Rollergames Yearbook From 1990

Posted on February 3, 2023 by Mickey

Rollergames was a U.S. television series that presented a theatrical version of roller derby. It was broadcast for one season from 1989 to 1990. The show took place in the Super Roller Dome, and all shows were produced there. Instead of a banked oval track, it featured a figure eight track, where one side was heavily banked, and was known as the “wall of death”. In an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the show, a yearbook magazine was released highlighting the game, the skaters, and the storylines. I present that yearbook in its entirety for your enjoyment.

The flipbook below is easy to use, and I suggest enlarging it to full size for maximum enjoyment.

TRN Drive-In Podcast: Groundhog Day

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Mickey

In observance of Groundhog Day, I wanted to share a fantastic podcast episode reviewing the 1993 classic movie, Groundhog Day. The TRN Drive-In podcast features a rotating cast reviewing movies from the ’80s and ’90s.

In this episode, Gary (@milehighsamurai), Karen (@KarenFlieger8), Tim (@OldSchool80s), and Jason (@RD80s) journey to Punxsutawney, PA to watch Phil Connors experience Groundhog Day, over and over again. You’ll hear facts you may not know, box office stats, casting what-ifs, Drive-In awards including their favorite scenes, lines, and which supporting actor stole the show.

Listen to TRN Drive-In Groundhog Day below and continue the conversation with your thoughts on the movie in the comments section.

Photos From My Dead Mall

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Mickey

A few years ago my mall died. I know I’m not alone in this fact as numerous malls have closed all around the country in the last decade. For our local mall, it started when a new shopping center was constructed seven miles away. Only a few stores left for the new center, but it was like the first little snowball starting to roll down the hill. A couple of years later, a new mega-shopping attraction began construction, and all of the anchor stores in the mall declared they would be moving there. Even Stevie Wonder could read the writing on that wall, and before we knew it, most stores in the mall were signing up for the move to the new outdoor shopping center. The few shops that were left were too small to afford the move and ended up staying at the mall until the end, and then just vanished. The independent stores went out of business altogether, and the smaller chain stores just didn’t relocate, and that was the end of the mall.

A few days before it closed for good, I was able to get in and take the photos in the slideshow below. Consider them autopsy photos. If you have any questions as you browse through them, feel free to ask. I’ll be over in the corner weeping.

The main entrance to the mall.

One of the many entrances to the mall, and the one I used.

Another entrance to the mall.

Part of the main drag on the upper level of the mall.

Looking down the main aisle of the upper level.

The Customer Service desk also doubled as Gift Wrap during the holidays.

Part of the lower level of the mall.

A look at the escalators from the lower level perspective.

The middle of the mall, lower level.

What used to be two of my favorite stores. Kaybee Toys was on the left, and Spencer's Gifts was on the right. The wooden door front was added near the end when the store transitioned to a music store.

The store with the green exterior was Rack Room Shoes.

What used to be our local GNC store.

Game Stop, which before that was Software Etc...the absolute best place around when it came to buying computer games.

On the right is the exterior of what was FYE, a store I spent a small mint at through the years.

Misty Mountain Designs was the hippy store.

The lower level entrance to Sears.

The lower level entrance to JC Penny.

It's not hard to spot a Bath and Body Works facade. Even though it was empty, I could still smell the Cucumber Melon.

On the corner of the main aisle sits what used to be B. Dalton's book store...one of my favorite spots in the mall.

The exterior of Proffitts.

Friedman's Jewelers...where I bought my wife's engagement ring.

What once was the arcade. In it's later years is sported a neon sign and was called Tilt. When I was younger, it had a mining facade and was called The Gold Mine.

The small store you see here was our only Chic-Fil-A in the area for many years.

The display cases of Great American Cookie Company always looked great, and the smell coming from that store was one of the best in the entire mall.

One of the mainstays of the food court was Subway. It used to sport the familiar green and yellow color scheme, but changed when Subway left.

The exterior of the Piccadilly restaurant.

The dark corridor of Piccadilly's food line.

These two stores were part of the food court. On the left was Villa Pizza where you could get great pizza by the slice. And on the right was a small eatery called China Shuttle.

T. Gordon's restaurant where you could grab an adult beverage and a steak while at the mall.

A sad sign hanging in the window of one of the stores. A major part of my childhood and teenage years died along with the mall itself.

Five More Classic Christmas Commercials

Posted on December 20, 2022 by Mickey

A couple of years back, I wrote about Five Classic Christmas Commercials. That post featured some commercials that I’m most nostalgic for, as they still stand out in my memory from childhood. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to get back to the concept, but we’re going to look at five more Christmas classics.

Hills Department Store (mid-80s)

We all had favorite department stores when we were younger, you know, back before Wal-Mart and Amazon were the go-to destinations. In my area, that department store was Hills. Going to Hills was a treat any time of the year, but at Christmas, it was simply magical. No other store around had as big of a selection of toys as Hills, and they always made sure to flaunt that fact. They weren’t lying when they said “Hills is where the toys are”, as you can certainly see in this commercial. And man, seeing that U.S.S. Flagg is still quite a sight even today.

McDonald’s Holiday Chicken McNuggets (1987)

McDonald’s Holiday Chicken McNuggets have quite a reputation in the retro community, as a lot of people seem to remember the promotion fondly. In short, at Christmas, you could get McNuggets in 9-pack or 20-pack boxes that looked like Christmas presents, and they came with seasonal dipping sauces different from their normal offerings. What’s not to love about all of this?!? These things could hit the market today and become a big hit all over again.

Nintendo Action Set (1988)

For a period in the ’80s, Nintendo was THE toy on everybody’s wish list. I actually got mine at a random time of year and not for Christmas, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the hell out of it. I am jealous of all the cool kids though who got this action set with Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt, and the zapper gun. Mine only came with the Nintendo Player’s Guide.

Pound Puppies at Hardees (1986)

Pound Puppies were a big deal for a while in 1986, and I wanted them as much as the next kid. But they were pricey when it came to the full-sized versions, so getting a miniature from Hardees was a sweet deal. I think I had two of them from this promotion, and they were the only Pound Puppies I was ever fortunate enough to have.

Burger King’s Chicken Tenders (1985)

W covered the Holiday McNuggets earlier, and while their presentation was cool, Burger King’s Chicken Tenders were vastly superior when it came to taste. And while you could get a 9 or 20-pack of McNuggets, you could get Chicken Tenders in 50-pack boxes! You were going to be the hero of the family Christmas party if you showed up with a 50-pack of these things!

Five of My Favorite Christmas Gifts

Posted on December 9, 2022 by Mickey

With Christmas getting ever so closer, let’s take a break from everyday life to remember some of our favorite old Christmas gifts. I’m listing five of mine here for you to check out, but please, drop some of your favorites in the comments at the bottom!

Castle Grayskull

I’ve got a feeling I got this in 1984 since it probably wouldn’t have been like my old man to buy it in 1983 when my fandom was just blossoming for all things He-Man.  He generally liked to wait until he was sure I was really into something before dropping a lot of dough on it.  But what kid out there who was lucky enough to get this for Christmas wouldn’t enjoy it?  I know I flipped for it.  I’ve got an old polaroid of me just after opening it, and I’m crying.  They had to be tears of joy.  But this was the highlight of my Christmas that year, and countless battles were fought around, in, and for Castle Grayskull in the following months and years.

Cobra Terrordrome

You’ll remember that I rambled on in-depth on the Terror Drome back when I described my mega haul of Christmas toys from 1986, so I won’t add much here, except to say that this was the largest piece I had in my assortment of G.I. Joe toys.  With G.I. Joe being both my favorite toy and cartoon at the time, it was a huge deal for me to get such an important piece of the toy puzzle with this thing.  I absolutely loved this thing and used it for so much of my G.I. Joe play.  It was also very handy when it came to having wrestling matches with my figures too.  Forget War Games, I was having Terror Drome matches.  The REAL most dangerous match in the world.

G.I. Joe Tomahawk

Also from Christmas morning of 1986, the Tomahawk would also go on to see a ton of playtime in all of my G.I. Joe battles.  The Joe side of the battle had plenty of vehicles, and with the exception of the Whale Hovercraft, this was my favorite one.  I never owned the hovercraft myself, so this was the best thing I owned on that side of the fence.

Super NES Super Set

I was a Nintendo guy.  I had friends who were Sega guys, but this old boy was firmly in the Nintendo camp.  I played Nintendo daily, so when this thing came out, it was all I could think about asking for in the 1991 Christmas season.  It was touch and go on whether I would actually get one or not.  My brother kept telling me that I wasn’t getting one because my Dad’s line of thinking was that I already had a Nintendo, so why would I need a new one?  But it turned out that was just a ruse, because on Christmas morning, there it was under the tree.  Of course, it went on to see hundreds or thousands of hours of playtime, and it still ranks as my favorite video game system of all time.

DC Comics Silver Age Classics Box Set

I got this set in 1992…right at the beginning of my comic fandom zenith.  I was soaking up whatever comics I could find like a sponge, so my Mom thought I would like this set.  It featured old stories, so it would have to be worth something she thought.  Well, in monetary value, she was wrong.  But in pure enjoyment, she couldn’t have been more right.  I was over the top with excitement at the fact that I could now read some of the most important stories in the history of the DC Universe.  It was a twelve-issue set and featured reprints of the issues that featured the first appearances of the JLA, Flash, Green Lantern, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and Swamp Thing.  It also featured the first team-up of Green Lantern and Green Arrow, as well as the first appearance of the “new look” Batman.  Who knew you could put such a price on happiness?

Well, there’s some of my favorites Christmas presents from through the years.  Be sure to share some of yours in the comments.

Retro Ramblings

It's all coming back to you.

Category Archives: 90s