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Another new article! And snowcones!

Would you believe me if I told you I published two new articles in less than a week? Miracles happen. Here's a look at five random '80s toys, which is an article I started seventeen years ago, got bored of and left to die. In the spirit of making X-E seem less like a marked grave and more like the party capital of Reno, I've dusted it off.

I would've put a little more into the ending, but I found myself distracted as the silver bells of a Lickedy Split ice cream truck blared through the open windows this afternoon. While such trucks usually have nothing but soft swirl cones, I had a hunch that this was going to be a special day. Hello, snowcone.


The snowcone is nature's perfect food. Ice, colored and flavored by liquid sugar. Visions of fireflies, of wiffle ball and of smashing fireflies into the pavement with a wiffle ball bat, because those were some cool ass looking bug guts.

Nothing can compare to the official ice cream truck snowcone, which arrives in a conical paper wrapper with the ice divided into three colorful flavors. On a good day, you'll get red, yellow and blue. On a better day, these three flavors will join hands to create a holy purple ice just beneath the outer surface -- a holy purple ice that pretty much tastes like whatever fruit you tell it to taste like.

Me and the snowcone are heading downstairs to my walk-in freezer. He thinks I'm trying to help him not melt, but I just want to eat him without getting juice on my pants.

Posted by Matt on 06/15/2007. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 97 comments

You think you got the crap Reactor? I had the “Generator” (bottom right on the back of the box). All it did was “charge” the glowing rods. No motor. No movement. It had wheels, but they were molded into the base of the thing, and didn’t rotate. I recall blu-tacking the stupid power rods to my ceiling as part of my glow-in-the-dark galaxy of tiny adhesive stars. I think it became the Stop Buying Me Shitty Christmas Presents nebula.

Chestnuts roasted by Russ @ 06/17/2007 5:13 AM


Interesting that I should read the cruise article while on a cruise myself.

I wish I had a snow cone

Chestnuts roasted by Gillman @ 06/17/2007 5:53 AM


Okay, I’m taking the doubling as an SNT thing and running with it…liberally.

I SAW JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS TONIGHT!!! This makes me extremely happy. I spent many an hour debating with my baby-sitter about who was cooler, Joan Jett or Pat Benatar. I always voted for Joan. She rocked sooo hard. (and still does!)

There’s a good chance I won’t be around here for like 2 months after tomorrow. Not that it matters really, except for I know I’ll be missing and craving my X-E fix. See ya’ll then. I’m off to watch The Pirate Movie.

Chestnuts roasted by MissJess @ 06/17/2007 7:16 AM


Everything you wanted to know about Disney World TV’s Stacey, but were afraid to ask:

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/06/15/Travel/The_wonderful_world_o.shtml

She’s 38?!

Chestnuts roasted by Luap @ 06/17/2007 12:24 PM


I never heard of any of those toys, but that Pepsi toy reminded me of the dancing Pepsi Can that was huge (among other dancing things like flowers) that was popular in the early 90s. You could usually find them at places like Spencers Gifts.

I never really cared for Snow Cones. I’d rather just drink the syrup they used for those things. That was what made it good.

Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 06/17/2007 2:00 PM


The best snowcone I ever had was one called a Salty Frog: real lime juice with a dash of salt. Sounds disgusting, I know, but I loved it. Then again, I’m one of those weirdos who used to eat that lemon-lime beer salt stuff as a kid, so…

Chestnuts roasted by Annette @ 06/17/2007 4:43 PM


Luap, what’s even funnier is that her name is Stacey Aswad. When I saw that, I couldn’t stop laughing like Beavis and Butthead.

Chestnuts roasted by spaz307 @ 06/17/2007 6:43 PM


I’m new to this here commenting thing, but i’ve been reading this site for ages. Excellent job in talking about the transforming Pepsi Can. I had one, and often times in the last few years i have found myself wondering if i simply imagined it.

good work!

Chestnuts roasted by guidedbyvenkman @ 06/17/2007 10:22 PM


Computer Warriors! Good lord!

I actually, to this day, own some promotional half-hour long cartoon for the series. My sister and I got it and the soccer ball playset from a garage sale, and were never really sure what was going on with it until years and years later when I found some pictures of the toyline on the Internet.

Thanks for the CW mention, Matt. Makes me wistful.

Chestnuts roasted by Timmy @ 06/18/2007 3:31 AM


I just found the Computer Warriors pilot on YouTube. I haven’t watched it all yet, but I love how solemnly it begins, like it was going to be a deadly serious sci-fi adventure like something by James Cameron.

Chestnuts roasted by Alex @ 06/18/2007 5:43 AM


I totally remember Computer Warriors — I was given the original promo tape once when I had an ear infection in Kindergarten or first grade. My parents must have picked it up on the cheap at the drug store. I remember that Pepsi can one as being the coolest thing on there, but all I ever had was the tape.

Chestnuts roasted by adb @ 06/18/2007 9:38 AM


I KNEW I remembered a Coke robot to combat Computer Warriors Pepsi can flyer!
And here is an article on Pepsi Prime (modern) and the Coca-Cola can transformer.
http://captainb.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!E71F1E8A7500AD6C!1666.entry

Chestnuts roasted by Anonymous @ 06/18/2007 6:30 PM


Congratulations, Matt, on a Grade A new article. Love it.

Chestnuts roasted by Der Super @ 06/18/2007 9:11 PM


Anyone else watch the Robot Chicken Star Wars special on Sunday? (it would be hard to miss it considering they repeated it like 4 or 5 times last night) I thought overall it was good even though they threw some old skits in the mix most likely to fill in some time. The skit that made me laugh the hardest was the Admiral Ackbar Cereal just because of how he exclaimed “ITS A TRAP!” and bitch slapped the kids’ oatmeal off the table…i dunno i’m just weird like that.

Chestnuts roasted by phunqsauce @ 06/18/2007 9:35 PM


Matt, Awesome article, one of the best ever.

The Robot Chicken Star Wars special was great. I loved the Panda Barba skit, “I like your hair”. And the emperor taking Darth Vader’s phone call after the Death Star blew up made me roll. I loved every minute of it.

“What!?! They blew up the Death Star? Who’s “THEY”?”

Chestnuts roasted by Fox @ 06/19/2007 12:54 PM


my brother had that computer warriors computer-base playset thing. it was awesome, though a little flimsy. we had to be careful while playing with it, cause it was easy to break while folding it out. also, i really liked the figures the sets came with, the dudes who had normal space-man fronts, had computer part on their backs, like they were walking computer chips.

Chestnuts roasted by mpkalypso @ 06/20/2007 3:09 AM


I didn’t know any of those toys, mostly being I was only 7 by the end of the 80′s. But then I got to the Computer Warriors. I just sat there like wholy crap, I so had those, all of it, with the big computer screen and what not. Nice to have a line of toy from the 80′s that sold out to Pepsi lol.

Chestnuts roasted by Bigfoot551 @ 06/20/2007 9:21 AM


Legions of Power deserves more credit… well maybe it doesn’t. But I certainly had fond memories of them. They were even smaller than my oh so small LEGO Super Mario Brothers (of my own creation) and I had the biggest set availible (a rarity for a family as poor as mine) featuring a motorized thingy. They were great because their cockpits and monitors could easily be turned into couches and TVs. My toys did alot of mundane things.

Also, I have the Computer Warriors VHS if anyone wants me to upload it.

Chestnuts roasted by Lucky Redlightbulbs @ 06/26/2007 11:08 PM


review some spy tech stuff. those sunglasses you could see behind yourself with. or the reeces peanut butter cups spy camera.

Chestnuts roasted by joey @ 07/04/2007 5:11 AM


I think I’ve seen at least two of those Orb thingies-Dinosorb and the crocodile one-repainted in a different line, along with other egg dinosaurs. Dinosorb was Brontosaurus and the crocodile one inexplicably became Scelidosaurus even though it looks like Scelidosaurus about as much as Optimus Prime looks like a toilet paper roll rack.

Chestnuts roasted by Anonymous @ 11/03/2008 6:04 AM


omg thank you for blogging about the bad case of worms! I was just thinking of these the other day, thinking that my boys would have loved these. They were one of my favorite toys as a child, something that stands out in my memories! HA! I thought I was the only person who knew what these were! lol

Chestnuts roasted by Melanie @ 02/11/2011 11:30 AM


I had (still have) a bunch of legions of power sets, I liked them a lot. They were something which you could build like legos, yet wind up with an actual toy like gi joe vehicles. My first experience with them was with a nestle’s quick mail-in thing, you got a figure and 4 or 5 small parts.

Meteorbs, and their counterpats the rock lords, were the lamest concept ever. “My robot becomes a truck!” “My robot becomes a fighter jet!” “My robot becomes a space cannon!” “Mine becomes a rock….”. The only thing meteorbs & rock lords were good for was throwing at someone so you could take their good toy.

Chestnuts roasted by Drahken @ 10/01/2011 7:17 AM


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