Submitted by Victor C, launched not thrown.

NERF, generally, makes me think of P.E. classes. We used Nerf products for just about every game. Nearly all of the balls had chunks of “nerf” (also known as “foam”) taken out of them. However, the footballs, including the Turbo Football shown above, seemed to hold up better than the soccer balls. I also recall that, despite the soft nature of the material, the seam that ran around the ball was always rather hard and could hurt if it hit you just right. Anyway, the advertisement above definitely takes me back to my Nickelodeon years, when I probably viewed an uncountable number of NERF commercials. At some point, I probably believed that, with a NERF Turbo Football, even I could throw a ball around the world. False advertising! Also, I would like to say, as a sidenote, that “nerf” is a really odd word to type repeatedly.

Submitted by Dimitri A, rubber band rectangle.

Geoboards, invented in the 1950s, are square, plastic boards studded with evenly-spaced pegs in a 5×5 configuration. The pegs are meant to hold rubber bands so that students, and other bored people, can create geometric shapes. I most definitely remember using these, but for some reason I don’t recall using them in a scholastic context. I remember using many rubber bands on one board, layering them to make more interesting (and maybe, occasionally, inappropriate) shapes. Not only educational, but kind of fun. Until a rubber band snapped on your finger, anyway.

Submitted by Carl F, who shoved a mouse in a beer bottle.

1983’s The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew stars Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, who also played the McKenzie brothers on SCTV. There are (loose) parallels to Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the story, with the McKenzie brothers supposedly standing in for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The script underwent many changes during production, and this, perhaps, explains why most wouldn’t use the word “cohesive” to describe the storyline. Still, if you like “Candians say ‘eh’ a lot” jokes, then I am hard pressed to recommend a better movie to you.

Submitted by MSMJFANFOREVER, a lifelike creation of plastic and springs and painted smile.

Talky Tina appeared in the season 5 The Twilight Zone episode “Living Doll.” Talky Tina is a nasty little doll with murder on her mind. I don’t know what it is about dolls that makes them so terrifying. I suppose it could be the fact that they are humanlike but not human. Or maybe it’s just their perpetually cheerful faces. Either way, dolls have been a horror movie staple ever since. In my book, Talky Tina goes down as the creepiest of the creepy dolls, even beating out more ostentatious monsters like Chucky (and also The Bride of Chucky).

Submitted by Jason Queen, junk yard operator:

Meet Fred Sanford, the man who made junk yards cool! I remember being a kid and just laughing outrageously loud every time Fred called Lamont a “big dummy”. And that theme song; it’s so recognizable that Indonesian orphans could identify it. I must admit I was well into my 20’s before I knew what “Ripple” really was.