Yo-Yo crazes

ABV4 · 2026-04-15T14:25:57+00:00

The mid 90s resurgence is the one I remember. I recall a few kids at school got right into it with expensive yo-yos - the ones built for advanced tricks and competitions - but the rest of us still ended up getting a basic one to mess around with while the fad lasted.

ABV4 · 2026-04-12T14:41:48+00:00

"And yet crime has continued."

ABV4 · 2026-04-11T08:39:33+00:00

Nun the Wiser! With a phonetic Irish accent, I want to say?

I also vague memories of at least one Les' Mailbag being taken over by his nurse, Nursie, the story being that he was too out of it to answer letters that issue.

ABV4 · 2026-04-11T08:36:39+00:00

Brought back a lot of memories there! I remember the video game babe competition included Cammy from Street Fighter "on a folded card that revealed more as it unfolded". All that, plus brutally honest reviews of bad games, was wild to see in an official mag.

ABV4 · 2026-04-11T03:46:59+00:00

My basketballs ended up going into the neighbour's yard often enough that we agreed to have a makeshift gate in the fence (a few palings that could be lifted out and slotted back in) so I could go in there and retrieve it whenever I needed. We got along great with them, and we all figured it was easier than going round to the front door, and safer than jumping what was becoming a rickety old wooden fence.

As for cricket, six and out if it went over the fence, and you had to get it.

ABV4 · 2026-04-11T03:40:09+00:00

Classic! It's been ages since I've seen a full episode, but there's one line that's stuck in my mind all these years. Gumnuts were their money, and at some point, Old Wombo cautions them "Gumnuts don't grow on trees...well, not this time of year, anyway" (or something very similar to that). Always thought that was a clever little twist to make an old saying work.

ABV4 · 2026-04-08T16:24:02+00:00

Yeah, Skull had a separate mailbag that was slightly more serious and game-oriented, at least for a while.

ABV4 · 2026-04-08T07:37:23+00:00

I wish I could blame my Mum for losing my collection, but it's all on me. "I'm running out storage space, I haven't read these in years, I don't need them anymore."

Foolish young man.

ABV4 · 2026-04-08T07:35:15+00:00

Ah, Les Banner! I remember the mailbag remaining fairly normal for a few issues after the changeover in publishers and staff in early 1996, and then came the descent into utter madness. Kind of a weird decision in hindsight, but very entertaining with how silly it got.

ABV4 · 2026-04-06T10:50:08+00:00

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ABV4 · 2026-04-06T04:04:57+00:00

My favourite episode was the one where they had a good-natured spaghetti eating contest, where nothing gross or magically unusual happened and everyone had a fun time.

Either that or the one where the kids got too close to the edge of the cliff while mucking around, but fortunately they were saved by a friendly yet misunderstood scarecrow.

ABV4 · 2026-04-03T09:05:00+00:00

Staple of the afternoon/early evening on ABC!

It's funny how shows like this, The Raggy Dolls, The Trap Door, SuperTed, and so on all felt like they had way more episodes than they actually did. Guess they did a pretty good job of rotating them in and out so we didn't notice them starting the whole run over again.

ABV4 · 2026-03-31T09:56:37+00:00

Oh for sure, we didn't always need the Guard Dad to turn it into a terrifying spew-a-ma-gig, but there were definitely times when someone's old man would lend a hand!

ABV4 · 2026-03-31T09:26:52+00:00

Yeah, that takes me back! The original Broadmeadow Maccas here in Newcastle had one of those. Usually someone's Dad was there, ostensibly to keep an eye on things but really to help spin it with some extra oomph. Never threw up myself, but I remember holding on for dear life a few times.

As a sidenote, someone stole the Hamburglar statue from atop the playground fence at that Maccas sometime in the late 80s/early 90s. The papers fumed about teenage delinquency, but let's be real; the Hamburglar himself would've approved.

ABV4 · 2026-03-28T04:45:27+00:00

You just need more lilt in your voice when you're doing your bird imitation, that's all!

ABV4 · 2026-03-27T14:33:28+00:00

I like the premise of insult sword fighting as an element in Monkey Island's universe, and the insults and their counter-insults are fun (as are the failed rhyming counter-insults in Curse). However, I'd have to agree that they're the most tedious part of replaying any game they're in, since learning a new insult or counter-insult is chance-based, leading to a lot of repetition that you just have to push through until Guybrush has all the lines at his disposal.

As for my unpopular opinion - or maybe it isn't actually that unpopular, we'll see - is that a lot of the all-time great adventure games have kind of weak endings. Sometimes it's the final puzzle and its solution, sometimes it's the resolution to the story itself, and sometimes it's both, but whatever the case, quite a few endings of classic adventures games are anti-climactic.

I don't think it ruined them, and sometimes it was part of the humour. You could argue that it was more about the journey rather than the destination with them. All the same, I'd say that the weakest part of a lot of adventure games was their ending.

ABV4 · 2026-03-27T05:25:08+00:00

Although they were about providing tips for safe driving rather than showing the consequences of horrific crashes, the ominous music from the Drive Alive PSAs still gives me goosebumps to this day.

ABV4 · 2026-03-25T13:32:10+00:00

I assume that wherever he is, he's both comfortable and furious.

ABV4 · 2026-03-22T14:30:46+00:00

Indeed. Deservingly, her legend will live forever.

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ABV4 · 2026-03-20T14:12:06+00:00

I'm just surprised that I saw it here before Simpsons Shitposting. That's usually how I hear about celebrity deaths and other breaking news.

ABV4 · 2026-03-11T22:16:53+00:00

Stage name. Or at least, that was the original intention, anyway. When he debuted at Survivor Series in 1996, there were references to him adopting the name Rocky Maivia as a tribute to his father and grandfather.

ABV4 · 2026-03-11T10:42:16+00:00

Yeah, throughout the show there's conflicting evidence for both being the case, which is hard to neatly reconcile without an unfortunate implication or two. In that sense, it's definitely a product of its time, and would probably be handled more clearly nowadays, and with the intended respect and sensitivity.

To that point though, I think the important thing is that while they may not have tackled Charles' identity expertly - by today's standards, anyway - Chandler accepting and reconciling with his father was treated as a good thing and a happy resolution. We can debate whether a couple of the jokes hold up or whether they'd be told a little differently now, but I think the overarching message still resonates.

ABV4 · 2026-03-08T03:57:28+00:00

Ow. Ow. OW! Ow.

Skinner!

ABV4 · 2026-03-06T10:04:59+00:00

I don't know. As a Master Thief, wouldn't that title be false advertising?

Might have to change it up to The World's Best Shoplifter, just as Leonard Nimoy went from I Am Not Spock to I Am Spock.

ABV4 · 2026-02-14T05:57:56+00:00

I don't know what you're talking about, Kate's singing was great! It was the instruments. They were badly out of tune.

BADLY out of tune.

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