Anyone Remember Pogs?

I found a bag of pogs at a yard sale for a quarter yesterday. I never collected pogs as a kid but they were everywhere in the early 90s so I think I must have had a few floating around.

In any case, I bought the bag because I love dumb cheap retro stuff. Let's meet the pogs.

The pogs can be divided into a number of different sets, some more obvious than others. Shown above is the biggest set and the only one with an obvious name: Cyberdudes. Cyberdudes is a bunch of pogs with demented mid-90s-style artwork revolving around a bunch of computer puns. There are some obvious ones like Floppy Drive and Mega Byte, but others aren't even really puns, like Terminally Nuts. My favorite is Outdated System, considering these pogs (excuse me, sorry, they're branded on the back as 'Silly Slammers') were made in 1994. It's like watching that one song in The Brave Little Toaster where all the 80s kitsch appliances sing to the main characters about how obsolete they are.

Pog Count: 18 (including 1 duplicate)

Here's a set of five sports-themed pogs. More retro artwork here, these things clearly fell out of the early 90s.

Pog Count: 23 (including 1 duplicate)

I grouped these two vehicle pogs together but I wouldn't be shocked if they weren't made by the same company.

Pog Count: 25 (including 1 duplicate)

These two were apparently part of a line of "cool jobs". I can't think of any other reason to combine Skater with Gangsta.

Pog Count: 27 (including 1 duplicate)

Behold, the girliest pogs ever made. Unicorns, teddy bears, bunnies and fairies, and they have bright plastic-looking backs colored in neon green and yellow. Gaudy, loud, holographic and cluttered with artwork, these things are a true sight.

Pog Count: 31 (including 1 duplicate)

Okay, what are these two from? I have this weird feeling that they didn't just show up on pogs one day like some of these other guys. The poor Ninja Mummy pog is in the worst shape of all of the pogs I bought. Meanwhile, Mecha Pog is a top five pog, and I got two of him to boot!

Pog Count: 34 (including 2 duplicates)

Here, I've gathered together four of the more abstract pogs. The music note one is REALLY thick, for some reason, but I checked it out and it's definitely not two or three pogs stuck together. We also have an Easter pog, a lightning pog (hey Samantha) and a pog that reminds me of Q-Bert.

Pog Count: 38 (including 2 duplicates)

Space pogs. The top two are definitely in the same set due to the similar art style and subject matter, but the jury's out on the third one.

Pog Count: 41 (including 2 duplicates)

I call this the Miscellaneous Heads Set. It's entirely possible none of these four are related, but I'd guess at the very least the dog and cat share a creator. I have no idea what the hell Gelatinous Green Mass is meant to be.

Pog Count: 45 (including 2 duplicates)

A trio of promotional pogs here. The DC pog is self-explanatory. The "Wavy Gravy" pog is sponsored by Ben and Jerry's ice cream, a Vermont favorite (it's delicious but seriously overpriced). Lastly, that weird silver one is meant to represent a diamond and is sponsored by Kay Jewelers. Yes, the "Every Kiss Begins With Kay" company. They made a goddamn pog. I didn't think the luxury jewelry and pog demographics overlapped much, but there you have it.

Pog Count: 48 (including 2 duplicates)

Here's a great set of Halloween pogs. I lumped in two from a Universal Monsters set, and the Boogie Monster and Pumped Kin pogs are clearly brothers, but the rest are mysteries. The pumpkin-headed ghost pog is amazingly shiny and is one of the least-damaged pogs of the set. I'm also partial to the "Boo Boo" pog.

Pog Count: 56 (including 2 duplicates)

And here we have Ariel's pogs. The 'Our Earth' set is gorgeous - every pog is holo. There are twelve of them, each pog with a recolored partner pog. Since there's a match for each pog and the set is an even 12, I think I may actually own a complete set of Our Earth pogs. Clearly they'd fetch me millions on eBay.

Pog Count: 68 (including 2 duplicates)

Finally we come to the most mysterious of the pogs: Cool Cap. The back of Cool Cap is blank. Most of the pogs are blank on the back besides the sponsored trio and Cyberdudes, but for whatever reason Cool Cap not having any explanation for its' origins makes it the most enigmatic pog of all.

Where did Cool Cap come from? What does it want? Is it safe to taunt Cool Cap?

The world may never know.

Final Pog Count: 69 (including 2 duplicates)