X-Entertainment's Christmas Season & Advent Calendar, 2008.

02/27/2005: Charmies!!!!

If you’re around my age and a girl, you probably collected tons of small, plastic charms throughout childhood. Usually clipped onto and worn on pastel chain-link necklaces, the charms covered everything from tiny whistles to soda bottles, little cars, boats, hearts, dolls and beyond. Though no one company held a majority share in this market, there was definitely a big difference between “good charms” and “bad charms.” Good charms were well crafted, nicely painted, fairly large and plenty durable. Bad charms came from one-point Chuck E. Cheese prize bins and dentists’ offices. Good charms had little silver bells attached. Bad charms only spoke if you chewed them.

Generally, guys weren’t allowed to take part in the craze. At least, not to the degree of collecting and wearing the charms — that was a fast ticket to recess punches. Still, I admit to have had a small affinity for all of the charms based on some real life commercial item — like the tiny Pepsi bottles and whatnot. The stupid things sell for tons nowadays. In 1985, they did not. In 1985, they were cheap. And sometimes they came on headbands.

Yes, it’s the official “Charmies” head band, a high fashion artifact with four different brightly colored charms. Originally retailing for 98 cents, they narrowly beat out twenty-five cent charm vending machines in the bargain department, and at least with these, you knew what you were getting yourself into. Charm-filled vending machines could shit out anything from good charms to CHARMS FROM HELL. If you liked what you saw in the Charmies assortment, this was a no-risk situation. As an added bonus, the Charmies/hip teen combo logo could easily be cut out and glued onto marble notebooks for what we in the biz call “extra cool in school.”

There’s a whistle, a bicycle, an I-think-it’s-a-calculator, and a toilet with flip-up lid and seat. The toilet’s kind of a strange choice considering the target demo, but any boys lucky enough to land themselves a girly Charmies headband at least gained an impressive commode for their Battle Beasts. My hunch is that the bootleg company that made these knew that the headband was a worthless bonus — kids who bought this just ripped off the charms to add to their big ass necklace, discarding the headband as they would any soda six-pack plastic connector. Remember to break them before trashing, or many fish will die. The End.

Strangely enough, I don’t really remeber me or my sister having any of these at any particular point…but then again I do! It’s kinda hard to explain, although one thing I DO remember us both having were those little plastic soother things, you know, the ones that are suppose to genereally point to heroin abuse. Yep good times, good times.

I had some of those from a garage sale about ten years back. Lovely things, they were. I had a tennis racket, phone, skis, eggs in a skillet…alas, no toilet though.

don’t have anything to say….but must post….because my earliest ever….ahhhhhh

Wow, today is definitly my day for early posts.. 5 minutes earlier and Idda got first!

My older sisters had then, well shit versions like then. Most of the time they would dangle off christmas stocking and i allways felt it odd that they were just all randon things like ball of wool or neon green duck. Part of me felt bad because i would get cool ninja turtle clip ons that actually were made out of plastic and wires and shit and they got stuck with 4 cents of horror. Long story short i ate the green duck while playing with my Egon Spangler ghostbuster, the cool "face action popper" ghostbusters, you know, the ones that made a crazy eye popper face when you pressed down on their arm. I also got kick ass Mad Ball knee pads that year. Ha ha mad ball knee pads only now do i find that kind of wiggy.

Man, the comment about the dentist office made me remember the big-ol-bucket-o-dentist toys that Dr. Pauly had. I frequently got the little plastic tooth to hold my real tooth, freshly yanked from my cavity infested face. Some people are afraid of the dentist. Me? Not a chance! Why, you…probably don’t ask? He had the Star Wars X-wing arcade game (Oh no, I lost R2!) and Space Invaders, with as many free games as you could get in before you went under the drill. Right on, right on…

Oh, lord, did we have a ton of these charms. My sisters and I collected them like crazy. They were one of the few 80s fads to make it to South New Jersey in great quanties and in every store, from the 99 cent place in Cape May (now another T-shirt shop) to K-Mart. Don’t remember the toilet, but we had something like the bike, and the mini-Pepsi bottle, too. My specialty was strawberries. My favorites were a flat, pink berry charm and this huge-ass, heavy red plastic berry that would have made a nifty weapon in a pinch.

Alas, the charms themselves are all gone now…but my brother has somehow retained what remains of my red charm chain necklace, which he uses to tie up his action figures.

Matt, you’re my hero. Those two pictures… they’re priceless. Cheers, mate.

I had one of those and im a guy i guess im telling you a little some thing somthing about my self. ahehe

but now returning to the point where we said bye-bye to sanity, how the heck was anyone supposed to wear one of those headbands without a worrying minimal number of eyes?

I’m not saying Charmies ain’t top notch, but a blow with that plastic toilet and your eyes is a goner.
Anyway, can’t really see the point in them…It’s true what they say, men are from Omicron Persei 7 and women are from Omicron Persei 9.

I’ve seen toilet earings before. My toys (regardless of size) took their dumps in the Ghost Busters toilet monster.

There was this flat red plastic clown with a metal jingle bell on his head that was in the drawer my grandmother kept her phone books in. For years I wondered what the heck it was. Now I’m pretty sure it was a "Charmy." Thanks!

I remember these! I loved them so much! I don’t know if I actually ever had any/many but I know my cousin did and I thought they were awesome.

And don’t believe the hype. Elementary-age girls think toilets are hilarious, too. At least I did.

WOW!! This is the first time I have visited this site and I have to say that this is one of the best sites I have ever encountered! Charmies…I absolutely and totally remember them. I used to have the ones w/ the google eyes and the ice cream cone, and I had the toilet in the picture. I also had several "mini-books" that had actual paper in them. Hah! next time I go home I’l hafta look for them in my old toy box. I used to wear that to school with my jean purse and my purple dragonfly Watchable. Anyone remember Watchables? Those fuzzy stuffed animals you wore on your wrist and opened them up to find a watch?? I haven’t encountered them on your site yet, but since this is my first visit, I can’t even imagine what I’ve missed. I’ll be back!!

I do recall having a necklace with some plastic charms, but that headband is crazy. Who wants a toilet on top of their head all day. I think a kid would get beaten up for that, girl or no.

Those things were cool, I secretly collected those charmies.. never wore them though.

Ah yes, "Watchables" — there was a boy version of those called "Slime Time," featuring rubber frogs, lizards and whatnot with watch clocks in their mouths.

These charm thingys, complete with plastic chain and all, are back, I’ve seen them at KB Toys and the PX. I forget what they call them now.

Wow- CHARMIES! There’s something I can’t believe I forgot about (or maybe I blocked it from my mind…) I actually had a frigging SHIRT that had loops all over it and I wore a shirt of charms and thought I was cool…I guess I WAS cool!

I also remember Watchables.
You know another watch fad I keep wondering will make a comeback? Video game watches. K-Mart used to sell them in the jewelry section all the time. You could play Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, and a few others on your wrist. You don’t see those things anymore. Nowadays, you can play them on a cell phone.

Saw a watch at a flea market that had Count Chocola, Frankenberry, and Booberry on it. Looked pretty cool.

I ran and found my old charm necklace (not buried too deeply in my closet) This article took me back to 1985. Thank you!

I used to have tons of these–but never the toilet. I’d kill for a toilet with a flip-up pink lid.

My older sisters had hundreds of these. I distinctly remember the bicycle, toilet and those BELLS! Matt I Love You!

I believe the contemporary iteration of the charmies are those nomination bracelets women were wearing a year or two ago. But unlike charmies, older women would wear the nomination bracelets (by older, I mean women in their 20s and 30s, women who in all likelihood wore charmies as kids.)

Man, I sure have been posting a lot later. Oh well, better than grading papers.
I am sure most of you guys are out of Turner South’s jurisdiction BUT they have a show about going to fleamarkets, yardsales, etc. called "JUNKIN’"
Anyway, they list stuff on ebay for auction and this little doozie has an XE shoutout. ENJOY!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...ory=20270&item=6157011114

JLAJRC, My husband found his old tetris watch, I now have claimed it to mine to wear…if he doesnt steal it to play with!

Great post. I`m sure the craze could come back with the proper cartoon/video character or boy band.

I had these too! I had one that was supposed to be a little cake I guess. It looked like a white sugarcube with a ball on it (a cherry I’m thinking?) and it was all on a little purple plate. OH, hey Matt!! Met Tim Curry for the 8th time this past weekend, saw his new play Spamalot. You MUST go. FABULOUS!!

Lots of my female friends of the past were into these things. I often played with them, and they were freakin’ cool, even though I didn’t have any myself. I think all of my friends had a toilet in their collection. I always got a kick out of that one. Hell, I’m laughing right now.

Cool site. My sis had charms everywhere. If you didn’t have those things your life really sucked back then. Check this kids site out. Give him a dollar or two for being creative.

Charms never got too popular around where I lived, nor became popular at all.
And I had one of those mini-Pacman arcades.

On the subject of the Nintendo Game & Watch series, I SO remember wanting those things, but never getting them. My parents were completely opposed to the idea of me having video games everywhere I go. As a result, I was not allowed to have a Game Boy or any of the handheld games. I wanted that Zelda watch terribly. In fact, I wanted anything Nintendo-related badly. Nintendo was my life. Once I got an NES, I forgot all about action figures and even to some extent cartoons (however, I watched the various Nintendo cartoons religiously).

My friends and I basically established the First Church of Nintendo. We had the ritualistic Discussions of Nintendo at School, Sharings of Secrets, Viewings of Nintendo Power (I currently have issues 1-27, covering the entire NES era), and Gatherings of the Players. Our God was Nintendo, and his incarnation was Shigeru Miyamoto (just kidding; we didn’t even know who he was back then).

Y’know, I notice the words "Made in Taiwan" on the package, and it makes me wonder what all these overseas laborers think of the cheaply made toys that they make for us American (and Canadian and European) kids. Wastes of plastic? Wastes of money? Choking hazards? It’s interesting to think about.

I don’t think that craze made it to Montreal. At least, I don’t remember anyone in my class wearing them, and my sister, who was born in the late 1970s, certainly didn’t have anything like that. I mean, she had junk plastic jewelry, like most little girls in North America had, but nothing with a whole bunch of stuff on a plastic headband.

The boring kind of plastic headband, which even anglophone kids called "barettes" in the Montreal area, were fairly popular in the mid-80s, but I don’t remember any wacky varieties.

Mad Cow, my dentist used to have this drawer full of assorted plastic toys. Nothing spectacular, but still, just the fact that you could get a toy for visiting the dentist was always cool. I don’t remember anything specific except that the toys looked like they were from the Oriental Trading Co. catalog.

Since I’m on the topic of OTC, X-E should do an article on that catalog. It’s like the old Johnson Smith catalogs, except the products were usually poorly crafted. On the plus side, you could get ten gross of plastic skeleton rings or really generic Halloween masks for cheap-o prices.

I love the OTC and have ordered from there many times. Back when I had friends, they supplied the goods for any theme parties I hatched.

For as far back as I can remember, I had a cheap little purple wrench that said "love" on it with a silver bell. Now I finally know what the hell that thing was! Sadly, when our house got robbed last year the thieves left everything expensive but took everything awesome, like that charmie. :’(

My little sister had a fairly large collection of these. I think my mom was a sucker and bought her a ton because she collected "real" charms when she was young. My mom still occasionally gets her charm bracelet out of her jewelry box and admires the finely crafted gold baby carriage, baby doll, car, etc., each a gift from her own mother for a birthday or other achievement. My sister, on the other hand, no longer has her Charmies.

Wow, charm necklaces. I think I still have mine somewhere, you say they’re selling for a lot now?

The thing I remember most about the time of charm collecting at my school is it was my first real glimpse of a stupid criminal. The charm necklace of one of the girls in my class went missing one day, and she was very upset about it. Later, she saw another girl in my class had several new charms on her necklace, that seemed awfully familiar. She confronted her about it, and the girl confessed she had stolen them and gave them back. If you’re going to steal something, how about not wearing it in front of the person you stole from?

Anyway. The only ones I can really remember at the moment, probably brought on by the dentist mention, was a toothbrush and toothpaste tube. I wish I had the toilet tho, the flush toilet is my favorite invention of the past century.

My life will not be complete until I have a whistle mounted just above my right ear. Another one for the ‘If you have one week to live’ list.

I wore one of those charm necklaces when I was Punky Brewster for halloween. I hated them because the charms always got tangled in my hair, so I never wore it outside of Halloween, and it hung from my bookshelf like a big gaudy bookshelf decoration.

Good god!! I still have a Charmies necklace, with charms on it! I thought I’d never see these again.

Ooo, Matt, for some reason I just thought of another 80’s girly toy you might do a feature on if you can ID it…they were big plastic "jewels" that transformed into little animals..I had a horse and a toucan. But I can’t remember what they were called!

I’m a child of the 90’s, so i have no idea about Charmies, but I remember, back in the late 90’s, there was a fad at my school to hand as many keychains as was humanly possible off your backpack. I didn’t get to "humanly possible," but I was pushing it… I remember my light-up Squirtle was my favorite. Or what it my dictionary?

Ah-HAH! Sweet Secrets!! That’s what those transforming jewel thingies were called.

I found some of these when I was cleaning out my old toy box a couple years ago. I had the toilet and the bicycle. I have no idea how I got them and why I only had those 2. I’m thinking I must’ve stolen them from my older sister and those 2 were the only ones I could get away with.

OMIGOD Charmies!! I had totally forgotten these existed. Thank you, Matt, for remembering. I think I still have some loose ones floating around. I totally had that bike one. Egads, the memories!! And Sweet Secrets!! I loved those. I had so many of those, too. Like the ones that played music and stuff. Man, I need to find those! *dies in a flurry of girly nostalgia*

Kathodos, OTC represent! Seriously, your comment makes me think that they publish some sort of secret "Dentist Edition" catalog. I mean, where else are you going to get the little bb mazes, that you always played with quickly but never chose, with a dreaded CAVITY on it? What makes me sort of mad is I distincly remember occasionally reading at the Dentist’s, too. Why read when I could have been wailing away on one of these bad boys? http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9773

I had a charm that was a cross with jesus on it. And I also had a Sweet Secrets one it was a pony that turned in to a piano too bad the clip part broke off. When I was little my neighbor gave me some fish charms and they had a bell on them.

I love charmies! Had 10 or so with blue and yellow necklaces. No potty seat though. Bike, berry, googly eyed blue thang, heart, oooo i want one. O.k. this is bad, I’m 27. p-e-c

Where can I get one ? BESIDES from E-bay? EN1 !!HELP!MUST…HAVE…1…again.Seriously, Heather Elliott P.S. Will pay 20$ u.s. currency 4 1 necklace w/ @ least or more than 20 charmies!

I think the closest to an actual toilet charm that my older sister had was a magenta toilet seat, with a movable lid and everything.

My dentist has those plastic toys too-in a cardboard pirates’ chest no less. Very awesome. Shame they don’t offer me a pick anymore.

I live in New Orleans, and one of the Mardi Gras parades throws plastic toilets in addition to the beads and other madness. My boyfriend caught one, and I saw the true beauty of these-you fill the tank up with water, and when some unsuspecting friend curiously lifts the seat, it sends out a fairly high powered stream of water into their eye!

Awesome! I used to have TONS of those. We all used to wear them in elementary school on little plastic chains. I don’t even know where I got them all, but I sure wish I still had them. Now I know what they were called. Thanks!

I had those charm necklaces as a kid. I went to kindergarten in 85 and all the girls had them, with atleast ten pounds of plastic charms on there! o.o

We were always compairing charms too. Some of them were really nice. I almost kinda wish the fad would come back…

I remember our teacher really didn’t like them. And she told us we weren’t allowed to wear them for our kindergarten graduation. XP

I got busted for stealing some other girl’s. I thought I was so slick. Despite being unsucceseful, that was the beginning of my life of 5 finger discounts.

Holly crap i stole my big sis’s charmies Belt i just only now know wha they are! gave the charms to my my little ponys and, well cut up the belt to make a collar for myself i didn’t know they wher awsome 80’s shit but at least they make a snazzy collar

also there’s a little pic on th right bottom corner and i have that one don’t kno bout you but we always thought it was porrage, or ice cream.

i used to LOVE sweet secrets!!! but their not the same as charmies. i know many of the sweet secrets came on necklaces and i think bracelets. i do remember seeing charmies, but if they were popular in ‘85 i was only 2 then and wouldn’t really remember…but i definitely want a bracelet, belt, or handband w/ those!

I had a ton of these…haven’t thought about them in years. My fave was this skeleton with rhinestone eyes. i remember a little phonebook the plastic chain but I dont rember any others.

Dude, its the middle of march. Get rid of the christmas lights and that picture of the Mr. T doll. Its disturbing.

Oh my god!!! that is one detailed toilet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did anyone actually wear that toilet on their head?!

Wow! I’ve been wondering what those were called. My sister and I still have our charmies, and I definitely still have that toilet! Sweet Secrets were awesome too… I had the house and everything!

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This entry was posted on Sunday, February 27th, 2005 at 6:49 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.