would think of ways to grab his attention like the heroine characters did in the films I watched. However,  my crush didn’t reciprocate the same feelings like the quirky romantic comedies led me to believe. I was then nicknamed the “gay kid” by my classmates.

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