Sports Nostalgia From Your Childhood

[ADW77]

I spent a lot of time grabbing sports stuff I had as a kid. Not things like jerseys or trading cards, but other things. Some which have been brought up here before, like the pencils.

So what did you have as a kid that you wish you still had, or like me, have gone out and re-obtained?

Here's a list of stuff I've went out and found recently (in the past few years) because it was something I had growing up.

Gumball Helmets: I collected these things like crazy when I was a kid and would dump all my birthday money ($20) into the quarter machines just to try and get them all. In the early 90's I also went after a ton of the baseball helmets too.

NFL Pencils: We even had a thread about these. Mine are from the 80's & 90's because that's when I collected them. I remember in second grade we all wanted a set, and while they were sold in the school store, they weren't always available, or our parents didn't want to shell out $4 a pack for 14 pencils.

NFL Pennants: The mini pennants sold in conference sets. I remember going to a specialty store with my aunt when I was a kid and she bought me a set of these. She also bought me a couple of the gumball helmet pencil sharpeners. As it turns out my original set got all kinds of messed up, being a kid and all.

NFL Helmet Poster: Back in the 90's I used to snag a new one of these every year after they started coming out in '93. I wish I had kept them all, but they all either got lost or ruined. One I even cut up into individual helmets because I was going to 'something creative' with them, but never did. I actually still have a lot of the pieces left though.

The ORIGINAL Snapbacks: This came up in the other thread. While I would trade these out for new flexfit versions in a heartbeat (to wear, I'd never give up the originals as a collector), I loved the hats they had in the 90's and I even had the sharktooth variety. They've gotten a bit more expensive now, but their nostalgic value is worth it alone.

[Perfect Zero]

I know this is off topic, but when I was a kid I always wondered why some lancer was trying to pick that poor horse's nose.

[BadSeed84]

My dad had this exact hat, and Id wear it too, nostalgia indeed!

[charger77]

Man that Broncos hat screams 1995!

[vicfurth]

I spent a lot of time grabbing sports stuff I had as a kid. Not things like jerseys or trading cards, but other things. Some which have been brought up here before, like the pencils.

So what did you have as a kid that you wish you still had, or like me, have gone out and re-obtained?

Here's a list of stuff I've went out and found recently (in the past few years) because it was something I had growing up.

Gumball Helmets: I collected these things like crazy when I was a kid and would dump all my birthday money ($20) into the quarter machines just to try and get them all. In the early 90's I also went after a ton of the baseball helmets too.

NFL Pencils: We even had a thread about these. Mine are from the 80's & 90's because that's when I collected them. I remember in second grade we all wanted a set, and while they were sold in the school store, they weren't always available, or our parents didn't want to shell out $4 a pack for 14 pencils.

NFL Pennants: The mini pennants sold in conference sets. I remember going to a specialty store with my aunt when I was a kid and she bought me a set of these. She also bought me a couple of the gumball helmet pencil sharpeners. As it turns out my original set got all kinds of messed up, being a kid and all.

NFL Helmet Poster: Back in the 90's I used to snag a new one of these every year after they started coming out in '93. I wish I had kept them all, but they all either got lost or ruined. One I even cut up into individual helmets because I was going to 'something creative' with them, but never did. I actually still have a lot of the pieces left though.

The ORIGINAL Snapbacks: This came up in the other thread. While I would trade these out for new flexfit versions in a heartbeat (to wear, I'd never give up the originals as a collector), I loved the hats they had in the 90's and I even had the sharktooth variety. They've gotten a bit more expensive now, but their nostalgic value is worth it alone.

Nice collection of random NFL and more random broncos stuff.

My dad had this exact hat, and Id wear it too, nostalgia indeed!

I have the paint cap in Cowboys form

[WSU151]

For me it was the pencils, mini pennants, regular sized pennants, ice cream helmets (MLB) and mini helmets (NFL and college). Also had a Sharktooth hat (Patriots, one of the coolest hats I had as a teen).

[connriv]

I really, really, really miss the USFL.

[Davidellias]

Dissapeared in the early 2000s

[illwauk]

This is an appropriate place as any to ask, but I seem to recall a set of football cards in the early to mid 90s that featured action shots of players superimposed over the skyline of their teams' city on the back. I think they've stuck in my mind because, if I'm remembering correctly, the Milwaukee skyline was used for the Packers rather than Green Bay (they still played at County Stadium at the time).

Did such a thing actually exist, am I conflating it with something else, or did I make the entire thing up?

[WSU151]

This is an appropriate place as any to ask, but I seem to recall a set of football cards in the early to mid 90s that featured action shots of players superimposed over the skyline of their teams' city on the back. I think they've stuck in my mind because, if I'm remembering correctly, the Milwaukee skyline was used for the Packers rather than Green Bay (they still played at County Stadium at the time).

Did such a thing actually exist, am I conflating it with something else, or did I make the entire thing up?

Believe it was Leaf, 1993 or 1994. Don't know if they did it for football, I know they did it for baseball, and had about three different shots of the city for each team on the back.

[greyraven8]

Had this "sticker" book as a young kid where you glued in the stamps you got from a grocery store into a booklet. My booklet was incomplete, missing pages, covered in some areas with crayon drawings, etc. My wife's grandma had the booklet in very good shape with many of the stamps glued in neatly so she gave it to me. After peeling off or cutting out the stamps in my original booklet was able to fully complete my new booklet.

Acquired a poster with Greg Harrison goalie masks - not the same one as I once had quite a while back but it looks good. Here's a pic of one, like the one I currently have, taken from an Ebay listing. Mine is framed and hanging on the wall beside my computer.

Not sports stuff but my grandfather was alive he gave me a centennial 1967 wooden nickel. At some point I lost it; reobtained another like it as well as a wooden dollar. (He also had a beaver tail wallet - no idea what happen to it when he died. I somewhat recently bought a similar looking beaver tail wallet.)

[Arts11]

It was the helmets and pencils for me. I remember we'd used to go to the local buffet like once every couple of weeks and one of their vending machines had the helmets. I can't even remember how many times I begged my parents to give me some spare change to get a helmet (I remember getting a Colts one). As for the pencils, I remember some of the PTA moms would sell them from our little school store during lunch. I remember getting a Cardinals and/or a Redskins pencil. They also sold baseball ones, and I remember getting a Padres and I think a Giants one too.

Also, I remember winning a Knicks pennant at a mini golf/arcade place a long time ago. I remember wanting to get one for other teams, but I could never find stores that sold pennants for some reason.

[BlueSky]

This is an appropriate place as any to ask, but I seem to recall a set of football cards in the early to mid 90s that featured action shots of players superimposed over the skyline of their teams' city on the back. I think they've stuck in my mind because, if I'm remembering correctly, the Milwaukee skyline was used for the Packers rather than Green Bay (they still played at County Stadium at the time).

Did such a thing actually exist, am I conflating it with something else, or did I make the entire thing up?

What you described sounds to me like these posters. Some had skylines (San Diego & Denver being my faves). They made different products with them; for example, I had a clock with this graphic:

I remember those well because I liked them so much. Always thought most did a very nice job of capturing the essence of the nicknames and/or cities. Google "Chuck Ren" or "DAMAC NFL posters" to see more. Couldn't find Denver but I think it had the skyline and the Rockies as the background.

As for my own stuff...it's kind of cool to find out others have done what I did by searching out and buying things they remembered fondly. My two best example are my original '67 bobblehead (note helmet stripe & FDL indicating design hadn't been finalized) and this popcorn container/megaphone from Tulane Stadium (center in the pic). Once you finished the popcorn you could tear out the bottom and yell through it. It had a place for autographs on one side too. BTW, the shade of gold on the bobblehead is close to what the Saints should be wearing instead of that pathetic closer-to-tan-than-gold they have now.

Flip side of the megaphone:

And finally two items I didn't have to find and buy because I kept them. Mementos from what is - ironically being it was in NOLA - the coldest SB ever played outdoors:

[ADW77]

This is an appropriate place as any to ask, but I seem to recall a set of football cards in the early to mid 90s that featured action shots of players superimposed over the skyline of their teams' city on the back. I think they've stuck in my mind because, if I'm remembering correctly, the Milwaukee skyline was used for the Packers rather than Green Bay (they still played at County Stadium at the time).

Did such a thing actually exist, am I conflating it with something else, or did I make the entire thing up?

What you described sounds to me like these posters. Some had skylines (San Diego & Denver being my faves). They made different products with them; for example, I had a clock with this graphic:

I remember those well because I liked them so much. Always thought most did a very nice job of capturing the essence of the nicknames and/or cities. Google "Chuck Ren" or "DAMAC NFL posters" to see more. Couldn't find Denver but I think it had the skyline and the Rockies as the background.

As for my own stuff...it's kind of cool to find out others have done what I did by searching out and buying things they remembered fondly. My two best example are my original '67 bobblehead (note helmet stripe & FDL indicating design hadn't been finalized) and this popcorn container/megaphone from Tulane Stadium (center in the pic). Once you finished the popcorn you could tear out the bottom and yell through it. It had a place for autographs on one side too. BTW, the shade of gold on the bobblehead is close to what the Saints should be wearing instead of that pathetic closer-to-tan-than-gold they have now.

Flip side of the megaphone:

And finally two items I didn't have to find and buy because I kept them. Mementos from what is - ironically being it was in NOLA - the coldest SB ever played outdoors:

I love finding old Broncos posters like that, from before my time. They're neat to have, instead of the over commercialized stuff that has been floating around for awhile.

Here's that Broncos poster you were talking about.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

I spent a lot of time grabbing sports stuff I had as a kid. Not things like jerseys or trading cards, but other things. Some which have been brought up here before, like the pencils.

So what did you have as a kid that you wish you still had, or like me, have gone out and re-obtained?

Here's a list of stuff I've went out and found recently (in the past few years) because it was something I had growing up.

Gumball Helmets: I collected these things like crazy when I was a kid and would dump all my birthday money ($20) into the quarter machines just to try and get them all. In the early 90's I also went after a ton of the baseball helmets too.

NFL Pencils: We even had a thread about these. Mine are from the 80's & 90's because that's when I collected them. I remember in second grade we all wanted a set, and while they were sold in the school store, they weren't always available, or our parents didn't want to shell out $4 a pack for 14 pencils.

NFL Pennants: The mini pennants sold in conference sets. I remember going to a specialty store with my aunt when I was a kid and she bought me a set of these. She also bought me a couple of the gumball helmet pencil sharpeners. As it turns out my original set got all kinds of messed up, being a kid and all.

NFL Helmet Poster: Back in the 90's I used to snag a new one of these every year after they started coming out in '93. I wish I had kept them all, but they all either got lost or ruined. One I even cut up into individual helmets because I was going to 'something creative' with them, but never did. I actually still have a lot of the pieces left though.

The ORIGINAL Snapbacks: This came up in the other thread. While I would trade these out for new flexfit versions in a heartbeat (to wear, I'd never give up the originals as a collector), I loved the hats they had in the 90's and I even had the sharktooth variety. They've gotten a bit more expensive now, but their nostalgic value is worth it alone.

Man...those helmets. I think ive still got a few in boxes somewhere. Remember the baseball hats too? I had quite a few of those.

[zilch]

Had this "sticker" book as a young kid where you glued in the stamps you got from a grocery store into a booklet. My booklet was incomplete, missing pages, covered in some areas with crayon drawings, etc. My wife's grandma had the booklet in very good shape with many of the stamps glued in neatly so she gave it to me. After peeling off or cutting out the stamps in my original booklet was able to fully complete my new booklet.

Acquired a poster with Greg Harrison goalie masks - not the same one as I once had quite a while back but it looks good. Here's a pic of one, like the one I currently have, taken from an Ebay listing. Mine is framed and hanging on the wall beside my computer.

Not sports stuff but my grandfather was alive he gave me a centennial 1967 wooden nickel. At some point I lost it; reobtained another like it as well as a wooden dollar. (He also had a beaver tail wallet - no idea what happen to it when he died. I somewhat recently bought a similar looking beaver tail wallet.)

I also had the NHL sticker books. I think I started from like 86 on up. Actually completed the 89 year one. Had to send away for like 15 stickers to complete it (man how much money did my parents or my allowance spend on those things)

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

I've got to dig them up, but I remember, in the early 90s there were cards of a parody hockey league with full rosters and every thing. It was all cartoon, but very very well done. There were teams like the Detroit Unemployed, Quebec Frogs (lol), and a few others. I'm pretty sure you got them out of a vending machine.

I know I've still got a stack of about 25 cards in a box somewhere.

Anyone else remember these?

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

On a side note, about the gumball football helmets. The stickers came separately and you'd put them on yourself. I remember I got Cleveland once (I was about 6 and didn't know much about the teams other than a few) and the sticker was just orange like the helmet, which defeated the whole purpose of having a sticker lol. I was confused at first, but my dad informed me that they had no logo and that was their thing.

[ADW77]

On a side note, about the gumball football helmets. The stickers came separately and you'd put them on yourself. I remember I got Cleveland once (I was about 6 and didn't know much about the teams other than a few) and the sticker was just orange like the helmet, which defeated the whole purpose of having a sticker lol. I was confused at first, but my dad informed me that they had no logo and that was their thing.

When they first showed up in vending machines in 1967, they had the decals already applied. In fact, the separate decal sheets didn't show up until 1988.

[AgentColon]

I seem to recall a big sticker album craze in the early 80s. The NFL put out these tin sticker disc things. Haven't seen any online. Who wants to find them for me?