I did a thread like this one for the 90s board, so I figured I would make one for the 80s board.

The mid and late 80s are every Xers, XYers, Yers, and Zers’ favorite parts of the 1980s. There were so many classic cult films in theaters released in that time that I cannot keep record of them all.

Unfortunately, each age is similar to a year. The youthfulness of the 1980s was behind us in the late 80s. Most people were growing tired of the 80s in 1987. I guess you had to be there to know what I’m talking about. The 80s were a looong period of time and it felt like we had been in them forever in the late 80s.

With that said, the late 80s were a very exciting triennium to be a child in. Here’s a picture of them for you:

- The biggest artists at the time were Samantha Fox, Gloria Estefan with the Miami Sound Machine, Bon Jovi, The Bangles, Whitney Houston, Phil Collins, Bruce Hornsby with the Range, Steve Winwood, Anita Baker, Simply Red, and Mike and the Mechanics.

- The shows we could not miss were ALF, Who’s the Boss, Growing Pains, The Cosby Show, MacGyver, Mr. Belvedere, Designing Women, 227, The Golden Girls, Night Court, Amen, and Perfect Strangers.

- The Miami Vice look, the Rambo look, Mickey Mouse shirts, Coca Cola clothing, Adidas sweatshirts, sleeveless denim vests, swatch watches, the double denim look, and T&C Surf Designs were all popular in this time.

- Our favorite ad mascots were The California Raisins, The Noid, Joe Isuzu, and Max Headroom.

The late 80s are the most slept on period of the 1980s for some unknown reason, but they still had a lot to offer. It took me a while to catch on to some of the trends and fads during the late 80s, but I was in the loop by the very last days of this era. That brings me to the best year of the late 80s. Being the early 90s fan that I am, I have to go with 1989. Here’s why:

- Batmania! I remember scrambling around trying to look for the yellow Bat logo shirt. There were black Bat logo shirts and white Bat logo shirts. The one everyone had to own before the release of the film was the black Bat logo shirt. Comic book fans, at the time, had their doubts about Michael Keaton playing Batman like I did about Ben Afflect being in Dawn of Justice, but I thought Michael Keaton did the rule justice. The only person to compare him to was Adam West back then. I liked the ‘66 Batman series as much as everyone else, but Michael Keaton’s Batman was OUR Batman. Long story short, I was a batfan for life after that film.

- The release of the Game Boy in July of this year. I wanted it so bad, but I never got one. My distant cousin still has the first department store flyer it was advertised on. The Game Boy is pictured with the Tennis and Tetris games. A Casio keyboard was on the front page of the flyer. It feels just like yesterday that my distant cousin and I were going through the newspaper on July 30th.

- I was introduced to pop-rap in this year. Tone Loc and Young MC were on MTV a lot from the spring to summer of ‘89. I had no idea what “doing the wild thing” meant at the time, but it was such a cool song. I was also trying to figure out what ‘funky cold medina’ was. To this day, I don’t know how to make it.  ;D

- 1989 Topps baseball cards were my first ever baseball cards. I would go to the stationary store after school and buy a few packs. Of course, I was hoping to get any card with an athlete that was popular at the time. Nolan Ryan, Jose Canseco, and Bo Jackson were all at the top of most my wanted list. For some reason, I was even expecting to see a Pete Rose card in one them. Instead, I was left with a lot of doubles of unknowns that are worth close to nothing.  :-https://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtles-The-Movie-poster-1989-8480-/291956519843


1989 was really a dark year because the 80s were officially coming to an end, but it had its moments. ‘89 began with events like Pepsi cancelling their Madonna ads and ended with movies like Back to the Future 2 and The Little Mermaid being in theaters. 1989 was the first and only year of the 80s with an early 90s feeling to it when you look at it in hindsight. ‘88 was a bad (meaning good) year, too, but 1989 speaks louder volumes to me, personally. ‘89 to ‘92 was one of the most unique times to be alive in the entire history of the world. There will never be another ‘89 to ‘92. They were the best!

All of them!

1988. The slasher genre was booming back then! It was full of hot trax, those soundtracks.  8)  8)  8)

I think the 80's were just so cool

1988. The slasher genre was booming back then! It was full of hot trax, those soundtracks.  8)  8)  8)


And your birth

1988. The slasher genre was booming back then! It was full of hot trax, those soundtracks.  8)  8)  8)


In 1988, I was:

- Watching Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears (with hopes that the ogres would finally capture those rip-offs of the Smurfs) like I was in the mid ‘80s. Ducktales toys were in McDonald’s happy meals that year, too, IIRC.

- Doing well in school so my folks would take me to see any Nintendo M9 R.O.B. store display unit in the summer of that year. I heard things prior to the spring of ‘88 and figured I had see it for myself. Well, I saw it that summer and I was blown away by how futuristic everything looked. Nothing Atari did before or after that point ever held a candle to Nintendo in the 80s and 90s. I knew I was playing with power every time I picked up the controller to the NES in the early 90s.  :D


- Collecting clippings from the newspaper of Roger Rabbit. I don’t have them anymore, but I used to keep them in small Ziploc storage bags.

- Looking at Pee Wee’s Playhouse t-shirts in the mall. The art used for the t-shirts and kites were ‘neat’ (word we used in the 80s meaning cool). I was very close to getting the trading cards, stickers, and tattoos by Topps, but I was getting up there in age by that point in the 80s.

- Asking for a Huffy Convertible bike. My parents said no way. I dropped it.

- Listening to selections by George Michael. George Michael was on almost every radio station that year. This spilled over into 1989 when guys were trying to get his look down to pick up a lady.

- Comparing Snuggle bear, Teddy Ruxpin, and the California Raisins (those Hardee’s commercials came at you fast) to Freddy Krueger (whom I did not know much about at the time). They all creeped me out back then. It was akin to the way my younger cousin could not look at My Buddy or Kid Sister dolls in the box at toy stores in the fall of 1990 (after the Child’s Play 2 tv spots were shown). The employees at most small businesses and drug stores used to put My Buddy and Kid Sister dolls on their highest shelves in the toy aisle. I imagine it looked like they jump out at you if they actually were possessed by a murderer like that Good Guys doll was in the first movie. He and I eventually got over our fears and we can watch those commercials and movies today like it is Sesame Street.


There wasn’t a lot going on in ‘88. The bookends to that year (1987 and 1989) overshadowed pretty much everything that happened in 1988 for people that were there.


All of them!


1987 gave us Robocop. ‘88 was when moviegoers saw the ghost with the most (Beetlejuice) in action. Finally, we went on excellent adventure with two San Dimas slackers (Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure) in 1989. What a time for movies!

And your birth


Not a reason, but that's great of you.  ;D

1987 gave us Robocop. ‘88 was when moviegoers saw the ghost with the most (Beetlejuice) in action. Finally, we went on excellent adventure with two San Dimas slackers (Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure) in 1989. What a time for movies!

I missed out on seeing those films in the cinema, but have caught up with them on television since.

I missed out on seeing those films in the cinema, but have caught up with them on television since.


Ditto for me.