Remembering Fast Food Glasses

Back in the 80's & 90's every fast food restaurant had an array of high end glasses for sale in an attempt to get customers to saunter through their doors in hopes that they would keep returning to finish the whole set and buy some food & drink while at the establishment. Some of the most fondly remembered of these glasses include Star Wars, E.T., The Muppets, Garfield and of course Batman! On the rare occasion that my parents would take us to one of the restaurants, I always fawned over these sweet looking glasses with amazing artwork, but alas, we never ended up taking any home! Recently, my wife was at a community yard sale and found some of these glasses for a fairly cheap price. She picked them up thinking the kids would love them, little did she know that I would be the one who would be using them every night during dinner! Below you can view the small collection of glasses that currently hang out in our kitchen cabinet.

Care Bears from Pizza Hut (1983)

Pizza Hut gave us all one heck of a deal with these Care Bear glasses. You could get 2 glasses for 99 cents with the purchase of any Pizza Hut pizza! That is a freakin' steal! There were 4 glasses in total and the set included Funshine, Tenderheart, Grumpy and Cheer Bear. I just need 1 more to complete the collection!

Peanuts "Camp Snoopy" from McDonalds (1983)

These glasses were 49 cents with the purchase of any Coca-Cola drink at McDonalds in the early 80's. There were 5 in total and I have 2 of them. The glasses are nice and as the commercial says, they were designed by Peanuts creator Charles Shulz himself, but the real star here is a brand new animated Peanuts commercial featuring Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy & Sally. We need more great promotions like this!

Smurfs "Happy Smurfday" from Hardee's (1983)

Hardee's went all out with this promotion and dubbed July 25th as "Smurfday"!. The glasses were available until September 4th at their restaurants, but they also offered a new drink just for the occasion! This drink was called "Smurfberry Punch". I have no idea what it tasted like, but it looked like a fruit punch sort of drink. Wonder if we'll ever see this return?

Halloween Comic Covers

Halloween is one of my most favorite days of the year and comic books are one of my most favorite things to collect. It's always great when two things you love can come together and make one great piece art. To me, that's what the comic book covers below represent. Some of them are directly Halloween inspired while others are creepy enough to be showcased during the spookiest of all times. This year my entire family has decided to be Ghostbusters for Halloween. Some of us are still working on our costumes and so while the rest of us wait, at least we'll have some comics to read and keep us entertained! I hope you enjoy these 13 covers from my personal collection as much as I do!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope it's full of success, happiness and great things to come! From all of us at 20 Years Before 2000, we wish you all the best!

Going Home: Part 4

 A few weeks ago my family and I embarked on a journey back to my home state of New Jersey. The best part of the trip in my opinion was taking my kids to some of my favorite places to eat in the Garden State. Of course we stopped by Cliff's Dairy Maid on Route 10 in Ledgewood, NJ. I used to love their Smurf ice cream, but this time around I got some double peanut butter fudge and it was AMAZING! The kids loved it, but the lack of a bathroom posed a problem for my son. 

There are no 7-11's near where we live, so we had to make a stop at the 7-11 in Panther Valley so the kids could get a taste of mixing all the flavors together in 1 cup! Also, I had been craving some good pizza from people who know how to make pizza! It is hard to find a good slice where we currently reside, so I had to order a "Garbage Pizza" from Dominic's in Blairstown, NJ. It was topped with pepperoni, sausage, meat balls, onions, peppers and onions. In addition to that I had to get some hoagies to fulfill my cravings!

Speaking of cravings, I took the family to White Castle for lunch one day during our trip. My daughter loves onions, so I knew she would enjoy the little steamed burgers of goodness. After we ate, I had the kids pose like the Beastie Boys in front of the restaurant. We were filled and moved on to the next destination. 

I have a friend who works at the M&M Mars factory in Hackettstown, NJ and he tried to get us a tour, but failed in doing so. I still wanted to show the kids where some of their favorite candies come from, so we stopped by and walked around the campus for a minute while taking in the wonderful aroma of chocolate being made.

This next spot has nothing to do with food, but my son wanted to go to a Gamestop for some reason, so we hit up the one in Ledgewood, NJ. As we were walking out, I had to show them Santana's Hair Salon which is owned by WWE legend Tito Santana. The kids and wife were not as impressed by this as I thought they would be.

The last stop before heading home was a 3 hour layover in Minneapolis. Since we had a ton of time to kill, the kids grabbed some McDonald's for lunch and we walked around the airport. We saw this cool Snoopy statue and visited the Prince store. Sadly they did not have the one Prince album for sale that I was looking for...the BATMAN movie soundtrack. Overall we had an AMAZING time going back home to my old stomping grounds, but unfortunately all good things must eventually come to an end. As we left, I started feeling homesick, because as this old picture that has been hanging in my Mom's house for as long as I can remember says...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

From all of us at 20 Years Before 2000 to our readers, friends and family...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Daddy/Daughter Day 2018 #2

Last weekend I took my youngest child (by 1 minute) out for a Daddy/Daughter day. The first thing we did was head over to Toys R Us to grab her a "Star Wars: Forces of Destiny" Princess Leia doll. Then after that she wanted to head to the arcade. Her twin brother had talked about it so much that she really wanted to go. The game she wanted to play the most was "Crossy Road"! I can't stand this game! It is one dollar per play and you only get 1 life! It's a sort of a "Frogger" clone where the goal is to cross the obstacles without getting hit. The only problem is there is only one button! That button moves you forward. One bad move and there is no turning back. WHAM! Dollar gone! Before I could even load my 4 quarters into the machine to play co-op with my daughter her turn was already over! We agreed to never play this game again and enjoyed the other offerings at the arcade including Space Invaders, Pac-Man Junior and Mario Bros. I got to play the Robocop pinball game and a round of pool with my 6 year old. It was fun, but we were getting hungry and headed to...

McDonalds for a Snoopy Happy Meal. My daughter opted for the cheeseburger Happy Meal and got the Baseball Snoopy toy. I had my usual Double Quarter Pounder with cheese meal. This was the first time I have had McDonalds new "Fresh" beef patties, and I gotta say I prefer the old beef patties. Maybe it's just because I'm used to the flavor of the old recipe, but something tasted a little off. It wasn't terrible, just not what I'm used to from the Golden Arches. Anyway after lunch we were going to catch a flick at the local cinema, but we have to get some rations. So we made our way to...

CANDY TOWN USA! I love this place. It is so retro from the candies they have available to the old school soda shop inside the store.

You want gummies? They've got walls of them! How about licorice, jawbreakers or Runts? They've got you covered! There are literally hundreds of varieties to chose from! And you get to mix and match and make your own variety pack. So amazing!

Throughout the store they also have vintage coin op machines like a strength tester, guess your weight machine and...

FREAKIN' ZOLTAR! He is not as cool looking as his counterpart from the Tom Hanks movie "BIG", but he does tell fortunes, his mouth moves and crystal ball glows! FYI, I am still only 6 feet tall and did not grow to 7 feet to chase my dreams of NBA stardom! Still fun though! We spent a lot of time at Candy Town, but we had to leave so we could catch our movie. We grabbed some Haribo SMURFS Sour Gummies and were off to see...

Peter Rabbit! My Mom read me these books as a kid and I have read them to my kids, so I was more than happy with my daughter's pick of movies. It was a pretty good kids flick and when it eventually is released on Blu-Ray/DVD, I'm sure we'll get a copy to add to our Easter movie rotation. If you have kids, I say give it a shot. Well, that was the last kid/dad day for a while! I wonder what their mom has ready for them? 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

From everyone at 20 Years Before 2000, we wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! We hope it's full of family, fun and of course presents!

A look at some MORE ornaments!

Christmas is almost here! It is one of my favorite times of the year! I actually got all my shopping done recently for my kids and my family back home. I am so glad I have no last minute shopping to do...I think? One of the best parts of the season is going out with the kids and picking out a tree for our home. Then my wife puts up the lights! She is so specific about how the lights have to look, that I don't even ask if I can help anymore. After the lights are up then it's time for the best part... the ornaments! Each year we purchase a new ornament to put on the family tree. Here are some of my faves that we have amassed over the years.

 Bart Simpson with Funzo (Kurt Adler, 2005)

 Star Wars: Darth Vader (Hallmark, 2015)

 Thundercats: Lion-o (Hallmark, 2012)

 Glass Robot w/ Helmet (Wondershop at Target, 2016)

Snoopy Candy Topper (Galerie, 2011)

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my favorite Christmas Tree Ornaments. Now, get your tree ready for Santa, enjoy the holidays and open some presents! Merry Christmas! BTW, here are some great Christmas commercials from the 80s for your viewing pleasure!

Check out some highlights from last year's tree by clicking HERE!

My Faves: Figure Collection #4

 I have a fairly big collection of loose figures from the 80s & 90s. I would like to share a few of my faves with you at this time. You ready? Here we go!

 

 Bartman: The Simpsons (Mattel, 1990)

I purchased this figure just recently off ebay for a few bucks in an action figure lot sale. These 1990 Mattel Simpsons figures have been on my wish list for a long time. I remember seeing these on the shelf at toys stores back when I was a kid, but unfortunately for me I chose Beetlejuice toys over them. I am a huge Simpsons fan, so I am always looking for early products from the 90s and these are on the top of my list. Only 8 figures and the "Sofa & Boob Tube" play set were released from Mattel.

 

Prince Adam: Masters of the Universe (Mattel, 1984)

I was 4 years old when I first laid eyes on this Prince Adam action figure. I remember to this day because I met a friend at the park while my older sisters were playing a soccer game. He brought his Masters of the Universe figures and when he opened his case...out came Prince Adam. I had never seen him before and had to have him. Well, pretty soon my taste in toys changed over to the Thundercats and Ghostbusters and Prince Adam was forgotten. Then there he was, in a thrift store grab bag with some McDoanlds toys and plastic dinosaurs for the low price of $5! I grabbed him up and he stands in a special spot on my shelf of collectables in the basement and will stay there forever!

Snoopy aka Joe Cool: Peanuts (Schleich, 2015)

There is not too much to say about Joe Cool here. He was in the clearance bin at Barnes & Noble after the 2015 holiday season, he looked cool and I picked him up. I am always a sucker for cheap Peanuts merch!

 

Wilykit: Thundercats (LJN, 1986)

Thundercats ruled my world from 1985-1988. Me and my brother accrued quite a collection of the action figures and even had the Cats Lair and Mumm-Ra's Tomb play sets! I even dressed as Lion-O for Halloween in Kindergarten. We never had this Wilykit action figure though. We had the PVC figure of her that was included with the Cheetara figures in 1985. I stumbled upon this 1986 Wilykit figure by pure luck. I found an old green McDonalds pencil box at Goodwill. It was taped shut, but I could kind of see what looked like action figures inside. I bought the pencil box for a few bucks and opened it when I got home. To my surprise there was Wilykit along with Cheetara, a Mario figure and some Berenstain Bears & Muppet Babies Happy Meal toys. I call that a score!

 

Lola Bunny: McDonalds Happy Meal Toy (McDonalds, 1996)

The smash hit movie "Space Jam" starring Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes characters was all over the place in 1996! There were candies, posters, clothing items, video games and best of all a McDonalds Happy Meal dedicated to the film! Not only was this the film debut of his Airness, Michael Jordan, but an all new character was introduced by the name of Lola Bunny. I find these spinning figures at thrift stores all the time for around a quarter a piece. I loved this movie and anytime I see anything Space Jam related out in the wild, I grab it. Still looking to complete this Happy Meal set 20 years after it's release.

If you missed the first few parts of the 20 Years Before 2000 "My Faves: Figure Collection" series you can view them at the links below!

My Faves: Figure Collection #1

My Faves: Figure Collection #2

My Faves: Figure Collection #3

Christmas Smurf Village

I bought these Smurf figurines about 6 years ago and they have become a holiday favorite for my kids. They love when we pull out the Christmas decorations and empty out the seasonal toys. The Smurfs have always been one of my favorite 80s properties since my Mom made me a blanket when I was 2 years old!

These festive Smurfs were made by Jakks in 2006 and they are some of my favorites. They have the look of the original Smurf figurines from the 80s, but their arms, heads and waists move.

My favorite of the 3 figures in the set is easily Santa Papa Smurf. He was born to guide that sleigh! Literally, there is a place specifically made in the sleigh for Papa to rest his butt. My only problem is that Papa is stuck in a crouching pose so he can ride in the sleigh. He can not stand straight up!

I also wanted to show this "A Charlie Brown Christmas" book and tree set. The book is a full adaptation of the animated special and the tree came in parts so you could assemble your own at home. These small stocking stuffers range in price from $7.99-$9.99. This one was $8.99.

As a gift to you, I present the 1986 Smurfs Christmas Special! Watch below and Merry Christmas!!!!