September 10, 2025 • 18 mins
This episode humorously examines popular fads of the 1990s, highlighting the intense emotional and social significance these items held for children. It describes Tamagotchis as anxiety-inducing digital pets, slap bracelets as surprisingly dangerous fashion accessories, and Pokémon cards as a chaotic, high-stakes playground economy. The text explores the cultural impact these fads had on childhood identity and relationships, often in contrast to parental understanding. Ultimately, it reflects on the lasting nostalgic legacy of these often absurd, yet deeply influential, objects.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome curious minds to the deep Dive.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Great to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
So today we're taking a trip, a real journey back
back to the late nineteen nineties.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Oh boy, yeah, cargo pants era exactly.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Yeah, picture it. You know you're probably wearing cargo pants.
Maybe got some dunk a ruse or like a half
eaten fruit by the foot somewhere in one of those pockets.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Classic.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
But alongside all that, the snacks, the fashion, there was
this worry, this like immedia gut punch of anxiety. Sometimes.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Uh huh, I think I know where you're going with this.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
That vibration right yeah, or that little yeah and your
heart just sinks. Yeap. The tamagotchi, that tiny plastic egg
probably clipped your backpack, just screaming for attention. Yeah, your
digital pet probably having a full on pixelated meltdown.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Huh Yeah. The classic nineties crisis. It really wasn't just
a phase, was it. It felt like, well, a whole lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
It totally was.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
These things, these objects, they weren't just toys. They were
like the currency of cool back then. Yeah, dictating who
is who on the playground, causing all sorts of drama.
Real badges of honor, you know, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
And that's kind of what we're diving into today, right,
that intersection the absurdity, the obsession, the pie stakes, sometimes
Tamagachi's slap bracelets and yeah, Pokemon cards. These things weren't
just trends. They dug in, became part of the collective memory.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Yeah, they really shaped experiences. And our mission for this
deep dive really is to go beyond just oh remember that.
We want to figure out why.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Right, why did these simple little things have such a
massive hold on us?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Exactly. We'll look at the funny side, the weird anxiety
they caused, the social stuff that popped up around them, Peel.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Back the layers. Yeah, basically you understand that obsession and
what's stuck around from it, and.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
We've got some good stuff to work with. We've gone
through a bunch of sources, articles, memories, that sort of thing,
all looking at these fads.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Yeah, focusing on the cultural impact, how ridiculous our devotion
was sometimes.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
And maybe what we accidentally learned from it all.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
So get ready, time to reminisce, maybe laugh a bit,
maybe feel a tiny bit of that old Tamagatchi guilt again.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Huh, let's do it. Let's unpack the weird and wonderful nineties.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Where do we start? It has to be Tamagatchi's.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Oh, absolutely, the digital pet that basically owned us, and
yeah we ruin our sleep.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Okay, Tamagatchi's Yeah, seriously, these things probably cause more stress
in elementary school than I don't know, long division.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
It's pretty wild when you think about how simple they were.
Just a plastic egg, right, smaller than a chicken nugget, probably,
with this little pixel blob on a screen. But when
they hit the US, was it ninety seven?
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yeah, sounds about right.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
They just instantly turned us all into these caregivers, always
mashing buttons, always worried.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Was it the novelty maybe? Yeah, Like digital ownership was
brand new, I think.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
So suddenly you were responsible for this, this thing's life,
its whole existence.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
And it wasn't just a game you could pause. It
was like constant, a real responsibility dropped in your.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Lap, every beep, every digital poop. Yeah, it depended on you.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Yeah, and you got that instant hit, you know, either
feeling good because it was happy, or that cold dread
when you're.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
The beeps, Oh, the beeps that sound. It was like
an alarm belt, wasn't it For a nine year old?
That was serious business totally.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Our sources outally call them less digital pets and more
like anxiety simulators.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
That rings true because the demands were just relentless feeding it, cleaning.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
It, cleaning the pixelated poop.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah, playing those little games to keep the happiness meter up.
It felt so high stakes.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Way too high for a little plastic egg.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Because if you messed up, if you neglected it, it
would just croak.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Right and leave that little tombstone on the screen.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
And you felt it. The sources talk about this feeling
of like a lifetime of guilt from a one inch screen.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Oh, the guilt was real. I can still almost hear
that beep. Imagine being in class, middle of the spelling
test and you feel that buzz a look and the
hunger meters just flashing like crazy.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
That hasn't eaten since. Yeah, the Clinton administration.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
It felt that urgent, It really did. It wasn't just
a reminder, It was a demand right now.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
So you had this constant, like low level stress humming
underneath everything.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yeah, you were this sleep deprived button mashing caregiver. It
followed you everywhere taught you vigilance.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
I guess whether you wanted to learn it or not.
And what's interesting is how that personal stress created this
whole social thing. Oh yeah, well, it wasn't just your Tamagatchi.
Kids are smuggling them into school.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Right, totally adding them in pencil cases, backpacks.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Trying to muffle the beeps, and you'd hear kids whispering,
I gotta feed my tamagotchi like it was top secret.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Yeah, like national security depended on it.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Oh hated this instant club, you know, we're all in
this together.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Exactly, a little secret society of digital parents.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Until the teachers found out.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Oh yeah, they just they didn't get it, not at all.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
They confiscated, looking totally bewildered.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Andy, you just sit there, paralyzed for the rest of
the day. Is it starving? Is it evolving into that
weird mask thing?
Speaker 1 (05:05):
U huh, yes, the mask thing because you didn't discipline
it enough.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
It was such a clash, wasn't it. Our intense kid
world versus the like practical adult world. Classrooms weren't ready
for digital death.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Nope. Yeah, And there was a competitive side.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Too, remember, Oh yeah, kids showing off their tamagotchi dynasties.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Multiple ones clipped to their bags like war medals or something.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Comparing generations. Mine's on its fifth generation, big bragging rights.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Definitely, it was like a status symbol, proof you were
a good digital.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Parent, showed your dedication, your expertise in this weird new world.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
But then there was the other side, the dark side.
While some kid had a dynasty, yours might just die
because you left it in the minivan all weekend.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Oof biked in the sun tragedy, sad end.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
And he had the knockoffs too, the dinky dyne oh Man.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, they always broke, like immediately, it.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Cost your whole allowance, broke in two days, but everyone
still wanted one.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Just shows how huge the demand was. Didn't even matter
if it was the real thing. You just had to
be in.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
The whole thing. Was kind of absurd, though, when you
look back, that's the sources point out, how so well,
here we are raising digital chickens while our actual cat
is probably like eating a sock in the living room,
completely ignored.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Huh, good point. But the feelings were real, oh totally real.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
When it died, it wasn't just game over. It felt
like a funeral.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah, kids actually mourned these things, a real sense of
loss and.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
The reset ritual getting the paper clip, Yeah, finding that tiny.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Button, sticking it in, maybe shedding like one.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Tier, promising you'll do better next time.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
And then, as the sources say, spoiler, you weren't.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Ah, probably not, but that connection, even to just a
few pixels, Yeah, it shows the power of that simulated responsibility. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Is it a weird, funny training ground for care consequences, loss,
all in this little egg.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Okay, so from digital dependence to risk accessories.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Let's talk slap bracelets. If tamagotchis were about responsibilities, slap
bracelets were well more immediate, more tactile, and.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
It's surprisingly dangerous sometimes.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Bracelets Okay, these were just pure nineties, part jewelry, part weapon,
all swagger. That's how one source put it.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
That's pretty accurate. These metal strips covered in fabric.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, you'd hold it straight, slap it on your wrist
and thwack. It just curled right on like magic or yeah,
like some bad sci fi prop.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
That flax sound though, that was the key, wasn't it
so satisfying?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Totally? Our sources link it to that sensory thing like
popping bubble.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Wrap, Yeah, but cooler, more public.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
It wasn't just putting on jewelry. It was an action.
It felt dynamic, and nobody wore just one.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
You'd stack them.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Up, oh yeah, like six or eight up your arm
like you were auditioning for. Who was it, cindy'll Opper.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, totally in the pattern, neon, animal print, glitter, everything.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
So the playground basically became this.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Slap zone, constant smacking on yourself, on your friends. It's
just a love tat while the.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Other kids rubbing their arm, plodding.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
It was a sashin. It was play fighting, it was
bonding sort of.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
And here's the kicker. They weren't exactly harmless moviewed.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
That's what the source is really dig into.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Right.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
The design was simple but flawed, right.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Spring loaded metal thin fabric cover.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
And that fabric freight like really fast, faster than your
mom's patience, as one source joked, huh.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
And then what happens The fabric peels back.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
And boom, sharp metal edge exposed. Yes, not good.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Suddenly kids are actually getting cut by their fashion accessories, drawing.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Blood, which predictably led to school bands. Yeah, not just
because they were distracting, but because they're actually hazardous.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I remember the principal coming on the intercom, no more
slap bracelets.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Did that stop anyone?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Of course? Not made it cooler. We were rebels hiding
them in our socks under our sleeves.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Typical kid logic, right, Coolness defiance way more important than
maybe getting sliced.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
It's always the forbidden stuff that's the coolest.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
And status played a role too. If you had a
really cool.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
One, oh yeah, like a rare holographic one, you are
basically playground royalty.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
People would trade valuable stuff for them, like maybe even
your best Pokemon card.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Totally, only to realize it wasn't worth it when you
cut your wrist at recess.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Out a harsh lesson in value and pain.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
But we kept doing it. Why one source just nails
it because it was the nineties and we were all
about living dangerously within the confines of a suburban cul
de sac. Ah, that's perfect. It sounds funny now, but
those things, even the risky ones, helped define who is who?
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Yeah, who was daring? Who had the cool forbidden stuff?
It was all part of figuring out your identity, your place,
even through a potentially sharp piece of metal.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
And speaking of trading your best Pokemon card, that's our
next stop, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Oh yes, cardboard Empire Pokemon cards, or as the sources
call it, the cardboard crack of the playground, cardboard.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Crack at the playground. I mean that really says it all.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Doesn't it. It really does. If Temagachi's were parenting one
oh one and slap bracelets were fashion risks, Pokemon cards
were our first sock market totally.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
They hit the US in ninety nine, right.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Yep, and just boom, overnight, every kid became this little
Wall Street trader.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Forget stocks. We were dealing in charizyards and mewtwo's negotiating
like our lives depended on it.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Oh absolutely yeah. For shiny pieces of cardboard.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
It's amazing how quickly they became more than just game pieces.
They were currency, real.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Power, shiny chartizard maah, that wasn't just a card. That
was like winning the lottery.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Made you untouchable for a while anyway.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Right until someone borrowed it from your binder when you
weren't looking.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Ah, yes, strategic borrowing. It was like this crash course
in economics, right value, scarcity, supply.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
And demand one oh one. Everyone wanted to chariz are
so bam, price goes up.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Intense and the playground. It wasn't just for swings anymore.
It was the trading floor.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Pure chaos, Oh, total chaos. You'd show up with your
deck box ready to flex.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Kids, haggling like crazy, sounding like traders in some ancient market.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
I remember the classic scam. You'd go up to some
younger kid, Hey, I'll give you this bulbosar and like
two pidgies for your blastoys.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Knowing full well it was a terrible deal for them.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Oh yeah, early lessons and persuasion and maybe a little
bit of exploitation.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
The sources talk about that too. How older kids kind
of had the upper hand.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Makes sense they knew the perceived values better.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yeah, Convincing some kid there beat up Pikachu was rare
because it looked kind of shiny.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Huh, leveraging that desperation. It wasn't just the game. It
was learning about negotiation, about bluffing. Sometimes pretty ruthless stuff
for kids.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Taught you to be careful, maybe a little cunning.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
And the battles the epic Pokemon battles.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Oh man, we'd spend hours trying to figure out the.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Rules, weaknesses, resistance is.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
All that, only to realize nobody actually played by the
real rule.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Nope, it was all creative interpretation, wild West rules.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
My Charmander uses ember. Yeah, well my Jigglypuff dodges because
it's fluffy exactly.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
And how did those battles usually.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
End in arguments or tears someone running to the teacher
about a bad trade or made up move.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
The emotional investment was just huge for bits of cardboard.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
And don't forget the fakes. The bootlegs.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Oh god, yes, Pikachu with thunderblocks hilarious.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
But people still traded them, didn't they.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, if you couldn't get the real thing, a Pikachu
is better than nothing. Just to be part of.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
It shows the pressure, right, just wanting to belong, to
be cool, even with a dodgy card.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
The whole comedy of it, according to the sources, was
just how seriously we took.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
It, treating cardboard like the Mona Lisa or something.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Kids crying actual tears over a lost card yeah, real grief.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Well, parents are just standing there baffled. Why did I
just twenty dollars on a pack full of wheedles.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
They couldn't get it, the immense value he saw on them.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
That parental confusion. Again, it's a constant theme.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
And the binders. We have to talk about the binder.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Oh, the binders, Yes, the sacred texts.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
You didn't just have cards, you curated them in that
three ring binder.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Each card sleeved like the Declaration of Independence.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Seriously, and if someone touched your binder without permission.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Oh, fighting words, grounds for a playground, duel. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
It shows how those cards became more than cards. They
were like symbols of wealth, power, identity, a whole.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Little kid economy and social structure built on cardboard. Pretty
sophisticated in a way.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
So we've walked through tamagaji, slap bracelets, Pokemon cards.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Quite the journey.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
But what made them truly peak childhood. It wasn't just
the stuff, right, it was the culture.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Around them exactly. That's what the sources really drive home.
They were like social glue and identity markers.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yeah, they meant something more than just being a toy.
They defined things, status, friendships, even rivalries.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
You weren't just a kid with the Kamagatchi, you were
a Tamagatchi kid that meant something.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Right or you didn't just wear slap bracelets. You were
a trendsetter, a bit.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Edgy, and if you had that holographic charizard, forget.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
About it, you were Tony Stark third grade edition untouchable coolness.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
It really taps into that basic need, especially when you're
a kid, right belonging, being accepted, finding your spot in
the group.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
These things were the tools for that, our first way
of saying this is who I am, this is my tribe,
and we took.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
It so seriously. The sources highlight the lengths we'd go.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
To, Oh yeah, begging parents for allowance, money for booster packs.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
No, and you'd probably just get a pile of ritatas again.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Risking detention just to feed your Tamagatchi during silent reading
that sense.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Of duty or slapping those bracelets till your risk was read,
just to look cool.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
It wasn't just playing like the sources say. These fads
weren't just toys. They were our identity, our economy, our
entire world view.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
They felt central, not like some side thing. They structured
our days, our interactions, our little mini societies, which brings.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Us back to the parents again.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
The confusion, always, the confusion, that generational disconnect is fascinating.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
They just couldn't wrap their heads around it. Why are
you obsessed with this digital thing that keeps dying?
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Why do you need seventeen slat bracelets?
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Their advice just go play ball like that compared to
the social power of a perfect Tamagachi record or having.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
That rare charz ard. They didn't get the currency.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So they'd confiscate our Pokemon cards.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Holding our net worth hostage, and they had no idea.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
To them, it was just junk, disposable.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Stuff, But to us it was everything. It was life.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
That gap. It really shows how kids assign meaning, deep
meaning to things. Adults might just brush off different worlds,
different values.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
But even though these things felt like forever, they were
fleeting yet the legacy that's real.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yeah, they stuck around in surprising ways.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
It's true, isn't it. You see Tamagachi's making comebacks now.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Yeah, with fancy color screens, Wi Fi, all that tech.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
But does it capture that same feeling, that raw panic
of the original black and white ones.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Nah. Our sources say probably not. There was something special
about that low tech.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Stress and slap bracelets they pop up in retro shops.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
A little reminder of when, yeah, wrist injuries were somehow fashionable.
That care free.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Vibe Pokemon cards, though, that's the wildest legacy, from playground
trades to serious investments.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
It's crazy grown adults dropping thousands on a single Charis art.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
And you just know their inner kid is screaming. See,
I told you was rare. I told you.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
It's like this massive validation for our childhood obsessions and
proof we weren't crazy to think they were valuable.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
That nostalgia is powerful, and sometimes the value catches up.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
But the sources also remind us how quickly things changed
back then.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Oh yeah, they were everything, until suddenly they weren't.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
One day it's Pokemon, the next day everyone's obsessed with
yo yos or POGs or beanie babies.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
The playground moves fast.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
But even of the fads faded, the memories didn't those stick?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
As the sources say, definitely, they're part of our story now, remembering.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
The fights over trades, the sting of a badly frayed
slap bracelet.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
The existential dread of finding your Tamagotchi gone.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
It's all part of that ridiculous, wonderful tapestry of childhood.
There weren't just things. They were experiences, formative ones.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Silly, fleeting, maybe a bit hazardous, but they were ours.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Totally ours, our first taste of these big ideas responsibility, risk, value,
social stuff.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
So the final question, maybe, if you didn't cry over
a tamagotchi funeral or get furious about a stolen Pokemon card,
did you even live through the nineties?
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Ah? Fair question, probably not.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
It really makes you think, reflecting on this whole deep dive. Tamagotchi,
slap bracelets, Pokemon cards, they weren't just toys, no, much more.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
They were tied up in our identity, our social lives.
A weird training ground.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
We learn about responsibility, about treading, about status, about loss,
all through these colorful bits of plastic and cardboard.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Yeah, all while our parents thought we were just messing
around with junk.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Which is fascinating, isn't it? How these simple, maybe even
absurd things taught us so much, almost by accident, makes.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
You wonder what are the seemingly trivial things doing that
for kids today?
Speaker 2 (18:25):
What are their tamagachis, what obsessions are shaping them right
now and what lessons are sneaking in under the radar.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
That's a great question, something for you, our listener, to
maybe think about.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Definitely something to ponder until our next deep dive anyway.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Indeed, until then, keep exploring and stay curious.
Welcome curious minds to the deep Dive.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Great to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
So today we're taking a trip, a real journey back
back to the late nineteen nineties.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Oh boy, yeah, cargo pants era exactly.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Yeah, picture it. You know you're probably wearing cargo pants.
Maybe got some dunk a ruse or like a half
eaten fruit by the foot somewhere in one of those pockets.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Classic.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
But alongside all that, the snacks, the fashion, there was
this worry, this like immedia gut punch of anxiety. Sometimes.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Uh huh, I think I know where you're going with this.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
That vibration right yeah, or that little yeah and your
heart just sinks. Yeap. The tamagotchi, that tiny plastic egg
probably clipped your backpack, just screaming for attention. Yeah, your
digital pet probably having a full on pixelated meltdown.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Huh Yeah. The classic nineties crisis. It really wasn't just
a phase, was it. It felt like, well, a whole lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
It totally was.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
These things, these objects, they weren't just toys. They were
like the currency of cool back then. Yeah, dictating who
is who on the playground, causing all sorts of drama.
Real badges of honor, you know, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
And that's kind of what we're diving into today, right,
that intersection the absurdity, the obsession, the pie stakes, sometimes
Tamagachi's slap bracelets and yeah, Pokemon cards. These things weren't
just trends. They dug in, became part of the collective memory.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Yeah, they really shaped experiences. And our mission for this
deep dive really is to go beyond just oh remember that.
We want to figure out why.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Right, why did these simple little things have such a
massive hold on us?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Exactly. We'll look at the funny side, the weird anxiety
they caused, the social stuff that popped up around them, Peel.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Back the layers. Yeah, basically you understand that obsession and
what's stuck around from it, and.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
We've got some good stuff to work with. We've gone
through a bunch of sources, articles, memories, that sort of thing,
all looking at these fads.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Yeah, focusing on the cultural impact, how ridiculous our devotion
was sometimes.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
And maybe what we accidentally learned from it all.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
So get ready, time to reminisce, maybe laugh a bit,
maybe feel a tiny bit of that old Tamagatchi guilt again.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Huh, let's do it. Let's unpack the weird and wonderful nineties.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Where do we start? It has to be Tamagatchi's.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Oh, absolutely, the digital pet that basically owned us, and
yeah we ruin our sleep.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Okay, Tamagatchi's Yeah, seriously, these things probably cause more stress
in elementary school than I don't know, long division.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
It's pretty wild when you think about how simple they were.
Just a plastic egg, right, smaller than a chicken nugget, probably,
with this little pixel blob on a screen. But when
they hit the US, was it ninety seven?
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yeah, sounds about right.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
They just instantly turned us all into these caregivers, always
mashing buttons, always worried.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Was it the novelty maybe? Yeah, Like digital ownership was
brand new, I think.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
So suddenly you were responsible for this, this thing's life,
its whole existence.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
And it wasn't just a game you could pause. It
was like constant, a real responsibility dropped in your.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Lap, every beep, every digital poop. Yeah, it depended on you.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Yeah, and you got that instant hit, you know, either
feeling good because it was happy, or that cold dread
when you're.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
The beeps, Oh, the beeps that sound. It was like
an alarm belt, wasn't it For a nine year old?
That was serious business totally.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Our sources outally call them less digital pets and more
like anxiety simulators.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
That rings true because the demands were just relentless feeding it, cleaning.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
It, cleaning the pixelated poop.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah, playing those little games to keep the happiness meter up.
It felt so high stakes.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Way too high for a little plastic egg.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Because if you messed up, if you neglected it, it
would just croak.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Right and leave that little tombstone on the screen.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
And you felt it. The sources talk about this feeling
of like a lifetime of guilt from a one inch screen.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Oh, the guilt was real. I can still almost hear
that beep. Imagine being in class, middle of the spelling
test and you feel that buzz a look and the
hunger meters just flashing like crazy.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
That hasn't eaten since. Yeah, the Clinton administration.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
It felt that urgent, It really did. It wasn't just
a reminder, It was a demand right now.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
So you had this constant, like low level stress humming
underneath everything.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yeah, you were this sleep deprived button mashing caregiver. It
followed you everywhere taught you vigilance.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
I guess whether you wanted to learn it or not.
And what's interesting is how that personal stress created this
whole social thing. Oh yeah, well, it wasn't just your Tamagatchi.
Kids are smuggling them into school.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Right, totally adding them in pencil cases, backpacks.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Trying to muffle the beeps, and you'd hear kids whispering,
I gotta feed my tamagotchi like it was top secret.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Yeah, like national security depended on it.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Oh hated this instant club, you know, we're all in
this together.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Exactly, a little secret society of digital parents.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Until the teachers found out.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Oh yeah, they just they didn't get it, not at all.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
They confiscated, looking totally bewildered.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Andy, you just sit there, paralyzed for the rest of
the day. Is it starving? Is it evolving into that
weird mask thing?
Speaker 1 (05:05):
U huh, yes, the mask thing because you didn't discipline
it enough.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
It was such a clash, wasn't it. Our intense kid
world versus the like practical adult world. Classrooms weren't ready
for digital death.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Nope. Yeah, And there was a competitive side.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Too, remember, Oh yeah, kids showing off their tamagotchi dynasties.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Multiple ones clipped to their bags like war medals or something.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Comparing generations. Mine's on its fifth generation, big bragging rights.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Definitely, it was like a status symbol, proof you were
a good digital.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Parent, showed your dedication, your expertise in this weird new world.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
But then there was the other side, the dark side.
While some kid had a dynasty, yours might just die
because you left it in the minivan all weekend.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Oof biked in the sun tragedy, sad end.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
And he had the knockoffs too, the dinky dyne oh Man.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, they always broke, like immediately, it.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Cost your whole allowance, broke in two days, but everyone
still wanted one.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Just shows how huge the demand was. Didn't even matter
if it was the real thing. You just had to
be in.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
The whole thing. Was kind of absurd, though, when you
look back, that's the sources point out, how so well,
here we are raising digital chickens while our actual cat
is probably like eating a sock in the living room,
completely ignored.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Huh, good point. But the feelings were real, oh totally real.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
When it died, it wasn't just game over. It felt
like a funeral.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah, kids actually mourned these things, a real sense of
loss and.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
The reset ritual getting the paper clip, Yeah, finding that tiny.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Button, sticking it in, maybe shedding like one.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Tier, promising you'll do better next time.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
And then, as the sources say, spoiler, you weren't.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Ah, probably not, but that connection, even to just a
few pixels, Yeah, it shows the power of that simulated responsibility. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Is it a weird, funny training ground for care consequences, loss,
all in this little egg.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Okay, so from digital dependence to risk accessories.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Let's talk slap bracelets. If tamagotchis were about responsibilities, slap
bracelets were well more immediate, more tactile, and.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
It's surprisingly dangerous sometimes.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Bracelets Okay, these were just pure nineties, part jewelry, part weapon,
all swagger. That's how one source put it.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
That's pretty accurate. These metal strips covered in fabric.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, you'd hold it straight, slap it on your wrist
and thwack. It just curled right on like magic or yeah,
like some bad sci fi prop.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
That flax sound though, that was the key, wasn't it
so satisfying?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Totally? Our sources link it to that sensory thing like
popping bubble.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Wrap, Yeah, but cooler, more public.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
It wasn't just putting on jewelry. It was an action.
It felt dynamic, and nobody wore just one.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
You'd stack them.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Up, oh yeah, like six or eight up your arm
like you were auditioning for. Who was it, cindy'll Opper.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, totally in the pattern, neon, animal print, glitter, everything.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
So the playground basically became this.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Slap zone, constant smacking on yourself, on your friends. It's
just a love tat while the.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Other kids rubbing their arm, plodding.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
It was a sashin. It was play fighting, it was
bonding sort of.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
And here's the kicker. They weren't exactly harmless moviewed.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
That's what the source is really dig into.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Right.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
The design was simple but flawed, right.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Spring loaded metal thin fabric cover.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
And that fabric freight like really fast, faster than your
mom's patience, as one source joked, huh.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
And then what happens The fabric peels back.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
And boom, sharp metal edge exposed. Yes, not good.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Suddenly kids are actually getting cut by their fashion accessories, drawing.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Blood, which predictably led to school bands. Yeah, not just
because they were distracting, but because they're actually hazardous.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I remember the principal coming on the intercom, no more
slap bracelets.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Did that stop anyone?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Of course? Not made it cooler. We were rebels hiding
them in our socks under our sleeves.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Typical kid logic, right, Coolness defiance way more important than
maybe getting sliced.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
It's always the forbidden stuff that's the coolest.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
And status played a role too. If you had a
really cool.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
One, oh yeah, like a rare holographic one, you are
basically playground royalty.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
People would trade valuable stuff for them, like maybe even
your best Pokemon card.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Totally, only to realize it wasn't worth it when you
cut your wrist at recess.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Out a harsh lesson in value and pain.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
But we kept doing it. Why one source just nails
it because it was the nineties and we were all
about living dangerously within the confines of a suburban cul
de sac. Ah, that's perfect. It sounds funny now, but
those things, even the risky ones, helped define who is who?
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Yeah, who was daring? Who had the cool forbidden stuff?
It was all part of figuring out your identity, your place,
even through a potentially sharp piece of metal.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
And speaking of trading your best Pokemon card, that's our
next stop, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Oh yes, cardboard Empire Pokemon cards, or as the sources
call it, the cardboard crack of the playground, cardboard.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Crack at the playground. I mean that really says it all.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Doesn't it. It really does. If Temagachi's were parenting one
oh one and slap bracelets were fashion risks, Pokemon cards
were our first sock market totally.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
They hit the US in ninety nine, right.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Yep, and just boom, overnight, every kid became this little
Wall Street trader.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Forget stocks. We were dealing in charizyards and mewtwo's negotiating
like our lives depended on it.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Oh absolutely yeah. For shiny pieces of cardboard.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
It's amazing how quickly they became more than just game pieces.
They were currency, real.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Power, shiny chartizard maah, that wasn't just a card. That
was like winning the lottery.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Made you untouchable for a while anyway.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Right until someone borrowed it from your binder when you
weren't looking.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Ah, yes, strategic borrowing. It was like this crash course
in economics, right value, scarcity, supply.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
And demand one oh one. Everyone wanted to chariz are
so bam, price goes up.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Intense and the playground. It wasn't just for swings anymore.
It was the trading floor.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Pure chaos, Oh, total chaos. You'd show up with your
deck box ready to flex.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Kids, haggling like crazy, sounding like traders in some ancient market.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
I remember the classic scam. You'd go up to some
younger kid, Hey, I'll give you this bulbosar and like
two pidgies for your blastoys.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Knowing full well it was a terrible deal for them.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Oh yeah, early lessons and persuasion and maybe a little
bit of exploitation.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
The sources talk about that too. How older kids kind
of had the upper hand.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Makes sense they knew the perceived values better.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yeah, Convincing some kid there beat up Pikachu was rare
because it looked kind of shiny.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Huh, leveraging that desperation. It wasn't just the game. It
was learning about negotiation, about bluffing. Sometimes pretty ruthless stuff
for kids.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Taught you to be careful, maybe a little cunning.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
And the battles the epic Pokemon battles.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Oh man, we'd spend hours trying to figure out the.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Rules, weaknesses, resistance is.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
All that, only to realize nobody actually played by the
real rule.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Nope, it was all creative interpretation, wild West rules.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
My Charmander uses ember. Yeah, well my Jigglypuff dodges because
it's fluffy exactly.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
And how did those battles usually.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
End in arguments or tears someone running to the teacher
about a bad trade or made up move.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
The emotional investment was just huge for bits of cardboard.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
And don't forget the fakes. The bootlegs.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Oh god, yes, Pikachu with thunderblocks hilarious.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
But people still traded them, didn't they.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, if you couldn't get the real thing, a Pikachu
is better than nothing. Just to be part of.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
It shows the pressure, right, just wanting to belong, to
be cool, even with a dodgy card.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
The whole comedy of it, according to the sources, was
just how seriously we took.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
It, treating cardboard like the Mona Lisa or something.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Kids crying actual tears over a lost card yeah, real grief.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Well, parents are just standing there baffled. Why did I
just twenty dollars on a pack full of wheedles.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
They couldn't get it, the immense value he saw on them.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
That parental confusion. Again, it's a constant theme.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
And the binders. We have to talk about the binder.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Oh, the binders, Yes, the sacred texts.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
You didn't just have cards, you curated them in that
three ring binder.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Each card sleeved like the Declaration of Independence.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Seriously, and if someone touched your binder without permission.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Oh, fighting words, grounds for a playground, duel. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
It shows how those cards became more than cards. They
were like symbols of wealth, power, identity, a whole.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Little kid economy and social structure built on cardboard. Pretty
sophisticated in a way.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
So we've walked through tamagaji, slap bracelets, Pokemon cards.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Quite the journey.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
But what made them truly peak childhood. It wasn't just
the stuff, right, it was the culture.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Around them exactly. That's what the sources really drive home.
They were like social glue and identity markers.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yeah, they meant something more than just being a toy.
They defined things, status, friendships, even rivalries.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
You weren't just a kid with the Kamagatchi, you were
a Tamagatchi kid that meant something.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Right or you didn't just wear slap bracelets. You were
a trendsetter, a bit.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Edgy, and if you had that holographic charizard, forget.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
About it, you were Tony Stark third grade edition untouchable coolness.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
It really taps into that basic need, especially when you're
a kid, right belonging, being accepted, finding your spot in
the group.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
These things were the tools for that, our first way
of saying this is who I am, this is my tribe,
and we took.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
It so seriously. The sources highlight the lengths we'd go.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
To, Oh yeah, begging parents for allowance, money for booster packs.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
No, and you'd probably just get a pile of ritatas again.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Risking detention just to feed your Tamagatchi during silent reading
that sense.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Of duty or slapping those bracelets till your risk was read,
just to look cool.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
It wasn't just playing like the sources say. These fads
weren't just toys. They were our identity, our economy, our
entire world view.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
They felt central, not like some side thing. They structured
our days, our interactions, our little mini societies, which brings.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Us back to the parents again.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
The confusion, always, the confusion, that generational disconnect is fascinating.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
They just couldn't wrap their heads around it. Why are
you obsessed with this digital thing that keeps dying?
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Why do you need seventeen slat bracelets?
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Their advice just go play ball like that compared to
the social power of a perfect Tamagachi record or having.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
That rare charz ard. They didn't get the currency.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So they'd confiscate our Pokemon cards.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Holding our net worth hostage, and they had no idea.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
To them, it was just junk, disposable.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Stuff, But to us it was everything. It was life.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
That gap. It really shows how kids assign meaning, deep
meaning to things. Adults might just brush off different worlds,
different values.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
But even though these things felt like forever, they were
fleeting yet the legacy that's real.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yeah, they stuck around in surprising ways.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
It's true, isn't it. You see Tamagachi's making comebacks now.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Yeah, with fancy color screens, Wi Fi, all that tech.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
But does it capture that same feeling, that raw panic
of the original black and white ones.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Nah. Our sources say probably not. There was something special
about that low tech.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Stress and slap bracelets they pop up in retro shops.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
A little reminder of when, yeah, wrist injuries were somehow fashionable.
That care free.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Vibe Pokemon cards, though, that's the wildest legacy, from playground
trades to serious investments.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
It's crazy grown adults dropping thousands on a single Charis art.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
And you just know their inner kid is screaming. See,
I told you was rare. I told you.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
It's like this massive validation for our childhood obsessions and
proof we weren't crazy to think they were valuable.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
That nostalgia is powerful, and sometimes the value catches up.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
But the sources also remind us how quickly things changed
back then.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Oh yeah, they were everything, until suddenly they weren't.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
One day it's Pokemon, the next day everyone's obsessed with
yo yos or POGs or beanie babies.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
The playground moves fast.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
But even of the fads faded, the memories didn't those stick?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
As the sources say, definitely, they're part of our story now, remembering.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
The fights over trades, the sting of a badly frayed
slap bracelet.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
The existential dread of finding your Tamagotchi gone.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
It's all part of that ridiculous, wonderful tapestry of childhood.
There weren't just things. They were experiences, formative ones.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Silly, fleeting, maybe a bit hazardous, but they were ours.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Totally ours, our first taste of these big ideas responsibility, risk, value,
social stuff.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
So the final question, maybe, if you didn't cry over
a tamagotchi funeral or get furious about a stolen Pokemon card,
did you even live through the nineties?
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Ah? Fair question, probably not.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
It really makes you think, reflecting on this whole deep dive. Tamagotchi,
slap bracelets, Pokemon cards, they weren't just toys, no, much more.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
They were tied up in our identity, our social lives.
A weird training ground.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
We learn about responsibility, about treading, about status, about loss,
all through these colorful bits of plastic and cardboard.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Yeah, all while our parents thought we were just messing
around with junk.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Which is fascinating, isn't it? How these simple, maybe even
absurd things taught us so much, almost by accident, makes.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
You wonder what are the seemingly trivial things doing that
for kids today?
Speaker 2 (18:25):
What are their tamagachis, what obsessions are shaping them right
now and what lessons are sneaking in under the radar.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
That's a great question, something for you, our listener, to
maybe think about.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Definitely something to ponder until our next deep dive anyway.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Indeed, until then, keep exploring and stay curious.
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