Who remembers the days of Polly Pocket, Pokemon cards, pizza bagels, and pogs? Going to school with a head full of butterfly clips or JNCO jeans and flipping through an overstuffed CD binder to switch out No Doubt for BSB on your portable CD player? What about getting all your important news updates from SmarterChild or Lori Beth Denberg’s Vital Information? ‘90s kids know. We always know.
This ‘90s-inspired gift guide will bring out the nostalgic best in any ‘90s kid. If only we had JTT to hand deliver them to us.
The Original Tamagotchi | Bandai | $19.99 | Amazon
Guess who’s back? Back again. Guess who’s back? Tell a friend. This is not a drill. The original Tamagotchi’s are back in more than a dozen different colors, including the classic translucent blue with yellow buttons. We suggest matching it to your outfit, because we’re not about clashing.
Rugrats TV Crossbody Purse | Danielle Nicole | $99.99 | ThinkGeek
Crying over this Rugrats purse that’s shaped like a TV set with Tommy, Chuckie, Phil and Lil, Susie, Kimi, Dil, and Angelica inside! PSA: Danielle Nicole also makes purses featuring Looney Toons and basically every Disney character ever.
Goosebumps Ghost Beach Replica Book Box Set | Creepy Co. | $42.99 | Creepy Company
The Goosebumps books by R.L. Stein were every preteen’s pre-cursor to Stephen King, with titles including Welcome to Camp Nightmare, Say Cheese and Die!, and Night of the Living Dummy. This limited-edition box set includes a Ghost Beach shirt, a Horrorland jumbo sticker, Haunted Mask socks, and a Haunted Mask jumbo magnet. The Dead House box set already sold out, so get this while you can!
…Baby One More Time Collector’s Edition Bundle | Britney Spears | $299.95 | Britney Spears
She’s so lucky, she’s a star. And lucky for us, it’s the 20th Anniversary of Brit Brit’s first CD, …Baby One More Time! There’s different bundles of retro merch, but why not spring for the most deluxe, which includes a T-shirt and hoodie featuring the album artwork, a keychain, a weekender tote, an embroidered baseball hat, a personalized plaque with your name, and an old school CD on it, and a vinyl with the 11 songs that first made her famous on it.
Urbanears X Chinatown Market Plattan 2 Headphones | Urbanears X Chinatown | $60 | Urban Outfitters
Before the days of wireless ear buds and iTunes, we used to carry portable CD players with headphones so big they could double as earmuffs. These Urbanears Plattan 2 headphones, designed in collaboration with Chinatown Market exclusively for Urban Outfitters, have all the ‘90s vibes with the yellow smiley face design, and it packs away into a compact bundle.
Lisa Frank Merch | Lisa Frank X Hot Topic | $14.90-$44.90 | Hot Topic
Ahhh, the memories of back to school shopping, where you’d fight to get the Lisa Frank folders, binders, and pencil cases sprinkled with ballerina bunnies, kitties in Converse sneakers, tigers posing with gumball machines, baseball hat-wearing pandas in overalls, outer space leopards, and paint splattered unicorns. Lisa Frank is back and better than ever with Hot Topic’s new collection of T-shirts, sneakers, blankets, and more.
Disney Animated Feature Mystery VHS Keychain | Disney | $5 | Disney
Nothing can compare to the scent of a freshly opened Disney VHS tape in its puffy plastic case. These keychains are designed to look like the original cases, and they even open to reveal a replica tape inside. There are six animated movies to collect, including Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Hercules, and two mystery designs, but you won’t know which one you get until you open the box.
Daria: The Complete Animated Series | MTV | $17.99 | Best Buy
It’s a sick, sad world out there, and Daria helped prep us for battle. We’d gladly accept an invite to a high school reunion with Daria, Jane, Quinn, Trent, Brittany, and Kevin over our own TBH. With eight discs, this series will keep anyone busy over the holiday break, assuming he or she has a DVD player to play it on, but since it’s not available on Netflix or Hulu, this will have to make do!
Blochair Inflatable Light Up Chair in Frost | Blochair | $39.99 |Â Bed Bath & Beyond
Adulting is being able to buy whatever furniture you want, including something you would’ve begged your parents for 20 years ago. In other words, an inflatable light up chair. No, this is not a drill. It’s waterproof, so you can use it indoors or out, it folds up for storage, and it holds up to 250 lbs.
Friends Frame Cardholder | BoxLunch | $14.90 | BoxLunch
Show your friends that you’ll be there for them with this obscure reference to Monica and Rachel’s apartment décor that doubles as a wallet or business card holder. If a bartender asks you for your ID, all you have to do is PIVOT this right out of your purse.
Pink Lemonade Glam Bag | Lip Smackers | $9.95 | Lip Smackers
Who needs a Kylie lip kit when we can go back to the simpler times of Lip Smackers, everyone’s favorite lip gloss? Single sticks are only $2.50 a pop, so stock up on classics such as Dr. Pepper, hot cocoa, and watermelon twist. Or break out the big guns and spring for the pink lemonade glam bag for $9.95, which includes lip balm, a Whirly Shimmer Gloss, a Whirlin Glitz n Go, and nail polish FTW.
Super Mario Brothers Canteen | ThinkGeek | $19.99 | ThinkGeek
Believe it or not, up until the mid-‘90s, most video game systems still used cartridges. Kids today won’t even know what that means, but this isn’t for kids anyway, it’s for grown ups. This flask looks just like an original Super Mario Bros. cartridge, and even comes with the black Nintendo cartridge holder. Pour your favorite adult beverage inside, and drink incognito like you just got the ghost power-up.
Vinyls of ‘90s Favorites | Assorted Artists | $19.98-$39.98 | Urban Outfitters
Gift someone the soundtrack to their life, with an assortment of vinyl records. On the movie soundtrack front, choose from Titanic, Space Jam, and The Lion King—you really can’t go wrong with any of them. For the pop lovers, there’s Spice Girls, *NSYNC, and Christina Aguilera. There’s also Eminem, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Green Day, The Offspring, and Lenny Kravitz.
Hey Arnold! Hearts Wood Wall Art | Hot Topic | $18.90 | Hot Topic
Move it football head! No room is complete without this colorful wall art to make it more sophisticated. It’s not too big, at 13 by 19 inches, so it can fit in any room, or possibly even on someone’s desk at work. Helga is out there somewhere, and she’s jealous.
Jumanji Game Piece Statue Set | ThinkGeek X GameStop | $54.99 | ThinkGeek
If you don’t win, you lose. And in this case, if you don’t win, you die. That’s the name of the game when it comes to Jumanji, from the 1995 film starring Robin Williams and a mini Kirsten Dunst. This set includes four 4-inch tall statues based on the game pieces: an ivory-colored rhino, a metallic elephant, an obsidian-colored crocodile, and a jade-colored monkey. And if they start moving on their own, RUN!
Clueless the Musical Tickets | The New Group | $40-$125 | Ticket Central
Twenty-three years ago, we were blessed with the cinematic masterpiece that is Clueless, and now fans and theater geeks alike can see the musical adaptation starring Dove Cameron as our Beverly Hills plaid-clad princess Cher Horowitz. The only catch is, it’s a limited engagement show playing from Nov. 20 to Jan. 12, and it’s in NYC. Tickets are selling out fast, but if you know a ‘90s queen in the area, reserve a seat now!
